Back in the Saddle Again?

A good Aerosmith song, but also ringing true to my current status. I have been drawing and writing again. And it feels wonderful!

MockTales.com:
Tonight on MockTales.com I will be putting up a short narrative with a drawing of the Elf girl, Lilly. I hope to give people a really quick summary of what the MockTales/Nexus Earth comic Universe is about. While MockTales.com needs a lot of work, I'm only going to be opening up more pages as they are done. Too many times have I said I was going to have something on the website, only to end up not having the time and/or knowledge of how to do it. My excitement for my ideas would get the best of me and then people are left with nothing in the end.

MockTales: The Adventures of Tim Garn:
The Script! I have once again re-written the MockTales script. I am currently on the final draft now. Why did I re-write it? Well the initial script was written in 2002. I have modified it a bit over the last few years, but it wasn't until 2010 that I really took a look at it and thought it needed some more substance to it. Those who have read the original script had said that it was too quick of a read and that the characters were accomplishing their tasks too quickly. So I have now stretched out the first story arc and even added a new character to the group.

In December I will be posting character profiles. You will start seeing the main cast of the first book; MockTales: The Adventures of Tim Garn. And then I will follow up with side characters and even characters who I have created for additional comics in the Nexus Earth Universe (as long as the first book does well).

Ballpoint Theater Has arrived!
Or at least it will arrive tonight if I finish the coding correctly on MockTales.com. Tonight I will be starting the "Ballpoint Theater" which will be my weekly attempt at showing artwork to everyone. The catch? This artwork will all be done with a Bic Ballpoint Pen. No pencils. No erasers. Just straight up drawing and whatever happens, happens. Check http://mocktales.com for the first piece between 8-10pm PST.

TRAFFIC RANT!
I'm going to add one more thing to today's blog. For crying outloud, how in the world do some people in this Country have a Driver's License? One of the things about me that my friends have learned lately, is that while I try not to be arrogant about a great many things in life, I am VERY arrogant about driving. I've always thought that if I could drive, anyone could do it. So get ready to see a lot of complaining about how people drive here in the Seattle area. I know, it could be worse. I've heard horror stories about New York and many other cities. And I know it would help if our cities were built with future planning and budgeted correctly, but it really would take just a few simple moments of awareness to help cut down on common traffic issues.

My first complaint; merging onto a Freeway. 1) The Merge: How hard it is to simply allow people to come on to the Freeway in a "Zipper", or "every other car", fashion? And additionally when you are entering the Freeway... give some damn space between you and the car in front so people see you are willing to allow the merge to work properly. If they don't work with you, don't stop doing it. The more people who continue to work hard, to make traffic flow, can eventually make a world of difference. 2) Get up to Speed!: A freeway ramp has ample space, 9 times out of 10, to allow you to match the speed of the current traffic on the Freeway. Focus on the traffic you are entering and get up to the proper speed. Sure the slow lane (right lane) has to be aware you are entering the freeway, and allow you that space to merge into as I mentioned above, but don't slow the flow of traffic down any more because you can't get up to the proper speed. 3) Patience: Unless the Freeway has a ridiculous design where you enter on the left, and immediately need an exit to the right (I-5 Seattle, southbound from the I-520 ramp to, I believe, the Eastlake exit?), there is no reason you can't just take the proper time to merge through the traffic lanes to get to your exit. And again, if you're on the Freeway and people need over to get to an exit, just let them merge through so they don't slow down traffic for everyone else. There is no need to "Be in first place" on a Freeway.

And please, for crying out loud, take a side road if you're not in a hurry. Why get on a Freeway with a 60 mph speed limit, where everyone wants to go 65-70 mph, and only drive 45-50 mph? Do you really want to be "That Guy/Girl".