Category Archives: blog

picture of the hard part…

See this picture?  This is a picture of me on a Saturday night.  But, it could just as easily be a picture of me on the other six nights.  Or mornings.  Or a really weird and dark afternoon. If you were standing in my backyard (hope you called first… just standing there without me knowing is trespassing) this is what you’d see.

This stuff is hard.  And parts of it never get any easier.

Mechanics get easier: the prepping, the inking, the scanning…I’m damn near robotic when it comes to that.  Getting to the mechanics… that the bit that never gets easier.  The staring at a notebook.  The premise that doesn’t fit the characters.  The paralyzing fear that I’m going to plagiarize myself (also known as repeating myself). That dialog that is not good.  That idea that, even with adrenaline needles stuck in it, just doesn’t want to live.

I’m not stating that to get credit or sympathy… but it’s true.

I took this picture because I wanted to see what the hard part looked like.

Odd…I thought it would look different.

 

Categories: art blog bob photography process

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The roundup…

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I’m not a fan of recaps… maybe I was at one time, but not anymore.  Traditionally, I’d take a moment at the end of the year to reflect on what I’ve done, what I haven’t done and look ahead to what I’m going to do.

So, Bob turned 15, I hit 5,000 strips.  Are those really accomplishments?  maybe.  The 15 years happened because that’s what time does… it happens. And, if you’re in that time, then eventually 5,000 happens.  So, it wasn’t a result of any pushing or striving, or new developments… it happened because time happened.  I found a groove and kept the needle in it…

It happened because I’m stubborn.  It happened because I believe in the character.  It happened because people are comforted by knowing Bob will always be there.  It happened because when you find a good friend, you want that friend with you.  Always.

I don’t know what tomorrow will be like.  For over a year I’ve lived in constant worry about something I have no control over.  Something that will happen no matter what I say, what I do, what I save, what I draw, what I spend.  I don’t want to worry… who does?  I’ve lost comfort in what I thought were constants.  I get it.  Nothing lasts forever.  Evolution changes things…theoretically for the better and in response to the environment around it.  Evolving is adapting to the changing space… that sucks.  That’s life.

Over the past year I’ve changed the way I eat.  I didn’t realize that the weight I carried held me down.  It was the small changes… changes that were not extreme.  Changes that were manageable.  Changes, that when paired up with patience, just plain worked.  I think the greatest thing I got from losing almost 50lbs. was gaining the ability to permanently change something for the better.

Who knows what the next year will bring.  I’ll plan stuff.  I’ll make stuff.  I’ll win.  I’ll lose.  I’ll even probably crash and burn (several times).  But I’ll be here.

And so will Bob.

Thank you all for your continued support.  Happy Holidays.

Categories: blog bob life

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Cartoonist and the candy corn…

I love candy corn.  I mean… I LOVE candy corn.

Sure, I get sick of it…especially around November… because traditionally I mainline the stuff into my face from September to October. In November, the love affair wains, being replaced by another love: Christmas cookies.

I’m telling you that to tell you this- as of October 10, 2017 I have lost 40 lbs.  I’ve talked about this transformation previously.  It’s a whole new world, man.  I’m almost in the best shape I’ve ever been… better than I was in my 20s or my 30s.  That’s saying something.

But there’s candy corn.  My new way of thinking and relationship with food has tested this love.  I didn’t run out and get a fall colored bag the moment it was available. (I just found out THIS YEAR that candy corn wasn’t actually available year round… not through conventional means anyway).  I stay away from sugar now.  Candy corn is not only love… it’s a LOT of sugar.  A lot of sugar.

I ended up buying a bag.  And it was really hard to open… the bag was easy to open but getting me to open that bag was hard.  Would my opening that door ruin seven months of new food discipline?  Would I just inhale the whole bag once that first kinda softish, weird textured kernel hit my throat?

It took a me a full day before I could open it.  This is insane, right?

I opened it.  Counted out the recommended single serving (about 19 kernels), and proceeded to re-ignite my seasonal love affair.  Before, about 19 kernels would be a mouthful for me.  One single mouthful.  How would this end?

Eh. It was alright.  Took me a while to finish all 19.  Crazy.  All that build up.  I sealed the bag, put it in my squirrel cookie jar and went on with my life.

I’ll always love you candy corn… it’s not you, it’s me.  We can still be friends.

Categories: blog laugh life Uncategorized

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On the ulcer – this week’s story line

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Many people have asked if this week’s story line – Frank (me), suffering an attack of the ulcer, is true to life.

The short answers are – yes.  It’s true. I had an attack. On my birthday. This year. It sucked.

I’ve had stomach issues forever.  I may not convey this, but I tend to be a relatively high strung dude.  Always have been. I stress about everything. I stressed in junior high.  I stressed in high school.  I stressed in undergrad.  I stressed in work.  Each time I stressed, it wore away at me a little bit more.

Then 2008 happened.  Graduate school.  That’s when things got real bad.  I was under a ton of stress.  More stress than I’d ever been under.  The 2006-2008 period of Frank was a stress buffet – from my depression, separation, divorce, finding love again (Lez didn’t stress me out… much), figuring out my life, buying a house, becoming a dad, day job, comic strip and then grad school.  Grad school was challenging and much more work than I expected.  Honestly, to this day, I still have no idea how I managed to finish.  The stomach/ulcer thing came to a bloody climax during grad school – primarily second and third semester. I started coughing up blood.  Not a lot, but still not something you want to cough up.

I went to my doctor and got medication.  It helped.  I got through it.

Fast forward to September 2017.  I’m still under stress, but older.  The world is… the world.  I try not to carry that with me… try to think of the good, the positive stuff I have… but my stomach thinks otherwise.  I had an attack.  It rumbled for a few days and then boom. Seriously… pain I’d never felt before.  Pain that compelled me to go get help that day.  Bad.  On my birthday.  No cake for me…just an anti-inflammatory, super strong antacid and rest.

I’m okay… but there was no way I was NOT going to use this in a comic strip.  Pain is art. Art is pain… or something like that.

Categories: blog bob

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