OMG THANKSGIVING

is maybe my favorite holiday. But this post really has nothing to do with Thanksgiving. I'm just going to post some comics:

That's right: celebrity frog touchings!!


My new superpower...

What my new superpower is doing to Joe:

While we're on the topic of superheroes, here's me as some of my faves:Creepy? Yes.

All right, I'm cut off. I'm heading up to Maine early tomorrow to partake in the eating of the foods (and drinking of the drinks). Happy Thanksgivings (perhaps I'll will myself out of a food coma long enough to blog during the holiday...).

-m

Deez Nuts: A comic about Aaron Renier

A comic is based on a true story: This classic myth was dictated to me and Liz one balmy summer night by Mr. Aaron Renier. It was after a night of inebriated goodbyes (due Mr. Alec Longstreth's leaving the city of New York). (Click on it to read it biggie-style.) Uh, that's about it.

Drawn sometime in July with Liz; we took turns drawing each panel, then we inked each other's panels. Story, in part, by Aaron (--there should really be a children's book of his drunken fables). Colored by me (with input from Liz).

-m

Some inappropriate-ness for you all:

I had been debating whether or not to post these because they were a tad...er...dirty?...I guess. Anways...they all involve other people being inappropriate; more specifically they involve either Joe or people related to Joe being inappropriate. Ah, genetics...First, a little Tour de Boston humor:


Ah...nicknames:


This was embarrassing (I was right behind him)...


And now for something completely wholesome: (It rained a lot this past weekend.)

I can haz a life?

Last weekend, instead of partying for Halloween, I decided to partake in a new level of nerdi-ness: Descent: Journeys in the Dark. More like descent of my social life...sort of. I played with a group of friends that spanned high school, college and post-college; we all had yummy snacks and sat down to six hours of candle-lit nerdery. So I guess it was one of the more social things I've done lately. It ended up being pretty fun, not because of the game, but because of the company (I laughed so hard I cried towards the end). Well, I'll cut to the chase. Here's me as the character I played as:
I like owls better than falcons, so pretended I had an owl instead. Whatever, it still gave my enemies armor -1 when ever it was around. And, in case this wasn't enough, here is Joe as his character.

Guess what?

I know I don't really talk politics on my blog, but OMG I'M SO FLIPPING EXCITED!!

YES YES YES!!!

Random bits...

Quite possibly the best discovery of the past few weeks:


Lessons in animal dominance:
Moral of the story: it doesn't matter if I'm smaller; I'm older and I can HUMP YOUR FACE!!! (thank you to Joe's parent's dogs)

And then:
Yes, I do this. It is sooooo good.

Beets, bad memory and cutlery.

OK get ready for it: big honkin' post. First up, I've rekindled an old flame: BEETS. Joe won't eat them because he thinks they taste like "curdled blood", but I (a long with Liz) think that they are divine! Here's the meal they co-starred in last week:
After the beets had cooked, I pressed them into my sketchbook before I peeled them. This is what happened:
Then, for the next three days:

So when I made made my epic SPX post, I neglected to mention that I WON A NERDLINGER!!!!
Specifically, it is the Nerdlinger for "Most Random Informative Facts About Invertebrates & Best All-Around Drawing Session Chatter". I drank it, and it was awesome. Thank you Nerdlinger Committee!
Oh, yeah. This also happened: MK - Joe apologizes through his KICKED IN FACE. heh heh

Now about that cutlery (featuring Lucy, Nelly, Joe and me):
Let me backtrack and mention that last weekend, Joe and I went to upstate New York to do many things:

-visit his family
-peep some foliage
-go to book event/presentation about French Milk by Lucy Knisley
-rock out in carbie (hmmm...mystery songs...)

We accomplished all these things and more (the fork! the fork!). Joe and I took a new way to get to his folks house and we passed that fork. It immediately reminded me of that part in the Muppet Movie...The fork is actually 100 times bigger than a for-reals fork (or, at least that's what it said on the plaque).

Lucy's book event was awesome; I bought French Milk, as well as The War of the Worlds (with illustrations by Edward Gorey). French Milk made me yearn for some travel...Joe and I had planned to go to Europe after school, but it's five years later and it's still on the back burner. Well, better on the back burner than behind the stove I guess.

On Sunday, we got hang out with Lucy and meet her friend Nelly, and pillage the Rhinebeck farmer's market of all it's tasties (apple, tamalés and pumpkins, oh my), and drink coffee, and eat amazing chocolates (um, dark chocolate lavender sea salt carmels anyone? OMG PLZ YES!!!!), and maybe draw a little jam comic, hmmm:
Good times. I had only met Lucy twice (at the past two MoCCAs); it was great to hang with her and Nelly (who is now officially part of the "Maris and Joe Carpool Hall of Fame"!!). Joe and I like making new friends! (OK, I sound like I'm FOUR).

I think that's it...sorry about another LONG post.

-m

Summer reading...

(click on comic to enlarge)

Class: Cephalopod

OK, so that's an octopus up there.

I've spent the past two days dissecting squids with kids (well, junior high and high schoolers). Stinky, but AWESOME:
You should be thankful you don't ride the subway with me.


And, yes, this actually happened:

Time to shower...whewwwEEE!!!

Comics from...

...the summer?

Ok, there's still a major back log of comics from the past few months. These ones were focused around my trips to Maine. I miss living there terribly, and I take any chance I get to visit. Luckily my folks moved up there about a year ago; now I can get my fix and visit the family. I managed to go up for both work and play a few times:

This was right before I left on the Maine Coastal Route bus (thank you, Concord Trailways) for a sea kayak trip (which deserves a comic unto itself...more about that later):



True story, Liz was my witness...


With great frogs comes great mosquito-bility:


And this is what Joe had to put up with every time I returned to Boston:


::sigh:: I love pine trees...

When you wish upon a blog...

If only I could post through telepathy. Then this blog would be updated daily, if not hourly. Instead I choose to binge and purge my entries. (see below)

But really, I've been working on a better schedule for myself (and seeking much wisdom from Mr. Alec Longstreth). Trying to manage my time between comics, invertebrates and feeding my face shouldn't be that hard, but I end each day wishing that there were AT LEAST 5 more hours to go before bedtime (29-hour day, anyone? it'd be good times, I promise you). In addition to my inability to make a schedule, autumn has always been a time of transition for me. Transitions = fatigue, unrest, inability to do things (like make schedules):


I find myself going in several different directions with projects I'm excited about, but this often results in huge amounts of spent energy, and little to show for lots of work. So I prioritize, but sometimes making a list of all the things to do and which things need to be done first can be AGONIZING. With that said, I'm doing lots of work...it's just not seeing the light of day on ye ol' blog (yet). OK ENOUGH OF MY RAMBLING.

SPX was good this year. I had some new stuff:


This comic debuted at MoCCA, but I originally drew it as an online installment for Ballyhoo Stories. (Click on "COPING" under "Online Comics"; be warned: there are swears and good old cartoon violence!)

Then, this past July, Mr. Joe, Ms. Liz, Mr. Tim and I did a journal comic everyday for the month of July and then packed them into a mini-comic dubbed "Four Squares":


Here's the first page:

We then drew ourselves in crayon (not in the book):


It ended up being 64 pages - whew! Joe has it for sale on his Etsy...I should have an Etsy site up soon (but, you know, IT'S ON MY LIST OF THINGS TO DO!!!)

I drew a few comics while down in the DC area for SPX:
On the road...


What better way to eat a Happy Meal than to the sweet, sweet cacophony that was the vice presidential debate?


SPX generally consists of eating, and selling stuff, and buying stuff, but mostly eating stuff:


And then just when you thought I was dead, I return from the grave to EAT YOUR FACE!!!


One could understand why I looked like this at the end of the weekend:


I also saw the exhibit "Jim Henson's Fantastic World" at the Smithsonian International Gallery. Though I was sleep depraved after 9 hours in the car, it was well worth it. Having grown up addicted to PBS (and some might claim that I still am...thanks a lot, NOVA), I was a huge fan of Sesame Street (uh, I watched it through junior high and high school). My mom was gracious enough to tape things like "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas" off of TV (so I could watch it until the VHS tape snapped), so like many of my generation, I grew up with all sorts of Jim Henson influences. But I digress; this is a traveling exhibit, so if it comes near you, GO SEE IT!!!

OK, so SPX was good. Saw lots of peeps; I wish everyone lived closer; it'd be great to be around so many amazing artists and just hang out and draw more often. Oh, speaking of drawing, this was one of the jam comics from SPX:


So I, Joe, Kaz, and Liz did the first four panels, but then I sent my sketchbook around, so I'm not sure exactly who did what after that...here's some of the folks (I think) who drew on this: Robyn Chapman, Laura Park, Nate Doyle, Austin English...If you drew a panel, let me know. If you didn't draw a panel, and I put your name, I'm sorry.

So after SPX, Joe and I returned to a pretty messy house and decided to clean for, let's see, I don't know...FOUR DAYS. That sucked, but now the apartment is absolutely SPARKLING (well, I might not go that far, but it's relatively clean). Not that this has anything to do with cleaning, but on an end note, here are some whales (and perhaps a few dolphins thrown into the mix):



Oh, and I haven't forgot about these two...



p.s. I proofread as best that I could, but some of this post is poorly written...apologies!

-m

Who is awful at keeping a blog?

I AM!!!

First things first:
I entered my drawing into the "Vampirella Revamp" Contest over at Project: Rooftop. Runner-up, baby!!! I am sooo innocent!! No cleavage here:

After reading the judges' comments, I decided to play around and go back to the original Vampirella color scheme (black hair, red outfit):

A big congrats to everyone! I hearted some of the more non-traditional entries, and I totally heart the Grand Prize entry; I would so read that comic in a heart beat (both the bat-one and the "speed racer" one)! And thanks to Project: Rooftop for giving me reasons to procrastinate!! I do have to give a shout-out to Liz's entry, only because I would most definitely consume "Vampirella-O's" if they were a breakfast option.

Second things second: Comics. I've been keeping up with the teeny comics, drawing them whenever I get a chance. Here are a few ones from July/August (ugh, I'm such a poopy-head!):
I"m such a jerk...

Yes, I still have a hard time living in the city.

And yes, that is really what my ovaries and uterus look like; grumpy face and all.

I apologize for the potty-mouth ahead of time, but I swear this is what my pinky finger said:

Har-har:

Thirdly, I would like to point out that winter is coming:
(from left to right: me, my sis, and my cousin Nick - taken in New Hartford, NY winter 2005 or 2006?)

I am a staunch supporter of the summer and all of its hotness, so the tone of my postings may take a turn for the grumpy once the temperature dips below 30 degrees. But let's not be hasty! Fall is upon us, and there will be much eating of the apples and drinking of the cider!!

Almost done...I, along with some New England cronies, will be attending the Small Press Expo next weekend in good ol' Bethesda, MD. I will have the usual: mini-comics, stuffed super heroes and my game face (watch out - I bare teeth!). If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and say howdy. I'll be with Mr. Joe, as well as Mr. Tim and Ms. Prince. I will attempt to post some previews of what I'll have this year during this coming week.

Ok. That's it for now.

-m