Bleach your hair, change your life

OH, if it were that simple. Even though it’s not quite that powerful, I find that bleaching my hair does raise my spirits and cheer me up. Must be the chemicals seeping in!

So while I wait for the bleach to finish up, I thought I’d make a catch up post with lots of little stuff. Sort of a round up if you will.

– Heather’s moving to Vegas. Part of me is sad and part of me is jealous. The party this weekend will be fun.

– The Middle East is unraveling and all dumbass Americans can say is “Go Democracy!!”. ::shakes head:: If more Americans had a vague clue about the history of the region and OUR part in it, I think there’d be more people like me who are a) not surprised by the violence and b) VERY worried about how this will affect those countries such as ours who are totally dependent on them (the countries that are melting down now) for oil. This is SERIOUS, people. And “democracy” has nothing to do with it.

– The bullshit in WI. This comes down to the traditional debate of whether unions are beneficial or not. I fall on the NOT side of that. They artificially inflate wages and entitlements. You’ll never hear a union member offer to give up his entitlements for the sake of the company or the bigger economy. Look at the auto companies. UNIONS destroyed that industry. Yet far left hippies think that unions are the answer. Nope. Not even a little bit.

– Trek Trax was OK – what little we saw of it. We got busy around here on Sat and blew off the con but did go up Sunday to check it out. Met the Duras sisters, which was my main goal, and saw the Miss Klingon Pageant. They really need to work on the flow of that for next year. We might get a dealer’s room table next year just for fun and to support the con. It’s small enough that we might actually sell something! LOL

– We also wold love to do Furry Weekend Atlanta, but damn it’s pricey. You’ve got a cheap table ($65) but they don’t give you any passes with the tables, so you end up paying $80 for 2 passes + $65 for the table and that’s $145 for a table. Quite a bit, for such a specialized con. But we may do it anyway next year just to see how we do.

– This year will be an interesting one for our finances. We plan to have a whole new outlook by this time next year, I can promise you that.

– The Mirena is still causing light bleeding. It’s been 6 wks now, with 5 of that bleeding. ::sigh:: I NEVER get a break. NEVER. The good news is that there’s no pain, but still. What a fucking hassle.

– I’m loving this weather! 70s in Feb? Yes, please!

– Go buy something from my Etsy store – I’ve got some bracelets in there, now. It’ll help raise my spirits. Or buy a sketchcard from ThinkWeasel!.

Now, I’m off to rinse this bleach out. Tsaketa!

Why DC and Marvel are Soap Operas

I’ve never been much on superhero comics. I like the movies well enough, but not the actual comics. I’ve always been put off by the convoluted universes and myriad characters that DC and Marvel churn out.

That being said, I must point out that my very first comic I ever bought was Angela, which was a Spawn offshoot that I just recently realised was created by Neil Gaiman. (I could also do a post about the whole McFarlane and Gaiman lawsuit, but I’ll just say that McFarlane is a dick and leave it at that.) Spawn is published by Image Comics which is a big company right up there with Marvel and DC. So I have read some superhero (villain?) stuff before, but rarely. My very first comic that I liked was Courtney Crumrin that I got at Free Comic Book Day years ago. Totally indie!

Anyway, the point of this post is to share a realisation I had the other day about WHY I don’t like superhero stuff very much. And it has to do with soap operas.

I used to watch the soaps with my mother and grandmother when I was a kid. I even watched General Hospital during the Luke and Laura days. But as I got older, the genre started grating on my nerves with all the convoluted stories, people dying and coming back repeatedly, changed backstories to suit the current writers…

Sound familiar? Yah, I thought so. Marvel and DC are soap operas for comic book nerds. They have convoluted stories, multiple universes, characters being killed off and then magically coming back, changed backstories to suit the writer at the time… It’s the same. Exactly the same. No wonder I don’t go for superheroes!

I watched soap operas in my early years and I’d still watch them if I didn’t mind this nonsensical writing style. Well, I do mind. I know it’s all fantasy, but when you need large books just to keep the stories and characters straight, it’s just too much work for me, man.

So I’ll keep reading my indie comics from Oni, SLG and self published artists. I do my part for the big guys by also reading from Image, Vertigo and the occasional superhero story. But I tell you, I’m just not going for the whole soap opera vibe of traditional superhero story arcs. I can barely keep track of which heroes are with which company!

I encourage all comics readers to explore self published and web based comics. There are tons of us out there who work hard to produce comics every week and could use your support! So, go clicky-click and check out some of our indie and/or web based friends! Buy something! Help us become full time comics nerds! Did I mention BUY SOMETHING!!!

Think Weasel!
Ted Naifeh (Courtney Crumrin, Polly and the Pirates, Princess Ugg)
Little Vampires
Steam Crow
Last Res0rt

Etsy goodness!

So, I found my earring making supplies last week and took them to the mini con for something to do. I made a pair of Venetian glass earrings while sitting at the table and had fun doing it. Then the other day, I decided to look up the brand on the vintage 60s (read: butt ugly) dress I decided to sell. Lo and behold, it’s a Tina Leser and worth some scratch! I paid about $50 for it several years ago and it’s worth around $200. Yay!

So, I decided to try out Etsy for selling the vintage dress. I posted it and decided to post the earrings, too. I remembered I had several pairs of earrings I’d made in that spate of beadery, so I got ’em out and posted them, too. I also posted two metal stamps that did not work for the project I bought them for. Voilà, an Etsy shop was born! Check it out:

Boneless Cat Designs

I sold a pair of earrings overnight and now I’m stoked to make more! I’m going to Michael’s and the bead store today to get more wires and supplies. I am making Day of the Dead earrings and bracelets (more supplies I’d forgotten about!) to post later today. I’m also restringing a vintage crystal necklace I’ve had laying around forever.

Whee! I love feeling creative! :)

Mini Convention! Sun Oct 17!

Atlanta Comix Factory and Atlanta Cartoonists invite you to join us at Oxford Comics for the first mini convention for local comic artists. It’s 11am-7pm in the parking lot of Oxford on Piedmont road. Come by and support your local comics!! If you’d like a full res pdf to print and distribute, email me and I’ll send it to you! misangela at gmail.

comics Sun Oct 24
Mini Con at Oxford Oct 17 11-7!

Dragon*Con & Decatur Book Fest 2010

Not much to say. Didn’t attend the con and didn’t miss it, either.

We did go in on Saturday for Kelly’s birthday, which is always a great time! We picked up cupcakes from Carolyn’s and pizza from Mellow Mushroom. YUM! We also popped in to pick up Kelly, Ted and Drew for dinner at the Porter on Sunday. That’s about it.

Anyway, not attending the con was juuuust fine. No stress. We went to the Decatur Book Festival on Sunday and it’s totally NOT worth going to. Unless you’re a kid. No matter how hard they try to tell you it’s for “everyone” it’s really just a thing for kids. The bulk of events and booths are for kids. Meh. We’ll pass on it unless there’s a specific author we’re interested in.

That was our long two weeks and I’m just glad to have some downtime. Nick is nursing a cold and we’re planning to lay low during September.