The Adventures of Mathman and Dragongirl!

Don't forget to watch tonight's ALL NEW episode of Stargate Universe on Syfy!!!!

2011 ECCC Logo

Oh my goodness, Emerald City Comiccon (ECCC) was an absolute blast! We met some cool people, I came out of my shell a little bitty bit, I got lots of photos, a few videos, and a TON of swag. My husband and I also got to do a few touristy things while we were in Seattle outside of the convention. All in all, I'd say we celebrated our sixth anniversary in style.

We are flying back home today, and losing two hours in the process because of the time change (joy). I am looking forward to seeing my daughter again, I can tell you that. I know she is going to look like she has grown exponentially since we left, sigh. I am going to split up my recap of the convention into a few posts for you (partly because one entry would be MASSIVE, which I don't have the time for at the moment, and partly because my laptop doesn't like the video format my camera uses and I also have a few photos I need to scan so I can post, so there are some things I can't share with you until I am at home anyway).

Today, we'll focus on webcomics. I got to meet everyone I was hoping to meet, and picked up quite a few books and other merchandise. (Yay!) I even picked up a book for a new comic that I hadn't heard of but that looked really interesting, as well as cards for several other potential new series to check out. I will let you know more about those if I enjoy them! I was really impressed by all of the webcomic artists represented at the show, I can see why this convention is one of the favorites of the folks I read. Everyone I met and talked to was really nice. We got quite a few groovy sketches, and I even managed to get photos with my top three (well, four, technically).

Lar de Souza, me, and Ryan Sohmer.

On day one I got to pose for a photo with two very talented guys. Lar and Sohmer draw and write (respectively) Looking for Group and Least I Could Do, and they are the creative force behind The Gutters. That's a lot of strips to manage, but these guys manage to keep it going and maintain three top-quality comics. I rushed right to their booth as soon as the con opened up so I could be sure to get a stuffed Fel Bunny (to go with my stuffed Li'l Richard). I also got a new Richard shirt. They were both super nice and genuinely excited to be at the convention.

Also, I got oodles of compliments on my Pony shirt that day, which was really nice, and it let me point a few people towards the LFG/LICD/TG booth.

Me with Dave Kellett.

On day two I got to pose with Dave Kellet, creator/writer/artist of Sheldon and Drive, which I have gushed about here before. Met him on day one (his booth was right behind Lar and Sohmer's), but wanted a photo with him in my Sheldon shirt, so went back to say hi again the next day (and to tell him how awesome the newest Drive strip was). When we were buying swag from him on the first day, he had forgotten a sharpie with which to sign prints, and I had one in my bag, so I gave it to him (I have many, many sharpies at home). We had to pop into Walgreen's Saturday morning to pick up something for my husband and I wandered past the section with sharpies, so we decided to pick up a couple more for Kellett, so he could have them just in case. He possibly thought I was a little crazy and sharpie-obsessed (it is not as if he would be wrong to think this, mind you), but he was super nice every time we stopped by to talk to him. Just a stand-up guy.

Me with Jeph Jaques.

On day three I rounded out my artist trifecta with a picture of myself and Jeph Jaques, creator/writer/artist of Questionable Content. I also ended up buying a second QC shirt (I have mentioned that I love the shirts this guy makes, right? The two I got this weekend bring me up to at least four for his strip, and we bought another two for someone else as a gift for Christmas last year), one about sharks. I my have weirded him out a bit when I told him that he has ruined dolphins for me, but I meant it in the best way possible. That way being that I am sure his intent was to educate people about what jerks dolphins are, and in my case, he succeeded. Super glad I got to meet him though. I also got a pretty nifty sketch of Momo (the most adorable anthroPC in the strip) in my book, score!

Since one of my major goals for the convention was to get to meet/get photos with/get sketches from my favorite webcomic artists, on that note alone, I think we can call the weekend a rousing success. Of course, there were many, many other awesome moments throughout the weekend, and I'll go into some of those tomorrow.

(Brief aside: Yes, Stargate Universe starts up again tonight, yay! Though, grr, why did they move it to Mondays? Sigh. I probably won't get to watch it tonight because we will be getting in from our trip right around when it airs. I will do my episode recap/review later in the week though, I just ask for a little patience on that front. Regular Stargate blogging (now on Tuesdays) will pick up next week.)

To close today, I thought I'd show you all of the swag my hubby and I picked up at the convention:

Stuff! Stuff! Stuff!

For reference, that is a king-sized bed. Yeah...

Confetti!

By which I mean several small bits and pieces...

Realized that yesterday's blog was my 100th entry on Searching For Me. That's pretty spiffy, I would say. So, maybe some literal confetti is in order as well as the figurative kind. I started this blog mostly as a writing exercise--mainly to make myself write at least five days a week so as to keep in practice and hone my craft. I would say I have mostly done pretty okay so far. To those of you who are reading, thanks.

In other quasi-writing news, I am through chapter twelve of the read through of my first draft of Living Legend and still really enjoying it. I have also found one glaring contradiction that definitely needs to be addressed (it came about due to my frenzied writing schedule, I think, just a throwaway line that makes something that happens later a little fishy if I leave it as is). I also found a few instances of characters acting very unlike who they are in my head, so I need to try to establish valid reasons for the behavior or do some rewrites there. Of course, there is also the fact that about two-thirds of the way through writing I decided that one of my mains shouldn't speak in contractions. I am finding lots of early (and not so early) places of her using contractions though so my Big Pink Pen of Doom (it was going to be red, but I couldn't find my red pen) has been going nuts circling. That is probably something I will be continuing to search for through my next two drafts, I am sure. But it is progressing well, I think.

In a recent blog entry, Stargate writer Joseph Mallozzi listed what would be his dream team composed of characters from all three shows of the franchise. It consisted of Ronald Greer, Vala Mal Doran, Rodney McKay, and Ronon Dex, with Richard Woolsey holding down the fort at the base of operations. I have to say, I loved this team! I do think a few more additions would be necessary though: Daniel Jackson (mostly to keep Vala in check, but also because his linguistic and anthropological skills are good for first contact), Major Lorne as the team leader (Greer is awesome but he's got a temper and needs to be taking orders from someone a with a cooler head), and T.J. as the medic (because with Rodney and Ronon and Greer, they will need a medic available). It was a fun little thing to picture in my head this group of adventurers, all very different, and try to conceive of how their team dynamic would develop. I started wondering how I would get them all together, what with Greer and T.J. being stuck on the other side of the universe and all. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I really want to write a story with these characters. So, unless I succumb to the urge to write this before November, this is going to be my fan fiction NaNoWriMo novel this year.

Watched the season finale of Human Target last night and absolutely loved it. Though I have to say it raised a lot more questions than it provided answers for me. I have my fingers and toes crossed that this show gets picked up for a third season. I really do enjoy it so very much, and the cast is just clicking like it is nobody's business. I really hope to get to see them work together for a long time to come.

I am still working my way through getting caught up on Questionable Content. I am now past strip 1,000, so I would say that is progressing nicely. I did finally catch up to where I started reading it (I was surprised that I have been reading it for so long), and now I am enjoying getting to read those strips all over again and getting the inside jokes and references to previous story lines. My poor husband is getting drowned in emailed links to strips I think he'd find amusing. He also has to listen to me giggle maniacally while I read them, since we share an office. But the guy's a trooper, and I am reminded once more how lucky I am that he loves me!

I took the Jeopardy! Online Test last night. I think I got maybe a third to half of the questions right. That's not great, but it's better than last  year, which is at the very least encouragement to keep trying. There were a few questions that I clearly had no clue about, a few that I think I knew the answer to, and at least three that I did know the answer to but couldn't pull it out of my brain in time. Grr. Still, I am glad I did it. As unrealistic as it is to think that I'll end up going on Jeopardy! and winning big, it is a quite lovely little daydream nonetheless.

Now, if only we can get Wheel of Fortune to come back and hold their next round of auditions when I am actually in town...

Productivity, She Is Not My Friend

Man, the snowstorm absolutely killed my productivity drive this past week. I mean, I had a ton of free time and I did not get nearly as much done as I had planned to, or even that I felt I should have.

I did manage to blow out my new slippers that I just made for myself last month though. I decided I should just suck it up and buy a pair of bunny slippers so I stop wearing through the handmade pairs. I went ahead and ordered this pair last night. I know they are a bit pricey, but I think that they will be worth it if they keep my feet warm and if I don't wear them out in a month.

I made some progress on my Doctor Who scarf, but not a whole lot. There were a couple of days this week where I just didn't work on it at all. I really had a lazy bug. Then when I did work on it, I often didn't get much done before my daughter decided it would be an opportune time to use me as a jungle gym. Pointy Needles + Personal Space Challenged baby = A Bad Idea. I had initially hoped I would have this done by the first weekend in March, because my husband and I are going to the Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle. That seemed like the perfect place to inaugurate such a delightfully geeky accessory. I did some math last weekend though and realized that I was unlikely to finish it in time though, and that kind of killed my drive a little. Don't get me wrong, I am still enjoying working on it, but I am not in any hurry to get it finished now. This may be the kind of project I take breaks from with other projects, I hate to say. We shall see. Here is what I have gotten done so far though, for the curious. This is about 15% completed here:

Doctor Who scarf as of 02.06.11.

While I printed out my manuscript early in the week so I could start reading through it, I didn't actually get on that until Saturday. Still, I've made some decent progress (and found some glaring typos) over the course of the weekend, I think. I am up through chapter five out of sixteen, so that's not too bad. I have already made a few notes on things I need to research or just flesh out, though I am mostly going to wait until I finish reading it and then start the actual revising to seriously figure out where I need to add, subtract, and explore a bit more. Right now the read through is just about actually reading it as a whole story and seeing how it stands up. I have to say, I am really enjoying reading it so far. At the very least, I wrote a story that totally appeals to me.

So what did I actually get done this weekend? Hmm, let's see. Well, I played with my daughter, a lot. I don't think I mentioned, but we did take her out to play in the snow on Wednesday.

Baby Girl checking out the winter weather.

Mostly she just ran around the yard, checking out the varying textures in the ground. She is really big on the changing textures of the ground. If we have a baby gate down, she loves to run back and forth between the carpet and the hardwood floor of the hallway. We didn't keep her outside for very long, because it was cold, but still, I am glad we took her out there, it was nice. Snow still may not be my favorite thing in the world, but I can appreciate it a little bit more when I see it through my daughter's eyes.

I played a bit of my video game, though not a whole lot. I am enjoying it, but there have been a few spots where I have had to play through a certain level several times (due to repeated death), and that can get a little frustrating, requiring many breaks.

I watched some Doctor Who, I am currently enjoying my series five dvd set. The "Meanwhile in the Tardis" tag scenes are delightful. If you watch this series on dvd, definitely go episode by episode so you can choose to watch the additional scene at the end of the episode it was intended for. Also, I fully voiced a realization that has been creeping up on me for some time. David Tennant will always be my first Doctor, no question. But, I am pretty sure that Matt Smith is my doctor. I just absolutely adore him. He won me over in his first episode, and he just continued to wow me through the entire season. It's crazy I know, but it is what it is.

What I did do a lot of this week was to read Questionable Content. It is one of the webcomics I mentioned in my previous post on the topic. I decided to go back to the beginning and get caught up on all of the strips I had missed out on before jumping in. Wow. Talk about a time-suck (an enjoyable one, but still). He's on strip 1856. I have made it up through strip 785. I am really enjoying getting all of the back story on these people, meeting the characters for the first time, seeing how certain alliances formed and have shifted over time. This comic is an amazing tapestry of story. Also, Jacques' art was never bad to begin with, but man has his style evolved over the last eight years. It is crazy. I love it! This makes me even more excited that he's going to be at Emerald City Comic Con. I definitely hope to meet him when we go, and he does finally have a printed book out for the strip, so I think that is definitely something I will have to pick up (and probably get signed), along with hopefully a t-shirt. Like I said, guy make some awesome shirts. Definitely the drawback to going back and reading this from the beginning is seeing all of the nifty shirt designs I have totally missed out on because they have long since been retired.

So that was my week and weekend. It may not have been terribly productive, but it wasn't really a waste either. Guess I can't really complain, huh? Besides, on Saturday the sun came out and the temperatures finally went above freezing. This caused all of the ice and snow in our driveway and yard to melt away, making things seem much more normal around here now.

Here's hoping some equilibrium finds its way to my place this week.

TTFN!

Webcomics Are Awesome: Not For Kids Edition

So one of the interesting developments with the rise of webcomics is the fact that these comic strips are not being run in your daily paper.  That means that, while many webcomic artists try to make their strips fun and appropriate for the whole family, they certainly don't have to.  And there are quite a few that don't.

Today I thought I would share with you some of those that choose to break the traditional view that comics are only for kids.  I would rate these M for mature audiences due to language or content or both.  These aren't everyone's cup of tea, to be sure, but I enjoy them. Links in the name of the strip are to the comic's "about" page where available and to the first archived strip where not.

Gutters created by Ryan Sohmer (Art Director:  Lar deSouza, Artist:  various)
Updated:  Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Type:  Non-serial

This strip comes from the guys that created Looking For Group, which I have talked about before.  It is a series of stand alone strips that, as Sohmer describes them, basically amount to "an editorial cartoon targeting comic books."  Here Sohmer pokes fun at not only the comic book industry, but also the characters and stories found within their pages.  It is done lovingly, but with a biting humor that is hard to resist.  While his long-time colleague deSouza is the Art Director for the strip, one of the really nifty hooks of Gutters is that each strip is drawn by a different artist from within the webcomic and comic book industries, which results in a lot of absolutely gorgeous panels to look at.  The strip has only been up and running since last June, so it is an easy one to go back and get caught up on, although it is not necessary to do so since there are no story arcs.  The first strip can be found here. 

Hijinks Ensue by Joel Watson
Updated:  Monday through Friday
Type:  Non-serial (with the occasional multiple-strip story arc)

This is another webcomic that I decided to subscribe to after being directed to it many times by Whedonesque (the website that keeps track on all articles related to the Whedonverse and people perceived to belong to it).  Basically, this is a comic about geeky things, by geeks, for geeks.  Watson's strips often revolve around the current happenings in television shows, the news, video games, and other things of that sort.  The main characters in the strip are caricaturisations of himself and two of his friends.  The humor is often dark and snarky, in a way that provides an outlet for that nerd rage so many of us often feel.  It has been running since May of 2007 and you can find the first strip here should you wish to, though Watson freely admits that there is no need to start from the beginning, and in fact, the art gets much better the more the strip progresses.  Mostly just one-off jokes about whatever is going on in the world of geeks right now, this is a great strip to just dive right on into. 

Least I Could Do by Ryan Sohmer and Lar deSouza
Updated:  Daily
Type:  Serial (Monday-Saturday)

Huh.  Oh look, it's those guys again.  Yup, this is the "real world" comic by the Looking for Group guys.  It centers around an absolutely ridiculous sex-crazed guy named Rayne and his, um, adventures.  I started reading this because I love Looking for Group and wanted to check out more by this duo.  I'll admit, though, this has kind of become like a train-wreck that I can't look away from.  It's definitely the raciest of the webcomics I read.  There are the occasional nerdy references, of course, and Rayne is surrounded by friends and family who actually seem to be pretty well adjusted, and keep the story grounded.  More or less.  On Sundays the site runs a series of "Beginnings" one-off strips that show Rayne as a kid.  Dennis the Menace had nothing on him, let me tell you.  But it is an enjoyable strip, and it isn't always about sex.  I am not really sure how to describe this one, other than that.  Here I would just have to say, go check it out, read a week or two worth of strips, and see if it is your thing.  It's been running since February of 2003, and the first strip is here.  One day I am going to go back and get caught up on these, and then maybe I'll actually know what the heck is going on.  But that day is not today. 

Our Valued Customers by MRTIM

Updated:  Daily
Type:  Non-serial

Okay, technically, this one is a blog, not a comic.  This blogger works in a comic book store and at some point started doing little sketches of the people that come into his store and the crazy stuff they say.  That's all it is, but it is lovely.  With a few sketched lines and a little bit of dialogue, he manages to paint a picture of these people as clearly as if they were standing right in front of you, just waiting to be smacked.  Seriously, most of them need it.  I don't think it has been running for very long, but it is kind of hard to tell, because I don't see an archive link on the blog, unfortunately.  Thankfully, this is just one you can dive right into though.

Penny Arcade by Gabe and Tycho

Updated:  Frequently
Type:  Non-serial (mostly)

This is a long, long running webcomic.  If you're a gamer, you've probably heard about it.  It is mostly about video games and sometimes about technology or other nerd stuff.  Occasionally they'll get a story and go for a few strips in a row with that.  It is irreverent, and the language is definitely rated R or higher.  I'll admit that I only get about half of the jokes, because these guys are hardcore gamers on a level I know I will never achieve.  But when I do get the joke?  Oh.  My.  God.  HILARIOUS.  That's all I'm saying there.

Questionable Content by Jeph Jacques
Update:  Monday through Friday
Type:  Serial

Not gonna lie, out of the comics listed in today's post, this is my favorite.  It is right up there with Sheldon and Looking for Group as one of my favorite webcomics period.  This is about a group of twenty-somethings who all hang out or work in (or own) a coffee shop called "Coffee of Doom."  But it is nothing like that television show about a bunch of twenty-somethings who all used to work or hang out in a coffee shop, I swear.  Set in a college town (some of the characters work at or are students at the college as well), they are fans of indie music and are just trying to muddle through life trying to relate to each other.  My favorite character is Hannelore, who is super genius and super-OCD, but learning to loosen up a little as time goes by.  There are also AnthroPC characters, which are basically sentient MP3 players or other such like devices.  One of them is a dirty, dirty perv.  It's just a fascinating story and I get excited every single time I see that a new day's comic has been added to my feed reader.  I was, in fact, jumping up and down in excitement when I saw that Jacques had been added to list of artists who will be attending this year's Emerald City Comic Con.  It has been going for quite some time (since 2003), but I think this is a strip that you could jump right into, maybe only needing to go back as far as the current story line.  That's what I did.  I will one day go back and read it all though, so if you want to try that, the first strip is here. Also, this guy is responsible for some of the best t-shirts out there.  I own at least two from the store and have my eyes on several more.

Very Bad Koalas by Nicholas Brendon and Steve Loter
Updated:  Wednesdays
Type:  Serial

Yes, you read that right.  Nicholas Brendon.  This is a brand new strip, it just started at the end of this past September.  It's a weekly strip about two koala bears on the run from the law.  They are wanted for many crimes that they do not remember committing, nor do they seem to know each other, but they have found themselves thrown together on this adventure as they try to figure out just what the heck is going on.  It looks like they are planning for it to only run for a year, and you can start with the first strip here. 

So.  There you have it.  A little taste of what makes me laugh in the mornings.  Also, perhaps more of a glimpse into my psyche than you wanted.  Hopefully you'll find something here that you can enjoy as well.  There are a few other strips that would qualify as not safe for kids on my regular list, but I think those can each pull their own post, so I will save them for a later date.  For now, go check out a strip or two.  I am a firm believer that we should all start our day off with a few laughs.