Merry Christmas!

Posted by jupe

It’s been a very Christmasy past two days.  We went to my cousin’s house for Christmas Eve and had an epic snowball fight in her basement with these soft handmade snowballs brought by Les’ friend. We were all laughing hysterically and nobody was safe. It was awesome.

The kids got to open their gifts and Nick and Rusty were given some pretty neat gifts. We got home late, as always, but it was a great day.

Today was another Christmasy day. My kids got up at 9 and we all came downstairs and opened some gifts. I got a new desk, a new light table for tracing, and a small package of goodies from my mom, including PJs, a gorgeous sheep sweater, and some bits and pieces.  Alex enjoyed the West Germany stein I got him and I think he’s looking forward to the Tesla test drive I arranged for him.

Anyway, it’s been a long day. We ate dinner at Stewart and Joanne’s place and all of us are STUFFED. It was delicious.

Tonight is more unwinding and then bed. I hope the kids let me sleep. Alex is off till Monday and we’ll have a quiet holiday at home.

Yawn.

Posted by jupe

I don’t have a whole lot to report on today. Yesterday was spent mostly drawing. Today’s daily drawing took me awhile to do, too. I sketched out some quick pencils for Taryn’s turnaround yesterday and filled them in online today. I’m pretty happy with the turnaround of her body. I’ll end up doing some turnarounds for her head, eventually, too. Also, I’ll need turnarounds of her parents and her girlfriend. The vet isn’t featured nearly as much; only a page or two. I think that everyone else needs a turnaround, sadly.

On the agenda: photos of downtown Toronto in the areas specified within the story.. I need to photograph some houses, a convenience store, and a place to eat.  Oh, and the park. I also have to do an animal study of geese and Dog. Dog’s going to be a lot of fun to draw in the story, I think. He’s a vibrant and fun character.

Yesterday, we had chicken fried rice for dinner. That’s something I ought to post the recipe for, as my family goes apeshit over it. There are never any leftovers when I make fried rice. I have no idea for today, though. One thing I do know is my daily drawing took so long to do, I won’t be able to hit the gym while getting Rusty watched. It’s tempting to hit the gym in the evening and have the kids watched THEN, instead, but dinner’s always a pill to make and feed the boys in time. It’s hard when Alex works so much.

Ah, well.

I also have to write that tragedy today. I have absolutely no idea what to do for it. My mind has been completely wrapped around Strays.  I should be hearing from Ty about the script tomorrow. I hope he likes it and that he can offer me some suggestions for it, later.

Writing machine!

Posted by jupe

Not a very well tuned machine, I’ll admit, but still, I was a writing machine of some kind. I finished scripting my story! I breezed through Acts IV and V last night and edited the whole thing.  Finally, I sent off the script for a professional’s opinion.

In the meantime, it’s time to bust out the sketch pad and start doing preliminary sketches to flesh out the characters a bit more. When I come up with something I like, I’ll do my turnarounds.  Then? Thumbnail pages. Lots and lots of thumbnail pages. Ten thumbnail pages, to be precise.  I’m still unsure as to whether I should do them traditionally or digitally. My heart says traditional so I might just follow my heart — however, I’ll need another book of comic template paper.

The story has gone through a few revisions and has really evolved from the original. I’m pretty sure I haven’t any glaring plotholes, but Ty will surely let me know if that, happens.

 

So, in life news, I had both boys all day, yesterday, and I have both boys all day, today, too. Nick has a sore throat and a really nasty cough and I don’t want him spreading it around at school. I hate when people send their kids to school all disgusting and contagious. I don’t want to be that guy. So, all day, Nick was pretty good, and Rusty, too. When I put Rusty down to nap yesterday, I took a snooze on the couch and Nick snuggled up on me. I completely zonked out, only to wake up around 5pm to apocalypse winds outside and a black sky. The trees looked like they were in a mosh pit and all I could think was, “No way in hell I’m driving in that right now.”  See, I drive a tiny little Corolla and I’m certain that I would’ve been airbourne.

So, I waited until the wind died down by feeding the boys a dinner of chicken rosemary ravioli with red peppers and a butter sauce, then packed them into the car and dropped some popcorn off for my friends at knit night.  I miss them so much. I can’t go to knitting again until the new year because of Alex’s deadlines.  After dropping off the popcorn, the boys and I got some Harvey’s and brought it to Alex at work.  It was past bedtime, but that’s okay.  I ate with Alex, then drove home to put the kids to bed.

He didn’t get home until 11pm.

So, what did I do in the meantime? Felt completely miserable and lonely. This sucks. Did I draw? No. Should I have drawn? Yeah.

Blargh.

Anyway, today I have to take Nick to the dentist. He needs fillings. It’s only recently that he’s actually brushing his teeth like he’s supposed to, so here’s hoping that helps with dental bills. Alex is working late late again. Maybe today I’ll push past my loneliness and draw some.

Hope, hope, hope.

What could be better than Rasta Pasta?

Posted by jupe

Well, as far as jerk is concerned, not much. Rasta Pasta is a hole in the wall in Kensington Market but is well worth the visit. It’s a tiny, well kept space, and your meat is grilled on the barbecue. I was happy with the fresh side of cabbage, carrot, and peppers, as it’s really good winter food. Packed full of vitamins. I came across it when I was walking the area with EK and Brett Weaver back during TCAF and finally went back with Greg before class.

We got downtown fairly early, so after eating we actually had time to sit somewhere and hang out.  We opted for a small tea shop around the corner and sat in warmth and comfort while we did homework and notekeeping from the previous classes. I was hesitant before writing the Rom Com because they can be, well, boring and predictable… but it was the assignment and I didn’t want to go to class emptyhanded. The previous night, I played around with the idea of a person becoming friends with a dog and ran with it yesterday.

It turned out surprisingly well.

It turned out so well that I decided that I’ll make it into a comic. I need to do the writing and scripting still, plus the story bible, and I’ve never drawn dogs before. It’ll be a fun exercise and a good way to keep up the daily drawings. Expect a lot of pictures coming up of dogs and a lesbian teen.

I spent the entire morning working on the picture for today’s daily drawing, but I’m okay with that. I do, however, think that I’ll work on more pictures by hand, as I find digital drawing takes a lot longer than pencil sketching. Plus, I do enjoy using the new scanner. Might be the easier way to go.

I got all my chores and to do list done yesterday, which is nice. I also came downstairs this morning to see that Alex had emptied the dishwasher last night for me. It was a good way to start the day. I immediately filled it up and ran it again; I’m almost caught up with the kitchen chores!

As for today, I think that I’ll spend some more time doing some writing. I do have to go out and get Nick from school, but that shouldn’t be much of a distraction.  It’s barely 1pm and Rusty is napping on the couch. I’m cool with this because it allows me some quiet time to do some writing, browsing, and even chores. I may not be able to watch tv during his nap, but I think that’s okay. I may even bring up some laundry to fold. We’ll see, yes?

Today’s tea was David’s Tea Ceylon Star. It’s a somewhat earthy and yummy black tea with a hint of sweetness. I had a bit of milk in it and some sugar to curb the bitterness that I find black tea gives.  I steeped it at boiling for 3 minutes this time.

Dinner tonight will be something with chicken breast. Maybe a nice noodle and red pepper stir fry. Or, maybe some homemade chicken fingers. I don’t know, yet. We’ll see what happens. In any case, I’ll photograph it later and post the recipe.

Chicken Jumbalaya

Posted by jupe

jumbalayaI picked up this original recipe from AllRecipes and modified it to fit my family’s tastes.  The picture to the right is how it looks before the rice starts to cook.

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil
6 boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces, and 3 sausages, diced
1 onion, diced
1/2 cup diced celery
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 tsp parsley
1/2 teaspoon oregano
salt and ground black pepper to taste
2 cups uncooked white rice
4 cups chicken stock
3 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

 How to prepare

 

  1. Heat oil in a dutch oven, large pot, or very large saucepan over medium heat.
  2. Add onion and sautee until it begins to soften
  3. Add the celery and continue to sautee until the celery is soft and the onion is clear.
  4. Remove from the pot and add the garlic. Cook until aromatic.
  5. Add chicken and kielbasa and add your oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook on medium-high heat until lightly browned
  6. Stir in onion and celery, and add the red pepper.
  7. Season with cayenne pepper and onion powder.
  8. Add rice and bay leaves, then turn to maximum. When you start to hear sizzling, stir in chicken stock
  9. When everything comes to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender.
  10. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the Worcestershire sauce and hot pepper sauce.
  11. Serve and enjoy!