Jack of all Trades

Drawing: Night, Bloody Night

2012-01-08T11:07:00.000-08:00

Red Riding Hood has always been my favorite fairy tale and, honestly, the reason was because it had a wolf in it. Later I learned the original story the other tales were based on, and loved it all over again because I learned the little girl was a trickster figure and outwitted the wolf by herself. Good stuff. (Go check out "The Story of Grandmother")

This is for a project by actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt ('500 Days of Summer,' 'Inception,' 'Angels in the Outfield'). Check it out over here: JGL-RRH

Comic: The Game

2011-12-28T20:11:00.000-08:00

Gift for a friend at work. I love BBC's "Sherlock."

Drawing: Goofy Friends

2011-12-23T14:30:00.001-08:00

Comic: Arachnophobia

2011-12-20T20:30:00.001-08:00

Drawing: True Love

2011-12-12T07:56:00.001-08:00

"You stole me; and I stole you."

Costume: Mononoke Hime

2011-10-31T17:19:00.000-07:00

For Hallowe'en this year, I am San, otherwise known as Princess Mononoke (my boss thinks its absolutely hilarious I'm being a princess) but if you've seen the movie, you'll know she's like no other princess. She was raised by wolves.

Drawing: Hedghogs Three

2011-10-21T10:15:00.001-07:00

Drawing: The Buffalo's Balloon

2011-10-15T08:16:00.001-07:00

It was his birthday, and they had remembered.

Drawing: Purple Pill Bug, Blue Badger

2011-10-15T08:15:00.000-07:00

"Hey, Mister, you don't have to shout."

Drawing: The Peccary and the Pomegranate

2011-10-10T18:14:00.001-07:00

Dang. Now I really want a pomegranate.

Drawing: Delicate Balance

2011-10-10T18:13:00.000-07:00

Drawing: The Tapir and the Toucan

2011-10-10T18:12:00.000-07:00

It was a lively conversation.

Drawing: Polka Dotty Camel

2011-10-05T16:48:00.001-07:00

Holy bactrian, Batman! A Dippin' Dots camel!

Drawing: "I can't live within you."

2011-10-03T16:34:00.002-07:00

Drawing: Hans and his Rooster

2011-09-27T18:43:00.000-07:00

Dolphin Cat-Butt

2011-09-18T13:43:00.000-07:00

Proof of the everliving eight-year-old in me and my friends.

Drawing: Hans My Hedgehog

2011-09-12T17:04:00.000-07:00

Hans My Hedgehog, by the Brothers Grimm, is one of my favorite fairy tales.

Drawing: The Fez

2011-09-05T08:55:00.001-07:00

Quote from Doctor Who.

Drawing: Curious Dragon

2011-09-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

A curious little dragon.

Drawing: Totoro Hug

2011-08-31T17:45:00.001-07:00

A gift for my friend who's getting married on Saturday and, because I don't do so well with peoples, I put Totoro in there. Because putting a Totoro in your drawing automatically makes it cool.

Drawing: Beast of London Take Two

2011-08-29T19:48:00.000-07:00

Another take at the Beast of London from Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. I just finished reading it again and then started reading it again. Someday I will get this creature right.

Drawing: Cheek and the Potato Bugs

2011-08-16T17:35:00.001-07:00

The potato bugs liked the big furry thing that followed them around.

Drawing: Shark Week

2011-08-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

I'm watching Shark Week.

Drawing: The Duel

2011-07-22T16:47:00.001-07:00

"Ah, Lord Zillololong, we meet again."
"Silence, Master Ololonidon: the cupcake will be mine."

Drawings: Tongue 'n' Cheek

2011-07-15T16:05:00.001-07:00

I attended a Symposium on books for young readers the past two days, and when I listened to the authors and illustrators, I doodled alongside my notes. I doodled my two new characters Tongue (the stocky wolf) and Cheek (the skinny coyote). I hope to do a sort of comic thing with them.

(The symposium was awesome, by the way, with such authors and illustrators as Mary Downing Hahn, Rebecca Stead, and David Weisner to name a few.)

(Also, I ran into my third grade teacher (best teacher I ever had, probably the best teacher in the world) and she asked me to call her by her first name. I told her that was too weird.)

(Also, within the past week, I have purchased oh...a little under twenty books. Hello, my name is Rain and I love buying and reading books.)

Drawing: Winnie the Potter

2011-07-14T06:31:00.000-07:00

Ready to defeat the ever evil Voldewoozle.

Drawing: Nom Nom

2011-07-06T16:35:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, please watch your lion cubs. They tend to cause havoc. Thank you. Sincerely, the Zebras.

Drawing: Sneakthief

2011-07-06T16:33:00.001-07:00

Everyone knows octopi are cupcake hoarding freaks.

Drawings: Say What?

2011-07-02T11:57:00.001-07:00

The best part is you get to take part in their conversations.

Drawing: Lions, Tigers and Bears

2011-06-30T16:52:00.001-07:00

For some local firefighters, police and 911 dispatchers.

Drawing: Wolf and Coyote Characters

2011-06-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

Drawing: Wolf

2011-05-30T17:53:00.001-07:00

Wolf character I've been working with, and who has been devilishly elusive the last two months.

Drawing: Rikki Tikki

2011-05-30T17:50:00.000-07:00

Rikki Tikki, Rudyard Kipling's heroic mongoose. And the cobras of course.

Puppet: Sock Puppet

2011-04-23T15:33:00.000-07:00

Save a sock. Make a sock puppet today.

Happy National Puppetry Day!

Drawing: Henri Loves Books

2011-04-12T16:40:00.000-07:00

Happy National Library Week!

Poem: Fish

2011-04-09T10:40:00.000-07:00

Fish

I am a fish and I sit in this bowl,
Day after day after day.
The view never changes; I don’t really mind,
I’m actually happy this way.

Late in the morning I’m properly fed,
Fish flakes are quite tasty and fine.
Other than that, everything’s much the same,
Every morning and evening I dine.

Then one night I’m sleeping when, what do I see?
(Fish sleep with eyes open, you know)
Someone comes sneaking in right through the door.
All covered in black, head to toe.

He starts to put things into his little sack,
And messing things up, oh dismay!
I cannot stand for this, not for one second more—
This fellow is going to pay!

He starts coming near—oh won’t he be surprised?
He won’t even realize what hit him.
He snatches the statue near my little home,
And then I take aim and I spit him.

He jumps and then looks round—eyes opened wide,
I spit once again on his clothes.
He leans in quite closely, right up to the bowl,
I jump out and bite at his nose.

He squeals something awful, a racket he makes,
I’m chewing his nose on and on.
The light flickers on and the family is there,
And quite soon the stranger is gone.

The house is all back in its good proper order,
I’m hailed as a hero, they say.
But that doesn’t matter, I’m happy as is--
Not a soul messes with my feng shui.

Drawing: Doctor Tennant

2011-04-07T09:07:00.000-07:00

"I'd call you a genius, but I'm in the room."--The Doctor

Drawing: Samson

2011-03-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

I'm in season four of Psych (my new favorite show) and in one episode, the main guy Shawn Spencer is going off about the name Samson and all the cool different characters that name could entail. He makes his voice all high and cartoony and says:

"Samson, the tiny little orphan mouse who must find his way home to Wolverhampton!"

Drawing: The Game is On

2011-03-23T18:20:00.001-07:00

Been watching BBC's Sherlock again (the stories of Sherlock Holmes set in modern day London that totally KICK BUTT). So I drew Coyoteguy in Sherlock's getup.

SCARF.

Puppet: Cleveland Sings

2011-03-19T09:16:00.001-07:00

I'm hoping to make this a string of online puppet shows. This is the first. Cleveland sings often. As in frequently.

Drawing: For His Convenience...

2011-02-24T16:33:00.000-08:00

Ever seen giraffes go in to take a drink of water? Awkward.

Drawing: Bubbles

2011-02-17T20:40:00.000-08:00

Drawing: Old Coyote

2011-02-17T08:46:00.000-08:00

Old Coyote waits out there
With his grey-brown hair
and his three mile stare.
--The Weepies--

Drawings: Hedgehog and Octopus

2011-02-17T08:44:00.000-08:00

Drawing: Happiness is...

2011-01-16T07:51:00.000-08:00

Drawing: Alone

2011-01-05T07:44:00.000-08:00

I drew this the other night, and while it's not an actual part of the novel I'm currently writing with this character, it's something that had happened in his back story. Maybe I'll write a sort of companion novelette about it or something, but I gotta finish the main one first.

Drawing: WANT PRETTY FLOWER

2010-12-24T11:12:00.001-08:00

They make him happy.

Drawing: Puppy Love

2010-12-22T07:01:00.000-08:00

"And they called it puppy love..."--Paul Anka

I can't get enough of drawing these two goobers. What goofs.

Drawing: After he discovered mistletoe...

2010-12-20T17:56:00.001-08:00

...he discovered how fun it was to burn.

The yearly mistletoe destruction picture, courtesy of young Razubo.

Comic: Poor Santa

2010-12-19T16:34:00.001-08:00

Christmas comic for my friends this year. Each one is represented by the animals on Santa's lap; they're our alter-egos.

Drawing: Tourist Foxes

2010-12-13T13:05:00.000-08:00

The Tourist Fox is quite different from its wood-dwelling cousin. Instead of being sneaky and sly, they practically scream 'Look at me! I don't belong here!'

Drawing: The Beast of London

2010-12-06T07:51:00.000-08:00

"Thirty feet from them the beast slowed, and stopped, with a grunt. Its flanks were steaming. It bellowed, in triumph, and in challenge. There were broken spears, and shattered swords and rusted knives bristling from its sides and back. The yellow flare light glinted in its red eyes and on its tusks, and its hooves...it was some kind of boar, thought Richard, and then realized that that had to be nonsense: no boar could be so huge. It was the size of an ox, of a bull elephant, of a lifetime."

--Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere

This book is so freaking awesome. I bought my own copy about ten minutes after finishing the library's copy. And last night I doodled this beastie (not even doing it justice).

Story: The Message

2010-12-02T19:49:00.000-08:00

This is a short story I wrote about a year and a half ago (it was in summer, I was feeling the Christmas spirit) and I just went back this week and did some editing to it. I give you The Message:

It’s snowing. I hate snow. More than that, I hate the deluge of rush hour after a long day at work. Traffic had been backed up for miles because of some idiot who was driving too fast and had ended up flipping his truck. Even worse, the only song the radio stations play in December is the most annoying version of Jingle Bells. Ever. As if it’s the only Christmas song left.

I trudge inside, brushing the snow from my hair and coat—it’s possibly coming down harder now—welcoming the warmth of my house. My dog, a German shepherd named Jalapeño, comes up to greet me, licking me with his friendly tongue and barking twice, which I know means: “Hello, Kyle, I’m glad you survived the bitter rampage of the winter rush hour to return home to me.” For this kind sentiment, I scratch him behind the ears. He lolls his tongue and kicks his back leg in pleasure.

I throw my coat on the ground and pull off my shoes, leaving them to thaw and drip on the floor. Pulling out my cell phone, I note that I had received some messages during work. I push the button for speaker and set it on the table to listen to them as I prepare some ramen noodles for dinner.

“*Beep!* Hey, Kyle, it’s Chris from work. I have Janie in the secret Santa exchange, and since you sit next to her at work, I was wondering if you could give me any pointers as to what I should get her. Call me. *Beep!*”

Stupid Chris, I think to myself. He’s too lazy to find out for himself and so he’s bothering me about it.

“*Beep!* Hello. This is an automated message from Financial Security, Inc. calling to tell you of a new deal with our office--*beep!*” I rush over and push the button to delete it. I hate sales messages.

“*Beep!* Hello, Kyle? This is Santa Claus.” I freeze as there’s a pause in the message. Jalapeño tilts his head. “Look,” continues the jolly voice. “This is really embarrassing, but by some fluke of the system, or some mishandling by my elves,” (heavy sigh) “I have lost your data for the year. Again, this is terribly embarrassing, but I need to meet with you. If you can, tomorrow at the Burger World by your workplace at noon. *Beep!*”

It takes me a minute of staring dumfounded at my cell phone before I laugh. A Christmas prank. I’ve never heard of anyone pretending to be Santa and leaving messages, but I have to admit, it’s pretty clever. Which of course rules Chris right out. Perhaps it was Janie; maybe she got her brother to be Santa’s voice. It has to be Janie. Just last week she snatched my Luke Skywalker action figure and photocopied him on the copy machine, leaving that along with a ransom note on my desk in different fonts as if she’d cut it out of a newspaper.

I have my laugh and plan to meet the trickster the following day and hopefully one-up them.

* * * * *

I leave work for lunch, getting to Burger World at 11:45. I walk in, the bell on the door jingling. Since I’m early, I buy a burger and a drink when my stomach begs me. When my order comes up, I take it to a table, waiting to see a familiar face as I sip my root beer.

At 12:00 exactly, a familiar face indeed comes inside, though it’s nobody I know personally. A man dressed as Santa Claus is brushing the snow from his red hat and bushy white beard. Whoever’s pranking me is going to great lengths indeed. The Santa jovially greets the people near the door and looks around the vicinity, his eyes locking on me. He waves a gloved hand, and makes his way over, sitting opposite me.

“Ah, Santa,” I smile widely. “Come to bring me my presents early?”

“Aren’t you a funny one,” Santa laughs. His belly shakes like, well, a bowl full of jelly. Introductions over, I’m ready to find out who’s at the bottom of this.

“Okay, who sent you?” I ask.

“I came on my own,” the Santa man says. “I assume you received my entire message?”

“Oh I did,” I assure him, taking another sip of my drink. “Just what is this all about? It’s Janie, isn’t it? She hired you to prank me.”

“Janie did not hire me,” Santa says. “I thought the message was perfectly clear, embarrassing though it was.” He shakes his head as if he’s disgusted. Okay, I’ll play along.

“You said something like you’d lost this year’s data about me?” I say.

“That’s right,” Santa sighs, massaging his temples with a fuzzy mittened hand. “There was a new elf on the job. Everyone calls him Greenie.”

“She’s filming this, isn’t she?” I ask with a laugh, looking around now for hidden cameras.

“Look,” Santa says. “Just because you don’t believe in me anymore doesn’t mean I don’t know who you are, Kyle Jamison. You lived on 52 Penny Street when you were little, had a dog named Goliath and a parakeet named Tobias. Despite the fact that you told everyone you stopped believing in me at age eight, you really believed in me until you were ten. You were an honor student in middle school where you also had your first crush on a girl named Tanya George. You had your own band in high school, and had written a song called “Only Me” that you never had the courage to show the band. You’re so clever that you finished college a year early and, as for this year, I draw a blank thanks to Greenie, and that’s where my trouble begins.”

I’m speechless, of course, and a little creeped out. I’m trying to remember if I’ve told any of that information to Janie, but I’m struggling—I never told anybody any of that. This is beginning to get spooky.

“Your trouble?” I ask the old man shakily. I’m feeling in a whole lot more trouble than he is. There’s this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. “You’re trying to tell me that you’re really the Santa Claus?”

“That’s what I’ve been saying, I’m glad we’re on the same page,” he smiles. His eyes twinkle. He certainly does look like an authentic Santa. His beard is real, and his suit looks velvet, and rather expensive. I don’t want to be caught in this trap, but it’s difficult not to. He really is a jolly old elf. I wonder what it is he wants. What Janie is trying to get out of me?

“Okay, what do you need?” I ask quietly.

“I need to interview you,” Santa says. “This rarely ever happens, mind you, records being lost.” He looks embarrassed again.

“But if I don’t believe in you, then why does this matter?” I press.

“Because I know that, deep down, you want to believe in me,” Santa says. “Perhaps even deeper down you actually do. You want to escape the cynicism of the world and remember what it’s like to be eight again. To sit on my lap and know I’ll come to your house on Christmas Eve. Deep down, that’s what most people want. To believe.” He stares at me in a kind, caring way. I swallow hard.

“So if you don’t mind,” he continues, a little more quietly, “I need to ask you a question, and it helps if you answer truthfully.”

“Okay,” I croak.

“Kyle Jamison,” Santa says, focusing intently on me with those piercing, loving eyes, “have you been a good boy this year?”

I’m so caught up in the charm and complete honesty of this Santa figure that I find myself shaking my head. I can’t lie to him.

“No, I haven’t,” I admit. “I shouted at the temp the other day, just for being slow in getting me some paperwork. I haven’t visited my parents in quite a while, and they don’t live very far. I snubbed those carolers the other night, got mad at Janie for stealing Luke Skywalker, even though she was just having fun. And just last week I called Chris an idiot.” I pause, thinking about what a jerk I’ve been. “No,” I tell Santa. “I haven’t been good.”

Despite my confession, Santa smiles, and his cheeks are rosy red. “Well, what better time to change than Christmas?” he grins. “It’s never too late. Thank you for your time, Kyle. Again, I’m dreadfully embarrassed this ever happened, I hope you’ll forgive me.” Santa gets down from his chair and holds out his hand, covered in the red mitten. I shake it, still caught up in the whole exchange. Then he turns to head for the exit. I scramble to follow him.

“Nobody put you up to this?” I plead, grasping for my sanity. “This is the real deal?”

“Believe what you want,” Santa says, walking outside. He pauses before closing the door, then taps his nose in that magical way. “Oh, and Merry Christmas!” I stand there in Burger World, slightly confused, and more than slightly happy.

I don’t know if I believe it, but deep down, I know I do.

End

Comic: Blizzard Fail

2010-11-24T09:58:00.001-08:00

This is basically what happened yesterday. They closed our campus, canceled work, closed tons of places. Then last night it went: "poof! Have a quarter inch of snow!" We can still see the grass beneath it. (It was a bit crazier in other parts of the state and surrounding states, but the weather folks made the biggest deal about this blizzard and we didn't even get it, haha!)

Nano Snippet

2010-11-16T06:49:00.000-08:00

I'm doing NaNoWriMo this month (50,000 word novel in one month HUZZAH!). Here's an excerpt from near the beginning of my novel. Karma is an eight year old girl prone to mischief; Aiden an eight year old boy not so prone; Cricket, Aiden's mutt dog who loves peanut butter; Auntie Eloise, Karma's detested auntie, and Kaleb, Karma's 17 year old brother:

Enjoy:

“You’ll never believe it, Aiden,” Karma said, looking him in the eyes. “Auntie Eloise is moving into my house.” Aiden’s eyes widened. He’d heard countless stories of the haggard old lady, fit to play the role of the witch in Hansel and Gretel. He’d never personally met her, except maybe in a nightmare or two.

“What are you going to do?” he asked.

“It’s what we’re going to do,” Karma insisted, lowering her voice in that conspiratorial way of hers. “We’ve got to come up with a plan to make her vanish.”

Instinctively, three pairs of eyes turned slowly towards the back window, right over Karma’s bed board. Aiden felt a chill. Cricket whimpered. “Not there,” Aiden whispered. Karma reached up and pulled back the curtains to the window and they all dove off the bed.

“Demons be gone, demons beware,” Karma and Aiden hissed until their hearts had stopped racing. One by one their heads peeked back over the top of the bed. Cricket made a guttural noise deep in his throat. Karma leaped up on the bed followed by Aiden, both wielding Popsicle stick and yarn charms they had made.

“I think we’re good,” Karma tested, peering out the window, still holding her charm before her. Aiden did likewise.

Karma’s backyard had at least one thousand demons. It was a well known fact, at least to Karma, Aiden and Cricket. Karma thought of the time her dad insisted she go gather and pick apricots on the withered old tree. Aiden thought of the fence that went down to the underworld. Cricket thought of the time he’d nearly lost his tail back there.

And they all thought of the Bogeyman.

Karma had seen him once. Technically, she’d only seen his hand against the window. But that was enough for her.

“It was just a bat that crashed into the window and got frozen there in the rain,” Kaleb had told her. But there had been no bat the next day, on the window or on the ground below.

“Not that way,” Aiden pleaded.

“Coward,” Karma said, punching him on the shoulder.

“You don’t want to face him either,” Aiden pointed out. “We mess with him for your auntie, he’ll come for us for sure.” Aiden had a point—Karma didn’t want to mess in matters of the Bogeyman. Another plan may have to suffice.

Cricket smelled peanut butter.

Candy Corn

2010-10-25T07:43:00.000-07:00

Twins

2010-10-11T07:19:00.000-07:00

My friend's twins turn one years old today, so I made them this art.

Drawing: Happy

2010-10-03T16:49:00.000-07:00

This guy is just a happy little thing.

Drawing: Frown-B-Gone

2010-09-07T11:55:00.000-07:00

Drawing: Lion Warrior

2010-09-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

Office Buddies

2010-08-25T17:05:00.000-07:00

I've got these little stand up buddies I m ade at my desk at work.

Drawings: Dragon, Moose, Wolf

2010-08-25T17:02:00.000-07:00

Story: Car Wash

2010-08-08T15:35:00.000-07:00

One thing in this story is something true from my past.

Car Wash

Daddy is never quite as good at car things as Mommy is. At least he knows how to drive one, though I sometimes wonder about that.

Mommy is busy taking photos for a magazine, so Daddy has to take us, me and my big brother Sam (who is only nine but tries to act all grown up every day) to do some errands. Errands with Mommy means driving all over town and still ending up at the photo shop for an hour.

But errands with Daddy means we get ice cream first, and then drive all over town. Luckily, today, Daddy let Possum come.

Possum is our Jack Russell Terrier dog. He’s mostly white with brown ears. He digs a lot of holes and runs around the yard chasing tennis balls. Daddy says that he and me have more energy than a power plant. I’ve never seen a power plant, and me and Possum knew it was some kind of superhero fern, like the one in our house. We had searched for him to find out what his superpowers were. Sam says we’re stupid and tries to tell us that a power plant is a giant building with power in it, but I don’t believe him because he’s only a big brother.

The windows are all down in our car because it’s summer and our air conditioner is broken, so instead we get hot air blowing through the car. Possum is trying to stick his head out of the window like a regular dog as Daddy drives, but Mommy says he has to sit in a special dog seat that’s like a car seat for dogs. Possum hates it, because he can’t stick his head out of the window like I said.

Possum forgets about it when I let him share my ice cream. Sam tells on me because he’s sitting right next to me being a worm. I tell him that Possum likes ice cream, but Daddy says I probably shouldn’t give him too much. So after Possum takes one more lick, I share some with the car by dabbing it on the ceiling. Sam doesn’t tell on me then because he always shares with the car too. We always share with the car.

“Off to the gas station,” Daddy says with a smile. He does this for me because I hate the smell of gas and have to plug my nose before my smell sensors explode. Daddy pulls up to an empty stall and turns off the car, hopping out to put gas inside the car. Possum barks. I look out the window because he was barking at some nun ladies who are walking by. Still plugging my nose, I wave to them. They wave back. I like nun ladies, and I always want to wear their pretty clothes.

Just when I think I will pinch my nose off, Daddy gets back in the car and Possum barks again, this time at Daddy.

We drive down the street to the car wash and Possum is still trying so hard to stick his head out of the window and hang his tongue out. He’s whining and whimpering and Sam is getting mad at him for being annoying and poking me in the side for it.

Daddy pulls into the car wash parking lot, looking at the different stalls. “Go through the automatical one, Daddy!” I cheer. I love the automatical wash, it always feels like we’re in a spaceship going to space. Possum barks to back me up, and even Sam agrees with me, which is so rare that I ought to take a picture or something.

“The automatic it is, then,” Daddy says. I clap excitedly, hugging Possum around the neck. He licks my ear.

Daddy pulls up to the machine and puts some money in it, then the green light tells us to go in. Daddy pulls forward until the red light tells him to stop. Then he turns off the car and leans back to enjoy the automatical car wash.

The machine starts growling and coming to life, squirting water on the front of the car and coming closer. I start to pretend that the aliens have just taken the ship, when the water squirts into our car full blast! Daddy forgot to put the windows up!

Sam is screaming like a little baby and Possum is barking and shaking his fur, and Daddy is squirming in the front seat like he’s got worms in his pants, and that’s when the bubble machine starts squirting foamy pink bubbles at the car and in the windows.

My lap is full of foamy bubbles and so I start fixing Possum’s hair with it and Daddy is trying to get the keys back in to roll up the windows and Sam is now throwing foam at me and Possum.

Then Daddy says a naughty word as he drops the keys out of the window. I giggle and say I’m going to tell Mommy on him and he’s trying to open the door and grab the keys, but the water is rushing again so he has to close the door and duck behind it, though it just makes his back really wet, so I throw my blanket on him to protect him because he seems really scared of the water.

Sam smothers a bunch of pink foam in my hair and I scream and shove some in his mouth which makes him really mad, and Possum is barking like a crazy dog. Then the water sprays through and we all duck, even Possum because we decided that the new game was to try and not get hit by the water, though we are already wet and can’t tell if it missed us anyways.

Suddenly, everything stops and water is dripping everywhere. Daddy sits up and Possum shakes his fur on us. Daddy opens the door and finds the keys, putting them in the car and making it start. We drive out of the automatical machine and back into the sun, where Daddy pulls into a parking space and just sort of sits there. There’s still some foam on my lap, and I thought that Daddy was sad he didn’t get to play with any because he was hiding. I scoop it up and gave it to him. He takes it quietly and tosses it out of the window. Sam is splashing in the water that’s on the floor. Possum is trying to get out of his seat.

Daddy hops out of the car and the car is dripping. He lets us get out, even Possum, and Possum shakes himself again. The whole insides of the car are wet and so are we. Daddy looks sort of shocked, and he’s all wet and looks like a lost puppy. I know because Possum was a lost puppy once. Maybe Daddy was thinking he was going to get in trouble with Mommy for washing the inside of the car too, though I figure she’ll be madder with him for saying a bad word.

Just then, Daddy starts to laugh really hard, even harder than when he was watching that funny movie with Mommy, and that was pretty hard. I thought he was going to laugh his guts out of his nose. So because Daddy’s laughing, I start laughing too, and Sam starts laughing, and Possum starts laughing, because he’s the only dog who can laugh.

Everybody is looking at us funny because we’re laughing so hard, and I’m wondering why they aren’t laughing too. They’re probably just jealous because they didn’t think to wash the inside of their car too.

Drawing: Simple Rules

2010-07-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

I don't mind seeing hugging or holding hands, that's fine, but other stuff just gets too ehhh.

Stoy: Moustache

2010-07-01T20:51:00.001-07:00

I figured it was time for another story. I wrote this one earlier this year, and I think I wrote it in fifteen minutes with no idea where I was going, but I still like it all the same.

Perhaps it was the book. Perhaps it was the story. But all in all, it was really about the moustache.

Mr. Collinotherton had a moustache. It was outrageous and huge. It curled at the edges in an unsightly fashion, but Mr. Collinotherton didn’t mind. He liked his moustache.

Mr. Collinotherton was a lonely old man and, with his lonely time, he crafted voodoo dolls out of old books that he had read years and years before. From the pages he created dolls to keep him company in his loneliness. They lined the shelves, looking down lifelessly at their lonely creator.

One particularly lonely night, Mr. Collinotherton tore the pages one by one from the next book on his shelf. As he began to fold the pages into limbs and faces, the voodoo doll looked much like any of the vast others he had created in years past. However, as Mr. Collinotherton began to add the final touches, his moustache twitched in a smile. Ripping the last page from the book, he fashioned a fancy little moustache for his new doll.

The moment he put the moustache on the little figure, it bounced to life. Mr. Collinotherton fell off of his chair and landed on the floor.

“Dear me, old chap, are you all right?” asked the voodoo doll.

“I…I don’t quite know,” Mr. Collinotherton stammered, blinking his eyes and pulling himself back into his chair.

“That’s it, nice and easy, old boy,” the doll coached from the table. Mr. Collinotherton situated himself in his chair, reaching out his finger and touching the little moustached book doll.

“I’m alive,” the doll chuckled.

“But how?” asked Mr. Collinotherton.

“The moustache,” the doll replied.

“What’s your name?”

“What’s the name of the book?” asked the doll.

Mr. Collinotherton didn’t take his eyes off of the doll, but reached over for the cover and pulled it closer. “The title’s rubbed off,” he said. “It’s so old.”

“Then call me Old,” the doll said with a bow. His moustache shivered.

“It’s nice to meet you, Old,” Mr. Collinotherton said. “Have I gone mad?”

“Not quite, old boy,” Old said

“Why aren’t the others alive?”

“They’re not me,” said the doll.

“I don’t understand,” Mr. Collinotherton said.

“You don’t need to,” Old said.

“Well, in any case,” Mr. Collinotherton smiled, “it’s nice to have someone to talk to.”

“Likewise,” Old replied.

“I feel a bit sprightly,” Mr. Collinotherton grinned. “Would you like to come on a walk with me?”

“Indeed,” Old replied. Mr. Collinotherton picked up the doll and set him in his suit pocket. Then, with a happiness he hadn’t felt in so many years, he waltzed outside with his new friend, Old.

Drawing: May I Have This Dance?

2010-06-22T17:18:00.000-07:00

"Little lady, shall we dance?"

Drawings: More Birthday Cards

2010-06-09T16:34:00.000-07:00

Movie: Glad Tepez

2010-05-28T16:26:00.000-07:00

This is a mockumenary I made last summer for a neighborhood film festival that never happened. There are these ruins up by where I live that we always say are a type of castle. So without further ado, "Glad Tepez."

Drawing: Imagine

2010-05-20T06:07:00.000-07:00

"It's easy if you try."--John Lennon

Drawings: Birthday Cards

2010-05-18T16:26:00.000-07:00

I draw and colour birthday cards for the office I work at when there's nothing else to do. Here are some I've done recently.

Drawing: Smile

2010-05-16T20:20:00.000-07:00

"You'll find that life is still worthwhile if you just smile."--Charlie Chaplin

Story: Tomboy

2010-05-07T15:20:00.000-07:00

I don’t know how to be a girl.
That, of course, is common knowledge. If there’s anything I’ve learned in my eight years of life, it’s that it’s too hard to be a girl. If you haven’t noticed, girls have to wear bows and dresses and frills. It’s uncomfortable. Tell me the last time you wore tights and felt comfortable.
Besides, I’d rather wear pants, climb trees and be a dinosaur than wear dresses, have tea parties and be a fairy. What person in their right mind would be a fairy when they could be a dinosaur?
Okay, I know every girl in my class would be raising their hands right now because they just don’t know how cool dinosaurs are and how not cool fairies are. But it’s okay. I don’t mind being different. I don’t mind playing boy’s games.
Most of my friends are boys. But that doesn’t include Dillon Jenson who does play tea party with the girls.
And I don’t—most definitely do not—like any of the boys in my class the way the other girls do. Krisanne Jones fawns over Jeremy Prescott and last month gave him the biggest valentine. It wouldn’t even fit in his shoebox. It’s sick.

* * *

We have a very set recess schedule. On Mondays and Wednesdays, we’re dinosaurs, and I’m almost always a Velociraptor, because they’re the best. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we’re wild animals and planes, (sometimes planes chasing wild animals and sometimes wild animals flying planes).
On Fridays, whoever wins the chicken fight gets to choose what we play. A chicken fight happens beginning on each side of the monkey bars, and when each party gets to the middle of the bars, they attack the other party with their legs. Whoever falls off first looses.
The teachers have banned chicken fights, so we have to do it in secret and quick.

* * *

Natalia has taken it upon herself to teach me to be a girl. I didn’t ask her to. She just sees it as her calling. She likes to fix things and, apparently, I’m broken.
It started at recess on Friday. Deacon and Sterling had just had the chicken fight, and Sterling lost and also bloodied his knee in the fall. Deacon chose dinosaurs. I was really set on being an Allosaurus this time, as I had just learned about them in a book. Two tons of sheer muscle and teeth. We all ran for the field, even Sterling. He was pretty tough.
Natalia grabbed my arm. “Let go, Natalia!” I insisted. No one stops Allosaurus like that.
“You can’t be a dinosaur today, Ruth, you just can’t!” Natalia stated.
“Let me go, Natalia!” I roared, showing my sharp Allosaurus teeth. “The game’s already started!” It was true. Tommy and Marcus were already sparring with each other.
“You have to come with me,” Natalia insisted, pulling me along towards the blacktop.
“Leave me alone!” I growled.
“Let me help you,” Natalia said. “I can teach you to be a girl!”
“Maybe I don’t want to be a girl,” I retorted. Natalia gasped and released her hold on me.
“We’ll see,” she snorted, grabbing my arm again and pulling me along. She took me to where Anna and Susie were waiting with a skipping rope.
“What are you gonna do, tie me up?” I asked.
“No,” Natalia said. “Now, jump rope.”
Jump roping’s easy. It’s the stupid rhymes that trip me up. “How could Cinderella accidently kiss a snake?” I exclaimed, the rope hitting my ankles.
“You messed it up!” Natalia said. “You’re terrible!”
“Can I go?” I sighed.
“No, we’re not giving up!” Natalia insisted. “Sit.” I felt like those people in spy movies where they sit in a chair and have a light shined on them until they tell all their secrets.
“Girls aren’t supposed to be playing dinosaurs,” Natalia said.
“Dinosaurs are cool,” I retaliated. “Besides, it’s more fun than your stupid games.” The rest of my dinosaur pack obviously wasn’t worried about me because they kept on playing and didn’t come to my rescue.
“You’re so weird,” Anna insisted, sticking her nose up at me.
“It’s ‘cause she thinks she’s a boy,” Natalia responded. “That’s why we have to fix her.”
“I don’t need fixing, I like who I am,” I told her. “I don’t like fairies and princesses.” The three girls observed me like I was the orangutan at the zoo. Why couldn’t they just leave me alone?
“Being a dinosaur is stupid!” Natalia said, as if trying to brainwash me. It wasn’t working.
“I don’t think it’s stupid.” I turned. It was Callie from our class. She was standing shyly off to the side.
“Yeah, see?” I said to the girls.
“Callie, go away,” Natalia said.
“There’s nothing wrong with playing what you want to,” Callie said, getting quieter.
“Yeah!” I cheered. Callie gained more courage.
“Being different makes us special,” she said, smiling. Natalia rolled her eyes and pushed my arm.
“Fine, go away,” she said. I jumped up and ran to the field with Callie. “We’ll never fix her,” I heard Natalia say.
I smiled. I was okay with that.

Drawing: Sketches

2010-03-29T16:42:00.000-07:00

Story: Learning My Lesson

2010-03-11T19:22:00.000-08:00

For some reason or other, I was in trouble. Dad yelled at me and ordered me to go to my room. Sitting on the soft mattress of my bed, I picked up the bible out of boredom.
I can’t remember ever voluntarily picking up the holy book before, and you would think that such an act would bring down the angels from heaven to release me from my incarceration. Instead, Dad caught me in the act of flipping through the thin pages and his anger was roused. I was supposed to sit and Think About What I’d Done. This is called Learning Your Lesson.
The thinking grew boring and I flopped on the bed, looking at the ceiling. The splotches resembled monstrous creatures of some magical netherland, images only imaginers like me could bring to life. At once, a masterful battle was raging on my ceiling, with the wolf frog brutally attacking the giraffe bear. Blood was spattering and the mystic knights of freedom were coming over the horizon to witness the gruesome battle. They held large lances in their hands and for some reason they decided that they needed to be the ones to kill the beasts. They charged over the hill, lances poised.
There was a knock on my door and the characters on the ceiling froze in their assault. Julie, my annoying older sister, poked her head in.
“I hear you really blew it, Jimmy,” she said, her face looking like a gargoyle. “Have fun in jail, punk.” I stuck my tongue out at her in response.
I could never understand why I was sent to my room when I was in trouble. All of my toys were there, all of my books. All of the things that I could play with. I picked up my paddleball and started hitting the ball up and down.
Mom poked her head in. I thought I might have some Justice and get to leave.
“You know the rules,” she said, eyeing the paddleball until the force from her eyes caused me to drop it. With another glance, she added, “I hope you Think About What You’ve Done.” Then she closed the door. Great, even my own mother was against me.
And so I started the process of Thinking About What I’d Done. I was having a hard time recalling this felony I’d committed, because my new comic book was talking to me.
“Jimmy,” said Aqua-Dog from the cover of his latest adventure. “You’ve totally got to see how I defeat Sun-Cat this time!”
“I can’t,” I told Aqua-Dog, my favorite superhero. “I’m to Think About What I’ve Done or I’ll never get to leave this room. And I’m hungry.”
“I use my Tsunami Powers in this edition,” Aqua-Dog informed me. My fingers twitched. I had only heard of the Tsunami Powers in past editions, but Aqua-Dog had never before used it to defeat an enemy. I was dying to see what it entailed.
“Just the first page,” I told myself, picking up the book and flipping it open. Just as I was starting the third page, Gracie, my little sister, barged into my room, crawling on all fours and drooling incessantly like she was Pavlov’s dogs.
“Go away, Gracie,” I told her. I remembered now what I was supposed to Think About. Gracie had disrupted my diorama of the Cretaceous Period for school, and I had yelled and pushed her down. She had been crying, those big fat tears rolling down her big fat cheeks in an attempt to make me Feel Sorry.
She had stopped crying now and she sat on her diapered bottom, looking up at me with her wide, toothless grin.
“You got me in trouble, Gracie,” I snorted.
“She’s only a baby,” the wolf frog on the ceiling said.
“She’s a sister,” I said. “Look how Julie turned out.”
“She’s only so very little,” Aqua-Dog reminded me. And then I saw just how very little she was. She was innocent and didn’t even realize that she had caused me to be stuck in my room in custody.
“She is just little,” the mystic knights of freedom echoed. I didn’t dare see what the bible had to say for fear I may be struck down for my heartlessness toward my little sister. Instead, I set down my comic book and gave Gracie a hug. She giggled and it sounded like bubbles. She gave me a baby kiss, which covered my cheek with drool. I wiped it off with my sleeve.
“I see you’ve Learned Your Lesson,” Dad said, walking into my room. “Go on, go clean up your diorama.” He was smiling now and Gracie was clapping her pudgy hands together. I charged from the room, and I could hear the mystic knights of freedom cheering for me.

Drawing: Puppy

2010-03-07T19:49:00.001-08:00

Drawing: Simple

2010-03-06T18:27:00.000-08:00

Drawing: Eyes

2010-02-28T18:02:00.000-08:00

Comic: Mush

2010-02-14T08:21:00.001-08:00

Drawing: Like a Magpie

2010-01-30T08:43:00.000-08:00

My character (like me) is very easily distracted by shiny things.

Drawing: Coyote Sketches

2010-01-26T19:41:00.001-08:00

More of that little coyote fellow.

Snow Sculpture: Beastie

2010-01-23T13:45:00.000-08:00

I went out and played in the snow today and started making a creature of sorts.

Puppet: Luke

2010-01-18T10:38:00.000-08:00

This is my lion puppet whot I made. His name is Luke.

Comic: Brothers

2010-01-15T15:10:00.001-08:00

Drawing: Little Coyote

2010-01-13T15:43:00.000-08:00

Costume: Max

2010-01-04T14:38:00.000-08:00

I forgot to put up my costume from the most recent Halloween. I was Max from Where the Wild Things Are. And I still wear that wolf suit every so often whilst I make mischief of one kind and another.

Costumes

2009-12-31T17:08:00.000-08:00

As you will soon see, I like Halloween. Not only do people give you free candy, you get to dress up in all manner of disguises. Here are mine from the past years.

A Plethora of Art

2009-12-22T19:15:00.000-08:00

Coyoteguy, my as-official-as-it-gets spokesman-something-or-other dresses up as the Ghost of Christmas Present (one of my most favorite literary characters) for Christmas. Pen and coloured pencil. (December 2009)

A gift for my friends to let them know I'm grateful for them and always there for 'em. Pencil. (December 2009)

Gift for my awesome librarian friends for Christmas. Coyoteguy again. Coloured pencil and pen. (December 2009)

What can I say? I love the rain. Pen and coloured pencil. (December 2009)

I grew up with this book, and loved the new movie. Pen and coloured pencil, with computer elements for the words. (October 2009)

A Navajo Coyote Story. Coyote is sent to find the dawn, but instead, he steals two water monster babies and makes their parents mad, and therefore they send a flood. Pencil. (September 2009)

Character of mine in a story I'm currently writing. Pencil. (September 2009)

A Coyote story. Magpie teaches Coyote how to throw away his eyes and catch them again, but since Coyote has a hard time following directions, he loses them instead. Pencil. (September 2009)

What will be, will be. Coloured pencil and pen. (September 2009)

Inspired by my coyote character, Rain, and also the beautiful song "Homeward Bound" by Marta Keen. Coloured pencil. (August 2009)

A Coyote Story. Coyote steals a blanket from a rock, then has to spend the rest of the story running away from the angry rock. Pencil. (March 2009)

A Coyote Story. Coyote wants pretty stars on his back like the fawn, so Deer tells him he needs to sit in the fire to get them. Pencil. (February 2009)

Navajo proverb. White pencil on black paper. (January 2009)

A fox plays some tennis. Gift for my uncle. Pen and coloured pencil. (January 2009)

Christmas picture based on the song "Some Children See Him." Coloured pencil and watercolour. (December 2008)

Skinny cheetah sketch. Pencil. (November 2008)

A drunk bat's had a little too much. Pencil. (October 2008)

Pepper, based on a dog I knew. Pencil. (November 2008)

Villainous coyote from a story a wrote. (September 2008)

A giant, jovial bear. Pencil. (2008)

Chasm the cougar. Coloured pencil. (November 2006)

Coyote has a little fun with the moon. Drawn on black paper with coloured pencils. (August 2006)

Characters from a story I wrote. Coloured pencil. (August 2006)