Okita page 04

I started adding gray tones when I got to this page and then went back to catch up over the first three. From now on its pencil, ink, scan, borders, letters and tones for each page as it comes. It means I don't have to sit down and only do one thing for hours and days, and this helps me to stay fresh.

This is page 04. I'm actually working on page 07 today.

Okita page 03

We have people starting to appear now, and ACTION coming up on the next pages. So far I'm staying on my one a day pace, but there's a long way to go.

Okita page 01

Third version of the first page. This one came after actually reading the script. Page 02 has also been revised as I put a word balloon around SHINSENGUMI! I'm going to try for a nice steady page a day for this 48 page story.

Okita page 02

Page 02 because I realize that I made some mistakes and variations from the script that I need to correct. I should have had the script in front of me when I drew it. Idiot.

Whipped Cream and Caramel

Last night at work I served a cup of whipped cream, larded with caramel sauce, (enough to make my hands tired squeezing it) to an overweight adolescent girl. I've done morally questionable things in my life, but for this I will surely send time in the ante-room of Hell.

Tim Gunn & Superheroes

Tim Gunn of Project Runway looks at superhero(ine) costumes

Timi Yuro

When I come up with a character name I usually do a Google search for it. I was checking on the name Timi, and came across Timi Yuro, (born Rosemary Timotea Aurro Yuro) who passed away a few years ago. She was an Italian-American singer who had a single big hit in the late 50s Cry. She had a limited range I think, at least as she got older, and a vocal sound that had many listeners believing she was African-American.

And to think I've never heard of her before.

But I kind of dig her (and she could be quite pretty) so I may indeed borrow her full stage name for one of my characters. But there are some other Timi's out there, so more research...

Baaba Maal at Mondavi

For my birthday last year C got us tickets to a concert series at the Mondavi Center in Davis. We've seen Mariza, Elvis Costello and tonight, Baaba Maal. Well i went alone tonight as C was not feeling well. I think she would have enjoyed it. I liked the music, but had some quibbles about the concert.

I've enjoyed all of these concerts but seeing them has got me thinking about performance, and what performers seem to expect as part of the experience. Tonight Baaba Maal began with two lovely slow performances, he being seated on stage with a guitar and backed by five other performers. By the third song, he stood and had the guitar removed never to return, and brought three more musicians onstage. From then on it was one high energy, high volume tune after another. Very rhythmic as you might expect from a band from Senegal. The music couldn't help but get you moving to some extent.

The audience was appreciative. I think every one enjoyed the music. But the Davis crowd tends to be older, well heeled, and sedate. The center itself encourages that. Its beautiful, but hardly a nightclub, and while wine is sold beforehand, its hardly a drunk crowd. So when the band wants you to clap along, they've got their work cut out for them to get the crowd into it.

And Baaba Maal wanted people clapping along by about the fourth song, for every song, and it got tiresome. Just because I'm not clapping doesn't mean I'm not enjoying the performance. Often it means I want to hear the performance, not obliterate it. And much as I enjoyed the music, by about the midpoint of the concert, I was getting a little bored. I think they needed to change things up a little more as Mariza and Elvis did. The ecstatic high points of a concert need to come in doses. If they are nonstop, they lose impact.

To their credit, they did finally get people up on their feet, even up on stage, dancing and loud. So the concert ended on a fine high note. They did make the audience work a little too hard for an encore I thought. But oh well.

Elvis also made a few gestures to get people to stand in ovation and Mariza made a few comments about how hard her band worked and she was always curious about how they would be received. She seemed a little disappointed in the sedate Davis crowd. I'm a little embarrassed for them myself, but just as much for the performers who seem to need this validation.

Next up is Sonny Rollins. I am looking forward to that, being an old jazz fan.

Finishing

Didn't get as much today as I had thought... you never do it seems. But a fair amount accomplished regardless, some of it not what i had planned is all.

I did finish a short story I've worked at over the last couple of months and got it uploaded under my pseudonym so don't bother to go looking for it. Its the third story I've done. The first got great feedback. It was a challenge because it involved two people each telling their story from their own perspective. Not everyone liked that approach, but most people found it successful. The second story was a follow-up, as told first person by about four voices, and was less well received. Most felt it seemed rushed, and I'll agree that i may have lost a little control over the voices, but i don't understand how people could be confused over who was speaking when each change was announced in a header. Oh well,

I took a break and came back with a longer story, not told in multiple voice first person, but in third person. This story was longer, and intended to offer more build up and more anticipation before the final climax. We'll see how it is received.

I am finding this a good way to try out some things before getting back to my novel. My novel, BTW will have to be started over from scratch. But I'm learning, I hope so there's that.

One of the things I think I need to change is to incorporate more thorough outlining. For these shorts I can start with a sort of goal in mind and maybe hold it in my head, but with this last story, because I didn't just race through it in a few days, I think it drifted. Not enough to make it incoherent, but enough that it became a different story from the one I started. Not a bad thing, what comes out when I right is probably what I need to be doing, just as what I draw the way I draw it, is simply my way.

I try not to focus on a specific style, but just assume that my style will emerge naturally. This is advice I heard from folk singer Tom Paxton in a radio interview many decades ago, and it has stuck with me. Do the work, and your own voice will emerge.

Carry a Notebook

I've started carrying a small Moleskine notebook to work while I play around with some ideas for song lyrics. It helps me to not forget things. I've never been a big one to carry sketchbooks around and such, but hopefluu this one will help me to stay productive.

Now I need to take some of this raw material and spend time getting it organized and working. Tomorrow after work would be a good time.

Some days I just don't want to go to work.

I'm on call for work today, and I sort of hope I don't have to go in. Now I need the hours so officially I hope they do call me in, but I'm having some fun doing creative stuff today, and so...

If they don't call me in, well, I'm just back from the gym (which went better then the last time) so I could have more fun working at home and sharing the evening with C, if she doesn't hole up doing her own work.

Mostly I'm writing, but I should do some drawing as well, so I best get to it.

Drifting a Little

Just a little.

The homework is caught up and although there will be more to come, I don't anticipate it being too demanding and there are only about six weeks left of class. Not quite ready to start some serious writing, although I've some shorter stuff to play with as time allows. Tomorrow perhaps. C will be out quilting and I'll have some quiet time.... not that she's loud or like that.

But in general I find myself defaulting to Okita and The Cat. I hadn't expected to start quit yet, but then, why not? Maybe for this one I'll slow down... generally I draw pretty fast, but for this I'll slow down and take my time, see if i can't come up with something a little better then the past.

I need to plan my academic future as well.