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4/3/02 - Yeah, I'm still here. Even doing a bit better. Just not feeling very chatty lately.
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4/5/02 - Well, this dinner at Judi's was only going to be 4 nights, but bruno just went off on tangents I didn't expect, and so it looks like it will be more likely 6 nights or so. So anyhow, I hate cutting a sequence with the weekend, but there it is. Saturday may not feel like a natural break like i usally try for.
Oh, and I got another rejection letter about a week ago, sorry I didn't post about it earlier, I wasn't exactly inspired.... heh. Yeah, I can't even remember which syndicate. Just a form letter. I'll try to post it soon, but yeah... that leaves one left. I believe Amy Lago, who i know likes my stuff too. Cross you're fingers, but don't hold your breath.
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4/11/02 - Don't worry, when i write things like "my readers" I in no way mean you guys, who actually read my strip. It's all about the little voices inside my head. In fact, I actually have felt really good about this last week, I thought it was a really good sequence, but... well.. just inactive. I felt like she's been just spinning wheels ever since she walked up Hawthorne Street a few weeks back, and though this past week was really nice, the wheels havn't stopped spinning. Today just feels like a situational recap, and hopefully tomorrow a move forward. Who knows. Just silliness. Like anything ever happened in Bruno in the past anyhow.
oh, and I recieved the final nail in Madge's coffin, another rejection form-letter from the last of the four syndicates. Again, i will try and post the last two rejections letter soon. What next? Who knows. Clear my head. Focus on dating. Who knows.
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4/12/02 - yeah yeah, hold on, "car exhaust".... oh right, there it is, on1/11/02, during the week of 1/7/02.
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4/15/02 - Okay, just to keep people up on me and all my issues and stuff, in case Bruno wasn't quite entertaining enough. I've been feeling quite a bit better these last couple of weeks. I'd like to cite that it was simply taking St. John's Wort (couldn't have been me), but I haven't been taking it long enough for it to have any effect yet, so it must just be another shift in my moods. And at this point, even though happy shifts are still more pleasant than downward shifts, a shift remains a shift, which means my emotions are unstable and thus prone to yet-again downward changes.
But things are positive now, so I'll just try to keep things up and concentrated. Cross your fingers.
Anyhow, but I wanted to talk a bit about me being late here and there for Bruno. I think it's a good time to talk, since I'm feeling more sane now. And of note, Saturday's strip was late, but that was a fluke, I simply had fun for too long Friday night, and then just didn't get to it. But yes, anyways...
"the importance of beating myself up"
I simply have to, in order to keep up Bruno. I have recieved many emails about doing it only a few times a week, or something, so that there would at least be SOME strips, rather than me going nuts and there being none. But here's the deal.
Bruno is not my conflict.
Work is my conflict. I simply hate working an office job for 40 hours per week when I could be creating beauty. I NEED to create beauty. I don't have any options. A factual stroy, serisouly: In 6th grade, I realized that if I was a normal office-job joe at age 28, I'd kill myself. Seriously. So right now, I feel that if I give up Bruno, right now, I'd be giving up everything.
So, just for your information: the ONLY way Bruno will terminate, is if another art project takes it's place. Bruno will not be reduced. Bruno will not go on vacation. And hopefully, it will continue even during future art projects. I would love to see her actually get old (despite you all wanting to kill me in the eventuality of that case, in about 6-10 years, when I'd have to have cat die of old age).
In fact, my response has more been that I need to do MORE projects, because work isn't keeping me from doing Bruno, work is keeping me from creating the multitude of other things in my head. Quitting Bruno would be like having your job making you unhappy, and so dumping your girlfriend. What you really should do is get rid of the job and get many girlfriends.
Oh right, I mean: "and spend MORE time with THE girlfriend".
Anyhow, pathetic attempt at humor there. So yeah, right now I'm doing well. However, in regards to the Bruno storyline, I've felt completely lost ever since Judi's plot tied up semi-neatly. I do have other little side-plots that I subtly have currently going on, but I'm just feeling kind of lost. Which is both good and bad.
Bad is that every day takes a LONG time to write as i have NO IDEA what I'm doing and am VERY frustrated. Good is that I think my strength has always lied in my never having any idea what I was doing, in fact, being lost often trips me into doing my best work.
But not knowing what I'm doing? "How do you mean?" you ask. Mind you, I've always understood some basic structure and story-telling ideas, but Bruno is unique because I didn't know or allow myself to know what a "comic strip" is supposed to be. Later I became more aware of what "comic strip" is supposed to be, but only after I had disacknowledged Bruno from being a "comic strip". It's a comic strip, just not a "comic strip".
Would you believe me if i told you I don't really know any anatomy? All my figure drawings are based on what i see, not what i know. So yes, i don't really know what I'm doing. A strength? Maybe.
Who knows. In the end, I'm just some clueless Joe who likes to tell stories, and make things. Beautiful things. I like making crepes. They're pretty beautiful. And more tasty than the semiedible paper that Bruno is drawn on.
kisses,
-christopher
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4/19/02 - Thank you "librarian" person, that so made my day! Sorta' like little angels looking out for me. (Yay Tom Petty!)
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4/22/02 - okay, it seems this evening (sunday) my modem died. I have no idea at present how I'm going to tackle this problem, but know that if any day ends up is missing, know that somehow kinkos didn't fly or some such issue got in my way. Also, any email I am sent this week has an iffy chance at reply... I mean, frankly, I've been really terrible at email, more nad more-so as the years pass. I appreciate and read and love all email i recieve, I'm just always so overloaded and simply am not organized enough to reply to all of them. Anyhow, anyhow, not meaning to suddenly beat myself up here. A bit in a plummox.
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4/23/02 - I made some mention of it in the margin there on today's strip, that a "creamie" is a "soft-serve" ice-cream cone, or a "soft-cone". One of those foods which have varied names across the country.
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4/24/02 - It's funny how well you know what water looks like until you actually look at it, especially in such massive forms. But yeah, drawing it? Anyhow, my point being that I think today's strip looks lovely, but if you're unsure, the white splurbishly thing on the right-hand side is the waterfall itself.
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4/25/02 - I've forgotten what the name of the park is that today's is in, but I will find out and write it in the margin. Since I don't have internet right now, i couldn't easily look it up, and I didn't think to ask the people I went with this weekend to the gorge, who have a map, what the name of it is.
The graveyard shift at "Kinkos" now recognize me, and have not given me too much crap for putting my floppy in the zip drive when i was half paying attention a couple nights ago. :sigh:
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4/26/02 - OKay, so i had dinner and wine with a friend, and then another friend, who had found me a modem to lend, stopped by and we all drank more wine, and chat with light drink led to an almost Hemmingwayian evening, and i didn't get home til a bit late and a bit tight. So yeah, I have a modem, for now, which makes me so happy, but just couldn't get going on drawing the strip. I guess I burned bright this week, but couldn't keep up with it and other things in my life. I mean, of course both Friday and Saturday's strips are written, planned, and will be drawn, but for today, none, sorry!...... BUT!!!!!
This weekend I went to the Columbia River gorge with my friends Kip and Jenn, of which I referred to briefly before. Of note, Kip you will see up-and-coming as the author of the foreword for Book#7, which he wrote beautifully from the view of a much better read comic critiquer than I'll ever be. But anyhow, off track, my point: Jenn, took a bunch of pictures which she has posted on their site of our outing, which I thought you all might find interesting as a counter-balance to this week's strips. Jenn herself has been creating a comic book on her site, which I've been waiting to link to until she has more up, but hell, I can just link again if I ever get around to it. but yeah their site, on which you'll find both the pictures of "the columbia gorge in springtime" but as well her comicbooks "dicebox" (click on the hand holding the dice for that one). All at http://www.lead-to-gold.com/.
My best,
-Christopher
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4/27/02 - I did finally finish friday's strip, late on friday (this one you are looking at now), but have not finished saturdays's strip, and I will be out most of the day saturday, so I guess it will have to wait until sunday, sorry, bit off more than I could chew this week, what with the modem broken, busy plans, proof work for book#7, and trying to do two double-sized strips.
my best,
-christopher
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4/29/02 - Monday.... it's Monday... so, I'm all caught up. Sorry about all that. Last week was a doozie, and I almost made it through with everything done. Ah well. Had a splendid time Saturday. Got to see "The Royal Tannenbaums" again, which is just so good. Finishing the proofs for Book#7 on Sunday hit a big snag unfortunately, so I'm going to have to call my printer and go "rahhrr rahhrr" at them today. Hopefully their mistake won't cause any significant delay.
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4/30/02 - Well, thought I'd try a new technique for illustrating a phone call rather than the usual simple jagged-split two-panels. I think it works effectively. I think I may vary between the two techniques, and maybe try and expand it, but yeah, I'm happy how this one looks.
And I have a question for those who know the local terrain. I'm actually going to take a small mini-vacation this weekend with a friend, just get away from the Portland for a bit. But we're a bit unsure what to do, go to the coast or up to Seattle or where. So i was wondering if any of you have any suggestion. The two small stipulations is that it needs to be inexpensive and generally bus accessable (read: we have no car). Maybe a recommendation for a good and cheap bed-and-breakfast by the ocean? Or out in mid-state? Anyhow, thought it worth asking.
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