Recently in creativity Category

Inspired by Elke's word art. This is a screen capture of the word cloud produced by my Flickr tags using Wordle. For some silly reason, this jumbling of words makes me smile.

I'm always the last one to discover these sorts of things, but that's okay. At least I discover them... eventually.

It seems Steve Nash isn't just an outstanding basketball player, he's also a pretty good filmmaker, too. He produced this commercial for Nike. It's called "Training Day".

It features a mix of clips showing his typical daily workout, which involves soccer, skateboarding, shooting hoops, and playing tennis. There are also a few seconds of home videos showing him playing soccer when he was a toddler.

If this had been shown during the Super Bowl, it would have ranked as one of my favorites.

He may have made it for a company that only wants to sell shoes, but to me, it's a commercial selling him. It isn't about the swoosh, it's about Nash.

It's only a short piece of film, but it's inspirational and makes me a bigger Nash fan than before.

And just because I want to have it written somewhere, here is the script...

You spend so many hours by yourself, shooting. A lot of stuff goes through your mind.

You try to incorporate everyone on the field in some way, whether you're trying to deceive half of them or accentuate half of them. It makes the game a lot more fun. It's such a creative outlet to try and encompass all of those different moving parts.

The passion and the appreciation for the finer points of soccer easily translated to basketball.

If you want to be good, you've got to practice.

"Every moment is a chance to start over."

I saw that quote on Penelope Illustration. It's something I needed to hear.

Happiness is sunlight at seven in the evening.

Since last Wednesday, I've felt creatively paralyzed, like somebody fitted me in a full body cast cleverly constructed using my own unrealistic expectations and self-doubt.

Instead of trying to find a way of freeing myself by writing or pursuing some other creative outlet, I've been wallowing in negativity and pouring my spare energy into volunteering at Cinequest, hiking, and playing The Sims. (Actually, I started playing The Sims yesterday in the name of research for The Daily Brick.)

I hate this feeling. I hate feeling stuck. What I hate most is that this feeling is self-created and self-imposed. I'm the one who put this cast on me and if I take a second to think about it, this cast isn't real. These expectations aren't real. Whatever rules or conditions I've set in place aren't real.

Over the course of this month-long challenge known as Thing a Day, I lost sight of the goal. The purpose of the challenge was to get people to create something every day. There was no requirement that it be something smart, funny, clever, or good. The only requirement was that it be something. One thing. Every day.

By that standard, I failed the challenge. Of course, because I was participating unofficially, that means I only failed unofficially. That also means I have the power to bend the rules and redefine success and failure.

This is a 29-day challenge. This morning's strip is counts as Thing #24. That means I still have to do five more strips to successfully complete the challenge. And I will complete it. (That last sentence was more for me than for you.)

This morning, I tried my first cup of home-brewed Dunkin' Donuts coffee and it was delicious. The only thing missing was a tasty donut.

I'm disappointed how this one turned out. Creative energy levels lower than usual today.

For fans of Pushing Daisies and LEGO... enjoy.

Being backlogged is never fun. Tomorrow is a three-comic day.

I'm bringing silly back... and I really shouldn't have.

This one was a bugger to photograph, especially the last row of panels. I think the pacing and sense of action comes across. Then again, I've stared at it so long and run through it so many times, I might not be the best one to judge such things.

And now it's time for bed and some much needed rest.

Okay, just one more to go today to get back on track. I'm only hoping the Sudafed lasts long enough to finish the last one.

A combination of being away from the computer and coming down with a cold has put me a few days behind. Expect to see three bricks today.

Today's strip was inspired by "smart thermostats" and a furnace on the fritz.

P.S. Today marks the beginning of the Year of the Rat, my dad's year. For all of those who celebrate: Gung Hay Fat Choy!

And now for a little sleep...

After work, I rushed home to vote at my local polling place. The flow of fellow voters was continuous. Today's strip was inspired by Super Tuesday and a game I've never played.

If you voted, enjoy! If you didn't, well, uh, enjoy, but promise to vote in November!

This one came in late due to American Gladiator related distractions. My man, Evan, the rock climber, blew past Anthony, the firefighter, to make it into the finals. Like last time, he rocked on The Wall and The Eliminator, where he posted a time of 1:23. He was awesome.

For the women, Shanay defeated my favorite, Siene. I think Shanay is now the one to beat.

The idea of a giant teapot serving as a tea house had been brewing for a while, but what I pictured in my head looked much cooler than what appears here.

Super Bowl XLII was dull affair for the first three quarters. Both teams saved all of the excitement for the final three minutes of the game.

Of this year's batch of commercials, my favorite was "Coke Parade", which had a giant balloon Stewie and Underdog fighting over a giant balloon bottle of Coca-Cola high above the streets of New York City. The ending featuring a giant Charlie Brown brought a smile to my face. The Justin Timberlake Pepsi spot placed a close second.

As a reward for finishing today's strip, I think I'll go outside and play while the rain is at bay.

Let me introduce Jake Krowling and Walk Dizzy, two characters stolen adapted from "Keep Smilin'", the story I wrote last year for NaNoWriMo. I thought it would be fun to bring them to life in LEGO-vision.

By the way, S.J. Perelman, one of my favorite writers, was born on this day in 1904. He once said, "Humor is purely a point of view and only the pedants try to classify it. For me its chief merit is the use of the unexpected, the glancing allusion, the deflation of pomposity, the constant repetition of one's helplessness in a majority of situations."

And for those keeping score at home, the strip above is the 800th photo I've posted to Flickr. Meaningless, but true!

In two days, The Daily Brick returns. For those who don't know, last February, I created a webcomic (in the broadest sense of the word) every day for a month. It was all part of my unofficial participation in a project known as Thing-a-day, which invites people to join in on a "daily creative endeavor". The project places equal emphasis on creating and sharing. You can blame the sharing part for why you'll see my silly comics during the upcoming month.

To challenge myself this year, I plan to mix photo-based comic strips with hand-drawn efforts. I must admit that I haven't consistently practiced drawing over the last year. My hope is that Thing-a-day will provide some motivation to that end.

In the meantime, I had better start brainstorming ideas for the first few days. February is nearly here and it probably wouldn't be prudent to go in without a plan. Then again, flying by the seat of my pants might have its benefits. We could all be surprised by what I create. Why should I have to be the one to miss out on the fun?

This is what happens when I listen to a baseball-related press conference and stumble upon some text-to-speech software on the same day -- I end up using my writing time to produce a by-the-seat-of-my-pants podcast.

Here's a link to the mp3, if the embedded file doesn't work. The audio is difficult to understand, so I have included a transcript of the program for handy reference...

Michael: Good afternoon and welcome to Random Curiosity Radio, podcasting from a computer in the 4-0-8, in 16 bit stereo, at 48kHz. This is Program Number 1. I'm Michael Mickelson.

Michelle: I'm Michelle DeLaRochelle.

Sam: And I am Microsoft Sam, no relation to Yosemite, though I don't like varmints.

Michael: We're here because David stumbled upon a text-to-speech program that is supposedly a "natural voice" reader.

Sam: I sound natural... right?

Michelle: Very.

Michael: Because this is our first episode, we are learning as we go. I thought we would begin with the story of the day: the release of the Mitchell Report on steroid use in major league baseball.

Sam: Excellent! Steroids in sports are a serious issue.

Michael: Yes it is, Sam. At a press conference today, former Senator George Mitchell outlined the findings from his investigation. He also listed some of the recommendations in his report, including...

Sam: Yes yes, that's all nice and fine, but people don't want to hear his recommendations! They want names!

Michael: We'll get to that in a second. I just wanted...

Sam: Names! I have them right here!

Michelle: Michael, maybe we should just let him read them to get it done and over with.

Michael: Fine. Go ahead, Sam.

Sam: Thank you. Um... in what order should I read them? Alphabetically or from shortest to tallest player?

Michael: Just read them!

Sam: Okay, okay. Mitchell named the following cheaters...

Michelle: Alleged.

Sam: Alleged cheaters. The list includes: Barry Bonds, Kevin Brown, Roger Clemens, Jack Cust, Brendan Donnelly, Eric Gagne, Jason Giambi...

Michelle: Gone-yay and Gee-om-bee.

Sam: It isn't Gagne or Giambi?

Michelle: No, no it isn't.

Sam: Oops, my bad. Eric Gone-yay. and Jason Gee-Om-Be. Troy Glaus, David Justice, Chuck Knoblauch...

Michelle: Knob-lock.

Sam: Knob-lock? What type of name is knob-lock?

Michael: Just keep reading.

Sam: Okay. Paul Lo Duca, Gary Matthews Jr., Andy Pettitte, Gary Sheffield, and Miguel Tejada.

Michelle: Tay-hada.

Michael: Michelle! Please stop correcting him. Just be thankful there aren't any Japanese players on the list.

Sam: What? Why not? I don't have any problem pronouncing Hideki Matsui or Kosuke Fukudome.

Michelle: You're kidding, right?

Michael: We are nearly out of time. Michelle, why don't you give us a couple of key quotes from today's press conference?

Michelle: Thank you, Michael. During the conference, Mitchell said "a principal goal of this investigation is to bring to a close this troubling chapter in baseball’s history and to use the lessons learned from the past to prevent the future use of performance enhancing substances." He also urged the Commissioner to forego imposing discipline on players for past violations of baseball’s rules, except in extreme cases where the integrity of the game is threatened.

Sam: Bull honkey!

Michael: And that's all the time we have. For Michelle DeLaRochelle and Microsoft Sam, I'm Michael Mickelson. This has been Random Curiosity Radio, Program Number 1. Thank you for listening!

Sam: Ya better say yer prayers, ya flea-bitten varmint! I'm a-gonna blow ya to smithereenies!

Inspired by Ze Frank's original song and Caroline's cover (embedded below)...

songs you already know: scared from Posalootly on Vimeo.

I thought I would try to produce my own cover of "Scared of Something". It isn't half as good as the other two versions, but it was a fun excuse to play around with Garage Band. It's a minimalist rendition and the result isn't as bad as I feared. I share it to show the powerful effect a positive message can have on somebody who typically never sings in public. After hearing it, you'll know why I'm no American Idol.

Here's an mp3 of it, just in case you aren't able to see the embedded file, and below are Ze's lyrics.

And this is the song that I sing when I'm scared of something,
I don't know why, but it helps me get over it.
The words of the song just move me along,
And somehow I get over it.

At least I don't suck at life,
I keep on trying despite.
At least I don't suck at life,
I keep on trying despite.

Date: October 22, 2007

The search continues today for a black bear that escaped from a local circus company that was performing near Ellery Lake, just east of Yosemite National Park. Clint, the black bear best known for his bicycling and juggling act in Circus Ursus, was last seen by rangers at the Tioga Pass Entrance, riding westbound on the Tioga Road at a high rate of speed on October 19, 2007.

Clint is described as being 5' 6" long and 32" tall with black fur and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black stetson, carrying a large sack, and riding a black Mongoose mountain bike. He is an experienced cyclist and juggler (especially with cleavers and assorted tools), but his ability to survive in the wild is unknown.

Search managers are asking that anyone who has been in the Tuolumne Meadows area that has seen a bear matching this description please contact them.

They are also advising any visitors with bicycles to hang them at least ten feet off the ground from a sturdy tree branch, using a metal chain (if possible). While this technique may not work if Clint is carrying the chain cutter he was seen juggling during his last performance, it is the only workable solution search managers have so far to prevent bicycle theft.

(Inspired by The Onion, the Yosemite National Park news releases, and a bicycle I saw heavily chained to a giant tree.)

I did a quick and dirty mock-up of AT-AT Park, which randomly mentioned in the last post as a solution to constant name changes the ballpark in San Francisco experiences. If it became a reality, it might look something like this...

(With emphasis on the "random" in "random curiosity", here is a silly tale with a beginning, middle, and that's about it. It's worth at least a chuckle or two. Enjoy!)

According to legend, before deregulation, there was only one goddess of electricity. Her name was Peggie and though she was only a minor deity in the pantheon of gods, the people adored her and worshipped her devoutly.

During the Puce Age of Deregulation (puce is roughly eighteen steps below gold), several gods were demoted. By dividing powers and responsibilities among a greater number of lesser gods, deregulators hoped to decrease deity unemployment while improving response time to prayers and pleas through competition.

Peggie took her demotion particularly hard. She had always been a fair and receptive goddess. She had never been greedy - asking for her own priestess and temple or requiring firstborns or virgins as sacrifices. She was quite content to be represented by a shared priestess in a common temple (as long as it had an unassuming statue of her somewhere smart) and only asked for a modest basket of lemons or limes once every three months. And even when the people failed to present a basket, she was never spiteful. She didn't stop electricity from flowing or summon swarms of Energizer bunnies.

That isn't to say she was a pushover. When displeased, she was known to make people extremely susceptible to static, which doesn't seem so bad until you've zapped yourself and your loved ones for several hours straight. That's when you realize a basket of fruit is a fair price to pay for not having to flinch every time you touch something or someone.

After Peggie left, a struggle for dominance in the dominion of electricity ensued. Gods offered more power and greater reliability for smaller and smaller sacrifices. Some offered free deity bobble heads for those who converted. Fighting between the gods was common and electrical surges were prevalent during this period.

Time passed and eventually equilibrium was restored. Where there was once one goddess of electricity, there were now three gods: Ronnie, Eddie, and Dookie. To keep the deregulators from demoting them, they formed a secret pact and promised not to undermine, annihilate, or pull the classic hand buzzer trick on one another. They also agreed to feign competition by asking for different quantities of lemons and limes (they had adopted Peggie's old ways) and covertly met at crochet club gatherings to evenly redistribute the fruit (cleverly hidden in balls of yarn).

1. No god is allowed to work more than eight hours a day.
2. Every god is entitled to full dental coverage and two weeks of leave a year for feasts and orgies.
3. Every god will deduct no less than two percent of his or her offerings to maintain mandatory membership in the union.

Fearing an increase in competition and an end to their secret arrangement, Ronnie and Eddie approached Afelicio to strike a deal. In exchange for the status quo, the gods of electricity promised to abide by the bylaws and provide the god of unions with one hundred pairs of crocheted slippers (gods have notoriously cold feet and wear through footwear quickly).

Before they left, the two gods also claimed the coveted day and night shifts, leaving Dookie with the most demanding shift of all... the swing shift - the time of day when people came home and needed tremendous amounts of electricity to cool or heat their dwellings and power their televisions and game machines.

And where was the future swing shift god of electricity during these proceedings? Why, he was sitting in a dental chair, having his teeth whitened, as it was now fully covered by his new union-mandated benefits.

That evening, when he heard the news, Dookie was furious. He had received the short straw and it was either that or no straw at all, so he fumed, gritted his newly brightened teeth, and started working his yarn and crochet hook furiously.

By morning, thirty-three pairs of slippers lay at his feet. Ronnie and Eddie let Dookie sleep in, neither one wanting to wake and tell him he still had one more pair to go.

I deleted at least a dozen sentences before this one. How the preceding sentence survived the editing process is a mystery to me. Well, actually, it isn't. It survived because I temporarily removed the Backspace and Delete keys from my keyboard. Of course, if I really wanted to delete anything, I could simply hit Insert, navigate anywhere in this paragraph, and overwrite it. If you think about it, editing is like time travel. If you don't like how events (or sentences) are progressing, it's easy to jump back in time (up a couple of lines), and change them. It's the one place where we all can be a little like Hiro (from Heroes). Luckily, I thought of every possible way I could delete these words and took the necessary steps to ensure it won't happen. The fact that I had to remove a dozen additional keys (and the mouse) in order to silence my inner editor (my inner Hiro, if you will) was a small price to pay. My only hope is that I don't make a typo. That would bug the daylights out of me, which is why I'm typing slowly and carefully. I thought about intentionally misspelling "carefully" to be funny, but decided against it. There's nothing worse than being preductible. Agh!

As promised, here is the comic strip. That's supposedly me in the second panel, giving the voidling a solid thwacking. By the way, I don't know how I managed to wear capes in two panels. Everybody knows (especially if they've seen The Incredibles), capes can be harmful to a hero's health.

Earlier today, I was volunteering at Cinequest. It's the only time I can wear a bright red shirt without feeling self-conscious. This year's design has an exploding light bulb on the front across the chest and the word "Cinequest" on the back across the bottom (or in my case, my bottom).

Today was the first time I was stationed at the San Jose Repertory Theatre, which is right across the street from Camera 12, the festival's main venue.

It had been a most ordinary day until the gentleman depicted in the comic strip showed up at the box office.

I have yet to see a film this year. I'm hoping to see two at the end of this week: Pure Hearts and Monster Camp.

I've been trying to make sense of February. It started out like any other month, but took a completely different direction once I started making the daily photocomics.

I've been going through a bit of a withdrawal the last couple of days. I couldn't bring myself to shut down the little LEGO studio completely. I only succeeded in moving it from the corner of the dinner table where I had it set up to the top of the piano (a whole ten feet away).

It's funny how the project evolved over the month. It began on a whim - as an excuse to goof around, experiment, be creative, have fun, but it became more serious as the month progressed.

I began reading comic strips more regularly as a result of the project, both on the web and in the paper. And by "more regularly", I mean I immersed myself in them, delving into archives without hesitation. The downside was that I fell behind on world events and house chores for a few days. The upside was that I gained a greater appreciation for the art form. I'm just glad the world doesn't fall apart when I ignore a news cycle or two or put off a load of laundry.

Not only did I read more comic strips, but I began reading them differently. Just as NaNoWriMo changed the way I read books, last month's project changed the way I read comic strips. Now I read a strip more carefully and multiple times, focusing on different elements with each pass.

Part of me is happy the project only lasted a month. That part of me is relieved not to have to think up new ideas. It's also the part of me that worries if people will like what I've done. It feels I've exercised my creativity enough. It says things like, "You've had your fun. You've taken your risk. Can we go back to life as usual now?"

The other part of me is disappointed the project only lasted a month. It's the part that wants me to try something else new or creative; or if I'm going to follow the same comic strip stream, perhaps try something really risky, like drawing, as I did on the last day of the project.

It says things like, "Forget that you can't draw. Draw anyway. Make silly comics and jokes. Have fun with it. Maybe you'll surprise yourself. Then again, maybe you won't and you'll have created a large pile of crappy comics, but that's still better than going back to life as usual."

That's the part of me that gets on my nerves, but it's probably right, which makes it even more annoying. Like I said, I'm still trying to make sense of it all. I figure I can mull over it a while longer. All in all, I hope you all had fun seeing what I created and got an occasional laugh from it.

"Oh, if I could make sense of it all!
I wish that I could sing
I'd stay in a melody
I would float along in my everlasting song
What would I do to believe?"

- "Act of the Apostle Part 1" by Belle and Sebastian

I've just been busy trying my hand at drawing and tackling a suggestion John Ralston made yesterday, which was to make the same comic twice - once by hand and once using Comic Life. It's taken me a long time doing the comic once.

In between volunteering this evening at Cinequest (which was insanity tonight) and work, this is the pencil sketch I drew...

That was actually the less time consuming part. Admittedly, I'm far away from mastering the skill of consistency. I'm a lot skinnier in Panel 2 than in Panel 1. Plus my neck shrunk between the two panels.

Inking has taken the most time and I haven't even gotten to the lettering yet. It's very easy to see why there's the temptation to copy-and-paste or type the lettering. I'm not exactly looking forward to tracing letters, which leads me to believe it might be better to at least hand ink any wording before scanning in the strip.

Here is the inking so far...

Stay tuned to this entry, I will be updating it with the final inked version of the strip. I will also be adding the Comic Life version and a LEGO version when I get to it, likely tomorrow.

Final thoughts on Create-a-Thing-a-Day Month will have to wait another day. I'm in need of a shower and some sleep. Happy Wednesday, everybody.

Update:

As promised, here is the final inked version of the strip. The lettering is awful, which leads me to believe it might be prudent to ink it before scanning next time. The strip has obvious issues, but it's a decent attempt. I'm pretty proud of it.

Here is the second version, the one where I copy and pasted the same art in each panel and typed everything using Comic Life.

Finally, here is the official last strip of my unofficial participation in Create-a-Thing-a-Day Month...

The Daily Brick is one day away from finishing its one-month run. Crazy. I'll be volunteering at the box office tomorrow evening during Cinequest's opening evening, so the last strip might be going up late like tonight's edition. Enjoy and I'll see you tomorrow.

John Ralston, an artist from Kansas, is blogging a year of his life in comic strip form. It's a great concept and I like what he's done so far. It's a true slice-of-life webcomic. Each strip captures tiny moments from his day - trying to fix frozen pipes, taking the dog for a walk in the snow, or playing guitar for his cats. It's hand-drawn and inked, which gives the strip an accessible, everyday quality. When there's humor, it's self-deprecating or found in the small things.

For the most part, the strip has been down-to-earth and good-natured, but on rare occasions, Ralston has adopted a harsher tone, like in his February 19th strip titled "Webcomic Product". If you didn't follow the link, here's the text...

Panel 1: Hey, look it me! I'm an inernet cartoonist! I have a webcomic!
Panel 2: You know what? This would be even easier if I just made one drawing and pasted it over and over.
Panel 3: It would be even easier just to type this. Why the hell not? Everyone likes to read a font that's easy on the eye, and since this is just a comic strip, it doesn't matter anyway, right?
Panel 4: I really fucking hate it when people make comics like this.

It's a scathing attack by an artist railing against what he sees as webcomic cheating. And the views he expresses are likely shared by a majority of cartoonists and serious webcomic artists.

Because of the nature of my create-a-thing-a-day project, his remarks affected me deeply. They cut right to the heart of the insecurities I have about my strip. His rant made me wonder if I've been cheating or if others would accuse me of cheating.

1. Am I cheating if I illustrate my strip with photographs instead of drawings?
2. Am I cheating if I reuse a photograph?
3. Am I cheating if I use a program like Comic Life to create my strip?

1. While it's easier to produce a photograph than a drawing, I would argue that photography isn't cheating, but only if one avoids mindless pointing and shooting. If one takes the time to construct the model, adjust the set and characters for each shot, adjust the lighting, and consider different camera angles, then photography is just as good as drawing.

2. Reusing a photograph due to laziness - being unwilling to rebuild a model, change the pose of a figure, or think creatively about a shot - is cheating, but I would say reusing a photograph purposely for a particular effect isn't cheating. Overall, I've tried to use a different photograph for each panel. I've slipped up two or three times, but on the whole, I try to avoid reusing photos whenever I can.

3. With Comic Life, anybody can make a webcomic. It's true. Even I can do it. And when anybody can make a comic strip, the world is going to see a flood of bad comic strips (along with a handful of good ones if it's lucky).

Comic Life removes the barrier that previously prevented the proliferation of bad webcomics. It has done for comics what digital cameras did for photography and blogs did for writing. It means there's a lot more bad stuff to sift through to find the good stuff. At the same time, though, just because one uses Comic Life doesn't mean it's cheating or the resulting comic strip is automatically bad.

To me, the program is an inexpensive formatting tool that helps me with panels and speech bubbles, but that's pretty much it. I still have to work hard to create the content. The program gives me more time to work on that, which I suppose some would consider cheating. Then again, serious webcomic artists have likely invested in drawing tablets and Adobe Photoshop where they can use handy templates, layers, and preset actions.

The Ralston phrase that stands out most in my mind is "this is just a comic strip, it doesn't matter anyway". Comic strips have an inherent informality about them. It's part of their appeal. But while a comic strip or webcomic should be light reading for the audience, it shouldn't be treated lightly by the creator.

As with anything worth creating, craftsmanship matters. For a webcomic, that means focusing on writing (whether it be story lines or punch lines) and illustrating (whether it be drawings or photographs). And while I can't prevent others from accusing me of cheating, I can try my best to set high standards and attempt to meet them with each comic strip I create.

This week, I've tried hard to make each day's strip self-contained while maintaining continuity. The two are difficult to balance. One wants a reader who stumbles upon a random day to still get a laugh (or some form of enjoyment) without having to read the previous day's strip. At the same time, one wants to keep readers interested by putting a hook at the end to entice them to come back tomorrow. I'm nowhere near mastering the balance, but maybe with enough practice I'll improve.

The printer at work sounds a lot like the printer at Starbricks. Whurrrclickclick doesn't quite capture it. Our printer sounds like a food waste disposal unit grinding away at lemon skins, except without the subsequent lemony smell.

Continuing the theme of "continuity". Today, I was trying to give a little background to Astronista Joe, but he didn't seem to want to cooperate. I haven't seen Billy Bob's The Astronaut Farmer yet. I don't know if I plan to either. I would much rather see Ioan Gruffudd in Amazing Grace, a movie about William Wilberforce, a British politician who unsuccessfully led a parliamentary campaign against slavery in the late 18th century.

Today's strip veers completely away from reality; unless magic (and unfortunate background magic) actually exists. By the way, I'm guessing the scuba diver isn't very happy to be unexpectedly holding a Goblet of Life. I know I would be if one were to mysteriously appear in my hand, but not everybody appreciates coffee the way I do.

I also gave myself an imaginary occupation. Like most kids, I dreamt of being a firefighter growing up. I didn't become one, but I thought it would be fun to live my dream vicariously through a LEGO minifig.

I'm hoping to transform "David" and Draco into unique characters with identities independent of their original pasts - real or fictional, whatever the case may be.

• Diesel Sweeties
• Lou's Garage
• Questionable Content
• Scary Go Round
• Sinfest

I've been reading daily updates and plowing through the archives. Fun reading and good sources of inspiration.

This week's theme is "continuity". I tried to pick a theme that would allow me to create a short story arc (a brief seven-day arc). Today's strip picks up the story from Day 17.

We'll see if this week's theme is a good idea. I have a feeling I've just committed myself to jumping off a diving board into an empty pool. Then again, this is the last week of the project, so why not experiment? The last thing I want is to regret not trying something and wondering what couldabin.

I simply can't resist Lego-shaped food like the LEGO Fruit Flavored Snacks or LEGO Eggo Waffles.

Continuing the week's theme of "guilty pleasures". I love sushi, almost enough to have it any time of day (morning might be stretching it).

This strip would have been up much earlier if it weren't for the constant distraction of American Idol. While I'm still rooting for local boy, Paul Kim, my favorites from tonight were Blake Lewis (the beatboxer), Sanjaya Malakar (Stevie Wonder smooth), and Chris Sligh (he can sing and he's hilarious). Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an hour and forty-five minutes left to vote.

After four seasons,

Continuing this week's theme of "guilty pleasures".

This has been one busy weekend, which is why you're seeing yesterday's strip today.

On Saturday, I spent the day in Santa Cruz celebrating my dad's birthday. Yesterday was another family day as we celebrated Chinese New Year. We had Chinese food for dinner both nights.

I had the most delicious lop cheung (Chinese sausages) and fu gua (bitter melon) on Saturday. They were both special dishes my grandfather requested earlier in the week since neither is on the restaurant's regular menu.

Anyway, I better get hopping on today's strip.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows doesn't come out until July 21, 2007. That's still five months away. J.K. Rowling's books have long been a guilty pleasure and I'm eager to read the seventh and final installment in the Harry Potter series. I'm trying to keep my expectations under control. This is likely the most anticipated book since, well, her last book, and I can't imagine the amount of pressure she must be feeling to deliver a story that not only meets her fans' expectations, but her own expectations as well. I hope she doesn't focus on the people she might potentially disappoint, but rather on the people who are rooting for her to give them a great ending to the tale of Harry Potter.

1. It features Draco Malfoy, or the person calling himself Draco Malfoy, as the main character.
2. Flashbacks. It was fun to drop in a few black and white panels.
3. A screen capture in the last panel. I wanted an actual screen on Malfoy's computer. It took some time to scale it down and get the right angle of perspective, but I finally got it to work.

Baseball is another of my guilty pleasures. This article about Barry Zito is the inspiration for today's strip.

Before I came up with the strip, I was facing writer's block, so I experimented and created this for fun...

This week's tentative theme is "guilty pleasures". American Idol falls in that category, as does Chris Daughtry's "It's Not Over".

This season's A.I. is down to the Top 24, which means the real competition begins next week. The guys perform on Tuesday; the girls perform on Wednesday.

I'm rooting for Paul Kim. He's a local boy from Saratoga, California. What's more, 8 Asians claims he's the anti-William Hung.

By the way, if you haven't seen the previous strips, they've been corralled into one convenient Flickr set for your viewing enjoyment.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. More importantly, yesterday was the halfway point of create-a-thing-a-day month. Fourteen strips down, fourteen strips to go.

1. The strip involves politics. I'm nagged by the conventional wisdom that says one shouldn't talk about religion or politics in polite company. Maybe if I pretended you (a.k.a. my audience) weren't polite company, I would be better off. Or maybe thinking of you as polite, but not easily offended, company would help.
2. I could have expressed myself more efficiently. It shouldn't have taken as many panels as it did to make my point. And even then...
3. I didn't make my point very well. That's because I had a vague idea of what my point was, but I couldn't find the right words to make that point. I wanted to say it's annoying when I pay more attention to the messenger than the message, but I didn't.
4. It isn't funny. Taking a cheap shot at the President is overdone and yet I took it. And I still managed to miss.

Those are four good reasons to yank the strip, yet those four reasons shouldn't matter because this is create-a-thing-a-day month and not create-a-classic-comic-strip-a-day month. If it were, I doubt I would have even attempted it. Sometimes it's easier to create something when there isn't the expectation of what that something should look like.

The point is to create, not censor or critique. Sure, yesterday's strip wasn't perfect or all I wanted it to be, but that doesn't mean I remove, reword, or replace it. I learn from it and try harder today (and tomorrow). And maybe if I keep that in mind, the next two weeks will be as fun as the past two weeks.

You can read the transcript or watch the video of the President's press conference