Paper Work

Choir of Angels

2008-01-02T09:51:00.001-05:00

Nothing too deep about this strip actually, but interestingly enough, the pun in the title came to me before I woke up one morning.

Originally, I started working on this comic because I wanted to use a halo in one of my strips and in the original version, every choir boy had a halo in the last panel, but somehow I felt that this was redundant. Also, I had managed to work the halo into last week's comic "The Twelve Daves of Xmas" and so I was satisfied.

Essentially, this comic was an excuse to show off my Calvinesque ability to make juvenile facial expression. Combined with body language and hand gesture, they are one of my main tools as I make my strip.

Neighborhood video

2007-12-26T22:04:00.000-05:00

In case you didn't know, I am curently in Korea.

This is me walking around the neighborhood snapping a picture every couple of seconds. I like the style, but i could be done better. If I used a tripod all the pictures would be at the same height, which would have a weird effect.

I may do this again with more of a purpose, but for right now, this is what my neighborhood looks like...

What's Really Going On.

2007-10-17T17:27:00.000-05:00

Wednesday, October 17th--

July 17th, the day after I met comics-scholar Scott McCloud (also my birthday), I began work as Prop Master on "The Only Good Indian" which consumed all of my time until September 20th, when it dumped me on the side of the road like an Xmas tree on Dec. 26th.

Its been a rough month since then. The feature film "Nail Biter", on which I am also to serve as Prop Master, has entered into some sorta holding pattern. Basically, it starts three weeks from tomorrow. Which tomorrow, I don't know.

So I've been trying to make some art in my "spare time".

-I made three comics, but my Wacom tablet has broken and so I am waiting for my new one to arrive.
-Whilst I cannot make comics, I have made some music, recording two songs.
-A good guy who I met on TOGI has encouraged me to write the script to a story I told him about, and this has been going slowly.

Halloween is two weeks from today and I plan to go to the Gogol Bordello show at Liberty Hall. I have a costume idea in mind, but I'll wait until afterwards to share it with you.

Any Questions?

Time Flies

2007-07-22T16:50:00.000-05:00

Oh people...

You know when people say, "Don't quit your dayjob"?

Well I did.

I quit my square job to work on a film, originally the independent feature "Nail Biter" which is a horror flick. So immediately after quitting my job, "Nail Biter" gets pushed back and I begin to freak out, because I do have bills to pay. I fight my way onto another movie "The Only Good Indian" which is the latest Kevin Wilmott "joint".

I have the most marvelous job. As Props Master, my job is to find and procure objects, which coincides nicely with my lifelong love of antique malls, thrift stores, junkyards and general rummaging.

In other news, I met Scott McCloud of "Understanding Comics" fame on my 27th birthday (a week ago tomorrow) and had him sign my personal copy of "Larrytown Laffs" the long-awaited comic book which I participated in.

In music news, I started recording music in my bedroom with my Mac and posting it on Myspace. The other night, Jon and I went down to Westport and "busked" for an hour and a half. We made $34 dollars, which is $8.00 an hour per person.

My hair is long and unruly and has interestingly been positively commented upon by black people in four unrelated situations. Why is this noteworthy, other than the sheer coincidence of it all? Because I am white and furthermore, from the suburbs, where we have defined black people as possessing some unattainable quality of which we lack and are envious. Also, Morgan Freeman.

bye!

News of the Weird

2007-05-31T17:10:00.000-05:00

So what's going on?

Spring is a time of change for all things. The world is hot and wet and there's literally sperm in the air.

First, work at Blockbuster is silly and constantly disturbing. Why do I work there again?? Not for long anyway...

I have been on a big musical kick lately, which brings me to this...

..... which I discovered during as I went through some of Jim Henson's mighty legacy.

I am redesigning my website...

Here are some sneak peeks:

I hope I don't jinx it, but I have been asked to propmaster a horror film in Kansas City and I am thrilled. This is job with a real creative streak running through it.

Funniest thing.... various people have been very mean to me lately and as a student of Reality's, I am forced to assign some sort of arbitrary significance. What I'm saying is this, I am the only constant in all of these situations. Scientifically speaking, I must be attracting bad vibes for some reason, right?!

David!?

PS- Look at this!

Chinese Food

2007-03-17T16:27:00.000-05:00

First Chinese Fu is pronounced so that it sounds like Chinese Food, with the emphasis on "-nese" and not "fu".
Other than that, I haven't much to say. This is prop-inspired and a reference to "The Karate Kid", oh, and one last thing. The sound effect in panel three was originally "click", but it looked too much like the word "dick" so I changed it to "chick". A minute detail, but goddammit, if I'm going to make a dick joke, I want to do so on purpose.
Nuff said.

I like to Sing-a

2007-03-06T13:20:00.000-05:00

When I got my new Mac, I wanted to test out what it could do as quickly as possible. I was curious how my Photoshop 5.0 skills would translate to a version that was almost a decade older. Burst Bubble is the result and my first Mac-made comic.
I will admit that the premise and conclusion for this comic were put together a bit quicker than other comics have been in the past, but if I hadn't mentioned this would you have noticed??? And is this good or bad?
Finally, when I showed an earlier version to my friend Andrew, he read it as if I was caught masturbating in the second panel, which was not my intention at all. I think masturbation is a fine area for comedy, but if I am to make a joke about wankery, then I should at least be aware of it. Because of his warped perception, I added the voice bubbles which I hope will prevent his perverted and understandable conclusion from becoming more common.

Tragedy as Comedy

2007-03-05T19:23:00.000-05:00

Lunch Money came from a conversation I had with friend and thoughtful reader James Kaberline. I was talking about my love of a good 3-panel idea, and to illustrate the subject I made this one up off of the top of my head (and it shows doesn't it?). It is also the second appearance of my hobo-costume. All I need now is a bindle.

Three-panel comics, which I am quite fond of making whenever I can, tend to work like this: Panel 1- introduces the situation, Panel 2- progresses or complicates the situation and Panel 3- resolves it, sometimes with humor.

In Lunch Money a man is "so hungry" so he is begging, someone gives him some money, and so he eats it! Ha ha?!
I was watching a Ren and Stimpy the other day and the episode ended with the exact same joke. Maestro, I say "Right On!"

State of the Individual

2007-02-28T16:12:00.000-05:00

Friends,

I hadn't taken the time to just blog in a while and I missed it a little bit. If you'd wondered what, if anything, had changed in my life, then this is what you should be reading. Now where do I begin...

I've been working very hard on comics for the KC Star Preview section which will "air" starting tomorrow and continue on weekly until the end of the month.

There is a book called Larrytown Laffs which I have been invited to be in (as well as partially fund) and so when it comes into existence, I might ask you to buy one from me as I'll need to recoup my expenses.

I have moved to KCK in an attempt to cloister myself away from the hustle and bustle that is suburban Johnson County, but I still work there. It is my great hope, that in the next 11 months, that I make a whole bunch of art (comics) and become greater able to support myself indirectly.

I am now a "Shift Leader" at my square job, which came with a pay raise and a 33% cut in my hours, so I can now quit while I'm behind.

Betsy and I have split up for no other reason than we weren't making each other very happy anymore. We'd talked about it, but ultimately it was her who had the courage to do the dang thing. I regret dragging it on and look forward to the opportunity of being lonely and having loveless sex with strangers.

I have made the big switch from PC to Mac and am very excited to take advantage of everything that the Mac claims to be able to do.

Things are very expensive and show no sign of getting any cheaper. Hanging out with my friends is becoming boring, even depressing sometimes. I have no television or internet, so NPR is the only thing keeping me in touch with American popular culture--that was a joke. My job is simultaneously ridiculous and terrifying. The weather is nice today. I hope it is tomorrow too.

Lots of Love,
David Daneman

I thought it would be different, but it was the same.

2007-02-28T15:56:00.000-05:00

There are about four things which can inspire a comic strip for me. Puns, Activities, Objects and...well I forget the fourth thing. The point is Digital Analogy is an object-inspired strip. The idea began to form as I was packing all of my belongings into boxes (stay tuned for box-related comic strip) and I was looking at all the media I own and the various extinct formats. I have records and cassettes and CD's and 5'in floppy discs and nintendo cartridges and I thought about how all of this stuff now exists on shiny CD/DVD discs. So the original idea was really the first six panels, but that lacked Oomph and made less sense especially because the Disc, though still very much in use, is becoming an obsolete technology. Then I realized that THIS was the point of the strip in the first place, so that took me to panel 7.

Now, I had vowed to myself to avoid commercial topicality in my strips and I have been very good at this. You will find scant references to Sudoku, iPods, and ABC's Heroes in my strips, but Apple has been so frigging good at elevating their pod to iconic status that I thought that I should bend my own stricture. And in another sense, the iPod is more than a consumer trend, there is an ongoing revolution in media taking place. So I let the iPod in and this is why the iPod is so big. Not only does it complete the series, but it in itself is supposed to be a little bit of a joke, as in "Look at my freaking HUGE iPOD."

Fantastic Cat

2007-02-28T15:45:00.000-05:00

Is this a pussy joke?

This comic was received more enthusiastically than my comics normally are, which pleases and displeases me. This comic was a phone-in. A sight gag. No relevance, no depth and yet, people responded to it in a way which says to me "listen to them, make more stupid crap".

Actually, I rather enjoyed making this comic, as it took under five hours to make. The joke, as I concieved it, was "what magazine would have this most inappropriate fold-out" and an alternate would have been Popular Mechanics.

Sign of the Times

2007-02-20T15:31:00.000-05:00

Bad Sign was inspired while apartment hunting. It dawned on me that I am utterly surrounded by contracts. Contracts that penalize me if for some terrible reason I want to live somewhere for 9 months or 13 months, contracts that continues to work if my telephone breaks. You even sign contracts when you get a video store membership that authorizes them to make charges on your credit card. Now I am not the type of person who these protections were designed to protect against, but I do have to live under the same rules and this pisses me off.

Essentially, the moral is "Read the Fine Print", but more to the point, those on the signing end of contracts are always signing something to "protect" the other side, rarely ourselves. And there is no other option. Sign the contract or be unemployed, homeless and without video rental privileges.

Borrow Tomorrow, Steal Today

2007-02-19T12:55:00.000-05:00

Rockwell That Ends Well is taken largely from a Nelson Rockwell painting entitled "The Gossips". I have never heard Rockwell mentioned in reference to comics (sequential art) ,but as I went through a collection of his Saturday Evening Post materials, I found more than a few pieces that could only be charaterized as comics.

After reading "The Gossips", I thought "What a great gag...but the ending needs work." I added a little bit of a story so that the conclusion makes more sense. In Rockwell's original the gossiping woman is rebuked for gossiping, but we have no idea what about. In Rockwell That Ends Well, I added context by having it be a story about a braggart who spills the beans about a romantic hookup, only to be rebuked for such.

Such An Inconvenience

2007-02-18T15:10:00.000-05:00

An Inconvenient Tooth is supposed to be a silent movie of sorts. The idea for the strips came from the little man in the first panel. He has a toothache and has tied a bow around his head in order to help(?). If you are unfamiliar with this symbol, that's okay, because its been out of usage for seventy years.

Then after I decided to mold a comic around such a flimsy pretext for action, I had to think about what could possibly be funny about a toothache. Eventually, I settled on "Wouldn't it be funny if a dentist knocked some guy's teeth out?" Also, ending a strip on an act of violence passes for humor.

I put a little extra effort into those backgrounds for you. I hope a you like.

~D

Inside the Joke

2007-02-15T11:46:00.000-05:00

More than a few people commented on the fact that bars, cells and imprisonment figured into the punchlines of two recent strips and before anyone out there calls Two Rivers, allow me to assure you that I am fine. The confinement-theme was for the most part coincidental.

The strip Inside Joke, working title Cell Fun, was inspired by the prop of Chinese Fingercuffs. To me, the "joke" here is that our main character is struggling to get out of a child's toy and then the last panel reveals to us that he has bigger things to be getting out of.

On an aestetic note, I am slightly displeased with the art in the last panel, as I think there are some flaws on the bars that are distracting and will fix them at some later date.

Thanks for Reading!
~d

News- Old and New

2007-02-15T09:58:00.001-05:00

Old News was a joy to create and took less than three hours to do the bulk of the work. A total of twenty-four photos were taken to get the final three. I think my intentions were pretty clear on this one, but the "joke" I hoped to communicate is that "the news ceases to be the news, when it is the same everyday." I may not have gotten that point across, but I think the final piece is enjoyable nonetheless. Was it?

Present Day

2006-12-21T13:53:00.000-05:00

Goodness am I ever behind when it comes to keeping "Being Avid" current. I've got a couple of things to mention here today: news and future news.

First, I feel that the apartment search is coming to a close. I should say that I make so little money at my square job that I was constrained to only the smallest or most dangerous apartments, but I think I might've found one that satisfies my basic needs. It is located right next to KU Med Center, so if I do get shot, I can hobble my ass over to the ER.

Today, I enjoy the first of three days that I took off from work to work on my application for the Diamond Comics Scholarship (thanks Annie) and if I complete it early, I will work on regular comics. As you might recall, the Kansas City Star will run five of my "funnies" in their Preview Section this March, a date that is rapidly approaching.

Things between Betsy and I are good. A couple of weeks ago we had to have a conversation concerning the nature of our relationship. It would seem that we are past the infatuation that accompanies the early phase of a relationship and have entered into a sort of plateau. Since the conversation, we did have one hell of a New Year's Eve.

The Animation Club of Andrew, Andrew, TJ and myself has yet to produce anything besides a script, but recently I had a brainflash that said, "David, combine stopaction and rotoscoping." So we will convene this evening to discuss armatures and puppetry and the like. If all goes well, I'll have a short film for you to view sometime.

Oh...and Bill Plympton friended me on MySpace. I hope Nikola Tesla follows suit.

News of things to come: Animation (I hope) and I have wanted for a long time to accompany my comics with "director's commentary", but I didn't want to clutter up The Storyboards with a bunch of words. So don't be surprised if this very blog becomes the home of all my thoughts and feelings about the comics I make.

Thanks for Reading!

Cold One

2006-11-18T10:13:00.000-05:00

Haven't seen a new comic recently???

That's okay, there will be plenty more in the future. I have started the four large format comics for the Kansas City Star. The first of which is entitled "Read All Over" which is of course about a newspaper.

I had an interesting thought about my own artwork the other day. To me, the more I see my name at the top of a comic, the more it "sounds" as if its read Dane-min or Dain-min and for those of you who know me, my name is actually pronounced with three syllables Dan-uh-man . The comic will often feature multiple facsimiles of myself and their adventures. When writing a comic (yes, they are written) I usually think of them as "guys", but no longer.

They are the Danemen.

In other news, its cold and i took a crappy job.

Horse Latitudes

2006-11-15T11:19:00.000-05:00

Perhaps I am being a bit severe, but I feel as if I am in a place where the wind does not blow, literally speaking metaphorically.

This was an expensive and difficult week. I will not be moving into the apartment I hoped, because it is too much of a dump. My car broke down and in order to get it running again, the mechanics were required to sodomize me, metaphorically speaking. Other knickknacks and bric-a-brac were accomplished as well, little odd bits of this-n-that, nothing so great as to mention in a long, aimless sentence....

*sigh*

But...this is all about to change. This week, nay, hours from now, I will embark on a working vacation and hope to return from it juvenated and freshed. Things will be done! BIG THINGS! Its all very hush-hush at the momment, but rest assured, that if I could, I would tell you.

So remember, when you get to a place where the wind doesn't blow, sometimes you've just got to slaughter a horse and jettison its carcass overboard...philosophically speaking.

D

Sea Change

2006-11-13T10:22:00.000-05:00

Something interesting happened this weekend...
200 people visited my comics blog!!!

Last Thursday, I met with Andrew Hadle, Juniper Tangpuz and Andrew Leek. These are all very talented, competent and above all, hard-working people and it is my hope that the four of us will collaborate on some animated shorts soon. Everything is very preliminary, but rest assured, that if and when, you will be informed.

In other projects, I am still working on the script for a full-length comic book about the colorization of reality. I am still unemployed, but this will end soon, as I cannot take too much more of this. I should be moving soon, but my future roommate (and this may be ominous) isn't very good at informing me of anything.

So back to the 200 visitors this last weekend... I started making these comics about one year ago and given that fact, I should be more than happy with my successes and since Thanksgiving is next week, that is exactly what I'd like to do now.

1. Andrew Hadle: Seeing your comic in the UDK was the spark that knocked me out of inaction and into making comics. Thank You.
2. Scott Stewart: "ArtStew" was the first place to publish me and gave me another reason to keep working. Thank You.
3. Josh, James and Tim: Thank you for being my friends and occasionally, home away from home. Our conversations have inspired more than a few comics. Thank You.
4. Betsy: My darling Betsy. Thank you for putting up with the endless stream of babble, comics-related or non, and for being the second addition to the cast. Thank You.
5. Mom and Dad: It was (and is) under your roof that every comic that ever was (and is) made. Thank You.
6: Andrew Leek: An excellent conversationist and occasional tech-supporter, your thoughts will always be valued. Thank You.
7. Josh Seiden, Phil Cauthon and David Frese: Editors who took a chance and published me so that my comics finally met newsprint. Thank You.
8. You the audience, you are the fifth member of Spinal Tap! Seriously though, without an audience there is no art. Thank You to anyone who has ever read my comics and to anyone reading this.

THANKS,
David

What is it...November??

2006-11-02T12:07:00.000-05:00

Ah misperception, what a grand vein of comedy ore thou art.

Things are going oh-so slowly in MEtown (population Me). I think I may have contracted a tropical depression from an animal bite. In all seriousness, not having a job is starting to take it toll on me and though I hate selling my life at an hourly rate, I might just have to so as to stave off boredom. Now, don't get me wrong: I work hard and frequently. Its just that each day has started to resemble the previous one, a foolish consistency that is gobbling my hob.

I've seen a rough cut of the Bobby McGee project: it is good. I cannot say what our chances are of selling the commercial, but it was a good experience.

This last weekend, I celebrated Halloween. Betsy and I dressed as Gomez and Morticia Addams, fairly well I would say and if you ask nicely, I'll let you see the photos unroto-ed.

Tomorrow is First Friday here in KC and I am delighted. Betsy and I will, more than likely, dine out, gaze at artwork and the take in a film, Borat perhaps.

Speaking of gazing at art, two Saturdays back, I participated in an art show and I observed something that I am curious if anyone else has noticed. When you look at art after art after art, do you not somewhat lose your ability to determine was is or is not art?? I swear, at one time I found myself looking at a very decorative lightswitch wondering who the creator was. Anywho...

With any luck, some solidity will glide into my life. Simply a date that I can move out/in or a jobby job would do the trick.

Until then, DAMN THE TORPEDOS!

What have you been up to?

2006-10-26T14:13:00.000-05:00

It is October the 26th and "boy" are my arms tired.

I am still between paying projects but have begun my book. It'll be great, you'll see. I have my Halloween costume sorted out, do you? You're not one of the shiftless layabouts who at the last moment dons a suitcase and calls it their costumes? Eh, Brundelfly? I am still keeping the idea under wraps, but after the holiday (which is celebrated the 28th this year) I'll have photos.

BOINGBOING simply will not post a link, either from or of me. I am mad about this, but what can I do? Any suggestions?

Last weeks, I spent some sixty hours creating images for a Fosters' Beer commercial which I may be paid for. This, I will also reveal to you when the time is right.

Last Saturday, I participated in the Red Balloon To-Do which is a real live art opening per se. I expected more rejection from the "fine artists", but they were very receptive. I get more flack from comics-makers (looking at you Harrigan).

Finally, my friend, contemporary and occasional accomplice ANDREW HADLE has just set up his website. He's an up and comer allright, and I just hope that his coattails are strong, because my bootstraps are broken. If you'd like to see his work, which includes the kinetic sculptures which are garnering him such attention and prestige, then click his name. It should be a link.

Well...all's well that ends.

Do they owe us a living?!

2006-10-11T11:45:00.000-05:00

Strange times we live in, indeed. Especially me.

Since last we "spoke", there was but one major development. Minutes after posting the last post, I received a phone call from one Bobby McGee who invited me to PA on a HyVee commercial in Olathe. Twenty-six working hours later, I was four-hundred dollars richer. For those of you not in "the know", PA-ing is the bottom of the barrel of film production. Your job is to do whatever you're asked and it is in this sense that filmmaking is not unlike organized crime. One starts off low, unless born into a good family, and works long and hard at menial craptasks until you earn the respect of someone in a position to elevate yours. Capische?

My problem is that I have such a well-developed sense of self-worth, sometimes called "pride", that it's difficult for me to be yelled at or made to do ridiculous work. Often I would have to remind myself that I am making somewhere between 17 and 20 dollars an hour.

I learned quite a bit from working on Bunker Hill. It was an experience that, like military service, nobody who wasn't there can really understand what it is me and my fallen brothers saw. Now I had a relatively cushy position, like military photographer, so people were constantly shitting on me for not carrying a rifle, but I was there. Every minute of every day, I was there.

I mention Bunker Hill because I believe they started shooting pick-ups today, a party that I was not invited to. My company being a luxury that could not be afforded. Its funny, but once you rotate back to the world, you end up wishin' you were back in the shit.

--end transmission--

Three in One Week??

2006-10-04T21:22:00.000-05:00

I must be unemployed, because I have really cranked out some material as of late. Chalk this up to A) the aforementioned lack of work B) the massive backlog of material I built up during Bunker Hill C) all of your friendly support D) me getting gooder at this

If you selected "D" then you're goodest.

So, I rewrote my Curriculum Vitae and sent it off to a couple of places today. One of which nibbled. I contacted a magazine called the "Lawrencian" and though they cannot afford a comic (and they'd like to) I might get a cover done for them. I have a few meetings set up with various film projects, but NO JOBs, per se. Also, I might've found a place to live.

In other news, I saw the Science of Sleep last week and was very pleased by it. For those of you unfamiliar with the name Michel Ghondry, he's a musician-turned-filmmaker who's unique grasp of visual language borders on the preverbal. You've probably seen his work in Bjoerk's Human Behavior, The White Stripes' Fell in Love with a Girl, or the Charlie Kaufman scripted Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I am not brave enough to say that you'll like the film, but I will say that you should see it. If for not other reason than to see the kind of movie that inspires me to make film.

Halloween is coming up... are you going to dress up? Its on a Tuesday, so if we're all going to party and dress up, we need to decide on what day so we don't repeat last year's catastrofuck. I recommend Saturday. Me and Betsy are thinking of going as Morticia and Gomez.

First Friday this week. You going?

Da Vee Duh

Two In a Row

2006-09-29T13:06:00.000-05:00

Reader,

So a lot of people ask me, "David, what are you up to nowadays?"

Well let me tell ya...

I live with my parents and am between projects. You see, when you freelance, you are never unemployed because you are sporadically employed.

Bunker Hill decided that Video Assistance is not a luxury that they can afford in terms of pickups. This is fine, because I hear they're insolvent anyways.

Betsy took a job with the Kansas Department of Labor, transforming herself from sexy scientist to bureaucrat. Also, she'll more than likely be moving back to Lawrence. Like myself, she had nightmares Saturday night. Strange...

I have various film projects that I am looking at working on, but nothing so solid as to merit mentioning here. I rewrote my resume today and am pondering seeking work in advertising, despite the fact that it is evil.

I am starting the graphic novella. Have I ever told what it is about??? The Untitled David Daneman Graphic Novel is about the invention of the first colors in a black and white world. It is much inspired by a Calvin and Hobbes and not at all by Pleasantville, thank you very much. Mad props if you know which Calvin I am referring to.

I spent the weekend in New York City, attending the wedding of my cousin Vinny and his now-wife Sandra. Thank You's are owed to Brian, Leija and Laura who's generosity and cooperation made the trip possible.

There are many, many more important things to talk about, but since I will have another cartoon ready for you in a couple of days, I think I'll hold off for now.

If you are reading this, write me at namenad@gmail.com - You don't have to say much of anything (much like I am doing right now), but for chrissakes, WRITE NOW!

p!^vp

Its been too long

2006-09-26T15:30:00.000-05:00

friends,

You cannot imagine how I have desired to blog again, but *alas*, it was not to be.

You see, following my nine week stint in new city of York, I found myself working on a film set. The lengthy days all but made making comics impossible, also blogging. However, the film is in remission and six days after moving again, I have finished my latest offering.

So much to talk about...

I am currently jobless and I have moved in with my parents again. My best gal Betsy might be moving to Florida and I think she'd like me to as well. My cousin Vinny is getting married this weekend and I will be attending (in Queens). Thank you to those who are making this little trip possible. Two weeks from now, I will be working on either a commercial with a man named Quinn or back to Bunker Hill, where I cannot tell if I worn out me welcome.

I am thinking about putting together a book, a larger exercise in photoscoping meets storytelling, and I'd have four months to apply for the Xeric grant. PS--does anyone else know of other grants? I'd rather not work at FedEx again.

Lots of comics planned, which reminds me, I'll be in the KC Star again in March 2007 and Lawrence.com was interested, but then not. I dunno...

Thanks for Reading!

Stress Management

2006-08-26T13:55:00.000-05:00

Everybody!

I apologize for the snail's pace at which I've been able to keep current on this here interblog, but you see, I've been busy. Real busy. Really very busy. Quite busy. Really quite busy. busy. Biz-E

For the past two weeks, I've been serving as the Video Recordist on the set of "Bunker Hill", an indie film being shot 'round Kansas. To the best of my abilities, I estimate that I've worked 168 hours in the past 13 days. I have worked from before sun up to after dark and from noon to four am. I've come to the conclusion that there isn't one aspect of the film industry that isn't exploitive. (but is that so unlike anything else?)

The KC Star asked for one more comic (above) which I gladly made. David Frese, the asst. art-director for the Star says that the feedback has been good. I asked him about the larger (13x6.25) page and he said that I can do it in March. This is good. Theoretically, if I were to have created my graphic novella by then, I could promote it there.

Back to the set, I've met several worthwhile people there and I am sure that something good will come of this. Due to the film, I cannot guarentee any comics till mid September, but I am sure that this is allright with all of you.

DAvID

Outside of the Box

2006-08-09T19:24:00.000-05:00

I am proud to bring you the comic "think outside". It is the first comic I have produced since the four I made for the Star three weeks ago.

It is currently 10 panels in length and I'm toying with the notion of expanding it into two 6-panel pages by adding an introduction and concluding title panel. What do you think?

My Life:

Today is Tuesday, August 9th.

Days ago I was melting in the sweltering heat of the biggest apple. Today I find myself in a very different place, living very comfortably in an AIR-CONDITIONED house "out in the country". Its wonderful.

I have been working all week on the upcoming film shoot for Kevin Wilmott's "Bunker Hill" set to go into production this Monday. I think that what most unhinged me about the last nine weeks of my life is that, previous to them, I had become very good at budgeting my time and getting things done. In NYC, I had but one objective to do and I never completed it. Alas....

So for the next six weeks, I am the video man and I've got a bunch of comics planned out. Hopefully, we'll both see them soon.

David!

Found Poetry??

2006-08-04T08:57:00.000-05:00

( Before you get started here, you should know what this is. This is an exercise in "found poetry"...kinda. This is "Baby Got Back" translated from English to German, German to French, French to Spanish, and from Spanish to English courtesy of Altavista Babelfish. Finally, I edited it a little to accentuate its natural poeticity. The final result is entitled "Baby Recovered." Enjoy.

Baby Recovered

I myself, I want great pistons and I can…I am not them.

Them other brothers do not refuse.

Who, if a girl inside goes itty-itty-bitty size and a round thing to her face, would not want to receive result.

Their language retired, because they considered that this piston deeply-filled in the cattle tenders she is carrying to happen to be intense and me “Oh baby.”

Stop whom it would love to take receipt and its illustration.

My homeboys tried to inform it, but with this piston received types me feel if horny.

The back part…I would like to take to you and your illustration month.

Homeboys who are tried to inform me, but with piston you received types me feel if horny...back part him of skin equalizes.

To say to you that you receive in my Benz uses to me well humid.

He to me of maintenance, because they do not have to me…me Vista.

She hell to dance this one, average groupy!

Are that romancing is he, become sweated, going as I disturb the Corvette that I am tired?

Saying studies that level pistons are a thing to take the average black man and they request it.

What it has received to pack so much is later, fellas!

Yes! Fellas! Yes!

Her friend received the pistons?

They request to shake hell he! shake! shake! shake!

Shake that to push healthfully!

The baby recovered!

(The LA face with the Oakland beehive)

Baby recovered!

I want districts and to a large extent, if I send a concert that I do not help, I can indeed work as an animal!

Now my scandal is “Me-You-It-House” and ugh, double-up.

To receive here would want, ugh, ugh!

I do not speak more of apron hero, because the parts of silicone for game merchandise form hard truth!

Since it wishes…finds that lot of mixture double substantial in effort that around a piece of this bubble because I rock knock-kneed video.

He that Bimbos requests considers, is as the heels she have to them can have, must indeed be!

If I say that it would want bumsen, until the cut trowel of the baby he has on an amount.

Simps-To-Go cannot this song, because they can affect Pigs.

He and who and it would rather remain to finish to him and it would play.

Because I am long time and I am strong and must be received downwards the friction arrives myself thus, ladies!

Yes! Ladies! Yes, if they wish the paper in my Mercedes!

They return around then!

Adhere outside!

To receive white boys to even cry to baby to recover!

The baby recovered! Yes!

Does not have to baby...if it comes to the women of the Cosmo, anything that must see my selections.

36-24-36? It has.

It has only if he is 5' 3 .

Therefore, her friend wheel to play of the work out tapes founded.

Objective founded has a motor in the back of her Sling.

My anaconda, unless you have small breads of the honey…closed circuits lateral.

Done to them or sitzen-sit-ups, does not lose despite if you please, he wishes.

Some brothers wanted to play that and he explains "the hard" paper to them.

Push that the piston is not, therefore, gold.

She, that send it and you he leave and I extract quickly, to bring one to Sling!

Therefore I say upwards to him of the Cosmo that they are not, because its size is small and his curves take a step.

I think of the Ladies about the studies adhering to the bean bar: They are not he, Mrs. Thing!

If they give me to a sister, I cannot resist to its red beans and the rice.

He, slightly knucklehead, that says that their daughters is in my list…

He that had game, tried themselves despite deciding to affect it.

She extracts quickly towards the summit to thus receive with them ladies.

If the piston is more and they wish to choose a triple X, throw toward parts low to bad.

1-900-MIXALOT and take a step-thought later.

Baby have!

Anyone Else Notice This?

2006-07-31T21:26:00.000-05:00

Parody, theft or reference: you make up your own mind.

The first image is from Dali.

I am left one weak

2006-07-27T21:37:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is an important day.

Tuesday, I had an interview with these cats and everything went smoothly. The job would consist of promoting their animation and podcasts and what-have-you via the internet, viral marketing as its sometimes called. I would love to do this for a number of reasons, especially because it would allow me to continue living here.

As a result of this job, and as many of you already know, I have been Myspacing like crazy. I have made some observations about Myspace that I will share with you now.

1st- Myspace is a rickety site that loads slowly, maxs out my CPU and shuts down half the time.

2nd- I hate going to your site and being scared shitless as your music suddenly blares out of my computer. I don't care how good you think your taste is. (my opinion on this is subject to change as I might put a song on my page)

3rd- Friends of mine who do not, will not email you back, are readily available on Myspace for email. WHY? I do not know.

If you want to see my profile, I'm Daneman
though I am not sure that that link will work.

If I do not recieve the position, then it seems I will return to the good ol' heartland. Apparently, Professors Wilmott and Jacobson have thrown together $500,000 to shoot a movie outside of Lawrence and I will work on this. Afterward, it is my ambition to start production on my own graphic novella in October.

PS- will someone recommend Storyboards to BoingBoing . That's be great.

The God's Honest Etc...

2006-07-23T22:51:00.000-05:00

Fans of blathering,

What a weekend, huh? Get a lot done didja? Me2.

I am heavily addicted to threadless.com and you would be too, if you spent as much time as me on the computer. Also, as much time making images. Check it out.

I have a J-O-B interview 2uesday with an internet podcasting/animation company. Not sure I'll get the job, but I'm well qualified.

For those of you familiar with John Hodgman, of Daily Show and the recent Mac commercial fame, check out e-hobo.com, where there is an ongoing project to illustrate his list of 700 hobo names. FYI- I'm #688 aka Mickey Gluesniff.

The other news is that the KC Star will alledgedly (I'll believe when I see) run four more weeks of my strips. Otherwise, this Thursday is my last (the same strip as above)

Finally, I appreciate the need for easy access to my 'toons, so over the weekend I created Storyboards, which will serve as an ongoing index of my comics sans blog for easy reading. Enjoy!!

Caption Contest

2006-07-19T09:05:00.000-05:00

In addition to the comic from two posts prior, I am likewise dissatisfied with the original title "Aggressive Passivity" for this strip, but my other ideas are "What you Eyes don't see" and "Fair Weather", the lastest being my favoritest.

I like my titles to be a little extra joke that compliments the strip, so if you have ideas, let me hear 'em. Do think you can you do better?

Incidentally, I'm toying with "Gone to Pot" for the strip of two posts prior....any thoughts?

buh-buy

For Your Information

2006-07-18T09:05:00.000-05:00

No, I don't know yet!

They said they'd tell me Monday and they didn't.

On the plus side, _____________________________________________
____________________________________ and ________________ .

Berfday!

2006-07-16T22:07:00.000-05:00

Today is my birthday. I am twenty-six years of age today.

I feel like saying that I am not a fan of "toilet jokes", but this certainly is one. Incidentally, I like to title my comics with a little pun or turn of phrase and struggled to come up with anything. So, allow me to announce a CONTEST!!!!!!

Any of you out there surfing the various internets may suggest what you consider to be a better title. The winner will have the privledge of suplanting my own "Deep Thoughts" and appearing in print (supposedly). You may do this either by commenting on the blog or by emailing me at namenad@gmail.com.

See you in the funny pages.

Poor Me (again)

2006-07-14T20:15:00.000-05:00

I am in the KC Star this month, two down and two to go.... but wait, there's more? Yes, I am currently trying to piece together four more strips for the Star so that, maybe I'll get some more freelance work.

In other news, the job search continues-- I have one interview lined up that would have me PA-ing on a Bollywood film if I am lucky enough to get it.

Saw "Art School Confidential" today...man I regret not having studied art. The movie was okay, very much like "Ghost World" and "Bad Santa". In my opinion, Mr. Zwigoff's best film to date is still "Crumb".

It is very nearly my birthday, so if you're reading this and you feel like wishing me well, my email address is namenad@gmail.com

bye

Sink or Swim...

2006-07-12T20:04:00.000-05:00

I realized that I have plenty of old comics laying about that I needn't wait on new ones to post new blogs.

Today is July 12th...I've been here for five hot, wet weeks and at current, have no job. I have three weeks left living where I do and no job. I spend my days filing out online job applications and looking for work, which has so far resulted in me not having a job.

Bruce McColloch of KITH fame once said that "the only thing worse than having a job, is looking for one". This is what keeps all but the bravest among us employed.

I am toying with the notion of returning to the relatively inexpensive bosom of the Midwest, thusly forsaking the lofty notion of someday fetching Spike Lee's coffee or Wes Anderson's Cheese Danish, but this is not something to be considered lightly.

Little was ventured coming here and less gained, but I for one do not have any idea where to start, to begin. The traditional route of asking for work seems incorrect and if its "not who you are, but who you know" then how in god's name do you get to know people? Certainly not by living with 20-year old Harvard premeds and sweating all day.

Then again, Kansas sucks.

Note to editors: "aggressive"... thanks

Made Art

2006-07-07T14:48:00.000-05:00

Lots of shoes today...but what does it all mean?

July!

2006-07-01T12:46:00.000-05:00

Audience,

As of yet, I have no offers for paying work in NYC, but I have been offered an internship at a post-production house that I'm considering considering. I have read that if I succeed in my goals, Parrish Baker will de-KC me.

For those of you reading this in the Kansas City Area, be on the look out this Thursday as the first of four comics, produced by yours truly, will appear in the Preview section of the KC Star.
(I cannot confirm it, but there might actually be more than four) Oh, and they're supposed to be funny.

I am pleased to present a comic today, though not comedic as such, I like it just the same. Please do not be upset if you think that you don't "get it". It is an art to provide the audience with a feeling of satisfaction and with comics this tends to mean that they understand and appreciate the joke, but perhaps, that has changed.

yours truly,

Alsobetluy Unbradeale

2006-06-29T22:03:00.000-05:00

Yetsready, I reeviced a clupoe of eritodial cemmonts form bolod riotlaves who heav tekan it uopn telemshevs to raed and eidt tihs bolg. Tnkhas! I amlost lokoed floisoh.

On a realetd tiopc, I had raed taht, auinmssg taht the frsit and lsat lttres in a wrod are in tehir crrocet palce, the barin has the rekrambale aibltiy to ublamscnre and dodece tehm. Hwoveer, it deos bemoce mroe dffilucit the lngoer the wrod.

Alolw me to alogipize for any tpoys fnuod in tihs sceloiten, as my schlepleck dones't seem to be
winkrog toady.

serghinku!

metaphor like a simile

2006-06-28T22:45:00.000-05:00

What should I do today? Any suggestions?

my eye

2006-06-27T18:20:00.000-05:00

Viewer(s),

(Today's featured image is a component of the apparatus through which I view the world.)

There are a few websites which I enjoy daily and would like to share with you.

Topping the list is www.boingboing.net , the self-titled "directory of the wonderful". It is somewhat geeky in its bias, but deep down, everyone is a geek. Enjoy.

Next is www.foundmagazine.com , a website that publishes its ever-growing collection of found things. These scribbled bits and faded photos can be funny, boggling and even touching. A good argument for humanity's humanity could be made using this material.

Lastly, belonging to fellow Blogger blogger is Jeremiah Palacek's "1 painting every day" at http://jeremiahpalecek.blogspot.com/ I have not studied this blog as thoroughly as the previous two, but something about Jeremiah's digitally-referenced, overlapping-polygon style resonated within my mind, having been exposed to hours of Nintendo-brand radiation as a child.

Comics to come in the not to distant future...

Things Happen- -

2006-06-23T16:51:00.000-05:00

And sometimes they don't.

I have fourty-two days left as another week meets its end.

This week was more challenging than the last as I have fairly exhausted the supply of jobs openings to apply to. I was referred to Mayor Bloomberg's website which has the address of many production offices and I've started going to them personally to drop off resumes and such.

On the positive side, I am going to D.C. this weekend for to see my Betsy. It'll be a nice change of pace to have nothing better to do than be happy.

"I thought it would be different, but it turned out to be the same."---paraphrase of Edward Gorey.

For God's Sake, Be Good!

2006-06-18T21:58:00.000-05:00

Yesterday sucked.

I woke up not feeling good, roused by early roommate Johnny Fang and the persistent tolling of Norwegian church bells. At noon I headed to Brooklyn to assist Cecilie Dahl, international artist, with a most interesting photo shoot involving sprinkling talcum powder upon her model, but before I could do this my tripod broke in the subway. A screw came loose and the adjoining nut merrily bounced down between the rails of the L train. Part of me really wanted to hop down there and grab it, but the train was already bearing down upon me.

In the evening time, I had unpleasant words with the aforementioned roommate who this time was forcing me to go to bed before I would like. Maddening.

Today was much better... I consciously made an effort to atone for the previous days negativity by giving money to a bum and being an all around nice guy. I got a five dollar haircut at a barber school and I am pleased with it. During the cut, I receive a phone call from a man who wanted to
speak with me about storyboarding an independent animation. I rush to 179th St. in Long Island and meet with him. I do not know what will happen with this, but the experience was "okay".

I rush back to Brittany Hall (my home), eat a sumptuous meal, and hurry on out to MoCCA where the animator's guild is having a screening. I stupidly did not bring my work, which surprisingly would have fit right in. I did however make a few contacts and narrowly missed one Bill Plympton who snuck in and out without the knowledge of most.

Right now, I am sweating and typing...

PS- Once upon a time Adult Swim announced an animation contest. They asked that it somehow showed how you "embrace life through creativity"...seriously. Anyways, three months after the stated date of unveiling, they have unveiled the winner. Not me. Curiously, this film looks exactly like one of [adult swim]'s "animated" programs like 12oz mouse. Also, it in no way references the theme. "Bitter?" you ask. Not in the least. I enjoyed the thirty or so hours I poured into my non-winning film.

PPS- My film, entitled "Live Life" can be viewed at http://www.namenad.com/films.html#

The winning film: http://www.adultswim.com/promos/200606_honda/index.html

End all Weeks!

2006-06-17T11:32:00.000-05:00

I am very tired at the moment. My roommates, who I have neglected to mention until this very moment, rose too early this morn, truncating my slumber and disrupting a dream wherein I was working on the set of "Spiderman 3". This dream contained the quote, "Oh what irony, to die at a funeral."

The image above is based on twelve frames of film shot by ol' Muybridge himself and I'm thinking of animating it.

I am a little unhappy today, kinda bitchy too. Hopefully, for my sake and others, this will change.

In Questionable Taste...

2006-06-15T21:43:00.000-05:00

I felt pretty bad about this the other day.

For those not "in the know", I did something despicable recently. I spammed.

In the name of self-promotion (a wholly reprehensible enterprise), I sent out way too many emails to people I don't even know.

So to any and all of you, I am sorry.

In other news, the job search continues... I've sparked some interest in some folks who want T-shirts designed or storyboards drawn, but no paying films jobs.

This blogging can be a double-sided endeavor. On the one hand, I hope that this gets read, but on the other, I worry that it does.

Hi Mom!

- - -Welcome One and All- - -

2006-06-13T21:28:00.000-05:00

Welcome, welcome--

If you can read this, then it means that you've reached the comics blog of David Daneman. Feel free to not read the blog, but do browse around and check out current and previous comics.

Also, I am in need your help. Anyone who's everyone knows that my comedic sensibilities are imperfect. This is why I am collecting your opinions. I'm told that everyone has at least one and that it stinks, but this is beside the point.

Thank you for visiting and I hope to hear from you soon. I leave you today with one of my favorite comics to date, newly redone.

The Day That Was

2006-06-11T19:16:00.000-05:00

One of my first goals in New York was to collect the alternative newspapers so that I could send them comics. In the Village Voice I found an ad for a MoCCA (Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art) event. I decided it would be fun to go. This was smart.

When I arrive, I discover that its an expo for every major publisher in the world of underground comics. Pantheon, Top Shelf, Fantagraphics and many more all had tables and even more artists, writers and creators were there hocking their wares. And me without even a business card.

Then I see Daniel Spottswood, a KC cartoonist who's ex-job I always seem to be getting. After a brief chat with him, I head back to my pad to throw together some crude sort of calling card. After a brief lunch and shop Photoshopping, I head back with fifty, very crude Photocopied fliers of my comics. I handed all of them out but three. Alledgedly, one comic will be printed in the Graphic Artists' Guild magazine, if the woman-who-requested-it's emailbox ever becomes unfull.

I meet Kyle Strahm, Parrish Baker, Bonnie Leigh and Josh Cotter--all KC comics scenesters. Somewhat surreal to meet them in New York. And finally, there is the Xeric Grant. The Xeric Grant is a grant for comics self-publishers. Deadline is July 31st and I feel that I have an excellent chance at it.

good-bye

Incidentally--

2006-06-09T14:28:00.000-05:00

It has finally stopped raining in Manhattan. Huzzah! Rain in New York is not different than anywhere else, in theory, but in theory democracy is supposed to work. I'll get off my soapbox now.

Last night was fun... 9:30-ish I went to Union Sq. to find someone to play music with. I did not find them, but I did sit down and play for these people of questionable origin. Burnouts? Rich kids? Both? I still don't know.

In search of music, I walked to Washington Sq. only to find no one. So, I go back to my pad and make this comic, "War on Error". Is it funny?? 11:30-ish I go back to Union Sq. sans guitar and find the aforementioned layabouts, sort of, laying around. We go to a bar, to meet several young Tisch film students. We talk shop, baddabing-baddaboom, I'm gonna help some young'uns on a 16mm B/W filmshoot Tuesday.

At this bar, the most peculiar thing is happening. All of these people are nice and chatty and most importantly, they don't know each other very well and as a consequence, we're all on equal footing. I hop tables once more and go and get something to eat with some acting students. The evening ended at 3:00am, early by some standards. Not mine.

And finally, I have heard back from three of the places that I applied yesterday. Most intruiging, artist's assistant to Cecile Dahl. I looked at her (?) site and am hopeful.

tick...tick...tick

2006-06-08T21:06:00.000-05:00

What can one do in fifty-two days?

I cannot make my days longer, so I strive to make them better.

Easier said than done.

Went swimming yesterday, threw up. Applied to fourteen unpaid internships today. Will get none. Will apply to fourteen more tomorrow. Looking forward.

Played some guitar in Union Sq. tonight, couldn't tell if my company was crazy or rich or street urchins or what-have-you. Will try again.

Apologize for lack of subject/s.

Is This Funny???

2006-06-02T18:54:00.000-05:00

First person to respond wins!!!

I don't think it is, but I put a lot of work into it and its hard for me to accept loss.

As of right now, I am done with the KC Star comics and just in time as well because I leave for NYC day after tomorrow. I am very pleased with the four comics that I settled on, but the one above, entitled "Bored Game", was very difficult to imagine what the finished product would look like and so I poured a lot of work into something that ultimately did not work.

As you will soon see, I have been tinkering around with pixels per inch and it sure does make a difference. My future comics will be very crisp and clear, no more fuzziness.

Next stop, photographic novella.

Water, Water Everywhere

2006-05-25T14:00:00.000-05:00

Today is not a rainy day. Quite the contrary.

I've nothing much to report about, but I finished this "comic" and wanted to post it, because it is so nice.

Speaking of "comics", can we come up with a better word for them? Its very artistically confining to have the name of your artform imply that the product must illicit snickers. Then again, that never stopped Marmaduke.

peace be with you

T-Minus 13 Days

2006-05-23T14:04:00.000-05:00

Reader,

Today is Tuesday the 23rd of May, Two-Thousand and Six.

The show the other day went very well. The Jetlag has a very nice patio area and the weather that evening was cool and mild, too early in the year for mosquitos. The beer was free and that happens to be my favorite type of beer, which I did regret somewhat the next day.

The only blight came from the hands of a whiskey-drunk, never-do-well, who shall remain as nameless, who open-handedly struck me in the face (see dramatization). It wasn't very painful physically, but to be honest, I was quite disturbed by it for maybe sixteen hours. Fortunately, my good friend Joshua Pisciotta came to my aid and restrained the mongoloid. Thanks JP!

Sticks and Stones,

The Twentieth

2006-05-20T15:15:00.000-05:00

(...)s,

Tonight is the Jetlag show, the second to last performance I am likely to engage in with the Fast Eddie's Drive Time Band. We are set to practice beforehand in a couple of hours. blah, blah, blah

Speaking of Fast Eddies...they have taken up playing the "Texas Hold'em"-style poker recently and spend about fourty hours a month playing it. This is compared to the measly six hours a month we practice. And they're the ones who want to be musicians! Subregardlessly, I joined in these late night poker games recently and I am proud to report that on my third time, I won the entire enchilada. (approx. six dollars american)
Eat it, suckbags!

I am happy to report that the website "ball" has been placed squarely in the competent hands of Scott Stewart who is building it for me. I can now move on to other projects like the four strips for the KC Star and preparing myself for the New York summer. (Boulder sounds better every day.)

Lastly, I spilled the beans this week. I gave an in depth seminar to an audience of one on how it is that I make my images. Just for the record, the person was Brian Scott.

People have been asking me this a lot lately and I've begun to feel a little like a magician, you know, with not wanting to reveal how one does their tricks. Then I remind myself, "make'm look as fancy as you can, its the writing that people will ultimately scrutinize." Also, I stole the idea from Han Hoogerbrugge.

anyone ever feel like Doogie Houser doing this?

blogblogblog

2006-05-16T11:42:00.000-05:00

all you all,

The big news story in my life recently was that I carelessly shattered the trust of someone I care about and painstakingly pled for forgiveness. Who you might ask? How, you also might ask? I'd rather not say here in this most public of private thought logs.

Betsy is now a MA and looking at a government job in Boulder, CO (former home of Mork and Mindy). Now that she has mastered the arts, its time to move on to something more challenging, like, i dunno, freestyle rapping. Now that's hard!

The website is coming along sluggishly, but I can blame that on my music exams and the aforementioned weekend row. The CD is coming along too slow and will probably not come into existence before I leave Kansas, which is a shame. I really want to finish the consarn webjunk so that I may make the KC Star comics, but, alas, priorities are priorities.

Lastly, let me say something about current events...this administration has no respect for liberties or "our way of life". Privacy and security may be at odds, but those who's prefer security to liberty deserve neither.

where does the time go...

2006-05-10T23:36:00.000-05:00

This latest comic isn't.

That is to say, comics don't need to be funny. In fact, there's nothing more depraved than something trying to be funny that isn't.
I should know, I am funny.

To be honest, I just phoned this latest "funny" in. I liked the idea of someone standing before an old 80's game console and so I pursued the notion. This is where most of my ideas come from...I find myself liking the idea of a "look" or aesthetic and voila...instant entertainment.

My website is the next thing on the agenda. It is to be built by Scott Stewart of Artstew.org. If you haven't checked it out, do.

Is there anybody out there?

tWeNty-NiNe & cOuNtInG

2006-05-06T15:50:00.000-05:00

Underemployed...or more accurately put, blissfully unemployed.

I quit my dayjob this week. No longer do I shill video rental plans for big video, but for how long??
In addition, the last edition of the JCCC Ledger that I'm sure to be a part of has been printed, another lonely crossword goes uncompleted.

As the title claimed, I have twenty-nine days until an airplane will carry me to the world capital. Poor me. In the time between then and now, I plan to compile all the media I have for a website. And I did end up getting hold of the KC Star after all, so I have four comics to make for them that should be in the July Preview Section.

Recording is going well. We hope to have a 5 song EP by the 20th of this month. At current, we have two shows left. Speaking of which, last night we played at the Topeka Expocentre (sp). Topekans didn't exactly know what to make of us, but I don't always know what to make of us.

Tonight is me and Betsy night and right now, I'm going to go shower up...maybe follow'er up with a little music homework.

thank you for reading

My Hero...

2006-05-03T01:13:00.000-05:00

Egocentricity? Pish-tosh...

The days of self-deprecating humor are numbered Mr. Stewart, if that is your real name, for this is an epoch of belief and incredulity, both of which require self-assurance.

Descartes had it right when he said that he may be the only thing in existence. You may doubt everything, but yourself, for if you do so, then what is it that does the doubting?

Unfortunately for Descartes, if he was correct, then I am the only thing that has ever existed and he is simply a fragment of my imagination.

Stephen Colbert you have done what no one dared. I hereby crown you king class clown for mocking the senator's son. Is there any word stronger than "kudos"?

PS: Relax...I know I said fragment.

May O May

2006-04-27T17:24:00.000-05:00

you there,

The Lawrence.com com thing has been good. I really enjoyed making it and getting feedback.

Right now, I'm taking a brief hiatus from comic-ing to make some images for my website-to-be. The theme of which will be even more egocentric than all of my previous work combined. Seriously.

The band has several shows lined up. Paying gigs in three cities. Also, last night we started recording an EP that could come into existence before my month is up. We actually layed down the bedrock on two tracks last night, "keepers" as it were.

The KC Star Preview section is giving me the runaround. The Editor responded to my inquiry by saying that my work has attained the level of quality he deems print-worthy and asks me to call him two days later at 11:00 am. Since then, I've been calling every hour and emailing every two days. Aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

Tonight, Betsy and I will feast on BBQ or Pochi Tea. Walk and Recreate. Drink and be merry. It's an absolutely gorgeous today.

My oh My!

2006-04-22T13:57:00.000-05:00

I must've done something right, for fortune certainly shines on me.

In brief, over the past four days I have: played two great shows, designed the cover of Lawrence.com, won two prizes in a film festival, interviewed a renowned cartoonist and last night, I made love.

"Inexplicable" is the word that comes to mind, but perhaps I don't give myself enough credit. I feel truly blessed and a need to give something back. But what???

Keep up the good works.

Oh frabjous day

2006-04-18T23:11:00.000-05:00

Calloo, Callay!

Won Eighty Dollars in Best Buy gift certificates in the Cavalier Film Fest, nothing to turn one's nose up at.

I also made serious in-roads at getting my comics printed in bigger and better outlets. Currently, I am most interested in Lawrence.com and the Preview section of the KC Star.

Tomorrow is Tony Millionaire day and I am nervous. Why, I don't know. Perhaps its the notion of taking up the valuable time of one the most talented comic-artists in existence.

Best news of the day: Rory (explanation of relationship to follow) will be in NYC for a month of the time that I will. Explanation: When I was in highschool, I was in an enthusiastic skapunk three-piece called Punchdrunk. The band consisted of Rory Felton, Josh Cook and myself. We regularly played a club called Gee Coffee and the highlight of our brief stint was opening for a band named Link 80.

Two years later, Rory moves to LA to study the music industry at USC (i think) and drops out when the record label he's running out of his dorm room becomes successful. Rufio was his first record and it sold well from my understanding.

So I'm going to NYC this summer with the hopes that I'll make something of myself and as luck would have it, Rory'll be there too, doing his thing.

Busy Week Ahead

2006-04-16T16:06:00.000-05:00

As the title of this entry subtly implies, I have a busy week ahead.

Tomorrow evening, I shall attend the JCCC Film Festival with the hopes of leaving it with some form of check. My hopes are not up, as I have been burned before with these things. (I'm looking at you University of Alabama, Birmingham!)

The following day, and indeed two days afterward, I will be performing alongside my future ex-band Fast Eddie's. The Harbour Lights gig has the benefit of all-I-can-drink domestic beer, so I've made arrangements to be hung over Thursday.

And I've forgotten to mention, Wednesday afternoon I will be conducting an interview with the talented cartoonist Tony Millionaire. When it is completed, I will make it available to all of you.

The rest of the week is filled with the kind of petty crap that simply isn't blogworthy, but then again, what is?

What it's Worth

2006-04-12T10:56:00.000-05:00

You,

I haven't mentioned the band yet. For the last two years, I've played bass for a jam/funk/rock band named Fast Eddie's Drive Time Band. Contrary to what the name implies, not one of us is forty or has an enormous beer gut, but give 'em fifteen years and that name will start to make sense.

The band has been a source of much frustration, unlike the outlet of pent-up creative energy promised in the brochure. You see, being in a band is like a romantic relationship. When it's bad, it's really bad and when it's good, it's really good. You stick it out in the hopes that the good outweighs the bad. In addition, you tend to want to be in one with a future. There are many other parallels that I will not go into now.

Tennis anyone?

A Crowd--

2006-04-10T23:52:00.000-05:00

Godness,

A really good hangover can change your life.

I have begun the arduous process that is transplanting my life from the middle of the West to the capitol of the planet-- NYC! I will be living at the NYU dorms for 240 dollars a week with two roommates and no air-conditioning!

In recognition of the fact that I'll be in NYC this summer (and two blocks south of Union Sq., I might add), I bought myself an eighty dollar 1/2 size guitar.

If anybody in the NY area reads this and they know of work befitting an avid, aspiring young talent, feel free to drop me a line at namenad@gmail.com

good night,

two much fun

2006-04-08T15:54:00.001-05:00

(Greeting),

A saying goes, "Write what you know", and though I know so many things, today I am going to write about myself.

At a very young age, I developed an interest in films, especially films of a fantastic nature. As my personal mythology goes, I wrote Spielberg a letter in kindergarten urging him to make a film about dinosaurs. The form-letter reply I received contained an autographed photo of him with his arm around E.T. (the extraterrestrial). To my credit, he did ultimately make a film about dinosaurs called "Amistad".

I studied film in college, but have yet to take any actions that might result in working in the wild world of Hollywood. However, I have taken up cartooning, as it is a low cost alternative to filmmaking and allows me to produce shorts quickly and inexpensively.

Lately, I've been experimenting with a process I've named "photoscopy". See if you can't figure out why.

bis spaeter,

My First Weblog

2006-04-06T19:24:00.001-05:00

Hello All,

I have too much on my mind not to create a self-important blog, hence, "Being Avid."

Perhaps I should provide you with some background information about myself. I'm twenty-five, underemployed and ready for change. That's about all of the information I'm ready to divulge at the moment. After all, this is just my first blog...

best,