Sometimes, just sometimes, work stuff flows really nicely.

One of our no-time-high-stress projects just got handed in. The client e-mailed me less than five minutes after I sent the files to rave at how amazing the artwork turned out. On a big project like this, that kind of feedback is a godsend. Whew

In other news, you must read this post by Shaenon Garrity. Not only is Shaenon a 110% awesome person, she’s also wonderfully perceptive and drills right to the core of male nerd ugliness. Read the comments too… some super sharp commentary in there.

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Best comment:
I’ve seen this before in “How do I get my girlfriend into sports?” and “How do I get my girlfriend into video games?”

Nobody ever seems to get the unifying answer to all “How do I get my girlfriend into…” threads and that’s stop thinking of your hobby as a gendered thing and start thinking of it as something you like because it fits your particular entertainment needs. It’s not “girls like this…,” it’s “you might like this because you enjoy mysteries/strategy games/true crime/international competitions…”
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That totally hits the nail on the head. You can’t hook people on comics/video games/RPGs or any other nerdy pursuit just by showing them what you like. Understand their entertainment needs and cater appropriately. If you asked my Dad if he was a video gamer, he’d say “No”… but he loves Bookworm because it’s very similar to Scrabble, one of his favorite board games. It’s not about what I like, it’s what entertains him. Understand that and you can hook anyone on geekly pursuits.

Also understand that the pendulum swings both ways. Are you ready to take up all of your significant other’s hobbies? If not, why not? Why do they have to dig in to all your nerdy past times?

I made this.

I cooked up a nice steak dinner.

Lime-Garlic-Pepper seasoned steak and mushrooms, stuffing and a freshly tossed salad with a bottle o’ wine. Rock.

If someone would’ve told me in college that I’d actually be able to cook steak decently some day, I’d have called them a liar. The wonderful simplicity of my mother being at home and raising me meant that I never had to understand things such as how a stove worked, what order food is cooked in or how to season properly, let alone come up with good meal combinations or shop for quality fresh produce. The rude awakening I had when I moved away to Alberta initially degenerated me to a state where I would constantly eat out or just get by on student-worthy garbage at home. It would take quite a while for me to figure out how to cook properly, sometimes with hilarious results.

I’ve steadily gotten better at cooking over the years but rarely have a chance to make up a nice meal. Cooking for one just doesn’t have the same pizazz. I appreciate entertaining guests and want to get even better at it. It’s a hard thing to do, especially with so much work stuff on the go but when I can pull the elements together it’s quite a gratifying experience.

Is it too nerdy-domestic for me to want a killer kitchen when I get my own house? Does wanting to cook all manners of whip ass food mean I have to hand in my macho-male membership card or is the concept of guy-in-the-kitchen actually sexy?

I’ve been invited to contribute a one strip original comic of Makeshift Miracle for the Comic Festival 2007 indy comic showcase for Free Comic Book Day being organized by Chris Butcher at the Beguiling. I’m pretty excited to be a part of it. I’ve got to make sure my contribution holds up amongst the great people they have lined up for it.

Sketching up an idea today, it felt weird and cool drawing a new Makeshift page after all this time. My first idea is a simple scene that fits in between two pages of the original story; a brief exchange that’s not crucial but still has a neat sense of atmosphere to it. I haven’t decided if I should draw/color it up exactly the same style as the book or really blow it out with what I can do now in Photoshop. I’ll just have to see how it develops.

Projects are moving forward at a brisk pace. It’s hit that fine line between ‘hectic’ and ‘adventurous’ that I actually enjoy. There’s a steady stream of challenges coming in the door but we’re conquering them.

Portfolio hand-ins for the college and upcoming convention stuff will ramp up the pressure but I’ve got a pretty good idea of what’s coming now. I finally feel like I understand and can handle it all, even if I don’t know the specifics of how each part will go. There’s a comfort in finally accepting that this is what I do for a living. It’s not a stop-gap or holdover until I find something else.

On a personal level, things are also very good for a change.
I’m finally dating again and it’s going well.

There, I said it.

I did some dating over the summer and it was bumpy-good-difficult. I spent time with good people but I honestly think I tried to head back in to the whole thing prematurely. Even if my last full-blown relationship ended in July 2004 (but then skidded along in a weird almost-Limbo for a good year and a half afterwards), mentally I still wasn’t ready. My confidence was all over the place and the work stuff I’d piled on top to keep myself distracted from dwelling on it made that kind of socializing even more difficult.

I know my friends and family have been wondering if/when I would head back in to relationship waters. ‘Subtle’ inquiries, talk of setting me up with people… well meaning but stressful. I had to be comfortable with just being ‘me’ before I could look at opening up again on that level. It’s not the same as being confident while teaching or socializing in general. I think my confidence in those other two areas lead people (myself included) to believe that everything was settled and I was ready to dive back in to relationship stuff.

I don’t talk about my relationships much, especially in this journal. My past two steady girlfriends were dead-set against me talking about them in my journal/old e-mail newsletters. That was at the same time as I was just starting to get involved with internet community stuff, so it set the tone for my silence on the subject.

Looks like our contacts are too effective, heh.

We’ve got an extra hotel room for the New York Comicon… anyone know anyone needing a room? Please let me know as soon as possible if there’s interest. Contact me via jimzub(AT symbol)gmail.com

My Wii Was Gone But Now It’s Back – I bet you didn’t even notice it was gone.

The Nintendo was having weird video card glitchy problems including rainbow-like static patterns appearing (and getting worse bit-by-bit) in dark areas of games. I called Nintendo Canada’s reps a few weeks ago and they sent me Purolator labels and what-not so I could send it to BC for warranty-covered repair/replacement. That was on January 22nd. I figured I wouldn’t see the console back for at least 4 weeks minimum.

This morning Puralator delivered the now-perfect Wii to my door. 14 days total including the shipping – I’m really impressed with their customer service.

Now I can really dig in to Warioware.

Who’s up for a Wii party this weekend? A show of hands?

The weekend went really well. Birthday party for Dan on Friday, dinner party with friends on Saturday. I’m relaxing a bit and balancing work stuff a bit better even though there’s a lot on the go.

The full shipment of Makeshift Miracle books finally arrived on Friday so I now have enough copies to send out ‘Thank You’ copies to people who helped me promote the book and/or offered quotes. It’s amazing finally having enough stock on hand to take me through the summer cons and fulfill any and all web orders that come down the pipe. The book chains have finally started ordering the book as well which opens it up to a much wider audience and takes it in to actual profitability; up until now I’ve been jockeying for breaking even.

Overall, things are going quite well. I don’t know if I’m not used to that being the norm but I almost want to pinch myself. I’ve had several surreal-good moments lately and I need to stand back a bit and appreciate them.

One month down in 2007 and the momentum is looking good so far.

Right… February, the slow UDON work month. I have to keep telling myself that.

In no particular order, I’m managing or illustrating and stressing about:

– 140 pages of artwork for a Random House teen graphic novel volume now underway with a crushing deadline.
– The latest Street Fighter/Darkstalkers card set (set 6 I believe) artwork is blazing towards completion.
– New RPG artwork for Dungeon Magazine, Sword & Sorcery and Exalted RPG products.
– Pagination and tweaking on the Exalted comic trade paperback.
– Test artwork for a major Hasbro contract.
– Translation edits and lettering approvals on our Capcom Manga line.
– Prepping on a major Capcom-related project.
– Artwork for a Canadian Kid’s Textbook.
– New York Comicon coming up.

All that and a rep from Nintendo Canada contacted me today to ask about Udon artist availability.

Plus Seneca stuff… wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Tired Jimbo Attack

PS: It’s fun, just crazy.

PPS: Or as Dan just wrote to me “Boooohoooo I’m successful waaah waaah waaah! Booooohoooo I’m successful AT SOMETHING I LOVE waaah waaah waaa” 😉