Green Beer on St. Patrick’s Day

by on March 19, 2014 at 7:09 am
Posted In: Blog, Humor

[dc]M[/dc]onday brought us St. Patrick’s Day, aka Rookie Day in most bars, pubs, and high school parking lots across the globe. I stuck to coffee and water myself,¹ but tagged along with Stephanie and her ‘Lansing Hooky’ crew for breakfast before heading to work.

With every St. Patrick’s Day, a familiar sight reared its ugly head. No, not my impatience with drunks in a crowded bar: green beer.

green beer

No. Image via Amazon.

I get the attraction to green beer, but I also don’t. As I said on the social medias:

While at one of the downtown watering holes, we asked what the green beer was this year (it is usually an F-grade light beer) mixed with Batman-knows what kind of green food coloring. “Busch Light, I think,” said the bartender, but then she added, “Or maybe Natty Ice.”

Our group pretty much wretched in unison. Or at least they did in my head, which makes it real. There was a reason the green beer was only 50 cents. Yes. 50 CENTS. Only slightly more than a postage STAMP (and honestly, I would rather get a stamp, because I love mailing cryptic letters and off-model Mickey Mouse drawings).

The way I see it, if you are going to drink (RESPONSIBLY), drink the good stuff (RESPONSIBLY). Besides, green beer looks a little too much like Mr. Spock’s Vulcan blood, which is creepy. I mean, if you wanna LARP² as a Star Trek Vulcan vampire (vulpire?), then more power to ya.

spock dog.

Close enough. Image via ThinkGeek.

But, if you just wanna mess yourself up on the cheap, why not just hit yourself on the head with a hammer? No. Don’t do that–unless you live in Toontown. I wonder what St. Patrick’s Day would be like in Toontown? Probably almost on par with East Lansing. Maybe.

I hope those who partook in the green beer made sure to turn off their smartphones. As I’ve said before: smartphones, wi-fi, and drinking don’t mix.

–
¹ Sorry, I’m not taking a day off work to bar crawl about 20 feet from where I work. Not gonna happen. I’m 32, I can bar crawl on any given Saturday if I want–right after I yell at teenagers to get off my proverbial lawn.

² That’s Live Action Role Play for you Normals.

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Stephanie is Worried About my Watercolor Cartoons

by on March 18, 2014 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Blog, Humor

[dc]S[/dc]ince I decided to play around with watercolor paint, I’m practicing when I can. This means a lot of practice paintings where I don’t care what the product looks like. I experiment with my cheapo watercolor paint kit. I do. I learn.

What I learned last week was, I need to keep these experimental cartoons out of sight. Or at least out of Stephanie’s sight. Some of my watercolor cartoons have her a bit, let’s say, concerned.

Especially this ‘self-portrait.’

watercolor cartoon

Stephanie is worried about me.

Stephanie: “What the hell is this?”

Me: “Me.”

Stephanie: “Why are you frowning?”

Me: ::SHRUG::

Stephanie: “Can’t you draw yourself smiling or being happy? Or at least use color?”

Me: ::SHRUG::

Stephanie: “This is the kind of thing parents talk to a therapist about.”

Me: “That actually happened.”

Stephanie: “…What?”

no filter fox

This No Filter Fox painting didn’t help either.

Me: “I was really young, but, apparently my drawings at home and school were freaking out my parents and teachers. I spent time with the school child shrink”

Stephanie: “Uh…drawings of what?”

Me: “I don’t really remember, Mom and Dad could tell you, but it was stuff like cracked skulls, bleeding heads, monsters, weird things, and–”

Stephanie (twisting her wedding band): “This explains SO much.”

And so on. Really, if you want an Exhibit A, all you need to do is look at one of my college animation projects, Lunch Date.


(video link / more of my animation)

I made peace with the fact I’m not destined to paint glowing cabins by a river a long time ago.

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Cat vs. Bristol Board

by on March 14, 2014 at 7:38 am
Posted In: Blog, Humor

[dc]W[/dc]hile paneling comics last night, Rags decided to ‘help.’ And by help, I mean bat at the Bristol board while I arranged it on my drawing table. The Bristol did not survive unscathed.

bristol board cat

Cat attack!

Yep. Rags took a corner out of my Bristol board, the little rascal. Cats. I was a bit miffed, as Bristol ain’t cheap–but then, how can I stay mad at this face?

cat

Rags T. Cat, being cute.

That darn cat. Good thing Rags is cute. Usually, Rags is a good helper when it comes to my comics, so I’ll let this slide. This time. He continued to ‘help’ by attacking my ruler, T-square, and pencil while I paneled. I ended up tossing Rags some junk mail, which kept him busy (Rags likes to pretend the junk mail is his, although I don’t know if he can read).

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Pen Showdown: Pilot Precise V5 vs. Uniball Jetstream 0.7

by on March 12, 2014 at 12:01 am
Posted In: Blog, News, Reviews

[dc]I[/dc] have an addiction: no, not Pogs. Six weeks in a treatment camp in the late 1990s cleared that up. I’m talking about pens. I love pens. All kinds of pens (well, except for gel pens). I’m always on the look out for the next ‘great pen.’ Be it for writing, drawing, or propping up my smartphone so I can read hockey blogs hands free (don’t judge).

Allow me to geek out about pens for a bit.

 Pilot is My Co-Pilot

My usual go-to, all-purpose pen is the Pilot Precise V5.

pilot precise v5

The Pilot Precise V5. Image via Amazon.

The Pilot Precise is cheap, reliable, and has a nice flow. I prefer extra fine-point pens, so the Precise V5 does the trick. It served me well on our Walt Disney World honeymoon, allowing me to take notes or sketch on the go with ease.¹

push disney world

My field sketch/notes about Push, the talking trashcan at Walt Disney World.

I learned the hard way I can’t rely on a pencil with my pocket sketchbooks. Even though I enjoy sketching with pencil, the lead fades or smears. I don’t have that problem with the Pilot Precise V5, and I can read my notes months later without a hint of a smudge, smear, or fade (assuming I can read my writing, of course).

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