The Book of Sighs #4

As ALWAYS, click on the image for a better view of it.

Alright, here's the fourth. This one introduces Krystal, whose high-flying superhero name is The Shard. Her normal name was originally Krista, but, in the redesign, I changed the name a little bit to reflect her powers more (she can fly with huge wings made of glass crystals). This character was mostly based on a girl that I was in love with for several years, who is still a great friend of mine. Let's see, what else? Oh yeah, this is the second redesign for this character. When she was first created back in 2000 or so, her costume was pretty awful.

ALSO, I've gone back and added gray to the previous Book of Sighs comics. I think it looks better without there being such an immense amount of white space. Anyone else think that it looks better this new way?

Wrote something today.

I was bored today, so I decided to try my hand at writing again. This is what I came up with

Ashes by Adam Lanier

I pour more cream into my stale coffee -- stir it and make phantom images appear and dissolve into a pale liquid. I finally mumble the nagging thought that's been ricocheting throughout every part of me for the past few weeks: “I miss her.” Wilfred's cigarette falls, unlit, from his mouth. It lands beside his shoe, next to a smattering of butts and a fair sprinkling of ash. I sip my coffee which is already cold. Still too bitter.

“You're kidding, right?”

I swirl my coffee around the waxen cup. Tiny grounds float to the top, shifting like snowflakes. They seem just about as cold. I stare at them instead of answering my best friend.

“Course you're joking. After all that's happened...” he trails off, fishing another cigarette from his pack. I hear his lighter, and after a moment, smell the rich, burnt, smoke. I continue meditating on the cup of joe, willing myself to take another drink. I sigh.

“Fine, whatever,” he punctuates with a cloud of smoke. “But what's to miss? I mean, really?”

I look up at him, his hair tousled by the morning breeze. I have plenty of answers, but no words to go along with them. “I dunno.”

“Look, that whole period was messed up. But it's over now. Thank god.” He taps ash from his cigarette. It falls slowly through our mesh table and falls to the concrete below us. “It's time to move on.”

“But there's more to it than...”

“No. There's nothing else to it. Everything she touched she destroyed. It ended the best way it could have.” He lapses into silence, smoking and looking out far into the distance, and at nothing at all.

“She changed my life, Will, and I got rid of her.” I look down at the ashes by my feet.

Wilfred clears his throat, or maybe it's a scoff. “But if you hadn't...”

“Yeah, if I hadn't. Then my life would be more exciting. Different. Maybe I wouldn't always feel so lost.” This is the first time I've openly talked about her, and the words come haltingly and with difficulty. “I... I never knew what to expect from her. From the very beginning, I was clueless. And maybe she would have changed. Did I really ever give her a chance, Will? With everything I've learned... If I just had another chance, but with what I know now... Didn't she deserve another chance?” I look down at my hands, still clutching the half-empty cup. “Maybe I'm the bad guy.”

“You're not the bad guy. And I hope you realize that you're not the only one she hurt. You gave her plenty of chances. But she never took them; she tore down everything you built up.”

“Everything that's torn down can be rebuilt.”

“Yeah, doctor, I know." He pauses to take another drag off his cigarette. "That's why I think you and the city will be alright.”

We look across the street at the pile of rubble that used to be a series of sky scrapers. The ashes dance in the wind.

If you watch one video this year...

...it really shouldn't be this one. This short and silly mockumentary thing is something I made a bit back with a couple of pals. Believe it or not, it was part of a job application.

I'm not the biggest fan of this video, but I guess it belongs on the blog.
Enjoy!

The Wacky Adventures of Winthorpe!

...I don't know what to say about this.

I wrote an Anne Rice Novel

So, Anne Rice no longer writes vampire stories. It doesn't really affect me because I was never a fan. But it seems that lots of people LOVED her blood-sucking tales. I know, I know, but it's true.

So, in order to make the world a better place for Anne Rice fans, I decided to come up with my own tale -- one that is comparable to the originals, with strange characters dressed in fancy clothes and whatnot. What gives me the right? Because I've read a couple of her books, when they were the only things I could find. And even though I didn't like them, I'm pretty sure it makes me an expert on the subject.

So, one last thing to say before I post my illustrated novel: It turns out that you don't need Anne Rice in order to write an Anne Rice Vampire Chronicle.

come on, party people.

There will be comics at the bottom of this post... so, if you want, you can skip ahead.

Yo. This past Saturday, I actually did something of interest! I went to a party in Atlanta. Now, Adam, you may be saying, Now, Adam, that just doesn't make any sense; You're a homebody-homeboy. You don't go to "parties," you merely chillax with your small, rag-tag group of cool peeps.
Normally, italic text, you would be correct. But I really did go to a party in Atlanta! Honestly! You see, I recently started talking to an old pal from high school via the internet, so, after a few phone conversations Wait a second... You? Calling someone other than the usual three people?
...

Yes. Jerk. Um yeah, so, anyways, we chatted and made plans, so I cranked up my tiny woody station wagon, and drove to see her.

By means of describing the party, I'll post what I had to say about it to a friend of mine the day after.

Warning, this might be a little longish... You don't have to read all this:

Maxwell Tyndan(12:05:52 AM): I hope you don' get home early enough to tell me how it went, but if you do... do.

Saddest Factory (4:55:01 AM)[<-- that's me!]: not too much to tell. Just getting in. Bushed. Fairly decent time. Wasn't a studio party; I must've misheard. Allison's still hot, and silly. I was awkward, but not as awkward as I would have been years ago. Some cool and friendly people there that would initiate/include me in conversations..
Maxwell Tyndan (2:03:05 PM): That's cool, what kind of party was it then?
Saddest Factory (2:03:18 PM): kegger
Maxwell Tyndan (2:03:27 PM): Haha That's great.
Saddest Factory (2:04:04 PM): yeah, kinda was.
Maxwell Tyndan (2:04:27 PM): What was the occasion?
Saddest Factory (2:05:24 PM): Dual purpose. Some dude named Sean's birthday party, and back to college, I think.
Maxwell Tyndan (2:05:54 PM): Ah. But it went well though? That's pretty awesome
Saddest Factory (2:06:08 PM): yeah, it went pretty well.
Maxwell Tyndan (2:06:20 PM): Allison have a boyfriend?
Saddest Factory (2:06:34 PM): yeah. Some dude named Sean.
Maxwell Tyndan (2:06:41 PM): Haha, same party guy?
Saddest Factory (2:06:56 PM): *sigh* yeah.
Maxwell Tyndan (2:07:11 PM): Good times. Did you meet any nice ladies?
Saddest Factory (2:07:50 PM): yeah, a few. Small talk was sometimes exchanged. Had a nice conversation with Allison's sister Madison.
Maxwell Tyndan (2:08:42 PM): She as hot as Allison?
Saddest Factory (2:10:32 PM): in some ways, yes. Kinda different hot, but still very hot. She's not as, I dunno, built (cuz Allison's not exactly "thick")[Allison is a tall, Amazonian Goddess], she's more of the fairly skinny gal type. And her hair is a nice brown instead of Allison's reddish awesomeness. They have the same way of talking; that same lilt to the voice. And they look a good deal alike in the face. So very hot.
Maxwell Tyndan (2:11:35 PM): Ah, sexy. Man, sounds like you had an awesome time.
Saddest Factory (2:12:30 PM): For someone as awkward as me, yeah, I think I had fairly close to what could be the best time imaginable with people I didn't know... save for a couple of peeps.
Maxwell Tyndan (2:12:59 PM): Hm?
Saddest Factory (2:13:36 PM): Well, Allison. And then some girl that knew me, that played soccer with Allison. I didn't really remember her though... [I was pretty oblivious in high school] didn't tell her that. Really tall blonde. Very sweet. Can't remember the name though.
Maxwell Tyndan (2:14:31 PM): Emily? No, she played tennis...
Saddest Factory (2:15:03 PM): I think Allison said she was a grade above us.[Maybe it was a year younger?]
Maxwell Tyndan (2:15:27 PM): Ah. And you don't remember her name now? [Her name must've been Lauren or something]
Saddest Factory (2:15:56 PM): I'm pretty bad with names sometimes. Took me forever to remember Madison's name. I knew it started with Ma... Madeline? Matilda? No, those aren't it at all! Took me, like, twenty minutes to remember it last night after I had been introduced.
Maxwell Tyndan (2:17:32 PM): So every girl you talked to last night had a boyfriend, I assume.
Saddest Factory (2:17:52 PM): yeah, it seemed that way. It was a kinda small get-together though [though larger than any party I had ever gone to before, probably]. It wasn't a huge bash, so it's honestly to be expected.
Maxwell Tyndan (2:18:46 PM): You should have told Allison to point you towards the single chicks. that's what girls who have boyfriends who invite you to parties are for.
Saddest Factory (2:19:12 PM): maybe next time. Providing that there is a next time.
Maxwell Tyndan (2:19:44 PM): Sounds like you didn't make yourself out to be boring.
Saddest Factory (2:20:39 PM): I tried to be pretty much be myself. Chimed in with things at times. Often I was aloof. just as should be expected. awkward, but trying.
Maxwell Tyndan (2:20:57 PM): Awesome, awesome. Whatever works. I'm sure no one thought you were a tool, because you aren't. so you had that going for you.


And now, here are some things I've drawn!

This was taken from a panel of a comic that otherwise ended up looking pretty crappy. It's half pencil/pen-drawn, half mouse-drawn in GIMP.


The first picture was from the original version of this comic here. The comic was initially drawn before the party. I didn't like how it looked, so I redid it after the fact, but kept the message the same. It would be keen if you clicked on the picture to read it.


And this is one of the several awkward moments I had at the party! Click it to read it easier.

But honestly, I had a pretty swell time. Some really nice and neat people there. It seemed like some of them would actually go out of their way to make me feel involved. Goodness knows that Allison introduced me to a lot of people, and told them introductory anecdotes about me. Really a very kind thing to do.

Oh! And I learned how to play beer pong and flip-cup.

The Book of Sighs #3

And now, I ramble... You don't have to read the following, it's not vitally important!

Alright, here's the third comic!
This comic introduces the Axe God, the mythical guitarist. This character is unique in the way that he was created. Some years ago, I was talking to a friend of mine about what a character somewhat based on him should look like. All he said was that it should have horns and fangs. Axe God is what I came up with.

The concept design hasn't changed, but the execution is much better now, I like to believe. It's like, lets say you drew a picture of an apple when you were six, then you drew one yesterday. It's still going to be roughly orb shaped, with, most likely, a little stem with a leaf on it... but, chances are, the one you drew yesterday is going to look a lot better.

Classy People

So, this past Thursday, I was doodling in a sketchbook. I started off randomly sketching a person... it turned into a representation of myself. Then I added all my friends that I was hanging out with that night... to make myself seem a little less vain. What's more, I made us all very classy!

the cast: TJ with a cup of tea, Barry with a monocle and pipe, Myself with a scarf and bubble pipe, Krista with a champagne flute full of poison, a surly-looking Jake with turtleneck and a blazer, and Doug with a bowtie and tin of caviar.

Yes, we're all awesome.

The Book of Sighs #2

Ah, yes, the second comic... funnier than the first, to be sure. This strip introduces Evil Anti-Christ Barry. This character was created for a friend of mine, who, despite being a good Christian, would also make for a great dictator. Evil Anti-Christ Barry is an exaggeration of a caricature of my pal Barry.

...although, the real person has changed a bit over time... Still though, I don't think he'd do what the fictional character does.

Haha, anyway, this character also underwent some pretty noticeable cosmetic changes from the original design. Maybe I'll draw both versions like I did with Silent C. Anyway, I've rambled far too much, and I hope the comic is enjoyed.