Day 708 of 365 More.
My friend Tommy lives a few blocks from here in a house that overlooks the valley of Mt. Oliver. Every year, there’s this Mt. Oliver township fair kinda thing and they shoot off fireworks for it. Tommy has a great view of it, so he decided to have a BBQ and invite people over to watch.
Of course, the fireworks don’t start til like 11. So Tommy and his nieghbors kind of shoot some off early to kinda prime the sky so to speak. Here’s me burning a couple.
Day 707 of 365 More.
Mandie wrote me the other day and said she wanted to shoot with me again. There were a few outfits she wanted to wear and she wanted to do soemthing outside.
We settled on going to a park near where she lives and I invited Steph to come along with us, because she likes parks and I haven’t gotten to shoot her in ages.
Shot pics for a couple hours and ended up getting some nice shots at sunset. The light was so nice I decided to step in for one for my 365.
Day 705 of 365 More.
Usually on Wednesday nights I plug Cosmic Hellcats, because new ones come out every Monday and Thursday. But today something else important happened that made me want to talk about it and not even mention the killer new episode of Cosmic Hellcats that I just posted at midnight.
Today, after 17 long years of waiting, Zot! came out in compiled trade paperback form.
In a lot of ways Zot! is probably responsible for Cosmic Hellcats. Zot! was written by Scott McCloud who some of you might remember I met a couple years ago when I saw him speak.
Anyway, Scott wrote the well received, but relatively unknown indy comic, Zot! After Zot was cancelled, he went on to write a well known book called Understanding Comics, which is one of the most influential books in the medium (and one every artist, comic book or no, should read). He also wrote two sequels and ended up becoming something of an authority on the changing nature of the industry and an advocate of webcomics. Understanding Comics renewed my childhood desire to one day publish a comic of my own. That desire grew and eventally became Cosmic Hellcats.
At the talk I saw Scott speak at, everyone asked him tons of questions about his well known texts. But I was the crazy guy in the back who raised his hand to ask when the 4th volume of Zot! would be collected into a trade paperback volume. You see, the first three volumes had been collected soon after Zot! ceased publication, but the company who published those books went out of business before the final volume ever came out.
Scott, seemed amused and answered me something like "I swear, before I die." Well, I sincerely hope Scott isn’t planning on dying tomorrow. Because that would be a tragedy. But if he did, I will be happy to know that he did manage to keep his promise to me.
So for that, I thank you, Scott. And I thank you for writing Understanding, and Reinventing Comics and Making Comics and inspiring the seven year old boy inside of me to follow his dream.
Of course Scott doesn’t read this, but maybe one day he will. After all he did eventually get to see my initial pic about him. So, If you ever do read this Scott, thank you. Without you there would be no Cosmic Hellcats, and I wouldn’t even have something to not pimp here.
Day 704 of 365 More.
Sometimes every day just seems longer than the last.
I am so far behind on everything. I have pictures of Leia to edit. I have two or possibly even three shoots to get through this week. I have a bachelor party to throw this weekend, and through all of that I still have to get Thursday’s Cosmic Hellcats up and find some time to do next Monday’s since I’m going to be so busy this weekend.
Speaking of Hellcats, Max and I are almost caught up through all the plots I’ve written so far. So I need to find time to throw together another few months worth of strips before then so he has something to draw. I also have been wanting to work on the second issue of the paper comic but I haven’t even had time to think about that (or any of the other related projects that I haven’t yet announced) in months.
Speaking of writing, I even have a nice little rant brewing in my head that I’ve wanted to get up in my blog but haven’t had time to compose. I have written anything there in months. I suck on so many different levels.
I also have a birthday coming up. And with my birthday that means planning Jammy Jam. I am so far behind in preparations for that that it’s scary. Maybe it’s best that I really do blow up the sun. But you know, you’re all welcome to get me presents just in case.
And on top of that I have an actual 9-5 job to hold down.
You ever just feel like your drowning? If so you’re probably doing better than me. I don’t even remember what air smelled like
Day 703 of 365 More.
First of all, Happy Birthday to my mom.
Unfortunately this may be her last one. You see, my birthday is in a mere 18 days from now. And as I promised 221 days ago, I intend to make it a Blast! (hahaha… get it?)
I have spent the last several weeks toiling in my secret underground lab perfecting my intrergalactic death ray. It’s almost done and should be ready in plenty of time to destroy the Sun on my birthday.
Yeah, yeah, yeah… I’ve heard it all before, "No Mav, please don’t destroy the Sun!" Screw that, what has the Sun ever done for me?
But I’ve decided to give you all a chance to prove to me how much you want the Sun. I will spare the Sun for… let’s say 1 billion dollars in my amazon tip jar by my birthday, August 1st. Sure that seems like a lot, but hell, if you all pull together you’ll have it in no time. That is, if you really do want your precious Sun. MUHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!
If you don’t want to pay the ransom I have on the Sun, I guess you could always try to bribe me. A good place to start would be my Amazon Wishlist, which has all kinds of fun stuff to bribe me with for my birthday. I can’t promise I won’t destroy the sun. But hey, maybe you’ll convince me. And if you don’t, well, you won’t be needing that money anymore anyway.
Oh, and if you’d like to surprise me with a joint bribe, I believe Steph is going to try to convince me to not destroy the sun by working with people to get me the super awesome car stereo I want. So you know, if you want to chip in for that, I’m sure she’d love to hear from you.
Day 702 of 365 More.
Long day. You know, my weekends are just as busy as my weekdays.
Got satellite radio installed in the new truck. That was a priority, Sirius has spoiled me. I just can’t deal with terrestrial radio anymore.
After that I spent the whole night getting the next episode of Cosmic Hellcats up. Please check it out. I’m not as sure about this one as I have been with previous ones. I mean, I think it’s funny, but it was much more an episode about moving the story along, so I’d really like to know how it reads to everyone else. We haven’t been getting much feedback on the comic lately, which kinda sucks. I hate feeling like I’m just sending it out into the void and no one is paying attention.
Day 701 of 365 More.
21.5 cents per gallon! That’s more like it!
Jameel and I drove out to the middle of nowhere Pennsyltucky this week to buy a Ford Escape Hyrbid that I saw advertised on the net.
A few hours later and I own a new car. Kinda crazy feeling weird about that. It’s exactly what I wanted, but it’s the newest car I’ve ever owned and whew, that ain’t cheap.
Now to figure out how to sell my old Blazer.
Day 700 of 365 More.
And on the 700th day, inspiration came.
That sounds exciting, but it may just be a little dangerous.
I’ve actually been kicking around this idea in my head the past few days, trying to work out the details of a magic invisibility screen. Finally decided how I wanted to do it today. I bought a whole bunch of frames at the store today, and I have an idea for a whole series starring a varitety of male and female models.
You know, like I have the time to take on another project.
That said, I’m pretty excited about it. I’m not terribly super happy with this one, it’s not the easiest thing to do as a self-portrait, but I really think I can make a good series with this once I get started.
Day 699 of 365 More.
You know, I’m pretty much just addicted to this whole self-portrait thing. I was talking to my mom the other day about the one day she’s missed, and the thing is, I don’t even know how to NOT take a picture. After 699 days, there’s a lot of days I don’t have ideas and just don’t really feel like it. But honestly, I don’t think I can even sleep through the night if I haven’t taken a picture. It’s just too much a part of my life right now.
I know that sounds like dedication. It’s not really. It’s neurosis. I have a problem. I obsess over certain things. This has become one of them. Just like smoking (ran out of cigarettes hours ago and everything reasonable is closed… I’m working really hard to not go out and buy a pack), working on the comic (new episode yesterday, if you haven’t been checking it out, you should be… cheap plug), nightly orgies with Carmen Electra, Rhianna and Elisha Cuthbert, and chocolate chip cookies.
There are just somethings that I can’t live without.
Wouldn’t it be great if those things were like working out, eating healthy, and solving the energy crisis? Oh well.
Day 698 of 365 More.
I really need to work out more. I mean, I know I’m by no means fat. But I am not happy with how I look right now. This time last year I was in heavy work-out mode in preparation for Jammy Jam. This year I just haven’t had the time.
Steph and I did go swimming, so I guess that helps a little bit. Still I really need to get rid of that gut. I really need more hours in the day.
Day 697 of 365 More.
Where does the time go?
Lately, I’ve been waiting later and later to start even thinking about 365. And a lot of the time I am so busy I really can’t come up with anything interesting.
Especially on days which I’m working on the comic, which is really a minimum of about four nights a week. I just end up coming home from work and drawing, writing or coloring all day. Next thing i know, it’s like a quarter to 11 and I haven’t even thought about my shot. So I take something quick and get back to work and the next thin I know its quarter after two and I haven’t posted yet.
Honestly, I’m loving it. I have wanted to do a comic since I was seven years old, and even though Hellcats isn’t as popular as I’d like it to be, its still been a blast and pretty rewarding.
I just wish other parts of my life didn’t have to suffer so much to make it happen. Seriously, if I could just sell more copies of the book or get like a few hundred daily viewers looking at the banner ads, then maybe someday I could make enough money that that could be my day job.
And I wouldn’t end up with 365 photos like this.
*sigh*
Day 696 of 365 More.
My name is Chris Maverick. I am the Fastest Man Alive.
Ok maybe not, but I had been meaning to do this shot since I bought this shirt. Oh well.
Actually, I’m not feeling particularly fast today. I’m actually kinda sore from all the time in the car, and I’ve been developing a headache over the last few hours. Hopefully sleeping it off will help.
Day 694 of 365 More.
Steph and I spent the day after the 4th at my uncle’s ranch again. Basically hanging out with family that I don’t see very often. Lots of kids and lots of picnic food. My mom and I decided to take our 365s together before we left.
Another long day of driving tomorrow. Vacations are so much work.
