OMegaMart@GMail.com
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Things I Never Thought I'd say #145
I drew the Transformer "Barricade" this afternoon. And my mood improved dramatically by doing so.
A
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Thursday, March 6, 2008
Offline
Writing this at Happy Harbor, which is a damn site happier than home right now... According to our service (non)provider, the internet in our area is going to be offline for up to the next 48 hours.
So, if you're waiting for e-mails from me, don't hold your breath. No more blog posts for a bit, too. Possibly not ever, as it's not going to take much to send either me or Tiina over the edge into a bloody killing spree (as opposed to the hygeinic, bloodless killing sprees you hear so much about).
We do not do well without our internet, no we don't.
A
So, if you're waiting for e-mails from me, don't hold your breath. No more blog posts for a bit, too. Possibly not ever, as it's not going to take much to send either me or Tiina over the edge into a bloody killing spree (as opposed to the hygeinic, bloodless killing sprees you hear so much about).
We do not do well without our internet, no we don't.
A
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Fiona Staples is the Future of Comics
DC has a PDF preview of the first five pages of THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE AUTHORITY: JACK HAWKSMOOR #1, with art by Fiona Staples, up on its site.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Fiona's going to be a HUGE STAR, and rightfully so.
A
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Fiona's going to be a HUGE STAR, and rightfully so.
A
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Let's Talk About Me.
Questions via Marc Bryant. Because sometimes, your brain's too mushy to do much other than delve into your own navel...
2. If you had to eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Lobster
3. Spell your name how it sounds.
Androo
4. Name one word to describe your personality?
nervous
5. What are your top 3 Turn Ons on the opposite sex?
sense of humour, shared interests, looks
7. Where do you see yourself in 6 years?
wondering what the hell happened over the last six years...
8. What is your favorite piece of jewelry?
My wedding ring. Kind of a win by default, as it's my only piece of jewelry.
9. What type of service is your cellphone?
Cellphones cause cancer. I use Tiina's when I've absolutely got to. I think she's on Virgin.
10. What do you hate most about N.Y State?
That the people who live there have a geographic advantage over me when it comes to working in my preferred field of employment.
11. What kind of car is your dream car?
One with a chauffeur.
12. Can you leave the house without makeup?
I can leave the house without pants.
13. What are your top 3 favorite stores to shop at?
Happy Harbor, any used bookstore, Mr. Big & Tall. That said, I don't really like shopping.
14. Do you consider yourself to be good-looking?
Depends on my mood.
15. What do you miss about being a kid?
The sense of invincibility and the inevitability of my own success.
16. What is your favorite animal?
Data the Dog.
17. Do you think you're going to have a good Valentines Day?
As good as any other V-Day. T and I don't recognize most holidays and we couldn't be much more mushy than we are on a daily basis already, at least not without a substantially higher bank balance.
18. Apple, Orange, Cranberry juice?
Orange.
19. Do you get enough sleep at night?
There aren't enough hours in the night for me to get enough sleep in it. Occasionally I get enough hours if I start in the early evening and finish mid-afternoon the next day. Very occasionally.
20. Favorite Channel on T.V ?
Whatever's got what I want to watch on at a given moment.
21. Are you dating the person you text most?
I don't text. Unless you count e-mails, in which case, no. But then, the person I date is within shouting distance at least 18 hours of the average day, so it's not like there's much call for that.
22. whats your favorite color[s]?
Depends what the colours are on. For clothes, black. For interior walls, yellow. Red's cool for most food. I guess what I'm saying is I don't really have a favourite colour, though anything in the watered down cream-colour vein isn't for me.
23. What do you want?
I want it all, but I'll settle for lots of money and fame. Actually, I'll settle for lots of money. Or enough money to live as I do now without worrying and a moderate amount of fame.
24. Who was the last person you shared a bed with?
Tiina. Cats don't count as people, right?
25. Do you talk to yourself?
All the time. Strangely enough, I don't listen to myself.
26. Do you drink milk straight from the carton?
I'm allergic to milk. But I would if I wasn't.
27. Who knows a dark secret or two about you?
Pretty much everyone. It's not like I have that many dark secrets, and the ones I do know aren't really about me.
29. Do you like Batman?
Depends on who's writing him.
30. Who did you last hug?
Tiina.
31. Do you swear at your parent(s)?
No. It's gotten to the point where I can swear near them and not feel terribly uncomfortable. Then again, it's not like they've done anything to me to merit being sworn at, so it's a weird question.
32. Do you like anyone now?
Many people.
33. When was the last time you lied?
I never lie. I frequently exaggerate for entertainment purposes.
34. Obama, Hillary, McCain, or Huckabee?
Obama, just because I like his rhetoric and I don't really know what he'd do or be able to do, but it'd be more interesting than the other three.
35. Is your birthday on a holiday?
No. Is yours?
36. What instant messaging service do you use?
None. I waste enough time on e-mail and blogging, I wouldn't get ANYTHING done if I had IM.
37. Last thing you cooked today?
Seafood salad melt sandwiches.
38. Did you have a nap today?
Not yet.
39. Who's house did you go to last?
House? Probably Dave and Lindy's.
41. Why is the sky blue?
I believe the particles in the air refract the light so it appears blue, but I believe a lot of incorrect things.
42. Do you like green beans?
No.
43. Do you swear a lot?
Define a lot. It really depends how comfortable I am with who I'm talking to and what kind of humour I think they have.
44. Where did you get the shirt you're wearing?
Tiina gave it to me. No idea where she got it.
45. Have any regrets?
I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention.
No replace "few" with "many".
46. Do you use an alarm clock?
Only when I need to be up at a certain time, which isn't often.
47. Where are you?
Home, in bed.
48. Do you ever snort when you laugh?
Probably.
49. Whats the first thing you notice on the opposite sex?
The face.
50. Do you wear underwear?
Usually.
51. Who/What would you like to see right now?
A cheque for a million dollars that I know won't bounce, made out to me.
52. Are you social?
No. I am the opposite of social.
53. Are you afraid of the dark?
No. I'm afraid of what's IN the dark.
55. Who was the last person you talked to?
Tiina. Dogs don't count, do they?
56. Are you happy with your life?
The parts I'm happy with, I'm very happy with. The parts I'm unhappy with, I'm very unhappy with, but the good outweighs the bad.
57. Last person who you told your problems to?
I tell my problems to everyone. I think the last time I really dumped on someone was on my manager on Friday, though Tiina and most people in my vicinity getting a running commentary of how sucky my life is on a regular basis.
58. What are you doing tonight?
Sleeping if possible. Writing or reading if not. Watching TV if that's not doable, even though I'm pretty sure there's nothing new worth watching tonight.
61. Who's your best friend?
Tiina.
62. Do you think he/she will always be there for you?
I hope so, because I'd be in real trouble without her.
63. What is your myspace song right now?
I don't do the MySpace song thing--too much time waiting for other peoples' pages to load up to inflict that on someone else.
64. Do you prefer to text or IM?
IM, but I'd really prefer to do neither.
65. Who'd you get this from?
Marc
66. Do you believe the number 6 is the number of death?
No. I believe the number 4 is the number of appetizers, though.
67. What are your favorite magazines?
Don't regularly read any magazines, but if there's a TIME, Rolling Stone, or Comics Journal lying around, they get flipped through first.
A
2. If you had to eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Lobster
3. Spell your name how it sounds.
Androo
4. Name one word to describe your personality?
nervous
5. What are your top 3 Turn Ons on the opposite sex?
sense of humour, shared interests, looks
7. Where do you see yourself in 6 years?
wondering what the hell happened over the last six years...
8. What is your favorite piece of jewelry?
My wedding ring. Kind of a win by default, as it's my only piece of jewelry.
9. What type of service is your cellphone?
Cellphones cause cancer. I use Tiina's when I've absolutely got to. I think she's on Virgin.
10. What do you hate most about N.Y State?
That the people who live there have a geographic advantage over me when it comes to working in my preferred field of employment.
11. What kind of car is your dream car?
One with a chauffeur.
12. Can you leave the house without makeup?
I can leave the house without pants.
13. What are your top 3 favorite stores to shop at?
Happy Harbor, any used bookstore, Mr. Big & Tall. That said, I don't really like shopping.
14. Do you consider yourself to be good-looking?
Depends on my mood.
15. What do you miss about being a kid?
The sense of invincibility and the inevitability of my own success.
16. What is your favorite animal?
Data the Dog.
17. Do you think you're going to have a good Valentines Day?
As good as any other V-Day. T and I don't recognize most holidays and we couldn't be much more mushy than we are on a daily basis already, at least not without a substantially higher bank balance.
18. Apple, Orange, Cranberry juice?
Orange.
19. Do you get enough sleep at night?
There aren't enough hours in the night for me to get enough sleep in it. Occasionally I get enough hours if I start in the early evening and finish mid-afternoon the next day. Very occasionally.
20. Favorite Channel on T.V ?
Whatever's got what I want to watch on at a given moment.
21. Are you dating the person you text most?
I don't text. Unless you count e-mails, in which case, no. But then, the person I date is within shouting distance at least 18 hours of the average day, so it's not like there's much call for that.
22. whats your favorite color[s]?
Depends what the colours are on. For clothes, black. For interior walls, yellow. Red's cool for most food. I guess what I'm saying is I don't really have a favourite colour, though anything in the watered down cream-colour vein isn't for me.
23. What do you want?
I want it all, but I'll settle for lots of money and fame. Actually, I'll settle for lots of money. Or enough money to live as I do now without worrying and a moderate amount of fame.
24. Who was the last person you shared a bed with?
Tiina. Cats don't count as people, right?
25. Do you talk to yourself?
All the time. Strangely enough, I don't listen to myself.
26. Do you drink milk straight from the carton?
I'm allergic to milk. But I would if I wasn't.
27. Who knows a dark secret or two about you?
Pretty much everyone. It's not like I have that many dark secrets, and the ones I do know aren't really about me.
29. Do you like Batman?
Depends on who's writing him.
30. Who did you last hug?
Tiina.
31. Do you swear at your parent(s)?
No. It's gotten to the point where I can swear near them and not feel terribly uncomfortable. Then again, it's not like they've done anything to me to merit being sworn at, so it's a weird question.
32. Do you like anyone now?
Many people.
33. When was the last time you lied?
I never lie. I frequently exaggerate for entertainment purposes.
34. Obama, Hillary, McCain, or Huckabee?
Obama, just because I like his rhetoric and I don't really know what he'd do or be able to do, but it'd be more interesting than the other three.
35. Is your birthday on a holiday?
No. Is yours?
36. What instant messaging service do you use?
None. I waste enough time on e-mail and blogging, I wouldn't get ANYTHING done if I had IM.
37. Last thing you cooked today?
Seafood salad melt sandwiches.
38. Did you have a nap today?
Not yet.
39. Who's house did you go to last?
House? Probably Dave and Lindy's.
41. Why is the sky blue?
I believe the particles in the air refract the light so it appears blue, but I believe a lot of incorrect things.
42. Do you like green beans?
No.
43. Do you swear a lot?
Define a lot. It really depends how comfortable I am with who I'm talking to and what kind of humour I think they have.
44. Where did you get the shirt you're wearing?
Tiina gave it to me. No idea where she got it.
45. Have any regrets?
I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention.
No replace "few" with "many".
46. Do you use an alarm clock?
Only when I need to be up at a certain time, which isn't often.
47. Where are you?
Home, in bed.
48. Do you ever snort when you laugh?
Probably.
49. Whats the first thing you notice on the opposite sex?
The face.
50. Do you wear underwear?
Usually.
51. Who/What would you like to see right now?
A cheque for a million dollars that I know won't bounce, made out to me.
52. Are you social?
No. I am the opposite of social.
53. Are you afraid of the dark?
No. I'm afraid of what's IN the dark.
55. Who was the last person you talked to?
Tiina. Dogs don't count, do they?
56. Are you happy with your life?
The parts I'm happy with, I'm very happy with. The parts I'm unhappy with, I'm very unhappy with, but the good outweighs the bad.
57. Last person who you told your problems to?
I tell my problems to everyone. I think the last time I really dumped on someone was on my manager on Friday, though Tiina and most people in my vicinity getting a running commentary of how sucky my life is on a regular basis.
58. What are you doing tonight?
Sleeping if possible. Writing or reading if not. Watching TV if that's not doable, even though I'm pretty sure there's nothing new worth watching tonight.
61. Who's your best friend?
Tiina.
62. Do you think he/she will always be there for you?
I hope so, because I'd be in real trouble without her.
63. What is your myspace song right now?
I don't do the MySpace song thing--too much time waiting for other peoples' pages to load up to inflict that on someone else.
64. Do you prefer to text or IM?
IM, but I'd really prefer to do neither.
65. Who'd you get this from?
Marc
66. Do you believe the number 6 is the number of death?
No. I believe the number 4 is the number of appetizers, though.
67. What are your favorite magazines?
Don't regularly read any magazines, but if there's a TIME, Rolling Stone, or Comics Journal lying around, they get flipped through first.
A
THE HOLIDAY MEN #1.8: Say Good Night, Foley
www.chemsetcomics.com
Too tired to insert image or proper link right now, but it's up.
Good night, Foley.
A
Too tired to insert image or proper link right now, but it's up.
Good night, Foley.
A
Monday, March 3, 2008
Funny I Should Mention It (not really)
Tuesday night, just before bed, I had an idea for a sitcom about a group of television show ghost hunters/paranormal investigators. The characters started coming fast and furious: the skeptic who comes up with ridiculous explanations for every weird thing he sees; the true believer who comes up with equally ridiculous explanations for any little creak in the woodwork and always, ALWAYS hears voices whispering messages in playback tapes; the unflappable cameraman who ends up face to face with demons and all they get out of him is a yawn...
So I wrote "TV ghost hunter sitcom" on a scrap of paper and went to bed, because I've got my priorities and over the previous week I'd actually managed to get into something resembling a reasonable sleeping schedule, regularly going from midnight-ish to nine-ish.
Got up in the morning, looked at the scrap of paper, thought to myself "…Oh. Yeah…"
Sat down in my newly reorganized office (shooting THE WHISPER OF MY SOUL just destroyed it, not that anyone but me and possibly Tiina would be able to tell, considering its usual state of disarray, which with the liberal use of a little fake blood, would make it a decent stand-in for any of a number of ground zeros), and got to work.
And by work, I mean sitting/lying/pacing for a few hours, trying to get this ghosthunter thing to work.
And it wouldn't. I mean, maybe it would, if I stuck with it--the quick description I wrote above still seems to me to be something that SHOULD work--but Wednesday, it just wasn't happening.
I went down to the home gym (read as "99 dollar kinda-but-not-really elliptical trainer set up in front of a TV"). Plugged in the first DVD of the Showtime sitcom WEEDS, which Dad lent me ages ago but has sat unwatched as I plowed through two seasons of ANGEL and one of DEXTER (an idea that could've been pretty awful, with an execution so brilliantly perverse I could cry.)
So I'm sitting there, sweating, watching Mary-Louise Parker (who I sort of fell in love with when she was on THE WEST WING) and the I-guess-he's-funny-to-some-people-but-my-God-he's-so-vanilla Kevin Nealon, and I'm thinking to myself:
This isn't funny.
Not the first time I've thought that of an American cable one-camera sitcom. ENTOURAGE got a similar reaction, and I doubt I'd have watched more than the first episode I came across if it wasn't for Jeremy Piven's performance. Future episodes were more amusing to me, primarily because I've been vicariously exposed to enough of Hollywood to get a laugh out of anything that presents movie folk as selfish, creatively empty, morally bankrupt egotistical jerks (see also: Altman's THE PLAYER, Richard Rushfield's ON SPEC). My minimal experience with the Machine would indicate this to be a fairly accurate assessment, and I'll likely continue to think everyone in Hollywood who isn't representing me is a complete idiot, right up until one of them proves to have some quantum of taste by giving me lots and lots of money.
(As for the folk representing me, they're only partial idiots. They chose to take me on as a client, after all, and while I'm grateful, the decision doesn't speak well to their business acumen... (Carina, Mitchel, Aaron, Brendan--On the off-chance you’re reading this, I love you guys.))
"This isn't funny." That's what I thought, watching WEEDS. At least I didn't find it as funny as, say, a random half hour of a Sorkin-penned WEST WING, or the first couple seasons of FRASIER, or FAMILY GUY...how WEEDS ends up in the same category as ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT completely escapes me.
But for whatever reason--I suspect it’s got more to do with running time than anything else--it gets classified as a comedy. And that got me thinking…
Four days later, I’d gotten very little sleep (and what I did get was, uh, medicinally augmented). I’d also written a spec pilot script for something so far removed from my “TV Ghost hunters sitcom” as to be unrecognizable. Three acts, by my judgment with some funny moments but not enough for me to consider it a comedy. Something that would sit more comfortably next to WEEDS and ENTOURAGE than FRASIER or MONK.
It’s a weird little beast, but I like it.
***
I like it a little too much, actually. Because now that the thing’s done and off to the managers, I can’t seem to drag my mind out of that world. My body lay in bed last night, but my mind was still wandering the streets of the town where most of it takes place, listening to the characters talk to each other.
That’s almost a delightful state to be in when one’s writing something. (ALMOST. I don’t like writing, but I love having written. On the other hand, I do love sleeping and intensely dislike not sleeping.) But when one’s finished writing something…? Not so much.
I guess what I’m trying to say in my typically labyrinthine way is DEAR GOD I’M TIRED WHY CAN’T I SLEEP WHYWHYWHYWHYYYY???!?!?!
***
Also, T and I have both been feeling nauseous for several days now, and that’s in addition to the usual discomfort that accompanies wild fluctuations in temperature. Prying my own teeth out has been very tempting this week.
It seems to me this was similar to the physical state I was in when I wrote my first TV spec, which went so smoothly and the managers liked so much. Meanwhile, the second spec script I finished a couple weeks ago took about three months. Maybe there’s something to the whole “artists must suffer to create” thing.
I hope not.
SLEEPSLEEPSLEEPSLEEPSLEEP
A
So I wrote "TV ghost hunter sitcom" on a scrap of paper and went to bed, because I've got my priorities and over the previous week I'd actually managed to get into something resembling a reasonable sleeping schedule, regularly going from midnight-ish to nine-ish.
Got up in the morning, looked at the scrap of paper, thought to myself "…Oh. Yeah…"
Sat down in my newly reorganized office (shooting THE WHISPER OF MY SOUL just destroyed it, not that anyone but me and possibly Tiina would be able to tell, considering its usual state of disarray, which with the liberal use of a little fake blood, would make it a decent stand-in for any of a number of ground zeros), and got to work.
And by work, I mean sitting/lying/pacing for a few hours, trying to get this ghosthunter thing to work.
And it wouldn't. I mean, maybe it would, if I stuck with it--the quick description I wrote above still seems to me to be something that SHOULD work--but Wednesday, it just wasn't happening.
I went down to the home gym (read as "99 dollar kinda-but-not-really elliptical trainer set up in front of a TV"). Plugged in the first DVD of the Showtime sitcom WEEDS, which Dad lent me ages ago but has sat unwatched as I plowed through two seasons of ANGEL and one of DEXTER (an idea that could've been pretty awful, with an execution so brilliantly perverse I could cry.)
So I'm sitting there, sweating, watching Mary-Louise Parker (who I sort of fell in love with when she was on THE WEST WING) and the I-guess-he's-funny-to-some-people-but-my-God-he's-so-vanilla Kevin Nealon, and I'm thinking to myself:
This isn't funny.
Not the first time I've thought that of an American cable one-camera sitcom. ENTOURAGE got a similar reaction, and I doubt I'd have watched more than the first episode I came across if it wasn't for Jeremy Piven's performance. Future episodes were more amusing to me, primarily because I've been vicariously exposed to enough of Hollywood to get a laugh out of anything that presents movie folk as selfish, creatively empty, morally bankrupt egotistical jerks (see also: Altman's THE PLAYER, Richard Rushfield's ON SPEC). My minimal experience with the Machine would indicate this to be a fairly accurate assessment, and I'll likely continue to think everyone in Hollywood who isn't representing me is a complete idiot, right up until one of them proves to have some quantum of taste by giving me lots and lots of money.
(As for the folk representing me, they're only partial idiots. They chose to take me on as a client, after all, and while I'm grateful, the decision doesn't speak well to their business acumen... (Carina, Mitchel, Aaron, Brendan--On the off-chance you’re reading this, I love you guys.))
"This isn't funny." That's what I thought, watching WEEDS. At least I didn't find it as funny as, say, a random half hour of a Sorkin-penned WEST WING, or the first couple seasons of FRASIER, or FAMILY GUY...how WEEDS ends up in the same category as ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT completely escapes me.
But for whatever reason--I suspect it’s got more to do with running time than anything else--it gets classified as a comedy. And that got me thinking…
Four days later, I’d gotten very little sleep (and what I did get was, uh, medicinally augmented). I’d also written a spec pilot script for something so far removed from my “TV Ghost hunters sitcom” as to be unrecognizable. Three acts, by my judgment with some funny moments but not enough for me to consider it a comedy. Something that would sit more comfortably next to WEEDS and ENTOURAGE than FRASIER or MONK.
It’s a weird little beast, but I like it.
***
I like it a little too much, actually. Because now that the thing’s done and off to the managers, I can’t seem to drag my mind out of that world. My body lay in bed last night, but my mind was still wandering the streets of the town where most of it takes place, listening to the characters talk to each other.
That’s almost a delightful state to be in when one’s writing something. (ALMOST. I don’t like writing, but I love having written. On the other hand, I do love sleeping and intensely dislike not sleeping.) But when one’s finished writing something…? Not so much.
I guess what I’m trying to say in my typically labyrinthine way is DEAR GOD I’M TIRED WHY CAN’T I SLEEP WHYWHYWHYWHYYYY???!?!?!
***
Also, T and I have both been feeling nauseous for several days now, and that’s in addition to the usual discomfort that accompanies wild fluctuations in temperature. Prying my own teeth out has been very tempting this week.
It seems to me this was similar to the physical state I was in when I wrote my first TV spec, which went so smoothly and the managers liked so much. Meanwhile, the second spec script I finished a couple weeks ago took about three months. Maybe there’s something to the whole “artists must suffer to create” thing.
I hope not.
SLEEPSLEEPSLEEPSLEEPSLEEP
A
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