Friday is "Post a Doodle" Day

Kissing Rules

This card was in Dave's great grandparent's wallet... 

The fine print is the most amusing, "...don't make a noise over it, as if you were firing off shooting crackers, nor pounce down upon it like a hungry hawk upon an innocent dove, but gently fold the damsel in your arms, without smashing her collar or spoiling her spitties, and by a sweet pressure upon her mouth, revel in the blissfulness of your situation, without smacking your lips upon it as you would over a glass of Lager Beer."

Temple Grandin

Lecture - Open to Public! 

Temple Grandin: Humane Livestock Handling Practices

Co-presented by: the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University's Office of Continuing Education and the Center for Animals and Public Policy
Wednesday, August 29, 2012  7:00 PM (doors open at 6:00 PM)

Worcester Technical High School Auditorium  1 Skyline Drive, Worcester, MA  01605

Click here for more info about registration. 

It may seem odd that I'd post about a livestock handling lecture on my blog, but I'm fascinated with Temple Grandin and I'm excited to attend this talk. Dr. Grandin was born in 1947 and was diagnosed with autism as a young child. Her parents were advised to institutionalize her (which they did not do). As an adolescent, Dr. Grandin was fortunate to have teachers and caregivers that recognized her astonishing visual and scientific mind, her innate talent for designing and building machines, and her ability to understand and connect with animals. Dr. Grandin went on to earn a PhD in animal science, and is most known for redesigning slaughterhouses with the animal's natural behavior and welfare as the primary consideration. With Dr. Grandin's design, the animal does not experience any fear, anxiety, or pain as it's herded to slaughter, so that it can remain calm at the time of its death. Granted, the animal is dying to become meat, but Dr Grandin's motto is that nature is cruel, but humans don't have to be (eg, a cow in the wild would be hunted and brutally ripped apart by a predator).

I'm fascinated by how completely different Temple's mind is in its visual orientation, and how this enables her to connect with animals and see solutions that even the most gifted, "normal" person could not likely access. We really are limited by the design of our own brains and the scope of what they allow us to sense. To learn more about her amazing story, check out the 2010 Emmy Award-winning film, Temple Grandin. 

Friday is 'Post a Doodle' Day!

My sister and I recently made up this challenge where one person picks a word at random by opening a dictionary to any page and blindly pointing to a word. Repeat to pick a second word. The 2 words together are the concept that you each must draw within a limited timeframe (3-5 min). Then compare drawings. It's silly, random, and a lot of fun. This is my rendition of 'Quail Footloose.' I have no idea why she has webbed feet. Maybe they make her a better dancer?

The Bolog Na with regards to Summer

I keep hearing people say that summer is over, but that's bolog na! I reconfigured how I think of the seasonal calendar so that Summer = June 1 - October 31st. 

(Fall = Nov, Winter = Dec-Feb = only 3 months!, and Spring = March - May). 

So anyways, there's still quite a bit of Summer left! Here are some photos I took on recent strolls in my neighborhood and on Cousins Island, Maine...   

Hot Donut Salad - Spotlight on Gina!

Are you ready for fun with Gina? In Hot Donut Salad, madcap fun ensues when Gina reverts to a feral state and has to be captured. I've always been fascinated with the idea of feral people. So 'Please Help Gina' is a chance to play with that. It's basically a parody of a public service announcement / cautionary tale of a woman's downfall. People are so titillated by such stories in popular culture, which is just so gross, so I thought it would be fun and funny to create this disturbing story of Gina's downfall into a feral state and then just have it take a completely wacky turn from tragedy to absurd silliness.  

Hot Donut Salad - Spotlight on Paul!

Who doesn't love Paul?! He's a total HIT with the ladies. Or, at least HE thinks he is, and why shouldn't he? He's a HEAD on a pair of FEET! And such style! Pictured here in one of his many turtleneck sweaters, what more could a lady want?  

Well... as it turns out, even Paul, with his seemingly unwavering confidence and swagger, makes a few missteps. But you'll never hear about THAT, EXCEPT in Hot Donut Salad!   

Hot Donut Salad is published by Undercover Fish Books.

Diamond Order code is: AUG121325

ORDER your copy at your local comic book retailer now! Find a comic shop near you by going to www.diamondcomics.com and clicking on Comic Book Shop Locator or call 1-888-comicbook today!

Hot Donut Salad! It's the Tastiest Deal in Town!

Where else are you going to fine 84 pages chock full of the most bizarro and heartfelt tales you'll ever read!? 

Hot Donut Salad is published by Undercover Fish Books.

Diamond Order code is: AUG121325

ORDER your copy at your local comic book retailer now!

Find a comic shop near you by going to www.diamondcomics.com and clicking on Comic Book Shop Locator or call 1-888-comicbook today!

Hot Donut Salad includes some of my earliest work, with characters like Gina the feral woman, and the adorable couple, Dollface and Chicken. In "A Night At The Movies," Dollface and Chicken go to see the French new wave film "Last Tango in Paris," thinking (from the title) that it's a light, romantic comedy. They soon find that it's, well, not quite what they were expecting...  

Stars of Summer

I love flowers! They're one of my favorite things about my favorite season. These are some shots I took on recent walks in Maine and around my neighborhood in central Mass.  

Hot Donut Salad - Spotlight on Bruce the Monkey!

What would Hot Donut Salad be without a generous helping of Bruce the Monkey? Bruce came to be during a very difficult time in my life, at the end of a relationship. Going through a break-up brings out all kinds of emotions. The mere exhaustion of it can sometimes oddly make you (or at least me) a little punchy. You get tired from all the struggle and sadness and then out of nowhere comes a burst of silliness. Well, Bruce was in one such burst.

I suddenly had this thought of how funny it would be if someone pitched a show to Lifetime TV in which a woman's husband leaves her, but to make up for the loss he buys her a pet monkey. The show would have all the schmaltzy-ness typical of Lifetime, but with a totally psychotic twist. And then I thought to myself, this is actually an interesting story idea that I want to bring to life in a comic.

It's funny because drawing Bruce and writing these stories actually brought me a lot of comfort during my difficult time. He really is a cherished friend, and I plan to continue his story!

Hot Donut Salad - Saddam Hussein Made Me Pancakes

These uncolored, unlettered pages are from my comic about Saddam Hussein making me pancakes. This comic is based on an actual dream that I had. It was around the time that Saddam Hussein was captured, so my subconscious brain was probably processing the media images just as my nose was catching a whiff of a neighbor making breakfast...

Whatever it was, after awaking and thinking about it some more, I thought maybe my psyche was trying to reconcile the disparity between Saddam's outward appearance with the actual person that he was. The dream made me realize that he does in fact kind of look like someone's bumbly, grandpa and/or a short-order cook, which kind of works against his whole 'I'm-the-embodiment-of-evil' schtick. 

Summer walks

I took these photos on a recent walk around my neighborhood... 

I saw this amazing huge tree (beech?) in a cemetery. Its roots looked like a claw...

Then check this out. I came across this gravestone of a woman whose first name was "Submit." Can you believe it? That poor woman. It would be bad enough to be born in the 1800's, as a woman, but then to be named "Submit" on top of it? I'd be like, get me out of here.

Hot Donut Salad - Spotlight on Timmy!

By now you might be asking, what IS Hot Donut Salad? What are the ingredients that make this 90-page comic concoction so tasty and delicious? WELL, one of the main ingredients is the characters. Each has a different story line. Although not connected by plot, each story combines absurd silliness with a level of sadness. The wackiness of the characters is what makes this combination work. 

So I thought I'd tell you all a little about each of them. Today the spotlight is on Timmy!  

Timmy is a boy-man character who, for some unexplained reason, is always in his underpants. He's one of those people that you can't tell whether their 'joie de vivre' comes from some kind of enlightenment or were they just dropped on their head early in life.  

Timmy has a lot of bizarre adventures in Hot Donut Salad, usually involving (but not limited to) cupcakes that are either floating in or falling from the sky. His weirdness and naivete are what make him endearing and vulnerable, and are what make you empathize with his whimsical plights.

It's funny though, because Timmy started out as a much darker character. Below is one of my earliest sketches of him, which describes some pretty tragic events as the reason for his 'condition.'