BLUH!

I mentioned this in passing before but didn't really talk about it: I completely changed somebody's tire for them on the weekend! I had no idea that was something I knew how to do.

I was goin' down Huron through UofT and this lady pulled out of one of the buildings and mounted one of those high square curbs they have on campus and just completely blew her back tire wide open. Since I was standing right there and had watched the whole thing, I'd have felt pretty bad if I'd just walked away. So I went over to the car and asked if she needed any help, and then next thing I know I'm jacking up the back of her SUV and putting on the spare.

I was a little worried that I'd eventually be exposed as having no idea what I was doing, but apparently I did everything exactly right. Grade 9 autoshop must have been laying dormant in the back of my brain for like 11 years because I changed the shit outta the thing. So yeah, if you get a flat, come see me!

I have to say I'm feeling pretty pleased with myself because A) Good deed and B) I'm once again handier than I give myself credit for. I think on Sunday I'm going to try and do more around-the-house stuff while I'm still on this vibe, like fixing the door and such. My domestic handywork lately hasn't usually gone beyond opening a bottle of wine with a bolt and a clawhammer (y'know, when you get one of those bad plastic corks and the corkscrew just pulls right back out).

On the way home today I stopped into Honest Ed's to grab some basic toiletries that I was out of (shampoo, body wash, a sneaker-cleaning toothbrush to get the dirt off my new sneaks from changing a tire, more on that in another post). I picked up a bottle of that Old Spice body wash. I just took a shower and, by and large, I'm pretty happy with it. I feel like I got pretty clean, and it rinsed away well and has left me feeling like I took a good shower.

However.

The body wash went on to the scrub-thing smelling like normal body wash, but once on me, it seemed to smell pretty much like blood. I don't know if I'm smelling other blood or what, but I'm pretty convinced I smell like blood now. Also, I noticed after the fact that this is their "After Hours" variety of body wash which boasts an "8-Hour Scent Technology," so it looks liek I have a good 8 hours of smelling like blood to look forward to.

I hope this is all in my head because I really don't want to have to buy a whole other bottle of something else.
I also hope there are no sharks or wolves out there on my way to the Tranzac or, y'know, it was nice knowing you guys.

UPDATE: It must have been all in my head, because I was talking to Ross last night once I got there and he remarked almost immediately that I smelled very good, without prompoting or anything. So I either don't smell like blood or that's just something he enjoys. Also, I think Ross and I are dating now? I'm not really what's going on there.

It is time toooo get back into my Voodoo research!

I have a pretty open weekend which I'm largely using to advance the drawing of this book, but since I can't ever seem to go for too long without needing a break, I'm going to try and get further ahead in this research project of mine. People who have read the first Nightlab! book will know there's a character in it who dabbles in Voodoo, but there was very little mention or detail given to it. The second one deals a lot more with him specifically, and one of the only things I'm still having trouble with are the parts that show how he came to start experimenting in Voodoo, Hoodoo, Santeria, Palo, Wicca etc. Even though he only really takes from these practices what he thinks will make him more powerful, and has kind of a superficial understanding of them, I feel like as the author I ought to know what I'm talking about! After all, there are people who practice these systems today, and I don't want to put my character in a top hat and skull-paint if that's not actually a thing.

I think that even after I have what I need for my writing, I'll probably keep reading up on this stuff, because I've always found it very interesting. Anyway, once you're out of school it's really easy to not learn anything new unless you sit yourself down and force yourself to!

This week I'm trying to start doing something that I never really do. I'm going to try and get up early enough every day that I actually have time to do anything other than quickly get ready for work and run out the door.

Now, you know me, the morning can pretty much kiss my ass. But I really think it might improve my overall condition to be able to sit down with some breakfast every day and then maybe get some quick excercise before showering. Also, I wanna make my own coffee in the morning and then bring one with me (the coffee at Sam's is straight terrible, I don't like dealing with the people at Second Cup and I'm currently not down with Starbucks 'cause of this). Mainly I would like a morning routine which was a little more easygoing and relaxed than "shower, toothbrush, shirt pants go."

Today I set my alarm and hour earlier but hit the snooze 4 times. So I really only succeeded in being on time for work, but that's a start, yknow?

TOTALLY UNRELATED: Today I spent some time mulling over this very interesting article.

Oh no, I'm jinxed!

Kristy just jinxed me at work (we both said "how are you")! I've got a lot of post-it notes and the office MSN so I should be okay for now if I have to communicate to people. But sooner than later I'm gonna have to get this handled! We have a meeting later and I'm not gonna be able to really participate if I'm jinxed.

And I'm having friends over tonight for board games! If I'm still jinxed and can't talk, I'mma lose for sure!

What if somebody phones me!? Guys, if you phone me and I pick up and don't say anything, just tell me what you're calling about! One beep means "Okay, I understand" and two beeps means "No way man"

Damn!

I finally heard back about that after that big audition-show that I was in, turns out that didn't work out for me. That in itself is a drag but not a huge drag, and it's definitely not the first time I've felt good about an audition and ended up tanking. Also, there's some monthly show they want to produce that I might get involved in, so that's maybe not bad (more on that as I find out about it, I guess). The big drag is that at the same time, I'm working on a reissue of Nightlab! 1 for Canzine, because I ended up being so busy this month that I couldn't get the new issue done for what was going to be my no-matter-what hard and fast deadline. So I'm going to Canzine with the same book I was trying to move like 2 years ago, which is pretty lame. There's some Aesop Fable lesson shit in here somewhere that I'm too out of it to absorb because it's 9:30am. At about 2 or 3 in the afternoon today I'll probably stop what I'm doing and go "aaw!"

P.S. Are you going to Canzine? If you are, come say hi, I don't think I'm going to be at a table but I'll be going around, cause I'm also gonna be doing some networking and politicking for the new MONDO.

Tomorrow night's our Hallowe'en work party, and one of the things going on is the "departmental pumpkin carving contest." I don't mind telling you, I got pretty excited about it! Every department got a pumpkin, and we spent some time yesterday thinking of spooky designs and then Jenny, who has all sorts of art skills, carved it out. We had a lot of creepy ideas, including:

- A tombstone that says "YOU"
- A scary word ("Commitment", "SARS")
- Just tape the knife to the pumpkin (MS Paint artist's rendering above)
- This guy

But what we ultimately settled on may be the most intense and scary thing of all: Will and I came up with a design for a huge furious bat, just soaring through the air at top speed, throwing up furiously. Jenny took it in kind of a new direction, she went online and got a photo of a crazy screeching bat and is doing a lifelike closeup. We had originally envisioned the bat in flight, with speed lines, angrily throwing up on maybe some kids below. But this is really good, and will only get better when she adds the trail of pumpkin guts (throwup). I'll try and get a picture of it, and maybe on the weekend I'll doodle up the original concept-bat. Scary Stuff!

As for costumes, I'm struggling. My original costume (Cesare from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) didn't really turn out how I'd wanted. I could make minor adjustsment and make it into Kraftwerk Robot pretty easy (scary), although if I can come by some gauze and a crappy blonde wig tomorrow, I may do something else!

Hi blog,

As I sit among my half-done ironing and empty soda cans tonight, curled up at my desk, slowly but surely outlining all the little boxes in my little comic book, I can't help but find myself in a bit of a philosophical mood about it all. The whole "a career in the arts" thing, I mean. I've been in a few conversations about it lately. I've also been exposed to people and works that are new to me and have really inspired and revitalized me, and I'm attacking this work with a new focus, and with a vision that reaches beyond the very meaningless thing this book was originally going to be.

I got a raise at work this week, which will make things a lot more comfortable for me. It means I'm alright at my job. But how good could I ever be? How far could I get in my life, taking that route? I have no big ideas for an office; I'll never head a department or be a sought-after data-entry consultant. If I wanted to develop the skills to make a life for myself as anything but an artist, a storyteller, the time to have done that is already gone. I've been realizing, lately, that I can't turn back anymore so I really have to make it happen for myself.

And most days it's a joy to do this but today I can't muster anything but panel outlines, and it just feels like pure labour. And it's a long day at work just like any job, but I think when you're doing such an uncertain thing, it's just that little more discouraging. But that's what we sign up for, us creative people. We make a decision to give this thing our energy even though it seems like the most impractical thing in the world. And hopefully, maybe, our reward is a life with the freedom to pull our imaginations out of our heads and make them tangible, and available. The only kind of life we could really accept for ourselves.

These little boxes are going to kick the old boxes' asses.

Matt says:
Janet Jackson's on the cover of like three magazines now in various states of undress.

Matt says:
I think her rack just put out a new album.

Jon - Stealth is always in fashion says:
I heard it was a double album where each boob put out its own disc.

Matt says:
Oh, cool.

Jon - Stealth is always in fashion says:
Fuelling rumours that they weren't getting along.

Matt says:
So I'm guessing the boob that popped out at the Super Bowl was like the Andre boob.

Jon - Stealth is always in fashion says:
I.. Exactly! It wanted to do some film work for a bit, and kind of left the other boob to hold it down and just work on normal boob stuff.

Matt says:
Fair enough.

Jon - Stealth is always in fashion says:
And the rough part is that the other boob had to spend so much time trying to squash the rumours by itself.

Matt says:
That sucks, man.

Jon - Stealth is always in fashion says:
Yeah, the superbowl boob could have sounded off on it, I think it would have helped.

Matt says:
It's really the least, yeah.

Jon - Stealth is always in fashion says:
I heard that in a lot of ways the clothed boob's disc is really the more solid, consistant one.

Matt says:
Is that right.

Jon - Stealth is always in fashion says:
Yeah, but too many guest stars' boobs.

Jon - Stealth is always in fashion says:
I've always respected how that boob wants to give its proteges' boobs some time to shine, but a lot of them just arent very good.

Matt says:
That's understandable, yeah.

Jon - Stealth is always in fashion says:
Aaaaaaand Janet Jackson's boobs are Outkast.