I want to sleep all day and web surf every night!

This has pretty much been my routine the last week or so. I haven't been working so there really isn't much point in getting up before 2PM or so. But then there isn't much point in going to bed before 5am or so.

You can tell things are getting boring around here when I'm planning on going out to the bar on a Sunday night. No this isn't the early onset of alcoholism. Tomorrow at the Magic Stick, The Trash Can Sinatras are playing a gig. I just recently got into their stuff, should be a good show. I know I said I was going to the Stick in an earlier post, but I ended up feeling pretty shitty that night so I felt the smokey, sweaty dancefloor wasnt the best place to recover. But I am definately going to try to get there tomorrow. And then on wednesday, the 5678's are playing as well. They are best known as being the band featured in Kill Bill vol. 1. You haven't heard punk until you've heard it played by japenese girls in "authentic backcombed beehive hairdos"! I may or may not make that show, I have a feeling it will be packed.

The next time I'm in Chicago, keep in mind I've been twice, once when I was 12 or so, I want to visit The Double Door. It kind of seems like the older brother of the Magic Stick. Much larger, but just as famous for great local bands and the occasional big name acts. Plus the fact that it was featured in one of my favorite movies, High Fidelity, also contribtes to my interest. Maybe I can con Tim into going next year after the Wizard World Comic Con. Hey I used the word "con" twice in one sentence, I got skills.

I bet you thought I forgot the sketch. Nope, tonight you get a self portrait I did in Flash. I think this is possibly the most realistic version of myself that I have ever crafted. Something about the muted tones and color scheme makes me think it would look right at home on the walls of a Starbucks or Panera. Hmmmmm...



Pat

Are you Mr. Skywalker?

Mr. Skywalker just doesn't sound right does it? Like you would never hear, "Excuse me Mr. Skywalker, your table is ready." Anyway, today's sketch is this horrible Luke Skywalker that I did. It's not that bad I guess, it just doesn't really give off that 'Luke' vibe. Oh well.



Some congratulations are in order. First my sister got what is apparently a good role in the Opera she auditioned for, so thats good. Second my friend Adam got a job as an Industrial Electrician. Not quite sure I know what that is, but it sounds damn impressive. And finally, my other friend Tim got a girl's number, which is always a good thing.

Life aound here continues to bore the pants off of me. I feel like Im being punished for finishing school in four years and not wanting a law degree. Work was going well for awhile but I havent heard from them all this week, which worrys me because last week I heard from them every day. I've been trying to delude myself into thinking my contact is just out of town or something. Who knows.

Oh, and everyone be sure to check out Veronica Mars on UPN, Tuesday nights. I went to High School with Kristen Bell, the star of the show. I didn't really know her, but hey we were in the same building alot right? The show is surprisingly decent for UPN. Hopefully they'll cut out the overuse of flashback soon though.

Pat

Nerd New Year!

Just like the birth of Christ, today will herald a new age of Man. From now on we shall record time from the day Lucas blessed us with the official STAR WARS TRILOGY on DVD. Now the real question is whether today is September 21, 0000 or September 21, 0001 SWTD.

In all reality I don't know if I'll even buy the thing. I mean, I have in fact seen these movies before. And as cool as the extras may be, I dont know if I can rationalize the price tag when so many other cool DVDs are coming out, including Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. If you haven't seen this film, I highly suggest it.

There are also numerous games that had peaked my interest. And coming full circle, one happens to be a Star Wars game. Star Wars Battlefront lets you participate in the key battles of the five movies from either side, playing a number of different characters and piloting all the fun vehicles. I think the moment I was sold was when I saw the comercial on TV and they highlighted the ability to shoot those adorable little Ewoks. The ability to blast an Ewok, hear his pitful little scream, and standover his battered body as an Imperial Storm Tropper; now this is something that speaks to me.

Another "not really a sketch". Another version of the game character I posted below. I like the version better. Probably because it was based on a real loose sketch, which always seems to be my better work. I promise soon Ill start posting actual sketches.



For those of you who indulge, enjoy the Lucas Opus in its crisp, beautful state. The rest of you can continue to watch the version you taped of off TBS. Come on..admit it.

Pat

King of Burgers my Ass!

Burger King has been pissing me off all night. The parents went out to a movie so I decided to get a burger for dinner. Having seen the Burger King commercial on TV about free downloads with Whopper purchases, I figured Id go get a whopper.

So first off, I get to BK and there is a sign saying that if you order a double whopper, you get two free downloads. Now this made sense, and I was pretty hungry, so I ordered a Double Whopper with no mayo and no onions. And then the roof caved in. It took them about twenty minutes to get me my burger, partly because the cashier accidently gave away my order to someone in the drive thru. So I finally got the order and drive home. I looked at the wrapper, and I only had an access number for one download. Shit! Oh well, atleast I had a delicious sandwich. Oh wait, aparently "No Mayo and No Onions" means "Only Mayo and Onions". That was it, the only things I didnt want were the only things I had, and they decided to be very liberal with the toppings and slop the mayo on and throw in a handfull of onions. G'AH. So now I'm pissed, but the burger is still salvagable. I manage to wipe off the copious amounts of mayo and pick off all the onions. I then proceed to chop my own lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles and create the sandwich I originally wanted.

Now this alone would be enough to get me to avoid BK for awhile, but there is still more. Tonight I went online and decided to try and download Franz Ferdinand's "Take me out" with my free song promised on my whopper wrapper. After navigation through BK's site for ten minutes I get to the point where you have to download special BK download software. I click on the link. "I'm sorry, but this software is not compatable with Macintosh computers!" AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! God Damn It! You just made the list Burger King!

I think tonights events have put me off BK for several years. Looks like I'm back to a 90% Rally's, 10% WhiteCastle Man.

He's Mega...and by God if he isn't a man!

Sketch first tonight. About a year ago I did this self portrait of me as Mega Man. I intended to post it last year during Halloween but I never got around to it. So a couple of days ago I went and bought the MegaMan Aniversary Collection, a collection of the first 8 MegaMan games ported for the Gamecube. Then I suddenly remembered the inked drawing sitting in my sketchbook. So now it is finally complete. Maybe soon I'll post the drawing I did of Tim as Mario.



So work has been going really well so far. I enjoy this whole 'working at home thing'. Plus I seem to be much more productive when I work on my own machine. I have pretty much finished the first project they gave me, so it will be interesting to see where things go from here.

I have been researching cable ISP's for the house, and because we have Comcast cable for the television, it will probably be cheepest to go with them for the Internet as well. I have just heard some horror stories about Installation and customer service, so if anyone does infact have Comcast, please let me know how you like it.

It's getting pretty lonely around here. All of my friends are still undergrads or working on Law degrees. I miss the bi-monthly poker game my friend Joe was hosting. I'm thinking about driving to a bar near CCS tomorrow to see if any of my friends from school are hanging out. So if anyone happens to be in town, drive on down to the Magic Stick in Detroit on Woodward, I'll buy you a beer.

Pat

I hate early!

I have to get up early tomorrow for another meeting over at Kinetic. While I like working, and I like Kinetic, I hate early. I love the night, and have no problem staying up until 6 in the morning. Its waking up at 6 in the morning I have problems with. I also hate 696 at 8:30 in the morning.

I spent most of today trying to clear out all the crap I have accumulated in my room over the past few years. The problem was I had alot of stuff at home and alot of stuff at school. So now that there is no school, I just have a ton of stuff at home. I've already filled three garbage bags full, and there is more to deal with tomorrow. On the upside I did re-organize my room into a much more efficent arrangement. Its probably the most the place has changed since freshman year of college. Eventually Id like to get rid of the god aweful wallpaper, paint, and carpet, but one miracle at a time. Sorry about no sketch today, but I haven't hooked my scanner back up after all the moving around.

I think I've decided that Illustration is really what I want to be doing. For now web design will pay the bills (hopefully), but eventually Id like to be doing concept design or storyboards for a place like Pixar, or maybe a video game company. This probably wont happen for another couple of years, but I really need to buckle down and really start focusing on my drawing skills. I promised myself that before I turned 25 I would apply at Marvel comics, just to apply. So I have a little over 1,140 days to get on that.

Pat

I am employable

Well sort of. A good friend of mine from CCS, Karen, got me in touch with the good people at Kinetic Post, the video post house at which she works. They needed some help with some Flash work, and so I went in for an interview Wednesday, and today I started on a project. Now granted this is only a two or three day project, so it is definately not full time work, but it pays well and hopefully it will be the start of something else. And the real good news is, because I am technically a freelancer and they dont have much open space at Kinetic, I get to work from home. I think it's only fitting that I work on the very machine that put me in debt in the first place.

Here's today's sketch, as you can see I'm doing my victory dance. You know, sometimes I look at my work, and even I think there is something wrong with me



More as it develops.

Pat

Not quite a sketch...

Here's that drawing I was going to post last night before fatigue took over. Today I had a chance to ink and color it, so I figured Id post the final version instead. This guy is a character idea for a game I was designing. I dont have a lot figured out yet, and this guy will probably evolve over time. Well, in hopes of getting to sleep before 6:30 tonight, Im going to cut it short. Have a great Labor Day.



Pat

Late night before Labor Day

Wow, I am pretty exhausted.

I spent the last 6 hours or so working on various parts of the site, the bulletin board most of all. I think it looks much better now, and I finally got the avatar system working. Time well spent, but now Im spent.

So I got a haircut. My mother decided to make an appointment for me at Kopy Kats in Berkley. First off, going to this place is quite possibly the most emasculating thing a guy can do. I was probably the only person in the place under 30, and definately the only person who was attracted to women. I walked in and I could see all the little old ladies look up from their magazines, heads full of tin foil, and think "he doesn't look like the gay." Indeed I didn't, atleast not when I walked in there. I sat down with some lady with a slovic accent and told her I simply wanted a trim, short on the sides, a little length on top. She then asked me the following . . . "so I'll be using the #2 then?" It took me a second to realize she was refering to the clippers she was going to use on my hair. The thing that knocked me out was that she asked me as if I sold the damn things, and I new exactly what the number 2 was. So I said sure. That I think was the mistake.

I now have what could be concidered a two week old Marine hair cut. It is the shortest it has been since probably birth. Im just hoping my hair grows out a little bit before next wednesday when I have another interview. I have been trying to avoid leaving the house, and I have to resort to the old Detroit Tigers Cap again. well anyway, this is probably more than anyone should know about my hair. Ill have a new sketch for you next time, no energy to upload one right now. Enjoy the new forum.

Pat

Yeah....September?

Welcome friends...

so I finally got off my lazy duff and redesigned the main page. I had been meaning to for awhile now and just never got around to it. I'm hoping to add new sections soon. Who knows, I may even start a brand spanking new web comic that I can never update, you never know.

Here's today's sketch. . .



It's freaking BATMAN. Hands down my favorite superhero. This one started off as a sketch, but I decided to throw on some color in good ole photoshop.

..yeah, so I still dont have a job. Im waiting to hear back from one studio still, and I have to call and make an interview with another. This is a lot harder than getting a job at a gun store, go figure. Ive decided that when I do finally find work, a cable internet connection for the house is high on the list of things to buy. This 56k stuff just doesn't work anymore.

Well I'll try and post again soon, not like I have much else to do.

Pat

Oh..by the way, Tim if you read this, did you read Astonishing Xmen 4? THE FUCK MAN?