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The day after Christmas brought a gnarly cold that had me curled up under a pile of blankets for two days. I’m still snarfly, but I feel better. But drawing, blogging, comicking? All that stuff went by the wayside.

Not that I didn’t agonize over all of it, though! I’m taking a month off the comic proper to do some development work on it, so I’ve begun at least thinking about what I want to do. My original goal was to get through three months- the comic didn’t have to be funny, or particularly consistent, just updated three times a week, full color for three months, just to answer the question of whether I can even do this at all, will I find it worthwhile? Yes I can, and yes I do. Now it’s time to think about what I really want this to be.

• I absolutely don’t want to half-ass it like I have been. As it is right now, I wouldn’t read my comic if I weren’t producing it myself. I’m pretty sure I want to do less strips a week if it means I can make them of a higher quality.
• I don’t want to be stuck with the core characters to the exclusion of the rest of the world. I have a ton of notes and sketches about things that have nothing to do with the core six characters, and I want to explore that stuff. But I don’t want to confuse people.
• I want this to be fun. Although the December strips are some of my favorites in terms of writing and character development, getting them out on time was really starting to feel like homework, and I think you can see it in the drawings. This ties in with my first bullet- If I’m only doing two strips a week and they’re great and I can make the drawings really really good, not only will I enjoy it more, I’ll enjoy showing it to people more.
• I want to get the characters’ looks solidified. I need to spend some time with each character and really nail them down. Pan has evolved so much from where he started (I’d say he’s probably the most well developed character at this point, too. He’s certainly the most fun to write!), but I don’t even really have control over the kitties yet.

Lots to think about. Lots of drawing and notes and writing to do.  Can’t wait.

Four glorious days off lay ahead of me. It’s 10:30 am at the TV Farm and I have a few small things that need to be done before 5 to be ready for the long weekend. There is a four-pound rib roast in our fridge and we have no guests, so we can glut ourselves on delicious meat and rice salad and festive holiday drinks.

Maybe I’ll work on finally getting my portfolio online. Maybe this time I really mean it. I’ll forgive myself if I just laze around under a blanket all weekend watching the Fraggle Rock DVDs my dad sent me for Christmas. Maybe I’ll do all three!

Merry Christmas

I like all the little things they add to make the drinks special at Seattle’s Best. Aren’t they owned by Starbucks? Why doesn’t Starbucks do this?

Technorati Tags: coffee, cookie, gingerbread, holidailies, latte

Actually, don’t deck your dogs with holly. I think it’s poisonous. But The bows were cute. We couldn’t get any good pictures until they mellowed out.

May I now direct your attention to episode #36 of SnoogleZoo.

I promise I am not making fun of hobos or freegans. I do not promise that this character has nothing to do with the Laugh-out-Loud Cats. Scruffy is fun to write for, but hard to draw fast.

I’m on a roll right now making new stuff for my shops. I wish I had managed to have this momentum before the Christmas shipping deadlines had passed, but what can you do? I like this little guy- he’s sort of a sequel to the other paper owl design I did, only more complicated. I think he’s cute.

…Which I wear to the office when it’s below 40. Yes, I know it’s unprofessional, but this is Humboldt County, and it’s a warm hat!

I’ve been working so hard at Doing Stuff and Being Interesting lately that I haven’t been getting much sleep. I made a lasagna last night (which I’m looking forward to eating for the next three or four days), and I’ve been adding a lot of stuff to my cafepress shop, but I totally skipped over Monday’s comic and I don’t feel like making up for it. Also I’m falling behind with Holidailies. Whatevs, man. I’m not going to spend all 30 days of Holidailies writing about how I have nothing to write for Holidailies.

Boss is on vacation at the TV Farm this week, which does two things: I have more of a chance to get away with slackitude, and I have more stuff to do that I have to fit in around my slackitude. Which balances the whole thing out, after all.

I will draw tonight. I will draw tonight. I will draw tonight. And I will probably not sleep enough tonight, either.

Technorati Tags: drawing, holidailies

…and thus, I have decorated my desk for the Holidays

Technorati Tags: desk, polar bear, tapes, video, wind-up toy

Called in sick to the TV farm on Wednesday, and spent the entire day sleeping. At least I’m getting getting-sick out of the way before the Christmas maelstrom hits. But, dangit I have work to do! I’m getting some of it done insofar as I’ve been adding new and exciting stuff to my cafepress store at a rate greater than most of the rest of the year (which is to say I’ve done it three times in three days and updated all the old sections with the new products), but that’s still not quite where I’d like to be right now. And my comic is suffering.

I think I’m not sick so much as exhausted. Well, there are a few days off on the horizon. Stay on target…

Technorati Tags: busy, CafePress, christmas, fatigue, work