BUZZ BUZZ Once There Was...

Kevin and I are guests at T-MODE in Rockville, MD for the weekend of April 15-17. IT IS A CHARITY SHOW. Every badge purchased is an American Red Cross Donation to the relief efforts in Japan.

Kevin and I are so proud and excited to participate in TMODE this year. We'll be running 6 workshops, so if you ever wanted to hear us talk AND support an important cause, this is the show to visit. The hotel is right off the Washington Metro TwinBrook station!

Also the studio will be Sneak-premiering our new book Daddy Daugther Ninja Day: My First Ninja Training Manual before its launch at AnimeBoston this year.

( Tekkoshocon Photos Under here! )


Son & his friend B found us at Zenkaikon! They were both super-sweet. Son is an up-and-coming voice actor, and he was kind enough to film the creepy Weegees that were lurking around our booth. They scared the crap out of people. ;P Check out his video here! (Thanks, Son!)

WOOOoooo... All that and we're gearing up for

at the exact same time!

And when I say we're "GEARING UP," I mean it. AB will be the first show where we have a DEALER'S ROOM space. We're going back to press on older books. We're restocking the Weegie shirts. We're debuting the Spinks With Hats. We're officially launching the Ninja Book. We've got brand new display furniture and we'll have our INTERRO-GIRL booth-cutie as both the red bell-hop Interr0-girl and as the live-action ENSIGN SUE!





P.S. I went after a promotion recently, and while I did not get the department management position, I was chosen for Assistant Manager! Things are looking up.

Kevin's headed up to Pittsburgh this week for

He'll be running an artist alley table and a workshop on gesture drawing and expressions during the March 31-April 3 show. If you're in the neighborhood, be sure to say HI! :D

Since he'll be rolling out this week, I've put the finishing touches on the Zenkaikon photos. We had an amazing time!

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO THE ZENKAIKON CREW! MATTIE, DREW, ADAM & STAFF!
( ...now the incriminating evidence... )
AND THAT WAS ZENKAIKON! WOO!


In news closer to home, I applied for my boss' job and had my interview. The interview itself went very well. I'm told that the decision regarding the boss' job will be reached as soon as March 31st, perhaps in the week after that. So, I alternate wildly between ridiculous Chihuahua-levels of anxiety and anticipation and willful obliviousness. If I don't think about it, it'll get here soon enough. Surely sweating about it is the least 'managerial' thing I could do. Gotta stay cool. Either I get it or I don't. No point in freaking.

Not about the job anyways.

LOL. Kevin can tell you that I'm five flavors of basket case about the studio right now. We'll be sinking so much money and effort into AnimeBoston. It's one of the biggest financial risks we've ever taken with the studio. It's less than a month away, and let me tell you internets, I'm fit to be tied.

I do tend to work better when there's a fire under my ass though and I'm burnin' up right now!

Geez, you can't rely on me for squat when it comes to staying in contact with these journal things.

Kevin and I are doing well. Since last I posted:

1. Been in a car wreck. My passengers & I are all fine. We were rear-ended at a stoplight, so the whole thing is not our fault and everyone's insurance is fighting it out. We've been paid minus the deductible, so they can take their time.

2. Got a new car. The old one's bumper rolled up into its trunk and it had no tail lights.

3. Got a promotion at work. I'm handling a huge new account. Then I got moved over to a different huge new account b/c things keep changing at work. Unsettling, but my job is secure, so I'll roll with it.

4. Concluded 2010 convention season with 17 shows in 12 months under our belt. Liked it well enough that we've booked 22+ new conventions for 2011. We've done 3 so far and the fourth is coming up in mid-March. You can see all of our confirmed shows at the new page on our website: Convention Appearances. We've only put up the ones that are 100% solid.

5. We're getting invited to shows as guests now--Zenkaikon has invited us to their show in March! It'll run March 18, 19, & 20 in King of Prussia, PA--a Philadelphia suburb and swanky neighborhood. Oo La la!


6. Back in mid-February, Kevin and I went off to Katsucon, where Kevin was a guest for their webcomics section & I was a volunteer. We had a grand time, met awesome people, floated like butterflies, and stung like bees, cause that's what you do. ( I took a ton of photos! )

So yeah, we had a sensational time. In no small part due to the herculean efforts of the staff at Katsucon. Kris, Danny, Liz, Moria, you guys were 100% solid gold. Thank you!


P.S. I'm so far behind on everything, but I swear I read my comments. Y'all're busy bees--and I hope you're doing well right now. Heck, I'm just gonna ask. How're you doing?

Interrobang Studios was lucky enough to attend the first annual Giga-Con: Art, Design, and Animation Convention in Washington DC this past Jan 8-9.

We were invited to join the fun by Fenia Norville, who we ran into at this past AnimeUSA and Professor Bryan Tillman, who's not only a department head at the Art Institute of Washington, but also the founder of Kaiser Studios, a small press comics company! We met a ton of awesome folks–both professionals and students.

The panels were amazing. The guests were amazing. Everyone was super-easy to talk to and I just know I'm gonna see the students I met credited in the games I play within the next few years or so.

We'll be headed back next year for sure. They're already talking about the convention tripling in size as they invite more and more outside artists, gamers, and vendors into their convention. People were really excited about the Watchbabies Parody book and our Spinks. Thanks for such a warm welcome, AI!

( Photos under the cut )

Giga-Con Details!

This Friday & Saturday, January 8 & 9, from 10am to 5pm, Interrobang Studios will be attending a convention for artists, illustrators, game art designers, and 3D modelers hosted by the Art Institute of Washington.

There will be a mix of student and professional artist alley vendors (Interrobang Studios among them!), as well as hour long demos by each of the 13 awesome professional guests over the span of two days. Check the details link below the image for more info on those pros!


Also, if you're local to the Baltimore/DC area, check out the Baltimore Gamer site for information about nearby gaming events. Mike and Gabe were terribly awesome when we met them at MAGFest and their site has already helped us discover more local venues!


THANK YOU to the MAGFest Staff for your amazing efforts! The MAGFest folks went above and beyond the call of duty and we will return for MAGFest 2011 without hesitation!

The Music And Gaming Festival was 4 straight days -- 24/7 -- of larping, table-top, console, pc, and arcade gaming. The bands ruled the evening and the merchant's room carried everything from Tshirts to Lego/Pixel art.

It was so much fun, we didn't always remember the camera. (oops!)

( MAGFest Photos )

Interrobang Studios has our first convention of the year on Jan 1! We're appearing at the MAGFest Artist Alley in Alexandria, Virginia from Jan 1 through Jan 4. It's a gaming convention--you'll have a good time. Come on out!

On a personal front:



My new awesome tshirt. Also, our new snazzy hats:



You are so jealous.

( Other Xmas Fun )

Seriously. If you've got badwidth issues, this is NOT the post for you.

There are photos from:

1. The Cool Yule Arty Party
2. The Xmas tree I made out of plastic forks (cats as a subset)
3. The Awesome Museums we visited while Clare was in town.
4. The giant Baltimore Cemetery

December 12, 2009. The Interrobang Crew hobnobbed with professional artists and artisans in a Gallery Show. There were live performers and framed art and everything. ;)
( Cool Yule Arty Party Photos )

We've finally got a home big enough to put a tree in the living room... but my cats eat EVERYTHING. So to avoid scrubbing pine-needle puke from the carpets, I made our tree this year. From plastic forks.
( Plastic Cutlery Tree Photos )


While we had visitors, we hit the comic book museum and the Baltimore Museum of Fine Art. Who knew Baltimore had NICE THINGS in it?! No, no. Like world-class 'nice things.' I was shocked to find so many incredibly famous works of art hanging around in our museum. Free of charge. Just... there.
( Awesome Museum Photos )


We finally walked around the old cemetery off of North Avenue during visiting hours. Album complete now... the first two photos will be reposts, but I'm a complete-ist.
( The giant Baltimore Cemetery Photos )


Taa DAAAAH!



Also... The video sucks, but the song is made of win and youTube lets me embed it. Oh Arrogant Worms, I love you.

COOL YULE ARTY PARTY

Date: Tomorrow! December 12, 2009
Time: Noon - 6pm
Location: The Lustine Center - 5710 Baltimore Ave, Hyattsville, MD, 20781

What: Gallery Shows by DC artists. 4 Live bands. Holiday Crafts Festival. DC area Comics and Graphic Novelists.

Click the picture above to see the official press release.


---

On a personal note: Kevin and I had an amazing housewarming. Thank you all for coming out. The place really feels connected now. Not just a huge cubby where we keep our stuff and crash at night. :D

I had a grand time with our out of town guest, Clare Moseley, who does a pair of comics: Creator Confidential (A webcomic chronicling Clare's first year working as an indie comic writer/artist) and Otherkind (A twenty-four page ongoing fantasy comic, available as both in print and as a digital download). You can get to both her projects through the link in her name.

Clare, Kevin, Jade and I wandered Baltimore and poked much of it with sticks. I have photos. Specifically AMAZING photos of the Baltimore Cemetery.
( Preview of Graveyard Photos )

The graves are from the mid to late 1800's and in terrible shape. It's clear that if there is any surviving family, none of its members are visiting. However, the neglect goes further. The drainage in the cemetery is abysmal and all the gravestones are settling. Many are cracked in half, and from the moss growing, have been that way for ages. Others are piled in marble stacks, pipes jutting out from underground, rusting against the white marble. The thin grass squelches underfoot and the constant suction of the mud at your heels sparks superstitious uneasiness.

I haven't formatted all my photos, but I will. I've also got more light-hearted stuff from museums and Holiday decorating. Those will go up as well.

I've made our X-mas tree out of clear silverware this year. :D (Yes, Clare & Jade! SUCCESS!) Pictures of that shortly as well.

Wish us luck at the art show!

Join with me in Growling at THE WAY THINGS ARE!!

GRRRRRRRRRR!!


The World is Displeasing in this follow ways:

I. BIOEQUIVALENCE ... I take and have taken a name-brand prescription medication for a chronic condition for over 5 years now. Up until recently, my home state's pharmacy assistance program was able to help me with the cost. In the recent past, they have switched from covering the name brand to covering the generic. I tried the generic. I've not got the money to complain. It did not function as the name-brand did. I was told by one Doctor that that can happen--that the generics are not the EXACT same as the name-brands and do not always work the same. In fact, that the drug I was having issues with was one they'd heard the complaint about before! From another Doctor--I was told that generic IS EXACTLY the same!

I have a tendency to get carried away, so now i'm doubting my own sanity. If the pills are in fact the same, and i did not react the same, were all the effective years of treatment merely expensive and inconvenient placebo-effects?

I went to the Int0rWebs!

Where I learned about BIOEQUIVALENCE. Apparently, in order to be a 'generic,' a drug must contain the active ingredient of the name brand drug. And be SIMILAR in effect, dose, and side effects. In fact, the FDA sets up a window of "HOW similar" in clinical trials.

So. I'm not insane. The drugs are NOT identical. Chemically, there's a molecular weight different of over 30 grams per molar volume (and yes, the generic is the lighter one b/c they threw stuff out.)

However, as far as my pharmacy assistance is concerned--since the drugs have been shown to be BIOEQUIVALENT with a margin of error in reasonable bounds, the drugs are CLOSE ENOUGH to identical for ENOUGH PEOPLE that if I'm not one of them, who gives a fuck.

what i've been taking for years that works!:C^13H^18ClNOHCl
what the FDA and the Pharmacy Assistance Program people will give me: C^13H^18ClNO

notice that the hydrochloride on the end of that is missing in the generic. HHHHhmmmmm.


II. FALLING DOWN STAIRS... Last Tuesday I slipped on some carpeted stairs inside of an apartment building. I had to go to the ER. I had to get Xrays. I have to schedule a follow-up appointment. I've missed work. I HAVE NO MEDICAL INSURANCE. My Grandfather told me that I should speak to the owner of the apartment building. I fell on their stairs. There was no banister. Their carpet was slick. I hurt myself on their crummy hallway.

I contacted the property manager who said that the building was up to code so basically i could go fuck myself. But that if i wanted, i could send a letter to their attorney and maybe something would come it. "Maybe" meaning "The building owner would sooner get a glass-shard enema than file with his insurance company over your dumb peasant ass."

I'll be writing their lawyer.


III. PHOTOGRAPHY... The photographer who took the Bolk's picture and has been emailed repeatedly about which photo they wanted from his proofs claims that he did not know what proof they wanted and la la la. That, beyond being highly irking, was easy to resolve. The Bolks and the Moores will be getting their Christmas present from the past 3 years in another week or two.


IV. TRANSPORT!... I have so many errands to run, but Aunt will not let me drive just yet. So they go undone. And I feel like a lazy ball of useless. And I ACT like a lazy ball of useless. I miss the gym. I miss my car. I miss... being independent. The foot is well enough to wander around on, but not for long and certainly not with any athletic intent.


V. DESK!... buried under paper. I go file and sort and balance checkbook now.