Journals54
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Page Updates
2 min read
Hello to the few of you who still watch this page! I realized I haven't been on here too much lately other than to fulfill my club duties. Heck, my journal hasn't been updated in nearly two years. In the two years I've written that journal I got hired at a job in Maryland, got laid off in April of last year, spent a year in unemployment purgatory, and got hired at a new job in Virginia. In those two years I put doing art off to the wayside due to a combination of self doubt, depression, and stress from either working at a job or trying to search for jobs. After attending comic conventions with my friends, meeting cartoonists and reading lots of independent comics, I finally feel inspiration to start doing my own work again. Hopefully within the next couple weeks I'll have new work up on my page on a regular basis. Also, I'm revamping my page to show a new beginning as an artist. I've tossed most of my gallery into an "old works" folder to separate my old stuff from the new. Some of my old stuff I'm still proud of, while others not so much but I'll leave them up here to show my progress as a cartoonist.Thanks everyone and hopefully stay tuned!
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I Got A Job!
2 min read
10/10/10
Look at the date, straight tens! In other news, I just got a job! I got hired as an entry-level geospatial analyst at a firm in Rockville, Maryland that does a lot of government contracting work. I'll be working with them on a worldwide mapping project using LANDSAT data, which could be for the government or firms like Google and Microsoft. The pay's pretty decent for an entry-level job ($19.50 an hour), plus I'm getting paid more to work evening shift but that means I'll no longer have my weekday evenings free. Everyone there seems really nice. It kind of has the same collegiate atmosphere as my geography classes back at GMU where it's casual and everyone works together. Unfortunately it may only be for a year or so as I work with them on this project, but when they project is over the company will try its hardest to keep me on board. The worst that can happen is I leave the place with a year's worth of experience and a security clearance which will make finding another job a whole lot easier.
In not-so-good news, I'm getting over a sinus infection. Sometimes I feel like one of those "Bug Out Bob" stress reliever toys as my sinuses push against my eyes and ears. I'm now on antibiotics, so hopefully I'll be feeling nice and healthy by the time I start work on the 18th!
Look at the date, straight tens! In other news, I just got a job! I got hired as an entry-level geospatial analyst at a firm in Rockville, Maryland that does a lot of government contracting work. I'll be working with them on a worldwide mapping project using LANDSAT data, which could be for the government or firms like Google and Microsoft. The pay's pretty decent for an entry-level job ($19.50 an hour), plus I'm getting paid more to work evening shift but that means I'll no longer have my weekday evenings free. Everyone there seems really nice. It kind of has the same collegiate atmosphere as my geography classes back at GMU where it's casual and everyone works together. Unfortunately it may only be for a year or so as I work with them on this project, but when they project is over the company will try its hardest to keep me on board. The worst that can happen is I leave the place with a year's worth of experience and a security clearance which will make finding another job a whole lot easier.
In not-so-good news, I'm getting over a sinus infection. Sometimes I feel like one of those "Bug Out Bob" stress reliever toys as my sinuses push against my eyes and ears. I'm now on antibiotics, so hopefully I'll be feeling nice and healthy by the time I start work on the 18th!
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My Small Press Expo 2010 Experience
3 min read
Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted anything on here. I went over to the Small Press Expo, an independent and underground comics convention in Bethesda, Maryland with a couple of friends yesterday. I had a good time, throughout parts of it I had to struggle with my shyness/anxiety disorder to talk to some of the artists since this was the first convention of any kind I've gone to. My friend Dustin was happy because he got to meet Jeph Jacques, creator of the webcomic series "Questionable Content". Here were some of the highlights from the convention:
* I got to meet Danielle Corsetto, creator of the webcomic series "Girls With Slingshots". She was as nice as she could be and even took a picture with me! Sadly, I was so nervous during the whole thing I forgot to comment on how awesome the giant stuffed McPedro was behind her. She then drew a sketch of my favorite character Jamie.
* Then, I met Dave Kellet, creator of the webcomic series "Sheldon". Really nice guy. We talked about the current state of comics and how if you want to have any stab at being a comic artist, webcomics are the only way to go since newspapers are dying and syndicates usually want to stick with old, familiar names rather than scout for new talent. We also talked about the Comics Curmudgeon, and how it's a good place to find people to read your comics. Apparently Josh Fruhlinger was at SPX a few years back. A shame I didn't go then.
* I tried looking for Melissa DeJesus, artist for the comic series "My Cage", but unfortunately I didn't see her there. I wanted to tell her how unfair it was that "My Cage" was being cancelled, and what she planned on doing afterwards (More "Santa vs. Dracula"? Will "My Cage" become the webcomic it always really was?). Her friends/colleagues over at Estrigious Comics were there but I didn't want to seem like some jerk asking where she was at the risk of making it seem like I had no interest in their work.
* I got a copy of "Fred the Clown" by New Zealand-born British cartoonist Roger Langridge. I'm really getting into it. The comic to me is a mishmash of slapstick 1910s and '20s silent films/cartoons, and '60s underground comics. Roger was nice enough to only charge me $2 instead of $2.50 since I lacked the two quarters. He even gave me a bag since I stupidly left my bookbag at home and was trying to balace all my stuff in my hands.
* Lastly, I got to meet cartoonist Keith Knight. I talked to him about short-lived alternative comics publication Bash! Magazine, what it's like working under a syndicate, the differences between his two strips, and how long he's been in the business. He also showcased CDs by his group "The Marginal Prophets", which I of course, bought one. I hope I didn't come off as some annoying convention chucklehead asking him all those questions.
There was an animation showcase and a comics panel featuring cartoonist Richard Thompson (creator of "Cul de Sac" and "Richard's Poor Almanac), but my friends were so tired we headed back. Next year I'll try to see if I can assemble an even bigger group to bring over to SPX
* I got to meet Danielle Corsetto, creator of the webcomic series "Girls With Slingshots". She was as nice as she could be and even took a picture with me! Sadly, I was so nervous during the whole thing I forgot to comment on how awesome the giant stuffed McPedro was behind her. She then drew a sketch of my favorite character Jamie.
* Then, I met Dave Kellet, creator of the webcomic series "Sheldon". Really nice guy. We talked about the current state of comics and how if you want to have any stab at being a comic artist, webcomics are the only way to go since newspapers are dying and syndicates usually want to stick with old, familiar names rather than scout for new talent. We also talked about the Comics Curmudgeon, and how it's a good place to find people to read your comics. Apparently Josh Fruhlinger was at SPX a few years back. A shame I didn't go then.
* I tried looking for Melissa DeJesus, artist for the comic series "My Cage", but unfortunately I didn't see her there. I wanted to tell her how unfair it was that "My Cage" was being cancelled, and what she planned on doing afterwards (More "Santa vs. Dracula"? Will "My Cage" become the webcomic it always really was?). Her friends/colleagues over at Estrigious Comics were there but I didn't want to seem like some jerk asking where she was at the risk of making it seem like I had no interest in their work.
* I got a copy of "Fred the Clown" by New Zealand-born British cartoonist Roger Langridge. I'm really getting into it. The comic to me is a mishmash of slapstick 1910s and '20s silent films/cartoons, and '60s underground comics. Roger was nice enough to only charge me $2 instead of $2.50 since I lacked the two quarters. He even gave me a bag since I stupidly left my bookbag at home and was trying to balace all my stuff in my hands.
* Lastly, I got to meet cartoonist Keith Knight. I talked to him about short-lived alternative comics publication Bash! Magazine, what it's like working under a syndicate, the differences between his two strips, and how long he's been in the business. He also showcased CDs by his group "The Marginal Prophets", which I of course, bought one. I hope I didn't come off as some annoying convention chucklehead asking him all those questions.
There was an animation showcase and a comics panel featuring cartoonist Richard Thompson (creator of "Cul de Sac" and "Richard's Poor Almanac), but my friends were so tired we headed back. Next year I'll try to see if I can assemble an even bigger group to bring over to SPX
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New Music Blog Idea
2 min read
3/9/10
Because that's what the internet needs, another blog! But seriously, the idea I have in mind is one that hasn't really been done before. I want to do a blog analyzing the worst albums by highly regarded bands of the past. I felt that mocking albums by bad artists was too easy and that a bad album by a good artists is something even worse and more special. It won't be albums *I* personally think is bad, but rather what the general consensus thinks is a bad album by a good artist as sourced from online polls and lists from blogs and magazines. The disappointment the loyal listener in those pre-internet days must have felt dropping the needle down or popping in the tape/CD expecting another masterpiece but getting garbage instead. Many times this would signify the decline of a certain artist's career, other times a nasty blip in another artist's otherwise sterling oeuvre.
Sure, there are lists made by websites like Rolling Stone's that list what they think are the worst albums by good artists, but save for a sentence or two nothing is analyzed. We're supposed to except the fact that these are bad. So I figure with my unbiased ears I could analyze I could find out for myself if they're really all the bad as sites like Rolling Stone says, or perhaps after quite some time has passed the album actually turns out to be pretty good. My inspiration for this blog idea came from A.V. Club writer Nathan Rabin's series of reviews called "My Year of Flops" in which he looks at a movie that tanked at the box office in the past and decides whether it really was a turkey or an under-appreciated gem. Also I was inspired by "I Am Not The Beatles", a blog that hilariously looks at failed pop singles from the latter half of the Eighties and analyzes them with dry British wit. I'll first start with some albums from the Rolling Stone list like Van Halen's sublimely mediocre "Diver Down" album from 1982 and career-killing releases like Billy Idol's 1993 album "Cyberpunk". Do any of you out there have any suggestions?
Because that's what the internet needs, another blog! But seriously, the idea I have in mind is one that hasn't really been done before. I want to do a blog analyzing the worst albums by highly regarded bands of the past. I felt that mocking albums by bad artists was too easy and that a bad album by a good artists is something even worse and more special. It won't be albums *I* personally think is bad, but rather what the general consensus thinks is a bad album by a good artist as sourced from online polls and lists from blogs and magazines. The disappointment the loyal listener in those pre-internet days must have felt dropping the needle down or popping in the tape/CD expecting another masterpiece but getting garbage instead. Many times this would signify the decline of a certain artist's career, other times a nasty blip in another artist's otherwise sterling oeuvre.
Sure, there are lists made by websites like Rolling Stone's that list what they think are the worst albums by good artists, but save for a sentence or two nothing is analyzed. We're supposed to except the fact that these are bad. So I figure with my unbiased ears I could analyze I could find out for myself if they're really all the bad as sites like Rolling Stone says, or perhaps after quite some time has passed the album actually turns out to be pretty good. My inspiration for this blog idea came from A.V. Club writer Nathan Rabin's series of reviews called "My Year of Flops" in which he looks at a movie that tanked at the box office in the past and decides whether it really was a turkey or an under-appreciated gem. Also I was inspired by "I Am Not The Beatles", a blog that hilariously looks at failed pop singles from the latter half of the Eighties and analyzes them with dry British wit. I'll first start with some albums from the Rolling Stone list like Van Halen's sublimely mediocre "Diver Down" album from 1982 and career-killing releases like Billy Idol's 1993 album "Cyberpunk". Do any of you out there have any suggestions?
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Decade In Review: 2000-2009
3 min read
12/31/09</u>
Well, here it comes, the end of the very first decade of the 21st century. I can say for sure this has been quite a roller coaster of a decade with some ups and lots of downs. I began this decade as a frustrated and naive middle school student and came out of it as a frustrated but wiser adult. I can say for sure spending my formative years living in the shadow of Washington DC under the Bush years has had quite an influence on the way I am. I learned to be wary of nationalism when it gets out of hand and becomes blind and jingoistic. I learned that living in the United States does not shield you from the aggression of foreign terrorism when the Pentagon, eight miles up the road from my high school, was hit with an airplane on Sept. 11, 2001. With all the bollards and jersey barriers that went up afterwards, my Washington DC became less the city of museums and memorials and became more like a fortress. As phony loans pumped the real estate boom throughout here and the rest of the US, oversized subdivisions began popping up like pimples, gobbled up woods and farmland, and revealed the ugly head of American excess. Cathedral ceilings, gourmet kitchens and six bedrooms in every house for those that had no need for them. Gentrification expanded throughout Washington city, transforming once dangerous and rundown neighborhoods into trendy enclaves with the downside of pushing out poor minority residents and replacing them with rich white ones. Then the misdeeds of the real estate boom caught up with the economy and sent it tanking, causing massive unemployment and making my post-grad employment environment no better than it was when my dad graduated from college in 1981. Even here with our bubble economy made out of the federal government and government contractors.
I, like the city, also went through many transformations. I went from a bashful dork kid to rebellious teen to snarky unemployed college grad in nine years (though never fully shedding the bashful dork). My passions turned from Japanese animation (as evident in my earlier deviations on here) to music. My room gradually became a mess of records and CDs. I spend the first half of the decade a stranger to love and I leave the decade heartbroken and extremely cautious of what comes next. However, my love of art will always remain a constant as I've learned about and absorbed many different styles and artists throughout this decade. I hope to take these influences and for once really truly do something with it. I'm trying to amass the confidence and ambition.
Here's to hoping the 2010's prove to be a much better decade with better luck and new, exciting challenges
Well, here it comes, the end of the very first decade of the 21st century. I can say for sure this has been quite a roller coaster of a decade with some ups and lots of downs. I began this decade as a frustrated and naive middle school student and came out of it as a frustrated but wiser adult. I can say for sure spending my formative years living in the shadow of Washington DC under the Bush years has had quite an influence on the way I am. I learned to be wary of nationalism when it gets out of hand and becomes blind and jingoistic. I learned that living in the United States does not shield you from the aggression of foreign terrorism when the Pentagon, eight miles up the road from my high school, was hit with an airplane on Sept. 11, 2001. With all the bollards and jersey barriers that went up afterwards, my Washington DC became less the city of museums and memorials and became more like a fortress. As phony loans pumped the real estate boom throughout here and the rest of the US, oversized subdivisions began popping up like pimples, gobbled up woods and farmland, and revealed the ugly head of American excess. Cathedral ceilings, gourmet kitchens and six bedrooms in every house for those that had no need for them. Gentrification expanded throughout Washington city, transforming once dangerous and rundown neighborhoods into trendy enclaves with the downside of pushing out poor minority residents and replacing them with rich white ones. Then the misdeeds of the real estate boom caught up with the economy and sent it tanking, causing massive unemployment and making my post-grad employment environment no better than it was when my dad graduated from college in 1981. Even here with our bubble economy made out of the federal government and government contractors.
I, like the city, also went through many transformations. I went from a bashful dork kid to rebellious teen to snarky unemployed college grad in nine years (though never fully shedding the bashful dork). My passions turned from Japanese animation (as evident in my earlier deviations on here) to music. My room gradually became a mess of records and CDs. I spend the first half of the decade a stranger to love and I leave the decade heartbroken and extremely cautious of what comes next. However, my love of art will always remain a constant as I've learned about and absorbed many different styles and artists throughout this decade. I hope to take these influences and for once really truly do something with it. I'm trying to amass the confidence and ambition.
Here's to hoping the 2010's prove to be a much better decade with better luck and new, exciting challenges
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