A friend of mine is looking out for someone who has talent and time to produce artwork for a graphic novel that he has been hired to write. He has this to say about the novel: who works in 8bit style or fist of the north star like anime for a few panels", "I simply have to tell the back story in 8bit cut scenes. sorta throw back to ninja gaiden or old school start up pages. "
"its gonna read as a grab bag of pop culture. sorta scott pilgrim meets evil dead 2"

I think he's fairly specific on style. And while plenty of you are artists, and a few are fairly dedicated freelancers, I don't know many who foray into an 8-bit style, period.

So I'll simply say, if this interests you, please let me know. If you think this will interest a friend, please share. I'm still trying to get him to give me a preferred means of contact. He hasn't elaborated on the amount of work he wants, only that he wants independent artists.

He does live on the Jersey shore, but I doubt he will have trouble with online correspondence.

I have been evicted from my home with Barbara and Kevin, Mother and Stepfather respectively. The eviction came after Mom got sufficiently drunk and proceeded to harass the cats in an attempt to force them to interact (Since we have two new cats). Having seen the results of previous attempts to play with cats while drunk, I attempted to intervene, hoping to prevent another trip to the doctor or worse. Of course this did not go well. It went so well, in fact, that after a long shouting match and a lot of bruised egos later, she packed up and "moved" to a hotel, thus prompting my eviction. Now you know.

Thankfully, Marie and Dad are much more stable, even if I do have to live in the litter box.

I have been gearing up to go to RAGBRAI (in Iowa) next year, and since it is such a big event, I thought it would be a nice idea to set up some kind of fundraiser/donation/awareness thing as well. Because it's always good to tackle some big hurdle (500 miles) with a cause in mind, right?

Admittedly, my primary causes aren't all that grand. The International Video Game Hall of Fame in Ottumwa resonates with a lot of the people I hang out with and is also part of Iowa culture. I would also like to represent MAGFest, whatever the cause I choose. Topical causes in my life and those around me right now are Cancer, ALS, and Lyme Disease.

For those of you who have organized a similar event, what kind of caveats are there to creating a fundraiser? Do I need to register with some level of government or the organization that is managing the cause? Is there a registry I should sign up with to be on the list and grab potential donors/attendees?

I don't have money for advertising or anything like that, and was going to do this via word of mouth (your support!) But I have no experience whatsoever in this course, and would like any input I can get.

It's been a while!  I'm sorry to say that while life still goes on, I haven't had much to share over here.  Most of my time is spent over on facebook, which is generally a much more positive atmosphere.  No, I won't share the link, you still have the honor of being a place where I share stuff I won't tell anyone else, even if I don't have much to say about it these days.  I mostly come by for the webcomic updates. 

To update:  At the beginning of the year I found myself being removed from the MD home, as there were too many people already and two (three) screaming infants on the way.  So I went back to NJ, got a job, and lived the next few months quietly.  Recently, I've been spending my free time bicycling, as I am attempting to prepare for RAGBRAI, in which I would spend a week riding an average of 65 miles a day.  I am up to 35 miles, and would have attempted 50 if not for the extreme heat this weekend.  Oh, and I got Lyme disease on that 35 mile trip.  I don't know which is worse, that or the antibiotics, which make me sluggish and turn my ability to tan into an ability to develop really nasty sunburns.  

Recently, I've also been hanging out with the Philly Chiptune scene, which has been really awesome.  Yea, I know, a bunch of nerds playing music with their game boys.  But I've had a chance to see some excellent musicians in a positive atmosphere.  And it's good to be a part of something, share with others.  This friday I go to Lebowski fest to celebrate a movie I hate and get some white russians while a dude plays a gameboy version of the theme music.  I might dress up as the main character, especially if my family joins, because they like to compare me to him.  :p

Lately, things have been kind of rough.  Lost my job, aforementioned infection, malfunctioning computer, family is all upset with a dying cat, and a dog that I will go and bury in a moment.  But most of these are things which do not worry me, and are only inconveniences. 

I hope you are staying well.

I've been listening to a lot of music.  Specifically, revisited Jagged Little Pill By Alanis Morrisette, and puzzled anew at the lyrics to You Oughta Know, which feature a "cross eyed bear".  I'm not unfamiliar with the intended phrase, but the lyric is clumsy and "cross eyed bear" was the only thing that made sense to me.  I thought she was talking about a teddy-bear memento, it's purpose not clear, or a euphemism for a retarded or possibly unborn child! 

And I'm not the only one who was puzzled by this lyric.  What follows below is a rundown of my research into the matter.  I am sharing because I thought it was funny, so please read and be amused. 

Via Urban Dictionary, This entry is made by a troll and probably originated on 4chan . It does create an interesting (and amusing) interpretation to the source of Alanis' anger.

A prank performed during oral sex. The male recipient ejaculates up the nose of the individual performing the act upon him. This usually leads to much enjoyment and laughter between the two parties.
It's what Alanis Morissette is talking about in the song "You Oughta Know".

Mondegreen, an idiom.  Via wikipedia:
 A mondegreen is the mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase as a result of near homophony, in a way that gives it a new meaning. It most commonly is applied to a line in a poem or a lyric in a song.
The top three mondegreens submitted regularly to mondegreen expert Jon Carroll are:[1]

       1. "Gladly, the cross-eyed bear[3] (from the line in the hymn "Keep Thou My Way" by Fanny Crosby, "Kept by Thy tender care, gladly the cross I'll bear")[11] Carroll and many others quote it as "Gladly the cross I'd bear".
       2. There's a bathroom on the right (the line at the end of each verse of "Bad Moon Rising" by Creedence Clearwater Revival: "There's a bad moon on the rise")
       3. 'Scuse me while I kiss this guy (from a lyric in the song "Purple Haze", by Jimi Hendrix: "'Scuse me while I kiss the sky").
       4. 'Hold me closer Tony Danza (from a lyric in the song "Tiny Dancer", by Elton John: "'Hold me closer tiny dancer").

    Both Creedence's John Fogerty and Hendrix eventually capitalized on these mishearings and deliberately sang the "mondegreen" versions of their songs in concert.[12][13][14]

"Blinded by the Light," a cover of a Bruce Springsteen song by the Manfred Mann's Earth Band, contains what has been called "probably the most misheard lyric of all-time":[15] "revved up like a deuce" is frequently misheard as "wrapped up like a douche."

A song which seems to use an intended Mondegreen. Another Cross Eyed Bear, even.

It wasn't a mondegreen after all!

I have a friend who wishes to come to AC, but is dead set on selling at the con... or bust  He's a rep for Nintendo, and his big thing is that he gives away Pokemon.  He tends to sell artwork, t-shirts, and music, all with more a video-gamey feel.  This will be his first furry con.  He's also a complete sweetheart!

Do any of you have or know someone who has a table at AC and might be willing to split cost? 

Check him out if you like: 
http://www.paradox-lost.com/  (website seems very out of date...)
dave lister on facebook

Anthrocon 2011

My very tentative plans for Anthrocon have fallen through, and there has been a lot of silence from my usual group on the matter, so I'm a bit upset about it. 

However, there are still rooms available, and I am still going.  I will even be bringing a friend.  Question is, does anyone have room for two, or want to join a room of two?  Are any of you interested?

Cleaning out the LJ a bit, getting ready to do a bit of cleanup in life in general, once again. 

I've defriended quite a few people, most would probably never notice, but if you did and want to talk about it, feel free. 

Reading through my own journal is depressing and boring.  I'm getting ready for MAGFest, then packing up to go back to NJ.  I might have a job there soon, but don't know for sure.  I guess there are other things, but I'm not in the right frame of mind to say them. 

2010 has been an insane year. The only year that I can recall that didn't seem to blaze by faster than the last, which is a good thing. I started and ended the year unemployed, and have only worked about 10% of the year. Despite being accepted to and promptly dropping back out of college, I have also learned and re-learned a lot. Mostly in editing software, but I have had time to rediscover a pencil and sketchbook, exercise, scripting, and frugal living.

I spent over half the year with starfallz  and iii_demon , good folk who I have wanted to live with for a while now. I have also had opportunities to visit and be visited by a lot of folk that have been hard to reach in the past, a lot of surprise encounters with good friends. And a few new friends and acquaintances, which hasn't happened much in recent years.

I owe a lot to my parents for keeping my head above water. Having the car and keeping it insured. Keeping the phone paid for, even though I got a fancy phone that costs a lot. Throwing money at me when things looked desperate, and simply being there to listen and give advice.

All in all, not a bad year, though I've been flying by the seat of my pants far too often, and I still haven't had any kind of ah-hah about what I am going to do with myself. Life is very up in the air in the near future, lets hope I don't have to switch gears again and shelf this year as an interesting project to be considered in the distant future.

It's still hard to wrap my head around so many people getting married and having kids. Hopefully I'll get over it soon and can worry about getting old in another 20 years when the grand-kids start showing up from my generation. But congrats to all of you who are there now and living it up.

Thanks for reading!

Working with NIST the past week was quite a blast.  Million dollar print shop and all that.  It's not exactly exciting work, but it is varied, and the people there have been awesome, treat me like I belong there, and generally much more candid than at most workplaces, despite being a government office. 

And they are keeping me around another week, to do unrelated tasks (the studio portion is being renovated, I get to move stuff.)  So I have a bit more to look forward to.  There have been some whispers that I might stick around for a while, and I have been advised to check USAJobs before it's too late, as there is a hiring freeze in effect as of Feb. 

Minor boohoo, there is a lot of downtime at this job, but they won't let us do any fun print projects, or even take contracts from a group like MAGFest because it's a government agency and they are afraid of unapproved print orders. 

Transitioning into jobs like this, as I've now experienced quite a bit, has proven to be pretty jarring to my sense of daily activity.  I haven't done much other than work and sleep, it seems.  At least I took care of a few more down to earth matters.