My blog will be short today… I’ve finally given in. This morning a personal organizer is entering my office for the first time. I am both freaked out and relieved in the same breath.

The biggest trouble I have is that I’m so busy that I can’t set things up properly. I’ve moved a year ago and things still aren’t set… and now I’ll be moving again shortly, so I truly need to sort this out before I go into greater chaos.

My goal is to get back to the time when I knew exactly where everything was and could get at it in a flash.

Pray for me! HA!

Tj

BTW: Today’s comic about the glow-in-the-dark rubber duck emerged because I just procured a glow-in-the-dark rubber duck. I’m not sure quite why I needed one of these… I only know I just had to have one. It’s cool.

Alas, I’ve been dipping into the past, looking back before I have to switch gears in the New Year.

This character is Pudgy. He also hails from my first comic strip, Wabbit Hutch. He’s also seen action in a bunch of other ‘toons I’ve created. He’s been compared heavily to Opus from Bloom County, though he was invented before that strip hit the big time… so it was purely circumstantial.

Pudgy has been one of my perennial favorites, so it’s a warm bit of fun for me to bring him into Entities-R-Us  for a shtick.

Somehow, I managed to tie it into the paranormal field. It’s a amazing what you can connect when you open all those internal filing cabinets at once.

Enjoy and HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YA!

Tj

The totem pole came out of my old comic strip, In Spirit. It rested on the land the main character Woodsworth owned and was part of the ongoing haunting. Notice it holds a beer can… The original one did also, along with a cigarette in a holder much like Hunter Thompson would sport. In fact, it was a tribute to that crazy journalist and his artist sidekick Ralph Steadman.

Steadman is one of my favorite illustrators of all time. His work is amazing and amazingly crazy! Oh, if I could draw with that kind of intensity… this comic strip would probably explode.

Check out his work: http://www.ralphsteadman.com/

And, when you get the chance, read The Curse of Lonoby Hunter S. Thompson and illustrated by Ralph Steadman. It’s insane! AND, try Gonzo Porter beer (if they still make it)… it’s a tribute to Thompson to raise money for a sculpture in the desert of his characteristic fist logo, a symbol of the Gonzo Journalism he invented and lived.

We’ll, I’m Gonzo for the day… back to my book. SOON YOU’LL HAVE A COPY IN YOUR HOT LITTLE HANDS!

Tj

I just picked this blog entry off of Twitter… It brought to mind the many times I have gone without health insurance and regular pay because my chosen career is artist. I still go without a regular salary or paid vacations… most of my work is done gratuitously for promotion of my comic.

The world does not seem to take care of its artists. It’s a shame really. I’ve known a lot of talented people who just give up. Not everyone is a stubborn hard-ass like me.

I am hoping we get to a point where healthcare is not a commodity, but a given right to every citizen, even if they are artists, jobless or just ill.

Read this, it will make you think. http://open.salon.com/blog/cary_tennis/2010/02/11/how_lack_of_health_insurance_kills_artists

Tj