BLOG: Welcome New Readers!
Morning ya’ll! First off, I want to thank all the newbies who jumped in recently to get my substack sent directly to your inbox, that way you won’t miss anything! The recent blog about Peter David really got the numbers up and I appreciate you reading! Every Monday I drop a few pages from my comic: PLEASANT LIFE, the comic about geeks and their relationships. Issue #4 is about to be completed next week and then we start on issue 5! I’m in the middle of doing art for issue 7, so I am ahead for now. But I gotta get rolling soon or else I am gonna run out! Best part of the blog I do here besides the comics on Monday is that it is FREE!!! Whoop! Whoop!
Beyond that, I do blog writing and I know that is sort of out of fashion these days. As is actual journalism. But I long for those old days. I will try to avoid the evils of the world and provide a distraction here as I can. However sometimes it might seep in. We all need to make our voices heard where we can. But all the while, if I can entertain you and provide a simple breather from the anxiety and stress of the world right now, then I’m doing my job! I probably post a BLOG a week, so I won’t be spamming your inbox too much. Mostly just keeping you up to date on things in my world.
This last Monday was Memorial Day and I had it off from the day job… always a welcome thing! I don’t get a day off really cause any spare time I got I am drawing or writing. Its how I keep the lights on. But I am feeling off… all sorts of wacky this week. Like yesterday I went to change after a shower before work and found out I am out of undies! So I had to wear some shorts under my pants to go to the office. (I cannot go commando! That is just wrong.) But luckily I am up early today and a load is in the dryer. I keep saying when I have days off I am gonna clean the house but it’s a real start and stop thing. So it goes.
I am still open for COMMISSION work! Details at the end of this blog below. But I am trying to find additional income to help keep the lights on. I actually made a linkedin… which gives me about 85 spam emails a day. Bad idea. And also is attracting scammers! Like this text I got this morning:
A rule I live by in this life is: “If it sounds too good to be true, IT IS. 100%” So I did some research and sure enough this is a very common scam, mostly targeting recently laid off federal workers. You text back and eventually it will lead to them getting all the cash out of your accounts and other various info. So avoid this one. Report it and block. I hope people that create these sorts of things, targeting those in need are caught and… well, hung up by their pinkie toes and hit with a baseball bat hard in the stomach repeatedly until their piss runs red. I’m a simple guy to please.
A couple blogs ago I mentioned I am on the weight loss thing again. Glad to report I am down another two pounds. Chipping away! Chipping away! I also mentioned how that morning I got a ticket to see Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains. Well, after I posted that blog, I saw that another band I love, DREAM THEATER, announced another run around the United States. I messaged my bestie to see if he was into going and I scored the tickets! Pretty damn close too. So now that brings my total concerts to FIVE for the year! (Collective Soul/Live, Garbage, Jerry Cantrell, Dream Theater, Sex Pistols) Seeing all the bands I can before I croak. I’ll share concert pics here. But I WON’T be filming much of it. I hate it when people do that. Watch the event in front of you, ass!
Anyway, how about some new art? First up a page from an upcoming PLEASANT LIFE chapter involving a D&D campaign…
And art for a new convention print I am making. I call it, “Just Add Cereal.”
I got a couple more prints to make and then some stuff to get for my table set up and I think I will finally be ready for the only con I am doing in July! Eventually I will make the rounds to a few more across the USA… probably when all my books are finished. A year or two. Save your pennies now and maybe we will meet up at one of the shows. Would love to see/meet ya’ll. We will RAGE!!
Lastly, I’ve talked about anxiety, distracting from the noise and such… I read this yesterday and it made me think. Thought I’d Share:
Ironic I share this and I know you are probably digesting this right now on your phone! Our phones control us. Its a necessary part of our day to day lives now. I’ve talked about maybe downgrading to a simple small thing and save myself $150 a month… but the kid reminded me of many reasons why I need a smartphone. But make no mistake... It is a tool and it is definitely dangerous. We all must strive to find a balance with it. One thing I love to do is bring a book with me in public. Inevitably when you are waiting for something, your hand goes into the pocket and out it comes. Candy Crush, Facebook blah blah, Doom Scrolling (Like, “What did he say/do today that NO ONE will do a damn thing about or CAN do a damn thing about??” You know who I mean.) The internet just festoons with endless amounts of swamp material to sink your tired brain into. I am not perfect or consistent on this either. But it pleases me when I am in public and everyone around me has their heads down into the device and I see one or two of us simply looking up and around them, taking in the world or even reading a book. We meet eye to eye and give each other the nod. Cause we’re in control as the world around us amuses themselves to death.
Again, Ironic you are reading this on a phone, and I appreciate it. So I will try to keep you happy and distracted as I can when you read my stuff here. Accept its a part of life. But also accept that you can put it down. Go outside and smell the air. Read a book. Catch up on that movie or album you keep putting off checking out. Go play with your kids! (I cannot tell you how many times I’ve took my boys to the park when they were wee only to see all the parents around me with their heads down on the phones… the kids literally growing up in front of them, unobserved. Gross)
I simply say just try to find a balance. Think a lot about your stress and anxiety (of which we all have right now) and know you can turn it off at any time. We have access to all the problems of everyone in the world 24/7. Does the world really need us to chime in? Do we need to get into the fight with the stranger online? Do we really need to see how bad they are fucking us and we can’t do shit about it? Sometimes… but not all the time. So after reading this blog, put it down and stick it in a drawer and go outside. Go sit in the comfy chair and read. Books! Remember those? Have you read all the classics? Dickens? Vonnegut? Kate Wilhelm? Stephen King? HG Wells? Heinlein? A.E.Van Vought? Asimov? Bradbury? Octavia Butler? Alfred Bester? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? Friggin’ Shakespeare? Fill that brain and your eyes and ears with good stuff. It’s YOUR life. Go live it.
But then.. you know… come back here and read my stuff! :) I got your back!
-Much love! -T
Below: Commission info! If interested, email me at phymns@yahoo.com - Thanks!
