January 6 Unfinished business.

I've been fielding a number of inquiries lately regarding projects I started and hyped some time ago, Baby Makes Three and The Tragic Something Or Other. Sadly, these projects—each about half-finished—made their way to the back burners, and those burners were turned out. Then, the gas was shut off to the apartment. Right now, I am running on a hot-plate alone, with a weekly half-page serial of Cavalcade in Boston's LGBT newspaper, Bay Windows. I am really happy about the BW gig, but it's tough to talk about giving up projects that I would prefer not to abandon. I am especially enjoying the casual deadline, which allows me to balance life enjoyably between comics, friends, family, travel, reading, studying French, and other pursuits. Life is good!

January 1 Happy New Year.

Another new year! Maybe this year I will actually develop the commissions and commercial art section of my web site, I don't know. I also thought I would come up with a new page layout for the site; that I should change it up once a year, every year. I think the "transit map" layout went live last February. So, I have some time to make that happen. But for now, I must focus on producing a good chunk of Cavalcade for the newspaper by mid-Jan. Between preparing for France & Iceland, travelling to France & Iceland, and the annual Feb 1 board meetings (for my day job) immediately on my return, I won't be drawing anything later this month.

What's going on with the series you ask? I tried a new page layout, which would have pretty much been like a standard comic book page. I was really liking what I was doing, and felt very "at home" with the layout. However, there had been some miscommunication with the paper, and the layout won't work. A few pages have run at full-page size, and I think some will run at quarter-page size for installments 24-29. Content-wise, moving along with Aubrey's tale until completion, which should be end of March publications.

No other comic news to tell... no other projects brewing, no convention travel scheduled (just a few in-store appearances). I have, however, approached a few editors regarding pitches I have. More soon (I hope!)!

2008

December 16 Snooooow... Snoooow... Snoooow... Got about a foot on Thursday. MIT let us out @ 2 so the commuters could drive home safely. It was the first day in weeks I didn't bother to check the forecast, and the morning sun convinced me to ride my bike to work. It's still there. Anyway, a group of us went out for drinks. I came home and worked on some T-shirt designs after I shovelled for two hours. Today, we got what seemed like another foot while I was shovelling. It's since changed to rain, making the snow extraordinarilt heavy. I am glad I shovelled this morning, just as it was changing over. Anyway, it's a real mess out there. But it's given me the chance to catch up on so many things. Bills, organizing, reading, xmas wrapping. Last winter, we only had one really nasty storm, and not until Feb 07... was such a mild winter. This time around, 2 already in Dec. Good thing I was raised on worse...

December 1 Welcome home—to me! I spent a charming 4.5 days in Ireland for Thanksgiving, and had a wonderful time. I'd never been, always wanted to go, and had the money to do so—a perfect factoral alignment. Let's see... I took a busride across the center of Ireland to Galway, walked around historic centre city, beautiful Galway Bay, ferried over to the Aran Islands, biked around Inis Mór, resisted the temptation to buy a sweater, explored historic Dublin, hung out @ The George with Antoinette, Chris, Shamek, and others whose names I can't spell, visited the National Gallery, saw some Jazz, walked a lot, took lots of pictures, and flew home.

November 20 I've decided to make a somewhat major direction change for the weekly Cavalcade series published in Bay Windows. When I mapped out the series, the plan was to hop from each of the main characters, spending a month at a time with them. This made sense when the series began as full-page installments. When we shifted to half-page installments, I edited the remainder of the first chapter to break the pages in half. As a result, the story seems to crawl along as a serial, and at times feels tedious and repetitive. As a full page, revisiting themes reinforced them; as a half page, revisiting themes overkills them.

Major change #1: Instead of cycling through the characters, I will be focusing on one at a time, until his story is complete. When I compile into a book, the first chapter will be the introductions (the series as is from Bay Windows), the second chapter will be Aubrey's tale, the third Michael's, the fourth Tighe's, and the fifth Chase's.

Major change #2:  The material published in Bay Windows will only serve to move the story forward. Anything that serves to reinforce, repeat, or dwell, will be crafted for the book version. So, instead of each guy getting 32 weeks air time in Bay Windows, it's likely going to be more like 15-20 weeks. This will strengthen the material as a serial, and will also strengthen the material as a book. And, will strengthen sales with lots of print exclusive material built in.

Of course, all this assumes the series isn't cancelled anytime soon. Dunno how a cancellation would impact work flow... since there are so many other comics I want to work on, including my comics love letter to Liz Phair.

November 6 Rain, rain, go away! My "waterproof" pants I wore over my dress pants failed me. I had to remove my pants and dry them out using my space heater in my office. I emailed my colleagues not to come a knocking on my door. awkward!

November 5 The folks at Bay Windows assure me that the link to Cavalcade will return to their site. I suppose if you'd like to speed that along, you can email them directly. I won't even provide a link to do that, because I am not telling you that you must prove your love to me.

November 4 Today I attended a comics reading/presentation/signing for the new Juicy Mother anthology. Editor Jenifer Camper was there, as was legendary Howard Cruse, and I ran into my local comics pal Craig Bostick.

November 3 Stupid writer's block prevented me from writing the next segment of Cavalcade today. I did get some skating in, however. The lack of practice all week really took its toll on my limited abilities and development.

November 2 Stupid work commitments prevented me from skating all week! Arg.

November 1 I am back up to one month ahead in Cavalcade material for Bay Windows. That feels good. And, this gives me time to figure out a new direction. My original plan, to focus on one character a month, worked well as a full page weekly. But taking those pages and splitting them in half as a half-page weekly moves the story along too slowly for me to split my attention among the 4 guys. So, I plan to stick with one until his tale is complete (another 32 pages; you get the idea... 4 characters at 40 pages each=160 page book). Just finishing one story will take me through June. Do you care which character I focus on first? Aubrey, Michael, Tighe, or Chase?

October 29 Arg! Scott Pilgrim vol 4 has been pushed back to Nov 15. It had been August, then early Oct, then Oct 31. The only comic I've been looking forward to turns out to be such a tease.

October 28 Hit the ice for the 5th time in 8 days. Today, I went for 2 hours, with Adam. We each fell once. I was practicing doing the foot crossing over thing around the turns. I got to do right foot over left without thinking much about it, but left foot over right was much more a challenge. Was fun to see the improvement with the practice.

October 27 Getting back on track with drawing... got 2 pages of Cavalcade completed recently, as well as the illustration of Rachel for my home page, in time for Halloween. I like the way it turned out. I also sketched my new upstairs neighbor Mikhail in his standard tight red long-sleeve t-shirt and sleep pants. Will probably post that soon. Checked out the "new Diesel" which is called Blok 11 (I think) with my pal Andy.

October 26 Last night, I went to the symphony, and had amazing seats. We were row E, center, which was at times distracting being so close to hear the musicians non-musical noises, but also incredible. I think I saw the soloist cry. I am in awe at how easy they make playing in a world-class orchestra look.

October 24 Mark John had to show me how to use my stove top tonight, as I thought it only operated at "high." Turns out you only have to turn the nob to get it to "low." Go figure.

October 22 I really don't want to go in to work today... so nice out... and I want to spend time in my new surrounds, it feels very comfortable. And, I am eager to get back to drawing, studying French, stretching, and the rest of my routine!

October 21 Although I wasted the beautiful sunshine, I was too excited to break in my new skates, so I went ice skating today. Two hours proved to be too much time with the skates, as I now have a blister that has been torn open. Yeowch.

October 20 Another move, successfully executed. And, pretty much emptied out my storage unit thanks to the bigger apt. The Gentle Giant movers were pretty cute. Then Andy brought me a plant and bottle of wine—so sweet, that one. My folks and sister were here today. So, the place is pretty much set up.

Moving Mishap #1: Backing out of my new driveway, I caught my mirror on the jutting corner of the neighbor's fence, and cracked my passenger side mirror but good. I definitely have a city car now! It's a 1997 vehicle that I intend to run until it dies a painful death, so I am not crying over it.

Moving Mishap #2: Unloading my storage unit, I reminded my folks of how just after I told S— how much my writing table meant to me (the one with removable legs) en route TO the storage unit, he accidentally dropped it, taking a nice chunk out of it. Just as my folks exited the building, the table top slid off the cart hit the pavement hard, and slid 4 feet. My dad, who was operating the cart, felt awful. All things considered, it's not too bad; each ding and scuff adds charm to the piece.

October 18 Despite my stress level, have started reading Buddenbrooks. Gosh, it's a yawner so far.

October 16 It was a nice but sad w/e for me—my 6th annual SPX, and final con of '07. The final remnants of my comics business plan finally come to a close: as things were winding down last fall, I decided to publish the YBIL book before my 15 minutes were up, and to embark on an aggressive tour to help promote the book. While I accepted the end of "the plan" early in 2007, I still had the tour to execute... so it really feels like a turning point for me. Also, was the anniversary of some really joyful memories from last year. Memories of joy are nice, but the lack of present joy (at least, the joy in question) is a bit sad. Is that cryptic?

October 15 Goodbye 2007 tour... it was fun!

• March 24 | True Colors | Hartford
• April 18 | Tunxis | Hartford
• April 18 | Real Art Ways | Hartford
• April 21-22 | APE | San Francisco
• April 21 | $3 Bill | San Francisco
• May 12 | Saints & Sinners | New Orleans
• June 23-24 | MOCCA Art Festival | NYC
• July 25-29 | Comic Con | San Diego
• August 18-19 | TCAF | Toronto
• September 22 | Millenium | Montréal
• October 12-14 | SPX | Washington DC

October 14 I've just returned from a swell trip to DC.

October 8 There is a zen calm that comes when you know motivation is manipulation and torment. Deflect, deflect.

October 4 I'm moving—again. Just one subway stop away, and still easily bike-able to work. With an average of one move per year since 1992, I have grown to hate moving. This next move was to be a joyous one, when I first started thinking of it early in 2007... but now, just drudgery.

October 1 I still appear to be in a food coma from the amazing Brazilian BBQ I ate last night. So good. The trip to Montréal was good fun, and I will soon have a drawing to post as a result. It's inked, now I must color. Still running more than a more ahead for BW COB, which feels really good. I'm still maintaining a balanced lifestyle. wheeeee!

September 30 Did I tell you my full-page comic for Bay Windows is now just a half-page (so now 10"x7"). Still a significant amount of space for a newspaper to devote to a single comic, so I am Ok with it. And, will allow for greater "balance" which I am loving. I finished reading Persuasion. I'm not sure what to read next!

September 22 J'ai retourné d'un voyage amusant à Montréal.

September 17 Finally finished the travel book I was reading. That last segment just wasn't interesting. "Beautiful mountain this" "Charming village that." I have since begun to plow through Persuasion.

September 10 Bought a digital camera (finally!) and weeded through my stuff: tossed a lot, designated a huge pile for goodwill, and a huge pile for eBay sales. That's half the reason I bought the camera... the other half, for upcoming international travel. wheeee! Oh, I finished the Pride High ditty I was working on, and now back to BW COB.

September 5 I've just completed the last 2 major "to do" items on my 2007 list: bought a new set of retainers, and had the sketches my grandmother found in her basement of mine (from the mid-70s) bound. I suppose I never really finished the overhaul of my Website, as I have yet to build the "commercial art" section. Whatevs, I am still counting it as done.

September 3 An anniversary of sorts today, and a swell day overall. Saw one of my cousins yesterday in NH while she was in town. And last week my sister came into town from NH, and a different cousin came into town from RI, and we had lunch. Family season, I guess! Fall seems falling, and the weather has been lovely—typical for New England this time of year. I finished my drawing for the Wonder Woman charity event. I will post the image here soon. It's a WWII Wonder Woman with a soldier and a sailor.

August 22 Just back from a fun time in Toronto, eh.

August 17 I went bowling yesterday! Yes, me! My teammates said I had the best form... though it did not really reflect in my score. I was pretty much last the entire 2 games, until I got a spare on my last up; and with my extra ball earned, I got a strike. Wheee! At the end of the 2 games, my wrist felt like I had been drawing for 10 hours. Oops, lesson learned... bowling maybe not a good idea for comics. I posted pics on MySpace.

August 13 So sore...

August 12 Today, I went hiking up my favorite mountain, about 30 minutes drive from where I grew up. I hadn't been there since Memorial Day weekend 2004. It was a good hike, i made great time, and enjoyed the beautiful views. Sadly, I got my dad's truck stuck in my parking spot. Seems I was parked on the ridge overlooking a small rut. When I put it into reverse to back out, the truck lunged forward into the rut. It was deep enough to prevent me from backing out, but no damage to the truck. There was an Irish tourist couple near their car, and I asked them to help me push the truck out. They were super-nice and obliged me. I have been doing all kinds of stuff lately, in addition to con travel and drawing. I feel like I have truly recaptured a balanced life—it has not been an easy transition from spending so much focus on "comics" but I'm doing it!

August 11 The last few pages for Bay Windows' weekly Cavalcade have been popping out of me like crazy. I am told it's some of my best work. Yay! The pages have lots of corrections on them... lots of white out, and lots of re-drawn stuff physically cut and pasted over. Either I am getting sloppy, or I am becoming a perfectionist. I shudder at either thought!

August 8 Last night I went ice skating! Yes, me! The juxtaposition of the steamy bike ride to and from the cool rink was fantastic. Not many people there, which lessened my anxiety—first time on the ice in 15 years! I've been rollerblading as soon as maybe 5 years ago, but no ice. I didn't fall once—but I *nearly* fell 4 times, when my pal Miriam was making me laugh. I posted pics on MySpace.

August 6 I finished reading The Plain Janes. I enjoyed it. It's one of DC'c new "Minx" titles. Next, I will reading Clubbing from Minx.

August 5 My good friend Aman has posted his Comic Con video blogging on You Tube. Check me out in #s 2-7 and 9-11. BEWARE, I am in my undies in #6.

July 31 I am back from Comic Con, and am sooo tired. Always nice to visit my old stomping grounds. I outsold last year, and did lots of networking. I tried to pace myself and I did not get sick. Maybe I will write more about it all later. Probably not though.

July 15 Scots Wha Hae! I was in NH over the weekend, visiting my family and drawing. I also finished Nancy Drew and the Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes. Rich and I were joking about how bad it was. I expected my mom, who is quite the literature buff, to chime in. She, however, staunchly defended the series, reminding us it was one of the first times a girl was portrayed as an action heroine, not needing a boy's help. Ok, I concede there. And, they were written for what, 11-year-old girls?

July 1 Ok, back to the subject of Bay Windows, Boston's LGBT weekly paper. We reached an agreement that I would do a weekly full-page comic. It will be a continuation of Cavalcade of Boys, and I am very excited about it. I am envisioning it being a stand-alone OGN: either the series will last that long in the newspaper, or I will finish it on my own. I am focusing primarily on 4 guys: 3 new ones, and 1 from the original series. I want the story arc to be very well-thought out... but for now, I am just introducing the characters and developing them (as the first page was due last week, and will be in print on July 5!

I am liking the way it looks, but I am fumbling a bit with the canvas. The paper's live area is 10"x14" which is sort of like 2 of my pages stacked on top of each other, landscape. I am used to working with them as portrait. I have resisted the temptation to fully utilize the page for what it is, because it would be next to impossible for me to reproduce in book form.

So, the good news is, there is more Cavalcade stuff on its way. the bad news is, if you don't live in the Boston area, you'll have to wait for the book version... maybe in a year or so. Though, after I get a few more pages done, I plan to shop it to The Village Voice as well. Wish me luck, especially if you have a contact there.

June 23 I'm just back from MOCCA Festival in NYC! It was a fun time, I wasn't cranky like I was at APE. I was at a signing with my pal (whom I crashed with) Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (he writes for Marvel) and others. Sold a few books, had a good time w/friends, did some networking, and got lots of great feedback for the YBIL book. You can read see some pics of MOCCA from Tim Piotrowski and Monica Gallagher.

June 13 Book update: I finished readind Dorian Gray, and i liked it very much. Very witty, dark. I understand George Sanders played Lord Henry in the film version. I can totally hear it in my head. I have just started Persuasion and Nancy Drew and the Clue of the Whistling Bagpipes courtsy of my sister.

June 10 While we're on the subject of Bay Windows, look for the full page comic they asked me to draw for their 25th anniversary special this week! Happy Pride, Boston! I'll be working @ MIT all weekend. Bleah.

June 3 The article about YBIL, me, made it to the online version of Bay Windows—so you can enjoy the fishiness without living in Boston. I'm still having email problems. I can check email and all, but can't find my mailboxes on the hard drive, since Eudora crashed on me. When it's crashed before, I usually just back up the mailboxes and re-install the software. But with lovely Vista, I can't find where my mail is being stored to. It must be somewhere...

May 31 Interview with me in Bay Windows to appear today. Yay!

May 29 I finished the full-page comic I was comissioned to create by Bay Window's for their upcoming 25th anniversary special. It looks pretty good, I am pleased with it! It will appear next week, which is the issue right during Boston Pride. I also finished reading Teleny. It was ok... definitely can tell it was written by several authors, the story meanders over the sexual map. The ending was so sad (and a little weird).The book, overall, was more 'romantic" than I thought it would be. I will next read The Picture of Dorian Gray.

May 15 Saints & Sinners GLBT writers conference was fun! I was on the comics panel, which was well attended, considering we were up against an "erotica" panel. I'd never been to New Orleans before. Too much to write about here for now...

May 9 In other news you won't care about, I finished reading Wuthering Heights. I thought it was really powerful, showing the ugly side of love. By the end, it was very exaggerated, but so much of Heathcliff and Cathy's early behavior was some very common behavior. I also eat up the fact that the Brontёs self-published their early work. I also read It Rhymes With Lust, a graphic novel from the 1950s illustrated by legendary Matt Baker. The story was kind of weak, and I have mixed feelings about the art. In some ways, it's too good. It nearly had the flatness of real life. I guess it just means I like more comic-y art. Now, I am reading Northanger Abbey. It;s an odd little book, Austen's satire of the Gothic novel. I guess I don't know enough about Gothic novels to get it as a satire. As an Austen novel, it's not as delightful as the others I've read.

May 8 I got a haircut this weekend, for the first time in over 6 months. Adam and I had a pact to not get haircuts. I broke down on Saturday, and he broke down today. We were getting lots of "Partridge Family" remarks. I also got a lot of "Shaggy" remarks. While it usually looked great first thing in the morning, as soon as I stepped outside, the wind ruined it. Adam was really broken up about his haircut. I told him now he knows what it must have felt like for a hippie to be sent to Vietnam.

May 7 Where have I been, you ask? Let's see... the first week of April, my PC died. But, I was busy getting ready for Tunxis, Real Artways and APE, so I didn't really have time to deal with any PC troubles. The speaking engagements in Hartford went well, and APE was good. I was kinda cranky for parts of it, but it ended up fun by the end. That was good. After APE, I ordered a new PC. One of my grandmothers passed away around then. My new PC eventually arrived, and I got it all set up. However, I needed a converted box in order to plug my old hard drive into the new motherboard. That finally arrived today, and I was able to access the old drives. I didn't lose any data. Wheee! So things are looking up. I will write more soon.

March 29 Wow, I see Ag's last bath was on 2/19. No wonder she stinks. I usually give her a bath every 3-4 weeks. I guess Saturday will be bath day. Sunday, I am going to my folks' house for Easter dinner. My mom decided to make a big deal about Easter this year for the first time since I was in 8th grade. So, she made the plans for this Sunday, and then realized it's not Easter. She should have claimed it was an April Fool's joke.

March 28 YBIL finally made it into Diamond Previews. Yay, and I am very releived given all the snags. It was presented in a "spotlight" which is really cool. But, the listing doesn't state it's a full color book, arg. The good news is, it doesn't claim to be a a B&W book either, and it's still a fair price for an indie press book (and a great price for a color book!).

March 25 I started reading Wuthering Heights.

March 24 Yesterday, the shipment of YBIL books arrived. Was an extended workout getting everything into storage. Then, this morning, I brought 3 dollyfulls to the Post Office. In the afternoon, I co-presented a gay comics thing at True Colors LGBT youth conference with Abby Denson. It went well. I am really exhausted though.

March 9 Boy, was I sick! 4 agonizing days, high fever, splitting headache, sore throat. Couldn't watch TV, read, listen to music, or use the PC. All I could do was look out the window, and moan in agony. The fever finally went away and yesterday I started to feel regular sick instead of super sick. Still need to take it easy, but am starting to catch up on all the things that didn't get accomplished in the past week.

February 21 What a trying past 5 days in moving my Website from one host to the other. But, as you see, it's up and running. My email is another story. Tomorrow is another day...

February 19 Bath day for ol' Aggie. Still no luck in transfering my domain name. Arg.

February 18 Ok, I have just finished reading Mansfield Park. Last week, I drew Mr. Crawford, who I think is my favorite Austen ne'er-do-well so far. At first, you think he's a cad. But then, you think he might be reformed. But in the end, he's a cad. But actually, he's not all that much of a cad. It was a nice spin on the classic Austen rake. I colored the image in p-shop (and you know how much I hate to color, so you know I must REALLY like Mr. Crawford). This drawing is a very vague likeness of the character as depicted in a BBC adaptation of the novel. February 17 Decker has finally held my by the hand in the process of changing over my Web provider. I had given up b/c my current provider makes it very difficult to quit. I might have to build a page on a new URL. February 15 The snow storm yesterday turned into a sleet storm, then a rain storm. Overnight, a cold snap. My car is encased in an icy prison. Good thing I don't use it. February 13 Was unable to get my copy of Incubus 2 today. It's about the only yaoi series that I've really enjoyed. Though I was excited to pick up the latest two JSA Classified issues, written and drawn by Walt Simonson. First "mainstream" comic I have bought in ages. January 30 Self publishers I admire: Mark Twain. Jane Austen. January 29 I've dicovered I have GSN which shows Match Game. Oddly enough, my favorite as a little boy. Now I want a Match Game Theme ringtone for my phone, but I can't [BLANK] one.

January 28 Since I was very busy w/the YBIL book, then the holidays, I skipped the gym for some time. For the first time in my life, I gained weight from not working out (I usually lose weight when I stop)—about 6 lbs. I am happy to report that I have taken off about 4 of those. Almost back down to my usual self. Maybe now I will put back the weight in muscle. I am sure you care a great deal about all this.

January 27 Back to the world of the living for Tim Fish! With the YBIL book on track, I need to accept that my 5 year business plan ended nearly a year and a half ago. I kept going with comics full-force, since so many good things were happening! But, with the good things slowing down to zero, it's time to give up the ghost. I'll keep drawing, slowly. I dunno about publishing though... it's a lot of work, keeps me from drawing, and it's a lot of financial risk. I'll keep you posted RE next steps!

January 26 Wow, did I get lucky!!! Since I rarely use my car, I often forget where I parked it. I found it this morning, and saw that I nearly missed a towing yesterday. My neighborhood has high turnover, so often times, several spaces are reserved for moving vans (you do it through the city, it's very helpful). When I found my car, I saw the sign was still up for a reservation-for-van on the 25th, the next spot over from my car. I guess I'd better start paying more close attention!

January 25 I've signed off on final proofs for the YBIL book. I will have advance copies late Feb, and the rest of the shipment late March, plenty of time for APE! I am excited to see the book, but also very nervous. I'd always wished that YBIL wouldn't be my first color project in print, since it's such an important book to screw up on. I think it's looking pretty good, though!

January 10 I'm back in the "no" zone for a TV deal. Such is life.

January 1 It's official! Young Bottoms in Love moves to print, in stores May 2, 2007!

2007

December 31 Kicking back post YBIL book, I've enjoyed the holiday season and some quality time with TCM: The Fountainhead, Ball of Fire, Anatomy of a Murder, Johnny Belinda, All About Eve, Royal Wedding, On The Town, Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, Fitzwilly, The Wedding Night, 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Sayonara, Love Affair, Meet John Doe, Shadow of the Thin Man, Song of the Thin Man, The Awful Truth, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

December 21 Dear Blog, I'm sorry it's been such a long time since I've written to you. The past month has been crazy! Not only was I working very diligently on the YBIL book, but things were much, much busier at my day job than I'd hoped for; especially for this time of year! On top of that, it's the holiday season, and you know how that goes—time with family, parties, office parties, xmas shopping, etc. Well, in truth, I only started xmas shopping yesterday. The good news is that the YBIL book is complete and off to the print vendor, only one business day late! Hip hip hooray! So, that was all complete on Monday; that night I did lots of catch up stuff. Tuesday was an office xmas party, and then Wednesday was the shopping. How I loathe shopping! I like it slightly better when shopping for presents, but not much. I hope, dear Blog, you can see now why I did not have a moment to spare in the past month. I know it may take some time for you to forgive me, but patiently yours, I am, Tim Fish.

November 19 I'm almost ready to announce (officially) the YBIL book. I am piecing together what I have and figuring out what I need. Several stories need to be colored or recolored. I still need to draw a 6 page tale that I am very excited about. After all that, the last major thing to do is (gulp) book design and cover. Less than a month to go before deadline...

November 7 Election day! I biked to my old polling place (as I forgot to register when I moved) but I was able to vote, no sweat. Then I biked to the gym. Tonight I must do some research for the Hopeless Savages shortie I am illustrating. :)

November 6 Goodbye 2006 tour... it was fun!

• Three Dollar Bill 4/7 San Francisco
• APE 4/8-11 San Francisco
• Comicopia 6/3 Boston
• Barnes & Noble 6/23 Chelsea 675 6th Ave
• Comic Con Internat'l 7/20-23 San Diego
• Different Light 7/25 WeHo
• Meltdown 7/26 LA
• SPX 10/13-14 DC
• Harvard Coop 11/4 Cambridge MA
• Modern Myths 11/5 Northampton MA

October 30 My fingers oddly hurt. My left wrist hurt from playing volleyball, but no right hand finger pain til today. That's not good news, as I am about to be buckling down for the last wave of original art production for YBIL the book. I'll keep you posted.

October 29 "Fall back"—my favorite day of the year! Full day ahead, as I will hit Diesel to draw, play some volleyball (me!) and see a drag show, featuring (the real) Margaret Cho. Good thing I got the extra hour.

October 28 I'm almost complete my work on a mini comic I have been slowly working on. The intense rain of the day helped. I am struggling with competing opinions about the sale-ability of YBIL the book and how to improve it. Kinda frustrating. It's such an investment, I don't want it to flop.

October 27 Who knew there could be such a beautiful sunny day?

October 22 Today I went to "King Richard's Faire," a medieval type festival thing. It was kinda fun, kinda weird. I felt like Monica though, as I walked around!

October 21 Weird night of dreams last night. My favorite was when I forced to karyoke "These Boots Are Made For Walking" at a children's party. Time for Ag's bath, talk to you later.

October 20 I've found myself unable to stop conjugating French verbs in my head. I'm back from the "no" zone to the "maybe" zone with a TV deal.

October 19 Last night, it was explained to me that I probably should not have eaten the chicken chunks that had been in my fridge for 2 weeks. Tonight I need to re-send a number of files which were damaged in transit on first pass, to H&O Editions for their collected TPB in French of CAVALCADE issues 5-7.

October 18 Why am I still up? oh yeah, I know why—I'm loving France Gall and other '60s French pop. I am spending way too much time "obtaining" music.

October 17 Almost un-buried from SPX, and I finally went to the grocery store.