Celia versus Audrey II

Had a little breakfast and I dyed my hair (picked it up yesterday). It looks like the last time I dyed my hair was back in December. Same dark brown color. I'm feeling prepared and ready to go for my interview! Gotta look like a composed person! Hire me!

After washing out the dye, I went over to Celia's and hung out. Snacked, I drew, we watched Hot Fuzz and Roman Mars' video about vexillology. I posted the Alaska mug on the vexillology forum I'm a part of, and it was very popular!

Celia like Hot Fuzz. Just the right amount of tolerable violence. And I noticed something I didn't notice before! I always do when watching Hot Fuzz.

Now I'm chilling. Going to set an alarm. Gotta get up early to prepare, and also pop over to Celia's and see if she needs anything because I'll be gone all day tomorrow.

boxes and broken things

Had a nice little day. Got up, had coffee and oatmeal, had a massive allergy attack and was all kinds of awful congested.

Went to Seabeck, took a gamble and popped a Benny. Those tend to make me tired but I'm fine right now. I agreed to drive and pick Mom & Dad up from the airport. It's actually not the worst drive in the world, and it saves them from having to drive back exhausted.

I picked up my mail (card from Robin, check for my work, and a card from Karen). I hung out. Briefed Ma & Pa on the eBay stuff. Talked art. Drew a comic. Had pizza. Ate chocolate. Talked more future stuff. I think I was going to help them out with something but I ended up just chilling. Ha. Well, I like their company. And I picked up a few things, and took some stuff off their hands.

Alas, poor Celia broke her ankle!! But this time she has sick leave and health insurance and went to the hospital right away. Good on her! But also major bummer, because now she's got a broken ankle. I asked if she needed anything from Trader Joe's and she asked for some "red" juice, so I got her that. I helped set her up with pillows and Netflix, and put in my schedule when she might need a lift. I'm glad that I'm here so I can help in a pinch. She requested tomorrow's comic be about her ankle so I can put some humor in the situation. I'm already thinking about what I'd draw.

be chill

 My bangs were getting long, so I trimmed them. But I kinda messed up the shape so now they need to grow out for a few more months before I can take another whack at getting them right. I like the swoopier bangs over the blunt one, these days. Did research for Ma & Pa.

Slept pretty well. Since I switched beds, my trigger finger has gone away.

Drew my comic. Printed out a "don't break the chain" chart, where it has all the days of the year in a block and you cross off the day when you do the thing you are trying to do that day. I'm aiming for drawing everyday, hopefully 99% comics. It's nice to have a 40+ chain right now.

I worked on tidying up. Hauling down trash, hauling out bins, putting away clothes, doing laundry. Though now I gotta get the stuff off my bed so I can sleep in it. Gotta go get food tomorrow. Might call ma and pa and see if they need help with something.

The insurance guy came around. I mentioned that the steps would be put in soon. He said he'd just take pics of the house and two of the roof. No questions.

triple threat

Sorry about that! Last night my computer hibernated and then didn't register the monitor so I was stuck with a dark laptop for no reason and I was just like "ehhh whatever" and I went to bed.

My sleep schedule is so whack and I did nothing today to make it better. BUT yesterday! Hmmm. I had some noodles and took a nice long bath and read The Girl on the Train. I focus best reading in the tub, I wonder why that is? And I ate chocolate and drew a comic and watched Bron/Broen. It was one of those days where I feel really tired. I get them sometimes. So I rested a lot. I dunno, a dip in iron or something?

And today I got up and did a comic and planned to meet Marcus for dinner (his treat, in exchange for a digital print of one of the comics of mine that he likes). So did the comic and had a coffee and Celia stopped by and was like "having a coffee at 3, eh?" and she was right I shouldn't have had one because it's 2:40 am and I don't feel tired, but maybe if I get into bed and start reading I'll doze?

So here's the comic, but first a MILD NUDITY WARNING:

Okay? You've been warned.

 I shaved my legs for the first time in a good while and it felt good to rub them together. The word for bugs rubbing their legs to make noise is stridulation. Not that doing it as a human made noise, but it's still a funny thing for me to think about.

So after the comic I went to Tizley's Europub in Poulsbo and met Marcus for dinner. We each had a pint and he ate previously so I just ordered the schnitzle. Very delicious! I liked the spaetzle more though. Like some sort of bits of noodle? I dunno. It was good and we had a long chat and catch up. He worked as crew for the upcoming extreme challenge reality show American Grit, which is hosted by John Cena the wrestler who has the record for the most about of "Make A Wish" wishes granted. That's a good record to have. The show itself is filmed in UW's experimentation forest.

And when I got home I did a SECOND comic! Because I felt like drawing this bit from our conversation. And I like including my friends in my comics. People like being drawn.

Argh so late and I'm still not tired.

I have a job interview on Saturday!! That's progress!

Galentine's Day 2016

Whoo had a pretty good fun little day. Did my makeup, coordinated my outfit (red floral shirt with red beret with bug brooch on the beret), and headed out! Swung through Silverdale and dropped off a letter to get it in the post before USPS stops for the holiday. Picked up mail in Seabeck and had lunch with Ma & Pa. Rainbow sent me an amazing print and other little printed goodies. And Chris my friend up yonder in Canada sent me some rad very cool handmade fingerless gloves!! They are warm and awesome and I love them! Thank you so much Chris if you're reading this!


I went to meet Karen at the theater and oh no it sold out and she couldn't make a later showing, but I decided to see a later showing. Got ticket and assigned spot, which is very convenient. In the time between, we walked around Goodwill and talked about bad mattresses, the cost of furniture, house repairs, baby clothes, and other things. I got out without buying anything (but if this Popsicle looking dress fit, I might have got it but it was two sizes too big).

Said our - OH! Karen gave me this great lapel pin! A silkscreen & squeegee design! SO COOL! And so great! You can take the girl out of the print lab...

Anyway, said goodbye and I saw the movie. It was not as lewd as I was expecting and some of the jokes I was all too familiar with because of the trailers. Fun, very in keeping with the character. It seems like the kind of movie that'll be good to have on in the background. Great casting, nice effects and stunts. Yeah.

Back home, Celia had a lavender sachet and chocolates and fancy soaps for me! So spoiled! Earlier in the day I left a card for her, so she did get that.

Drew a comic. Watched telly. No word just yet about the application, but I did put a "able to start the 14th" on the application, so maybe they are going to take it as a sign to call me then? If not, I'll call Monday. Or Tuesday if it's not open.

flashbacks are in tents

I only have one Valentine's Card that remains to be sent out. My card for the month is done. Comics are going along. Well, I kinda wish I'd spent a bit more time on this one. But then again, it might be fun to revisit and redraw old comics when I am further down the line! I'm almost at 40! Four zero! I'll have to start doing folders now, because I can't have it in one big one. But in drawing I'm learning what I need to learn how to draw. Does that look like snow? Kinda but kinda not.

Trying to find the sweet spot where I am productive on the regular, but not letting quality control hold me hostage.

I went to wash my car today, because the skies were blue and my car is so dirty it's gone from silver to champagne.  I couldn't find my good car sponge though. It's white and squishy. One of those things you always see all the time but then when you go to look for it, it's nowhere. So I used some old cheap rags and cleaned my car like that. It was more of a glorified wipe down.

Didn't make any progress with house clutter.

Now I'm sleepy. Only 1:30am!

beer and whisky kind of gal

Got to drawing today's comic late, because I finished coloring my Valentine's Card. I wrote up about ten of them and got them addressed and stamped. Did some work for old boss. Saw a very promising job that had to be applied for in person but it was a creative retail job and I felt good about it so I decided to make the journey to Port Townsend for it. I swung by the post office and dropped off cards and Helen's present. Quilcene USPS might have better distribution than Brinnon USPS.

The job is at a beadstore in downtown, but it's also probably helping with the other shop areas. It's an open retail space with little store sections. Beads, yarn, crafts basically. I'm a 2D person but I like to learn. So I filled out the application (it had more "tell us about you!" sections instead of "tell us where and who and when you were hired") and attached my resume and business card and photocopied letter of recommendation. I am expecting a call tomorrow so fingers crossed!

Got groceries, topped off my tank, got back. Did a bit more work. Ate food. Did comic. Wrote more cards. Now I'm tired, but feeling good and accomplished. Even if this job lead doesn't work, it at least is nice to know things will crop up. They seemed a bit surprised that someone showed up so quick, whereas I was worried that getting there a day after the posting might already put me out of the application running.

on a quest for deluxe churros

Today was pretty busy! Former Boss called me in to do a quick rush job, so I did that scattered through the day as I got more info. And I still found time to draw a comic and get 3/4 of the way done with my card (it's printed, editioned, and has one of four colors done, maybe five, but it's easy coloring). Whoo! I started watching Jane the Virgin and WHAT A DELIGHTFUL SHOW! So fun so good! I can't wait to watch it all and be sad there's no more to watch.

And I'm setting this blog to post at a certain time so DAD won't SEE WHEN I'M WRITING IT (hint: late).

Also I watched the Funny or Die Presents Donald Trump's The Art of The Deal. WHICH IS A FIFTY MINUTE SKIT THING about an old video Trump made. JOHNNY DEPP PLAYS TRUMP IN A BUNCH OF MAKEUP! It's so weird and brilliant, and it flows really well too. Like it doesn't feel as long as it is, as any five minutes of it stands as satire. It's seriously bonkers. Google it. Watch it.

more splinters

I helped haul some wood up, and I pried some cement blocks out of the ground. The back of the deck is getting removed, steps moved, and path adjusted. Dad did most of the hard labor. Ma hauled brush. It's nice when Dad visits because then he makes poached egg on toast with melted cheese, which is pretty much my favorite!

Ma and Pa left to go back to Seabeck. I worked on my comic, then I went to work on my valentine's card. It's looking super good! It's almost fully carved, so now I just need to figure out how many to make, how many sheets of paper to cut, and if I'll do spot color. Also I need to figure out the text to go on the inside. Hmmn.

Nighty night!

baby bird

Ma & Pa are staying over! We are continuing to pull out the back end of the porch. I brought the old planks up to the space under the shed. And I trimmed some of the brush. And I drew a comic. Pretty casual day. Working, had a salad and soup and popcorn. Yup.

wood pile and stafford bone china

Went over to Seabeck! Helped Ma and Pa take photos of antiques for selling. Pretty much doing what I did, but for them! Get stuff going on eBay. Franciscan plates and teacups aplenty. We went to see Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which was silly fun. 

Took more photos. Going to spend some time looking up teacups to see if they are worth something. Dad made a tasty breakfast and tasty coffee too. Went back to Pulali. Made a fire. Drew. Napped a bit too.

Now it's way past my bedtime!

always room for a cheap goof

No go on the current job leads, oh well. Got a maybe house sitting gig happening, so hopefully I hear about that scheduling soon, because I'd hate to not be able to do something paying because I have to have an interview or whatever. Doing some work for Ma & Pa tomorrow! Woohoo!

Another day of feeling good with my health. Hopefully it sticks. I had another of those flowering tea balls. Two mason jars full of tea! Mmmm! Drew comic. Finished stamping my name on envelopes. Returned the letters to the trays. Now I'm sitting with a face mask on. I got the mask a while ago in my moneybags days. Treating myself.

My left finger has been waking up with trigger finger the past few days. I dunno what's up with that, because it's my NON dominant finger and I don't think I've been doing anything too strenuous with it. Just gotta keep it...more easy? Might switch beds again too. Sometimes that helps body aches.

Rainy day. Stormy day. Mm hm.

Jeph the cashier

 It was rainy and miserable so ma and pa didn't stick around to work. I made my scones from the scone mix I won at the diaper raffle. That was a good num nums for us all! Dad really liked my coffee too. That Aeropress is a real winner. The rest of the day I felt just awful. Not full on sick, just tired and weak and exhausted. Probably some anxiety side effects eating me from the inside. Just a little bit. I did do a comic and finished my cards but I made a real blunder in the type. Oh well. Pobody's nerfect! I'll do better on the next card. Thankfully the type from January's card is all set, so I just need to swap out a few things and that's good to stamp. I have an idea of what I want to make for Valentine's Day, so I just need to get carving. Will probably be a small edition that I send out all at the same time and that'll be that. January is one I'll send out as needed.

Errand running day! I dropped off some mail to go to various people. I got corned by a girl scout at the baby shower, so I sent off a check for some cookies that I'll pick up at Karen's whenever I see her. Damn good cause and damn good cookies. And I ended up doing a driving loop of the Hood Canal, because I filled up my tank in Hoodsport. Cheapest gas, though far south but I didn't think I had enough in my tank to get across the bridge to any of those stations. And I was going to Silverdale next so I just went south and over and up and it was a nice drive! I listened to podcasts and admired the water. I'm a bit of a hermit shut in nowadays so it's good to get out.

Went to Trader Joe's and got fruit and carbs. And gummies, as you can see above. Swung by Target and got the replacement journal because the one I made for Helen vanished in the postal system. Hopefully that one shows up, maybe back in Seabeck. Helen saw what I made her, so I can reveal that it was a journal with a stamped pattern that I did custom stamps for. Thankfully I didn't include the stamps, otherwise I don't think I would have had the energy to redo the whole present from scratch. That blue lino is a crumbly pain to carve.

Back at home I stamped the journal, did a comic, ate some food, browsed the job sites, set type, and stamped my return address on a bunch of envelopes. I'm going to do a bunch more tomorrow, just so that I don't have to worry about resetting my address type for a good long while. I only have two stamp bases in which to place my text, and one is filled with a ton of text that is used for the card editions. So if I want to add any more text, it has to be with the other one which currently has the address. Once I've stamped my envelopes I can dismantle the text and use it for whatever.

I'm feeling on a health upswing, so I can do more job applying stuff tomorrow. If I don't feel well, it's hard to get the motivation to take the steps. I felt like death showing up to turn in applications a little while ago. Doesn't make a good impression.

But uhg it sucks looking at job listings that want you to show up in person but the place is an hour away. I'll totally commute for the job, I just don't want to sink hours of transport into throwing paper around.

I really resent looking for a job when this is the most artistically productive I've been in years.

eye on the prize

Fighting a headache. Wompf.

Ma and Pa came over for house stuff. Dad is tearing up a part of the porch. It's a bit rotten. We'll move the stairs back. It'll be a good thing. Ma hauled some wood into a burn pile. I replaced the long broken toilet seat. They are cheaper than I thought! I wonder if toilet seats are things that need to be replaced more often than we think.

Celia is under the weather. Poor auntie!

I took a nap in front of the fire. Dinner was salmon, rice, and broccoli. We watched St. Trinians. I did a comic. Now I am still feeling oddly tired, so I guess I'll snuggle into bed with a book.

Hourly Comic Day 2016

art and applications (or "I'm A Real Charmer")

I was having some connectivity issues from Friday night to Sunday morning, so sorry no blog! What happened was the router was knocked over so the connection wasn't coming through. I was out and about all day yesterday, so I wasn't too fussed. I just went to bed because WOW I got tired by the end of the week.

I wasn't sleeping well for a bit and y'all know the irregular hours I keep. So yeah. This morning I had a good long sleep in, and it felt great. Friday I was feeling terrible. I managed to call Chimacum and turns out they were still hiring! And when I arrived to turn in my application and resume and letter of recommendation, it turns out they had filled the position! Whoops! Well they might have some openings soon with some people going away to college, so I'll keep checking.

And I swung by the Wyndham and they said they are looking for desk people, part time, so that's good! I'll work on their application. I applied to to part time hotel jobs in Port Townsend. I just gotta pounce whenever something comes up.

Saturday was Karen's Baby Shower. Ma and Pa came over to work on the roof. Specifically clearing moss off the roof. They rented a cherry picker but alas I do not get to play on it. Would have been fun to help but I had out of the house plans. The baby shower was in Poulsbo at Karen's parent's place. There was chocolate and food and cake and ladies galore. Rob showed up too, and Rob's sister Lisa and her son Kenji. I like Lisa and Kenji (who is 18 months). Marit was there too, who runs Bremerton Letterpress Co. We chatted the comics I've been posting on Instagram which was the prompt for this one:

Karen got a lot of good swag. Diaper genie and diapers galore. She had a diaper raffle. You get one ticket per diaper you bring. I brought 67 (weird that diapers come in irregular numbers). Hearing you can go through 20+ in A DAY is like WOW. Why not just put the baby over the sink or something? And she got good clothes and stuff. A nice variety.

AND I WON THE DIAPER RAFFLE! WHOO! Got a goody basket with tea and coffee and soap and other goodies. I traded a candle from mine for coffee from Lisa's (who I think got an honorary basket because she donated ~200 diapers). I departed at around 4 and headed over the Port Townsend for Dungeons and Dragons!

Another big group. I really wish I was learning with a smaller group because it takes a while to get stuff done. But I arrived early and got help really filling in all my numbers on my sheet and I decked out my character a little bit, Ron made a scrumptious chili and Dian(a/e?) brought doughnuts. I grabbed the bismark real quick. It was fun and I'm needing less hand holding during game play. I mostly do healing but I'm getting an idea of how to attack. Course I'll be super dead if I do get hit by anything.

Got home. Scanned stuff. Didn't stay up cuz the internet was out. Went to sleep.

Ma and Pa left early, but they'll be back in a few days. I slept in. I worked on my resume after realizing I had accidentally cropped off some information. Arghhh!! And I turned in those resumes too! If I come in for a new interview, I can always bring in the updated one. I applied to a few jobs (did I mention that earlier? I'm tired again and don't feel like checking).

And I spent a long time drawing a comic about a dream I had, enjoy!!:

learning one panel at a time

Oi my eyes are buggin'. Lots of monitor staring and staring at type. Didn't get the card done, but the only thing I have left is the edition type. The front art is done! Should have a couple of these in the mail soon. Printed up about 24. I can reprint, but I also want to have these on hand for the near future. February's card design will be... ???

I cleared the ditches again. They didn't need many leaves cleared from them, but the top of the ditch needed more digging out. Want to keep the ground water off to the side. Things are flowing all right. Just so much rain. So much water. Mmmhmm.

Shiiiiiit I've got so much Dungeons and Dragons reading I've been neglecting!! No time on Saturday prior because I'm going to Karen's baby shower earlier in the day. All my social is crammed into one day.

Didne get the job I applied for. Oh well. Just gotta keep an eye on the listings. I pounced on the last one when it came up, and Celia got a new newspaper. Maybe there will be something in there? I hate the "drop off resume in person" jobs because it's like...a 45 minute drive where I might talk to someone! Bleh!

OOHHH SNAP! The Chimacum farm stand is hiring. I'll give them a call tomorrow. Maybe swing by. Get out of the house.

And last time I applied I had just messed up my pinky toe, so this time I won't be so Limpy McGee!

Feels good to go to bed on a slightly better note...unless I call and they are like "yup we filled that".

strangers

Started drawing one comic, and paused to draw this one instead. I'll draw the other one tomorrow. I pulled my yearbook as a reference for the first comic, hence the inspiration. I posted this in the reunion group too, hope they get a kick out of it! I included a "haha just kidding". Then again, I don't really care all that much because I seriously only remember about fifteen people from my class.

I also started FINALLY carving this month's card! And I'd say I'm 80% carved! I'm stopping so I don't mess it up while tired, but I think I'll have some finished ones by tomorrow night. Made a few mistakes, but that's how one learns, eh? Forgot to flip a couple details in the image, so now they are reversed. I don't think anyone will notice too much, but I know it's there.

Measured stuff for Ma and Pa. Didn't get up to much else besides art making and browsing Craigslist for jobs. Not much right now, but maybe tomorrow?

Whole lot of caregiver and truck driver stuff.

it's a snowshoe

Telling people I'm going to turn a conversation into a comic isn't the threat I want it to be.

Went over to Kitsap today! Swung by Napa and got a new lightbulb for my front passenger headlight. Then went to Seabeck to get Dad to replace the lightbulb. I helped. Well, observed. But I did sort of help. Dad showed me what to remove, but he really had to strong arm the plastic cover to get it off. There's no way I could have done that on my own. 

And I opened Nate & Helen's gifties! I got a boss cozy sweater that I took a hearty nap in later in the day. So snuggly! And I was given some lovely Moleskine's! Now to sketch in them. Yaay!

I didn't hang out too long because Ma and Pa were going to see Tower of Power. I made a Target & Trader Joe's run and returned home. Took a nap for some reason. Then did my comic. Now to sleep, I suppose.

floor eggs

This comic happened a while ago, but I felt like publicly admitting my shame. Except no shame in the eating eggs off the ground game!

Anyhoo, I booted up InDesign and dusted off the ol' resume! Updated the references and work history and even applied to a job! How many jobs did I apply to last time? Hotel, farm stand, antiques...I'm not incredibly worried because I live in a place that still advertises jobs in the newspaper. Just finding something with good hours that isn't too physically tasking would be great.

So yeah! First steps on the job hunt front.

Also did a bunch of laundry. Some of it is still rattling about. Tomorrow I have some errands to run, so I'll go run those!

Will finally open my present from Nathan and Helen! I hope it's neat! It'll be neat, I'm sure.