If you haven’t seen my submission yet, see it here because you won’t be seeing it in the Rising Stars of Manga Anthology. I received the “thanks for participating, you didn’t win” letter from Tokyopop today.

No one in L.A. is working anymore. The big grocery stores are on strike and now the MTA Bus/train systems have followed suit. This means those like me who depend on mass transit aren’t getting to work today either unless we jump through various proverbial hoops.

Here are my options for tomorrow:

1) Take the commuter express bus which has very limited hours and routes. This means catching a bus at 8:30am for a job that doesn’t start until 1:00pm.

2) Take the Metrolink to Downtown L.A., then catch 3 Foothill Transit buses. This is a trip of 4 hours total. I live 12 miles from my work. This route involves traveling far out of the way to get to my destination. It is akin to walking the opposite direction around the block to get to your neighbor’s house instead of walking directly next door.

3) Buy a tube for my blown bike tire and bike 12 miles to work.

Either way, it shall be an adventure.

They are in!
My new DDR pads with an inch of foam in each came in today. They are great. I played DDRMAX 1 and 2 for awhile tonight. I even got my roommate’s Aussie lady pal to play. These new pads are good stuff, much better than the cheap pieces of shit I’ve been stuck with for 9 months now. My productivity for the month just dropped even further.

I finished the Leonardo da Vinci biography today. One of the most interesting aspects of it is the author’s comparison of Leonardo to Kafka. Not something I would ever have imagined before reading this book.

Years ago, Bryan and I had a similar idea to this.
I see it isn’t getting a very good reception by imbeciles, bufoons, and other idiots completely incapable of understanding the bare basics of humor. People are too damn sensitive.

Ok, I’ve uploaded the 15 pages I submitted to the Tokyopop contest. You few folks that read this journal get to see it first.

Read it

I’ve been reading a biography of Leonardo da Vinci. Here is a quote I especially liked from one of his notebooks:

Perusing Amazon while searching for books today at work, I stumbled across the magnificent reviews of Chatchi. Enjoy and be sure to vote up his reviews so perhaps one day we can make him #1 reviewer.

After I left work tonight, a production crew came in to tape some scenes for an episode(s) of Alicia Silverstone’s new tv show. So, if you see a bookstore in an ep, it just may be my employer.

I found the wonderland that is Fry’s last night and purchased the coveted DDRMAX2. All is good except that my only remaining mat is malfunctioning and ruining the new DDR experience. I must buy the ignition pads.

Well, I finally updated the homepage of the site again. Three months. Christ. I’ll probably begin posting all 15 pages of the comic I submitted for the contest fairly soon (read this week).

The other night, I attended an open mic night for comics at Jennifer’s Coffeehouse in Tujunga. The tension and misery was so thick in that small cafe I could have bottled it and allowed it to ferment into a putrid moonshine of hate. At first, the awkward atmosphere was somewhat amusing, but after an hour+, I left feeling I needed a massage and a lobotomy.

I really don’t understand what is wrong with my server. If you visit my site, you will see it as it was in early April. I cannot update it or access pages after that date. I can connect to the server and it seems the newer files are online, but they are not viewable. My email seems to be screwy also. Hopefully, Bravidio will have it repaired soon.

I have returned.
Chinny is back.

Requisite Tokyopop Manga Contest Update:
All the comic pages are scanned. I’ve started laying down tones and text. I inch closer to completion each day. I’ll probably post all 15 pages here on my journal so the minority of you who read it can get a sneak preview. Try not to soil yourself. Hyuk!

Here is a full page preview: BAM!