Okay guys, get excited for Monday ... becuase it's CRAY CRAY CYBER SALES MONDAY, what! So in the spirit of discounting, if you head to my Etsy Shop, you'll find 10% off (with the code "CYBERDEAL") and free shipping (with the code "CYBERSTUFF") on anything I've got over there. This INCLUDES ...
So head on over and see if there's anything you might fancy! :)
I have to apologize in advance for the fact that most of my posts are probably going to be about moving for the next few weeks as I slog through transitioning all my piles of stuff (crap) to a new abode. It's brought up some questions, and I'd love to hear how other people treat packing/saving/donating/trashing when combing through the years of memories in their home. Here are some items that have me stumped on what to do with them:
How about you guys - what do you struggle particularly with getting rid of or figuring out where to store? I'd love to hear your thoughts! (and by that, I mean steal your expertise)
I may not have mentioned this, but in the month of October, on my birthday in fact, my boyfriend and I casually went house hunting. We've been thinking of buying a house for a while now, but enough stuff had come up that we were at an impasse. i.e. The house we were in was perfectly fine to buy, we both had issues with the house we were in, I wanted to move to Portland, we both have jobs here, we both have friends here, etc. etc. But I guess after a few months of listening to the trials and tribulations two of my friends were going through in THEIR house hunting process, something crazy started to seep in, and ... we just up and bought a house too.
I'm not very good with big life decisions (or any decisions). Buying a house seems like one of those major life decisions that I'm not qualified to think about for a loooong long time. Or at least until I start acting like more of an adult. I usually don't have much patience for methodical research or hunting for the best deal. I want things to happen if they will, and if they don't, well then . . . I'm not meant to buy a house. Perhaps that's why most of my major life decisions happened very quickly and bulldozed all those walls I normally put up as roadblocks in the way of actually making a decision.
I'll go into the ridiculously fast process we went through to buy a house a little later, but for now I'm going to freak out about packing and moving and simultaneously getting ready for Wizard World New Orleans next weekend. WHICH is a roundabout way of saying that your 2nd weekly Bonnie comic will be up in a little bit! As well as some info on upcoming sales and projects!
Sometimes it's hard for me to find good FODMAPs free snacks, so usually I'm stuck downing a handful of almonds when I get hungry. Which isn't the best thing all the time. So behold my amazement when I found a granola that wasn't only delicious and locally made BUT included ingredients I could actually eat!
Check it - the ingredients:
It has been so hard for me to find something like this without honey (which I love, but is a FODMAPs no-no). Hooray for Michele's!
(and yes, I'm going to keep consuming pumpkin spiced things until someone physically forces me to stop)
I've got a comic convention coming up reaaallllly soon (*ahem* in 2 1/2 weeks) and it's a big one. By big, I mean in a convention center, with "Wizard World" as part of the title of the show. As an indie creator, these shows can go one of two ways:
Let's hope #2 is what happens. One of my main problems with big shows is the massive amount of visual stimulation EVERYWHERE. Not just people wandering around in wigs and bikinis (or, as I witnessed at my last show, a 60-year-old man in a loin cloth - WHERE DOES HE PUT HIS KEYS) but the huge banners, stands, and massive shelves of artwork screaming at you from every angle.
How is one creator (or anyone, really) supposed to compete with that?
From my years of exhibiting at shows, I've come up with a few different tricks to try to make my work both stand out, be well represented, but also give the customer a bit of room since they're already oversaturated with visual imagery (I covered some of my history with table displays a bit in this post). For the most part, I tend to lay my books out flat and try to space them out a little to give the customer some room.
It helps, though, if you don't have quite such a busy tablecloth. Soon after this, I switched to a simpler pattern, and added some zoned areas for my work. Boxes for comics, box for prints, display box for cuffs, jewelry tree for hanging prints.
I still wasn't too thrilled with the color of the tablecloth, but I liked where this was headed. My next big show, however, was Baltimore Comic Con, so in order to step up my game in order to compete with the height of booths around me, I added a wee bit of height.
The one thing I'm still really lacking in is one of those fancy-shmancy banners that people incorporate into their show tables. You know, the ones that look like this:
I've never gotten one, but lately I'm more and more tempted. At the very least, to give my table some large imagery that can be seen from far away and (hopefully) attract people to come over and say hi. It's too late to figure one out for Wizard World New Orleans in a couple of weeks, but I'm curious to hear from other comickers and crafters and tradeshowers out there - have you gotten one of these stand up display things? Worthwhile or not worthwhile? I've seen some SUPER crazy contraptions for propping giant banners up behind the table too, but they scare me a bit with their rickity-ness and the amount of time/skill it takes to put all the PVC's together.
Also, I'd love to hear opinions from any convention goers - do you like seeing banners or would you rather encounter a giant image-free zone every now and again at shows?
I'm a bit of a James Bond fan.
For my 30th birthday party I made it a mandatory theme - everyone had to come dressed as a character from a James Bond film. Villian, Bond Girl, Henchman #7, the sky was the limit! I chose to dress as a member of the Pussy Galore Flying Squad. It was pretty awesome.
The peak of my 007 Fandom was when I was sixteen, and my best friend and I would stay up late laughing at Goldfinger, cheesing out on Live and Let Die, or slogging through the endless underwater scuba sequences of Thunderball. Even though I grew up accustomed to Roger Moore as James Bond, Sean Connery became the only Bond for me. No substitutions accepted. Timothy Dalton was fun, and George Lazenby - well, aww, that poor guy.
When Goldeneye came around I was pretty excited that Pierce Brosnan might become the new 007 Hotness (my mom, for one, had been praying for YEARS that Remington Steele would lead him to Bond). But with each passing Brosnan Bond movie I became less and less impressed. As far as I was concerned, his legacy only provided the world with two worthwhile things: Famke Janssen and Michelle Yeoh. I didn't bother watching most of them. Halle Berry trying to redo Ursula Andress's combat bikini? Oh no they don't.
Modernizing Bond just seemed to be a problem. I mean, he's a cocky a-hole who treats women like Mrs. White treats her husbands. But Brosnan just seemed to look pained and guilty about it all the time and it was kind of a downer. Even though it's not cool that Connery went through like five women in Goldfinger - one ending up being painted to death and one decapitated - I still wanted the free-wheeling, hard-hitting Connery days back again. Go away, sensitive 90's Brosnan.
So when Casino Royale came out, (and by that, I mean of course when Daniel Craig came out of the water in a mankini), amidst all the OH MY GOD CAN YOU BELIEVE JAMES BOND IS A BLONDE controversy, I think we all knew that Bond was back. And that Daniel Craig was gonna do this shit right. Casino Royale managed to peg Craig both as a brute who could crash through walls AND as a trained killer willing to throw in the towel for love. Which was exactly what we all were waiting for.
The Craig Bond Legacy has also done something else amazing - made the movies connect to one another. Bond movies used to be individual occurrences, each floating through the void. Every now and then they'd throw in a 006 or Felix the CIA agent would reappear, but they were basically all separate. Any attempts to make things sequential in Bond World resulted in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (and we all saw what happened to Lazenby). So the fact that Casino Royale can contain characters that still connect through to Quantum of Solace was amazing. You mean we don't have to wipe our memories for each Bond film? Priceless!
And after seeing Skyfall, it's clear that this generation of Bond is going to continue kicking ass and breaking boundaries (omg Javier Bardem and Judi Dench!), all while remaining true to the Bond Legacy. Really, how hard is it? You take one part suave, muscular man + women in dresses with secrets + martinis + female agents + car crashes = Bond magic.
So here's to Daniel Craig and this era of Blonde Bond. I can't wait to see what else they do before moving on to the inevitable next breakthrough ... Idris Elba Bond!!
I'm a bit of a James Bond fan.
For my 30th birthday party I made it a mandatory theme - everyone had to come dressed as a character from a James Bond film. Villian, Bond Girl, Henchman #7, the sky was the limit! I chose to dress as a member of the Pussy Galore Flying Squad. It was pretty awesome.
The peak of my 007 Fandom was when I was sixteen, and my best friend and I would stay up late laughing at Goldfinger, cheesing out on Live and Let Die, or slogging through the endless underwater scuba sequences of Thunderball. Even though I grew up accustomed to Roger Moore as James Bond, Sean Connery became the only Bond for me. No substitutions accepted. Timothy Dalton was fun, and George Lazenby - well, aww, that poor guy.
When Goldeneye came around I was pretty excited that Pierce Brosnan might become the new 007 Hotness (my mom, for one, had been praying for YEARS that Remington Steele would lead him to Bond). But with each passing Brosnan Bond movie I became less and less impressed. As far as I was concerned, his legacy only provided the world with two worthwhile things: Famke Janssen and Michelle Yeoh. I didn't bother watching most of them. Halle Berry trying to redo Ursula Andress's combat bikini? Oh no they don't.
Modernizing Bond just seemed to be a problem. I mean, he's a cocky a-hole who treats women like Mrs. White treats her husbands. But Brosnan just seemed to look pained and guilty about it all the time and it was kind of a downer. Even though it's not cool that Connery went through like five women in Goldfinger - one ending up being painted to death and one decapitated - I still wanted the free-wheeling, hard-hitting Connery days back again. Go away, sensitive 90's Brosnan.
So when Casino Royale came out, (and by that, I mean of course when Daniel Craig came out of the water in a mankini), amidst all the OH MY GOD CAN YOU BELIEVE JAMES BOND IS A BLONDE controversy, I think we all knew that Bond was back. And that Daniel Craig was gonna do this shit right. Casino Royale managed to peg Craig both as a brute who could crash through walls AND as a trained killer willing to throw in the towel for love. Which was exactly what we all were waiting for.
The Craig Bond Legacy has also done something else amazing - made the movies connect to one another. Bond movies used to be individual occurrences, each floating through the void. Every now and then they'd throw in a 006 or Felix the CIA agent would reappear, but they were basically all separate. Any attempts to make things sequential in Bond World resulted in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (and we all saw what happened to Lazenby). So the fact that Casino Royale can contain characters that still connect through to Quantum of Solace was amazing. You mean we don't have to wipe our memories for each Bond film? Priceless!
And after seeing Skyfall, it's clear that this generation of Bond is going to continue kicking ass and breaking boundaries (omg Javier Bardem and Judi Dench!), all while remaining true to the Bond Legacy. Really, how hard is it? You take one part suave, muscular man + women in dresses with secrets + martinis + female agents + car crashes = Bond magic.
So here's to Daniel Craig and this era of Blonde Bond. I can't wait to see what else they do before moving on to the inevitable next breakthrough ... Idris Elba Bond!!
Yes, I am a Baltimorean, and no, I haven't finished watching The Wire yet. I actually started watching mid-season 4, where my boyfriend was, and then backtracked to watch season 1. Kind of unorthodox, I know - way to ruin the surprises, Monica!
Anyhoo, the moment I first saw Kima Greggs I knew she was a badass. She was wearing a suit and heels, driving around the projects in her unmarked police car, and because she thought something was up, she got out of the car and entered a drug dealer's house. Through the back door, gun drawn, by herself. BADASS. I was convinced this would be the last we'd see of her character, or we'd hear something come over the radio during another scene that would alert us to the fact she'd been shot. But no. This is KIMA. Instead, she was back at her desk, casually sitting there, having gone into that drug house without back-up and single handedly arrested the suspects. Yessss.
So now I'm slowly working my way through Season 2, and after Season 1, I know that Kima also happens to be invincible. Can't wait to see what else she gets up to through the course of the show!
And Sonja Sohn, who plays Kima, is pretty impressive herself - she opened up Re-Wired for Change, a non-profit to help kids in troubled circumstances break the cycle of violence/incarceration.
Last year my boyfriend and I decided to give two fairy tale themed shows a try: Once Upon A Time and Grimm. Although we still begrudgingly tune into to Once now and again, we've long since given up comparing the two. Grimm - with its endless supply of interesting beasts, moody Portland locale, and Monroe - is the clear winner.
And Bitsie Tulloch, gorgeous ginger wife of Nick the Grimm, is the latest addition to the Small Boob Hall of Fame. Yay! You work that amnesia!
Sometimes it gets really frustrating trying to juggle what you want to do. Recently I cut my hours at my day job from 32 to 24 a week - which means 1 whole extra day I can spend at home making progress on comics, evolving my website into more of a business platform, and planning new ideas/projects. Time that would allow me to eventually (in theory) help me evolve out of my day job completely.
So how do I handle the juggling of the day job with the home studio job? I make myself schedules. Crazy Person Schedules that I'll never be able to actually follow.
My Crazy Person Schedule Categories:
I have yet to incorporate any of these schedules into my actual life, and I just designed my 4th one. For some reason, it gives me great peace of mind just to create them. Usually there are so many things floating around in my head about what I anxiously want/need to get done that I get frantically unproductive. The schedules help me visually map out what I'm expecting out of myself (and how unreasonable it normally is).
It's a constant struggle when the rest of the 9-to-5 world only understands that weeknights are for TV or going out to dinner and weekends are for going out with friends. I love my friends and I love relaxing with my boyfriend but there's the constant, neverending pressure that I NEED TO BE MAKING PROGRESS. Persistence and regular practice makes perfect. Or in my case, it will take me where I want to go with my life and my art career.
So I'm ready to start this next week planning on following SCHEDULE #4. Wish me luck! How many other fellow jugglers out there are making things work? And are you doing it with or without imaginary schedules?
Sometimes it gets really frustrating trying to juggle what you want to do. Recently I cut my hours at my day job from 32 to 24 a week - which means 1 whole extra day I can spend at home making progress on comics, evolving my website into more of a business platform, and planning new ideas/projects. Time that would allow me to eventually (in theory) help me evolve out of my day job completely.
So how do I handle the juggling of the day job with the home studio job? I make myself schedules. Crazy Person Schedules that I'll never be able to actually follow.
My Crazy Person Schedule Categories:
I have yet to incorporate any of these schedules into my actual life, and I just designed my 4th one. For some reason, it gives me great peace of mind just to create them. Usually there are so many things floating around in my head about what I anxiously want/need to get done that I get frantically unproductive. The schedules help me visually map out what I'm expecting out of myself (and how unreasonable it normally is).
It's a constant struggle when the rest of the 9-to-5 world only understands that weeknights are for TV or going out to dinner and weekends are for going out with friends. I love my friends and I love relaxing with my boyfriend but there's the constant, neverending pressure that I NEED TO BE MAKING PROGRESS. Persistence and regular practice makes perfect. Or in my case, it will take me where I want to go with my life and my art career.
So I'm ready to start this next week planning on following SCHEDULE #4. Wish me luck! How many other fellow jugglers out there are making things work? And are you doing it with or without imaginary schedules?
Sometimes it gets really frustrating trying to juggle what you want to do. Recently I cut my hours at my day job from 32 to 24 a week - which means 1 whole extra day I can spend at home making progress on comics, evolving my website into more of a business platform, and planning new ideas/projects. Time that would allow me to eventually (in theory) help me evolve out of my day job completely.
So how do I handle the juggling of the day job with the home studio job? I make myself schedules. Crazy Person Schedules that I'll never be able to actually follow.
My Crazy Person Schedule Categories:
I have yet to incorporate any of these schedules into my actual life, and I just designed my 4th one. For some reason, it gives me great peace of mind just to create them. Usually there are so many things floating around in my head about what I anxiously want/need to get done that I get frantically unproductive. The schedules help me visually map out what I'm expecting out of myself (and how unreasonable it normally is).
It's a constant struggle when the rest of the 9-to-5 world only understands that weeknights are for TV or going out to dinner and weekends are for going out with friends. I love my friends and I love relaxing with my boyfriend but there's the constant, neverending pressure that I NEED TO BE MAKING PROGRESS. Persistence and regular practice makes perfect. Or in my case, it will take me where I want to go with my life and my art career.
So I'm ready to start this next week planning on following SCHEDULE #4. Wish me luck! How many other fellow jugglers out there are making things work? And are you doing it with or without imaginary schedules?
Sometimes it gets really frustrating trying to juggle what you want to do. Recently I cut my hours at my day job from 32 to 24 a week - which means 1 whole extra day I can spend at home making progress on comics, evolving my website into more of a business platform, and planning new ideas/projects. Time that would allow me to eventually (in theory) help me evolve out of my day job completely.
So how do I handle the juggling of the day job with the home studio job? I make myself schedules. Crazy Person Schedules that I'll never be able to actually follow.
My Crazy Person Schedule Categories:
I have yet to incorporate any of these schedules into my actual life, and I just designed my 4th one. For some reason, it gives me great peace of mind just to create them. Usually there are so many things floating around in my head about what I anxiously want/need to get done that I get frantically unproductive. The schedules help me visually map out what I'm expecting out of myself (and how unreasonable it normally is).
It's a constant struggle when the rest of the 9-to-5 world only understands that weeknights are for TV or going out to dinner and weekends are for going out with friends. I love my friends and I love relaxing with my boyfriend but there's the constant, neverending pressure that I NEED TO BE MAKING PROGRESS. Persistence and regular practice makes perfect. Or in my case, it will take me where I want to go with my life and my art career.
So I'm ready to start this next week planning on following SCHEDULE #4. Wish me luck! How many other fellow jugglers out there are making things work? And are you doing it with or without imaginary schedules?
We survived the hurricane just fine in Baltimore but my thoughts are with all my New York friends up there. Guess it's time to re-hang all my decorations ...
Sandy is coming!
Also: I watched Evil Dead II last night. One of my absolute favorite horror movies (yes, I consider it horror) to join the ranks of Army of Darkness, Shaun of the Dead, and newly elected Cabin in the Woods (which I plan on writing a review of soon) for funny. Scary include: The Shining, Rosemary's Baby, The Omen, The Grudge, Poltergeist. Such are my preferences for creepy/scary as opposed to gory.
Back to THE HURRICANE. I've read enough blogs telling me what to do that I know I'm supposed to have an emergency preparedness kit. I know the importance of making sure that all of your items/necessities are ready and available in times of crisis (check out what one of my friends is doing to prepare in her blog post). To my detriment, I've lived in Maryland all my life, which is a peculiar area on the outskirts of many common disasters. Sure, we've had hurricanes, earthquakes, blizzards, and tornados. But, much like the way we Marylanders drive in the rain, whenever one comes along we forget that we've ever been through one before. OH MY GOD WHAT IS THIS WET STUFF FALLING WILL I MELT?? is our most reliable reaction to any form of weather outside of the muggyness which we're used to.
So here's what I've casually gathered so far (oh god the power is flickering):
I'm also doing laundry and using my printer, apparently maxing out my usage of power until it's lost. Up until now our little Baltimore home has been a total champ with regards to not flooding or losing power in times of crazyness. Here's hoping it hangs in there!
Also, I'm accepting any and all ghost stories that I can tell in my candle-lit basement tonight. See y'all on the other side! Stay safe East Coast!
For those of you who don't know, I started doing comics way back in 2000 with Gods & Undergrads, my first foray into webcomicking. (and for those of you interested in my process, I go into the details on my four part process for creating comics here!)
Gods & Undergrads is the story of Lelaina Pentheus, a college sophomore. At the beginning of the comic, she's applying for residency on campus. And over the course of 2 1/2 books, Lelaina meets friends, falls in and out of love, and discovers that her relatives are Greek gods.
When I first started G&U, I was pretty regular with updating the comic. But, over the years my updates grew more and more sporadic. Many people stopped reading, many people yelled at me, and most people suggested I stop doing this comic already. So while all that was happening, I worked on other comics and even created a NEW webcomic - Bonnie N. Collide, Nine to Five. Buuuuutttt ... well, I never wanted to stop doing good ol' G&U.
I'm just not finished with the story yet. What makes it awkward is how much the story and the art and the style have changed over the years. Even though I look back at the earlier pages (and the later, let's be honest) and I cringe, I'm going to keep plowing ahead until ... well, until the end.
Anyhoo. This is a LONG, drawn out way of saying that where we last left off in the story:
What crazy shenanigans are going to happen to the undergrads of Troy University next? Find out DECEMBER 12TH, when Gods & Undergrads continues!! Wooooo!
In the meantime, here are some links to help you catch up/start the story:
For those of you who don't know, I started doing comics way back in 2000 with Gods & Undergrads, my first foray into webcomicking. (and for those of you interested in my process, I go into the details on my four part process for creating comics here!)
Gods & Undergrads is the story of Lelaina Pentheus, a college sophomore. At the beginning of the comic, she's applying for residency on campus. And over the course of 2 1/2 books, Lelaina meets friends, falls in and out of love, and discovers that her relatives are Greek gods.
When I first started G&U, I was pretty regular with updating the comic. But, over the years my updates grew more and more sporadic. Many people stopped reading, many people yelled at me, and most people suggested I stop doing this comic already. So while all that was happening, I worked on other comics and even created a NEW webcomic - Bonnie N. Collide, Nine to Five. Buuuuutttt ... well, I never wanted to stop doing good ol' G&U.
I'm just not finished with the story yet. What makes it awkward is how much the story and the art and the style have changed over the years. Even though I look back at the earlier pages (and the later, let's be honest) and I cringe, I'm going to keep plowing ahead until ... well, until the end.
Anyhoo. This is a LONG, drawn out way of saying that where we last left off in the story:
What crazy shenanigans are going to happen to the undergrads of Troy University next? Find out DECEMBER 12TH, when Gods & Undergrads continues!! Wooooo!
In the meantime, here are some links to help you catch up/start the story:
My boyfriend recently sent me a link to this picture on Reddit, and we were both momentarily delighted.
'Till we found out that of course, it was an asshole trap. Luckily, then Huffington Post blogged about it and encouraged women to send them their small boob stories. A.k.a. the Magical Mystery Tour that is a life with small boobs! Check out the stories here, and feel free to add your own! I added my comic Boobage as my contribution. :)
Nothing puts me in a better mood than getting my annual fix of The Shining.
When it comes to movies meant to scare me, I much prefer the creepy, slow burns. The suggested incident one room over. The noise you may or may not have heard on the stairs. Wait - did I just see something in the mirror? These are all infinitely better to me than the IN YOUR FACE AXE MURDERING GORE OBSESSED TORTURE PORN trend of most horror movies these days.
I'm not sure how long ago it was that I stopped being terrified of The Shining and started loving it. For one, I think it was something in the beginning of the movie reminding me of my childhood. No, not the violent dad or the Skeletor mom or the little boy that lived in my mouth - more the bowl cut and Mister Rogers on the television. And I still fantasize about riding my (Strawberry Shortcake) Big Wheel down those big patterned hallways in the Overlook.
I think a lot of it has to do with Kubrick's sense of space and design. The huge, cavernous hotel and its endless maze of hallways IS scary, but it's also kind of ... peaceful. You could spend hours by yourself wandering around in a million different rooms, pretending to be a million different people. So what if there's a woman hogging one of the bathtubs, and a dude and his bear boyfriend in one of the suites? The rest is yours, all yours! And you get to ride your bike and go hiking with your mom in the snow all day.
All you might have to be careful of is those obnoxious little girls who won't get it into their almost-twin heads that you DON'T WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH THEM. Or the elevators being a little bloody. Or your dad going batshit crazy (but honestly, from the very beginning of the movie Jack is already crazy, so it's really nothing new).
The rest of it is pure, relaxing vacation and all the giant cans of ice cream you could ever want to eat. It's almost good enough for me to forget the time when someone wrote "REDRUM" on my car visor mirror and I almost had a heart attack at 16.
And I was just kidding about Wendy Torrance. I love her so hard.
Monica Gallagher is a comic book creator, illustrator and freelance designer making work for hire with a positive, feminist spin.
Heroes Con Table ii-1276 - Charlotte, NC // June 20 - 22
Tucson Comic Con - Tucson, AZ // Aug. 29 - 31
Small Press Expo - Rockville, MD // Sep. 13 - 14
Denton Comic Art Expo - Denton, TX // Sep. 27
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