The Marvelous Patric

 Dear blog,
School is a-going.  And i'm going with it.  Teaching has been going well.  I enjoy the supply-side of education far more than the consumption-side.  The classes they're making me take this semester don't interest me very much.  At least I have my thesis to work on to keep me sane.  I had my proposal meeting today and it went well.  I have some really great people on my committee and I'm really excited about where this play is going.  

Meanwhile, I still make comics.  After I get done with this FNS story, I'll stop and come back in 2010 with FNS in black and white again.  I've decided that the color is cool, but it's slowing me down.  I'll just do it for special stories I think.  Fun Factory continues to be a blast, but each strip takes me like 4 hours to do.  Urg.  The better I get, the slower I get.  I do think that Fun Factory is a better strip than FNS right now just because I've been holding in all these ideas for so long that they're pretty refined.  On the other hand, Freaks N Squeeks looks prettier and it really has some well-defined characters in it.  I don't have to "write" FNS so much as "watch" what the characters do.  

In personal news, April 16, 2011 looks like a pretty important day in my life.  Just saying.  Looks like a game changer and all.  An expensive game changer.  
Band sucks these days.  The fucktards on the band board fired Glen, the awesome director.  There was a loud complaint about this by a good portion of the membership that was essentially ignored.  I swear, if I hear the phrase, "we're getting back to how it used to be" one more time at practice, I'll scream.  Things look grim there.  I'm not sure how much longer I'll be with that band.  Tiffany already left and it just doesn't feel fun any more.  Why should I stay with a group that doesn't want me?

Current Location: office
Current Music: Portions for Foxes - Rilo Kiley

dear blog,

it is finals!  I have just uploaded and printed the first draft of my play.  this summer, i will write a second draft that will be completely different.  meanwhile, last week i was in ohio for a goddaughter's first communion.  this weekend, i will be in chicago for a nephew's first communion.  oh, and it's finals, remember?  I actually only have 1 twenty page paper (double spaced, luckily) left to write about tom sawyer and comparative mythology.  yeah.  i can do that.  but, there's a lot riding on it.  not only my grade, but if i do a good enough job on it, i may get a teaching assistantship next year.  yeah, no pressure.  

matt and i have started podcasting together.  this grew out of my weekly live drawing session on ustream.  i like having someone to banter with, and i liked recording it for people who missed it.  i realized that when i watch other ustreams of cartoonists, i really just listen to them, so i thought really i wanted a podcast.  you can find all this stuff at fns.  

i haven't drawn my comic for over a week.  i was always going to take this week off, but then last week, i got massively sick.  I've been sick a lot this year.  I'll be happy when summer comes and burns all the diseases away, as is my understanding of medical science.  

things are progressing nicely with the girlfriend.  the most common question we / i get is "when are you getting engaged?"  all i'm gonna say is that I know the answer to the question, but i'm not saying.  

today, is the performance of the dramatic reading i'm in!  i'm excited!  and dressed in black!  and my hair is combed nicely.  the things i do for art.  i think it's gonna go well.  i hope people come.  i really love acting.  i missed it so much.  i found out from a friend that next year GREAT theater is doing both wonka and the producers.  I loved being wonka and it's been my lifelong dream (well, as long as it was possible) to be Leo Bloom in the producers.  I have contacted the guy in charge and I'm so gonna audition for both plays.  I wanna be a producer....

Current Location: home
Current Mood: cheerful
Current Music: Jack Killed Mom - Jenny Lewis

 dear blog,

i guess i only do this like once a month.  i can't tell if that's because i'm so busy or because i have nothing to say.  a paradox, i know.  

my comic has been seeing record numbers of visitors lately.  i'm pretty happy about that.  it's like hard work is paying off.  i won't be going to SDCC this year.  I'm on the waiting list for a table, so i think i'll go to chicago instead.  for the same amount of money i get a bigger table.  and, i can drive there.  it works out a bit cheaper this way.  

the living room is like 98% done.  the floor has been refinished and everything.  the only things left are the molding and the french doors have been stripped and need to be revarnished.  everything looks so nice.  we moved furniture back in there and i've been able to sit on my couch again and work.  

school continues to be fantastic.  my teachers are amazing.  and, i'm in a play.  we're only doing a reading, so no memorization or anything.  but it's awesome.  a student wrote it and my teacher is directing. she cast me even though i didn't audition.  as the lead.  yeep!  i hope i don't disappoint.  i'm gonna need to SHATNER IT UP!!!

it's friday and i feel really tired.  this past couple of weeks have been grueling.  sunday i'm going over to miss marvelous's parents house.  tomorrow is my day.  i'm not doing a damn thing.  except miss marvleous and i are going to see a play at school tomorrow night.  i guess i'm becoming a theater geek again.  which is awesome.  

i'm like 99% certain i'm going to do a play for my thesis project.  i told my teacher i wasn't sure if i had another play in me, and she said i clearly have tons in me.  she is so encouraging.  i have a great connection with both my creative writing teachers.  this semester has been an amazing and life-changing experience.  

Current Location: office
Current Mood: excited
Current Music: That's Not My Name - The Ting Tings

Dear blog,

I've been sick for like the past week.  It's been sucktacular.  I lost my voice.  This obviously delighted some people quite a bit.  I think my immune system is fried from having to repair that nerve in my head.  I feel like any slight breeze and I get sick.  
At least the nausea has passed.  My doctor and I reckoned it was the meds, so we played around with that.  I'm now not in pain and I'm not throwing up.  Now if I can just get past this massive cold, I'll be awesome-possum.  
I feel super sleepy right now, tho.  And I'm at work, then class, then I need to get a haircut so I look pretty when I renew my driver's license tomorrow.  
It's unfair to be busy when sick.  

I have found a new internet radio station that I love.  It is K-Rock 2 from NYC.  And it is perfect.  

School is going well this semester.  I'm loving the play writing.  The play I'm writing doesn't feel like any play I've ever seen.  It feels a lot faster and snappier.  Also, the cast is sprawling with characters that only have like one or two lines.  I would imagine it would be a nightmare to put on.  And the set!  Oy, the things I envision for the set.  And the way I would want it to function!  Lots of hidden doors and stuff.  And there's stunts galore.  Basically, I'm trying to make a comic on stage, I think.  But, I love it.  I love writing it and I love hearing people read it.  

The house is coming along beautifully.  Rock has kicked ass on the living room.  The new walls and ceiling are gorgeous.  And now we're refinishing the floor.  This has never been done in the 120+ years of the floor's existence.  It took a lot of sanding to get all the wax and gunk off.  I was sick and sleeping while this was going on.  But, from what I hear, it was hard to do.  Rock had rented a nice floor sander, but it proved to be ineffective.  He then used a hand sander and that worked.  Then the floor sander again.  Next, the stain and varnish.  
Anyone whoever thought that house wasn't worth anything clearly was wrong.  It's like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree... all it needed was a little love.  And my brother Rock is a very talented carpenter, even if he doesn't think so.

On Saturday, I'll be in a prime of life.  I'm cool with that.  My life is awesome.  I've got school going well, I'm looking towards my doctorate and teaching.  And I'm dating the woman that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with.  It's weird, because I think I used to think that sort of relationship would be scary. But it's not.  It's calming and I feel not excited or jittery or anything like that.  Instead, I feel calm and content, which is way better. 

Current Location: the office
Current Mood: content
Current Music: K-Rock 2

dear blog,

Right now, I'm at Moorhead. I'm attending a graduate fair, representing my school. It is my job to tell people why they should pick SCSU over any other school.

I really don't know what i'm doing.

I went to SCSU because I live there. Sure, they gave me a great assistantship, so I guess I can talk about that. But, the programs? Yeah, i really don't know anything.

In other Patric news, it's Fallcon this weekend. That's like my favorite show. I love going there, it's a lot of fun. I don't expect to sell much, given the economy sucking like a blackhole.

Life is very busy. School and work take up a lot of my time. The rest goes to drawing FNS and the various house projects. The siding and roof is done, but now Rock is working on a three-season porch. I hold things. Last friday, I put a stormdoor on the front all by myself. That was interesting, but it worked out okay. It came with instructions, so I wasn't just trying to figure stuff out.

I think school is going well. I like two out of three classes. The one I don't like is terrible. It's supposed to be about technology and english, but all the material we've read (so far) is so horribly outdated. These things were written in the early 90s, predicting stuff that happened already three or more years ago. We weren't told it was an online class, but it is. And, it's using a MOO for it's online, which some may remember from, well, the early 90s. I've come to the conclusion that our teacher is at the very least incredibly lazy, if not incompetent.

The election is like a month away. As is probably obvious, I love Obama. Please vote for him. We can't take another four years of a leader who has no idea what ordinary people are going through. McCain thinks $5000 a year should be sufficient for medical costs. My mom spends more than that in just a couple months on prescriptions alone. Obama is right, we need to look out for each other. We need to be our brother's or sister's keeper. We are all in this together. We need to help each other. You want morality? Tell me, how is it moral to allow people to have to choose between medicine and food? How is it moral to give a tax break to the top 5%, and allow the poorest of the poor to loose their homes? How is it moral to say babies must be born, deny them health care and education, but then send young people to die in another country?
Voting for Obama is a moral choice. Frankly, I wouldn't vote for John McCain even if Satan himself was running against him.

Current Location: concordia college, moorhead, mn