Friends

I stayed inside and piled all my grandparents' stuffies on my head during black friday, so I didn't buy a thing! If you are like me, and fear being trampled on any old day at the shops--let alone in December--perhaps you'd like some holiday shopping help? I put a few paintings up on My Etsy Shop, plus I added my Mickey's Diner Print to my BigCartel Store, and screwed around with a goofy Linney T-Shirt.

A week and a half ago, our computer, P.B., crashed. P.B. is a seven-year-old desktop Mac, one of the white gooseneck models. I usually call him Plastic Baby, but his formal name for company is Pangur Bán, Irish for "White Pangur." It's the title of a medieval poem written by an Irish monk to his cat some 1,200 years ago. (Wikipedia says that pangur means "waulker," but I've also come across the theory that "Pangur" was an Irish pronunciation of "Peter." Either way, it was apparently a common cat name.) When I first read the poem as a college student at Trinity, I was struck by its sweet simplicity. The last verse opens a little slit in time to that monk, hunched over an illuminated Gospel, patiently nursing his tiny light against the darkness. With his white cat by his side.

I'd like to say it's even better in the original Irish, but I've forgotten how to do anything in Irish beyond count to ten, and now I can't pronounce the original verses without getting my tongue caught in my larynx.

P.B. came back from the Powerbook Guy this afternoon, brand-new hard drive, data fully restored. Here's the poem for him.


Pangur Bán

I and Pangur Bán my cat,
Tis a like task we are at:
Hunting mice is his delight,
Hunting words I sit all night.

Better far than praise of men
Tis to sit with book and pen;
Pangur bears me no ill will,
He too plies his simple skill.

Tis a merry thing to see
At our tasks how glad are we,
When at home we sit and find
Entertainment to our mind.

Oftentimes a mouse will stray
In the hero Pangur's way;
Oftentimes my keen thought set
Takes a meaning in its net.

'Gainst the wall he sets his eye
Full and fierce and sharp and sly;
'Gainst the wall of knowledge I
All my little wisdom try.

When a mouse darts from its den
O how glad is Pangur then!
O what gladness do I prove
When I solve the doubts I love!

So in peace our tasks we ply,
Pangur Bán, my cat, and I;
In our arts we find our bliss,
I have mine and he has his.

Practice every day has made
Pangur perfect in his trade;
I get wisdom day and night
Turning darkness into light.

I'm surprised that I've never seen any art/fic for Ty Lee and Katara. I think they'd get along pretty well after the war. ;D


Pink Auras by ~Yamino on deviantART

It's an often-overlooked part of Ty Lee's character that she can see people's auras. Yes, I know she looks like pink Jesus or something... XD; Actually, "halos" are a stylized method of showing auras, such as those around familiar holy figures.

Many ancient cultures have records of people with this ability, including Asian cultures and mythology which Avatar is based on. I thought that giving her this trait was a really nice touch! If you're interested in learning more about auras, this is a good place to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_%28paranormal%29

Anyway...This is a picture from Ty Lee's point of view, and her aura is a happy glowing pink. <3

• 18:25 Going to batangas, brb #
• 07:29 Top 3 weekly #lastfm artists: 소녀시대 - 13. Incubus - 8. Flight of the Conchords - 6. bit.ly/18Q2lI #

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The posters are now on sale at Page 45 in the city of Nottingham, UK, for £4.99 each.

They are also still available on the Oni Press web store (which I believe only ships to the USA).

I believe the Beguiling (in Toronto) has/had some of the posters, and they should still be selling the t-shirts (which they ship overseas!).

I can't send you a poster if you live elsewhere in the world. Sorry! I don't have any posters.

I think the CBC blew half its budget on The Tudors because the whole time that I lived in Toronto, every bus and every subway car was plastered with Jonathan Rhys Meyers' pouting face and ten yards of cleavage. I believe we've all learned a valuable lesson here, and that is William Cecil may have been a crack statesman, but if he wants to me to give a shit about him he better start hitting the gym.


stoorree

This was waiting for me when I got home last week: the Romaininan edition of HERE, THERE BE DRAGONS.

I used to scratch my head at Jonathan Carroll's mentions of going to Poland for book signings - but now I get it. All those Eastern European countries LOVE this stuff. A fact I and my mortgage company are very thankful for.

This will be no great surprise to readers of my books (and the references to THE SHADOW DRAGONS as a "middle" book), but more are forthcoming. I'm finishing the art for Book Five right now, and my publisher has extended an excellent offer, which my manager has accepted, to publish Books 6 and 7 in the Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica. Future Octobers are looking GREAT!

It isn't often that I don't post about daily events or school related thoughts/qualms. I think I have neglected my writing skills in a way that favours one or two line expression over continuous logical flow.

Cats.

( See what I mean? )

Alright! So I've got my Etsy store updated with all my sculpted goods!


This one I'm most proud of, he's so shiny! He's 2.1" tall and 3.5" wide at his furthest points.
( More Potted Tentacles )
There's all of them together. The smallest tentacle is about 1" tall and the very tallest is just over 3" Mostly they're a bit shorter than 1.5" and every single little sucker is filled with bright gold paint.


For anybody that was interested in purchasing my Cephalopony or her big pot of tentacles, please contact the OMG PWN!ES show curator Kaebel Hashitani at sequentialart (a) gmail.com

• 22:17 @fairborne Awww. You is sweet. #
• 22:18 Had a long excellent conversation with my sister in law. Yay for Thanksgiving break! #

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Here's hoping this scan turned out ok. My screen is all gibbled with blue crap, so it's really hard to tell what the hell I'm doing. The scan should be ok though. I've scanned enough of these to do it with my eyes closed at this point.


In case you didn't see my last post, I'm blowing out all my original art pages at $50 a pop until I can raise enough to get a new computer! This one is toast. So if you have a favorite comic page or drawing I've done, post a comment or a PM and reserve it! You can pay via paypal or postal money order.

Now would also be a good time to tell you that you can subscribe to Cinema Sewer and Sleazy Slice for 2 years for just $24 ($32 overseas)! That is 4 publications, shipped to you the day they come out. It's a steal, and you're supporting all of my filthy habits. No one loses!

And, as usual, you can order yourself either CS book for just $29 each ($35 overseas), and expect to get a nice sexy/disgusting personalized drawing inside! Feel free to make reasonable requests!

Paypal them monies to: mindseye100 *AT* hotmail.com today so I can see what the fuck I am doing over here! BLUE LINES, EVERYWHERE! AUUUGH

http://www.octopuspie.com

More...

I hope all you US Americans had a great Thanksgiving! As Autumn comes to a close, here is a final hurrah to chilly autumn family dinners. "Who Are Parents?" is 8 pages long - small but mighty - and I am pleased to show it to you.

For those who are holiday shopping, I am running a SALE from now until December 1st. It is what I like to call a 3 2 1 SALE, because items in the store are $1, $2, and $3 off! Take advantage of it while you can, so a loved one give you kisses (or respectful handshakes) this holiday season.

If none of these things tickle your fancy, I will also be selling some original drawings and paintings in the coming weeks! Stay tuned for info on Monday.

I need to stop looking at Jillian Tamaki's sketchbook EVERY DAY.


( A bunch more in here. )

Four Creative Professionals, One Cup

Dylan Meconis, Bill Mudron, Katie Lane and I talked about comics and freelancing for a couple hours today for Dylan's podcast and I broadcasted it live. You can see a recording of it by following the above link!

Aaaaand my little tiny boxes arrived so I'm working on getting my tentacles listed on Etsy. Yaaaay.