New Cartoons and Characters are on the way!

At this point, my characters demand even more fleshed out personalities. Hector will be more of a prevaricator, trying to avoid work (as he has already in his bid to create a bridge to nowhere). Oscar will be interested in trying to figure out how he can rule things, even if it means destroying all around him, Darthur will spend more time with patients. I want to introduce a few more characters also, and I am continually working on "props" and "sets." The background forests and other suggestive drawings are an entire art unto themselves, and experimenting with spatial relationships is part of the art. If anyone who has been reading for awhile has any ideas for my characters that already do exist, I'm open to listening, if not acting upon them.

Good luck saves me in a pinch

AS I've written about before, I used to hear "good luck" so much that it became profoundly painful to hear, and I turned it around by always wishing everyone else good luck. Sure, sometimes I'm like "good luck...in hell," but still, I do sincerely mean it (as in, I hope that, in hell, you figure things out and get special dispensation to finally enter heaven.). Today, that helped, since, after getting pissed off by the cold, and the apparent situation, i spun around a bit abruptly and said, "good luck," as I always do, at every door. The immediate result was an angry fellow chasing after me, haranguing me about my manners, and generally humbling me a little (though some of the things he yelled at me were hurtful and said in ignorance at the time). I maintained my calm, but also explained my feelings of value and being devalued. I stayed true to what I believe is a zen nature, and reminded him when he grabbed my property that he was taking advantage of my good nature. Eventually, as I was leaving, he called to me, and I thought, "I must always respect the customer," and so I turned around. We talked some more, and I apologized for causing him personal grief. I had, indeed, spun around somewhat abruptly, yet, I also remembered to wish him "good luck." He then bought a book from me, which, I have to admit, was unexpected. We shook hands. If only the world could resolve it's difficulties so easily.

I think you have a little more time.

I met a non-plussed elder gentleman today. He looked like he was about 90. I pulled out my cartoons. He looked at them with the faintest trace of a scowl: "I only have 30 seconds." I said my rap, but I should have said, "Oh no, you look like you have at least 2 months!"

Weird blow offs and other things

So, today, I was in a housing complex that had some homes owned by elder ladies (some probably in their 80's). One lady, probably over 80, looked at me and said, "OH, I'm an artist too,a COMMERCIAL artist" (we've heard this one before)...cue in me saying, "well, etc." and she says, "O, we're too old for that."

One nice lady said, "Oh, you sweet boy," which, despite my being 47, was very nice.

Two other very old women bought my book with a huge smile on their face and one said she was giving it to her grandkid.

I think it is very interesting how these different old women had such different takes on the totality of their lives, and I saw it like a prism telling me how they are in this stretch.

I sometimes wonder when an elderly person is a real sourpuss how they managed all through their lives with such an attitude. Is it just related to me, are they always that way? Did something change them when they were old?

Happy Holidays

Well, I have been remiss recently about writing posts, and I've been blanking a bit on cartoons, so, sorry about that. Just wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday and a merry new year!

my computer is working again.

I try to remember the weirdest situations I get into, but since it's been a month since I had a home computer, the little markings I make to remind myself of situations don't jog my memory. I'll try to get back on it. I've been motivating more towards sales recently, but a whole new cartoon series (with the same characters) is bubbling up.

Best blow off in a while

Well, I've been doing this so long that I rarely hear a new "get lost." But, here is the best one I've heard in a while:

"I'd love to, but I'm not interested."