Top ten things that happened to me today at the Mid-Ohio-Con:

10   Getting my picture taken with Power Man
9     Giving out lots and lots and lots of Blink mini comics (Thanks to Canada & Kira for the help in getting the Blinks out!)
8     Selling a respectable number of the regular Blink books
7    Making plans for next year’s Free mini comic (Oh Boy!  It’s gonna be AWESOME!!)
6   Having about fifteen minutes of “free time” (because I was so busy otherwise, which is mighty awesome)
5    Meeting friends from the virtual world of Facebook in the flesh, face-to-face
4    Bentos! (Yay, Kira & Canada!!)
3    Hanging out with my friends from KY (Billy & Shannon & Julia & Carrie & Morgan & Jordan! I’m a very Happy Greek)
2    Having the opportunity to tell SO many people about the Sunday Comix Cartoonist Group
1    Somebody saying to me “YOU’RE BLINK!!” after seeing a copy of the Short North Gazette and realizing that I’m the person that creates the comic strip. I must say.. THAT was very rewarding.

Okay– that’s all.  Possibly more tomorrow,

For the past three days, I’ve been working on this one single drawing of Blink & Sam reading poetry books in the Topiary Garden behind the main library.  I thought it’d be nice if I upload all the various stages it’s gone through to get from idea to finished.  (Although, I still have to figure out what books they’re reading.  Any suggestions?)

When I thought about posting this stuff, my mind went right to the lyrics of the Jone Mitchel tune, Woodstock.  This is a mighty nice filmed version of the tune:

I’ve got one more drawing to illustrate before the new(ish) Blink book is complete.

I just a have a few tweakings to do on this poster (it should read “Esoteric” and not “Strange,” for instance), but this is the main info on one more comic bookish thing going on next weekend (and throughout all of October).  This show will be Sunday Comix’s second this year at the `Cup.  (We’ll probably have more next year there and elsewhere.)  On board to be on display is Sue Lense, Ray Tomczak, Michael Carroll, Matt Wyatt, Bob Corby, Jonathon Riddle, Kira Keck and myself.  (I think that’s everyone.)  Later this month we’ve also got a special event planned (but we’re waiting for approval), so keep your Hallowed Calendars open (if ya catch my drift).

A few month ago, I mentioned some of the stuff that I was working on in preparation for this year’s Mid-Ohio-Con. Two out of the three things I was planning on are currently on hold (my fault) and I hope to get to them sometime later this year or early next year.  However, one of the projects that I was working on made it through to completion and will now be available:

No, that’s not my illustration on the cover… fellow cartoonist/illustrator, Sue Lense created that nifty & colorful cover (along with some quirky & funny comics found the inside) for this comics anthology, OH, COMICS: Earth, published every fall by Bob Corby’s Back Porch Comics.  Bob’s been publishing OH, COMICS for over 20 years now, and this year’s book features 13 cartoonists and 18 “rock-solid” strips.  (Seriously, this stuff is “salt-of-the-earth” type stuff.)  On pages 13-17 is a little Blink story, “Why Bother” that I worked on with the help of my friend, Jonathon Riddle.   As I wrote a couple of months ago, Jon and I both conceived the plot, I wrote the script (with Jonathon’s input) and then drew the rough layouts, which he used as a guide to illustrate the complete pencils and then I went over those with inks and did the lettering.  (I was such a nervous wreck that I didn’t draw the fifth page’s layout in time to meet the deadline, so to avoid being WAY too far over the deadline (Bob’s mighty gracious to me), I ended up drawing the whole last page myself.  It was kinda surreal, for four pages, Jonathon was doing his best to channel “Max Ink’s Blink & Sam” and for page 5, I was channeling Jonathon’s versions of the girls.  It was weird.)

The story that Sam shares about her Aunt’s maroon “mudbox” (filled with water and cat turds) was based on a memory Jonathon had from growing up and it worked mighty well (in modified version) to be woven into Sam’s background.   If I remember correctly (and I very well might be wrong), the dialog in last two panels on page three are near verbatim from Jon.

There are two more pages to this little story, but you’ll have to spend the $3.50 to find out What The Point is and the reason Why (we should) Bother.  (And hey, there are of 70 pages of other awesomeness to be found between the covers of Earth.)

There’s about a week and a half left until the Mid-Ohio-Con and I’ have taken time off from work* to focus as much attention as possible on getting something new (and something old) ready for the show.  I’m also getting ready for my cartoonists’ group (Sunday Comix)’s Gallery Show at the Crimson Cup Coffee House (our second one this year!).

The “new” thing is a reformatting/updating of the Space To Breathe book I did in 2006.  I’m retitling it Breathe In Beat, adding the story Beatnik Picnik (which appeared in 2007’s OH, COMICS), adding 3 new interior illustrations, including a bunch of sketches, writing a new Creatorial,  and adding one or two other little things.  Here’s a bit of what I’ve done so far…

…the revamped Blink cover:

…and one of the new interior illustrations (to which I still need to edit & add tones to):

Also, on a personal note, since I’m off of work,* when my daughter, Gigi, called me last night around 7pm and asked if I wanted to hang out, I didn’t hesitate to say, “Yes”  (since I didn’t have to go into work that evening).  We went to buy school books (she’s on her second year at CSCC), ate dinner at Boston’s in the Arena District (special kudos to Andrea for the awesome service and cool conversation!) and checked out some Live Jazz at the Park Street Tavern (They’ve got a Jazz Jam going on every Tuesday! ), where I met this fella Brian Lucey there, who’s a singer in a local band, American Nude, and they’ve got an album coming out tomorrow (I don’t know where it’s available for sale).  Brian sent me some MP3s from the album and this one, “America” (it ain’t a cover song), is close to my favorite.

*I don’t dress in the baby-sh*t brown UPS outfits delivering packages; I work inside the warehouse loading the big rigs.

Urg.

As awesome as this new place of mine is, my computer is driving me nuts. Somehow between the time I moved from point A(sshole) to point B(odacious), my computer doesn’t understand how to communicate with my scanner(s). So I’m trying to get art done, but without a functioning scanner, it ain’t gonna happen! Arrgh.

Well, I hope I can figure out something SOON, because in less than a month, I’m going to be one of the many creative types filling the “Creators’ Commons” area of Exhibit Hall E in the Greater Columbus Convention Center on October 3 and 4 at this year’s Mid-Ohio-Con.

Anyone got a good, solid sledgehammer?  A friend is borrowing mine.

As I was getting ready to close the door to my old apartment on Rich Street, some friends who helped me move  came down the hall to see if there were any other boxes or things to move.  ”We got all we need today, guys.”  So I started to close the door, but before I did, I waved my hand to the empty rooms and said, “Goodbye Asshole.”

“Did you just call your apartment asshole?”

Yep.  It’s an apt description.  For six years, I’ve lived inside an asshole — dirty, dark, surrounded by drug dealers, prostitutes and various down-on-their-luck survivors and not the sort of place you’d throw a party in.  Thank goodness I’ve finally gotten myself out of it.  If I stayed in there another year, it might’ve killed me.

But I’m not dead yet; not by a long shot.

Now I know a New Peace.

As of last Sunday, I am living in an apartment that is the sort of apartment I’ve wanted to live in ever since I was in my late teens.  It’s open and bright and spacious.  There are hardwood floors that feel good under my feet and plenty of windows to let in the sunlight and cool breezes.  I have a good roommate who is intelligent, creative, considerate, responsible and all around awesome.  The neighbors are friendly and polite and say things like, “Hello, how are you today?” and actually mean it.  This neighborhood has been described as being a mix between SoHo and Mayberry.  So, after years of struggling with my environment (unhappy childhood, unhappy marriage, unhappy divorce, unhappy crappy apartment), I am—for the very first time—living in a place where I feel at peace.

Earlier this morning, it was raining just a bit, a light sprinkle, and I stepped out onto the back porch.  My apartment is on the second floor and there’s a large tree in the back yard.  As the raindrops hit the tin roof overhanging the porch, I looked at the leaves dance and shimmy in the early morning summer shower.  I reached out to grab hold of a leaf—to feel its veins and texture—and was caught in the moment.  I was awash with a sense of joy and gratitude for existing in that moment.  To be able to step outside from my kitchen onto my porch and to touch a leaf on a branch swaying in the summer breeze… there are billions of people who are not able to know the feeling of peace and contentment that I felt at that moment holding that leaf.

I’m not proud of what I felt but I am very thankful for it; I know how special and rare moments like that can be.   I have much in my life to be grateful for and that’s why I’m writing this…

Since you are reading this, then I have you to thank for supporting me on my journey to a better life.  I hope that the art that I create in this new home better reflects that attitude and I certainly will do all that I can to be far more productive in creating that art.

After a two month hiatus, there’s a new Blink strip in the SN Gazette.  If you’re in the Short North area (or Clintonville, or OSU, or German Village, or Bexley, or Olde Towne East, or Upper Arlington or Grandview (my new neighborhood!!!)),  do yourself a favor & pick up a copy of the `Gazette, read the Blink comic (page 3), laugh, read the other comics, laugh some more, and then read the great articles and essays and reviews and poetry and even the ads (support local businesses!).

Sifting through my piles of papers as I get ready to move out of this little apartment I’ve called home for the past six years and I came across this:

I remember reading this editorial five years ago and thinking, “Boy oh boy… I hope that someday this guy gets his comeuppance.”    So, I held onto it and here we are, nearing the end of the first decade of the 21st Century;  has there been much change in how most people (in America) perceive comic books?  I don’t think so.  A little, but not much.

Even though the respectability of the art form has moved forward since this editorial was written (and published in the Columbus Dispatch), there’s a long ways to go before people like me feel a need to defend the art form of comics as being valid and people like Mr. Meckler change their attitude enough to stop thinking that the idea of “teaching teenagers (or anyone) how to read comic books to be… ludicrous.”

On Saturday, August 29, my art will be featured in the silent auction area of  Available Light Theatre’s “Feed Your Soul” Performance Buffet, benefiting Central Ohio’s healthy, organic and locally-grown theatre company.  There will be hors d’oeuvres, unique performances by the AVLT members , a silent auction (credit cards accepted), and door prizes. I’ll have two framed Blink-related pieces of original art (one of which has never appeared in a Blink comic book before) and a framed, signed print that I created after seeing AVLT’s break-out 2008 hit show, Dead City.

The shindig goes down at 6:30p at Studio 2 in the Riffe Center 77 South High Street (Map and directions), admission is $40 per person (Tickets on-sale now from Brown Paper Tickets).