You are in a mall when zombies attack. You have:
1. One weapon
2. One song blasting on the speakers
3. One famous person to fight along side you.

1. A Katana
2. Back in Black
3. Juliet Draper

Once upon a time, I was in a metal band. Every now and then, little bits of it resurface...

Which of course, is really cool. :-)

The book is done, the book is done, the book is done!
The book is done, the book is done, the book is done!
The book is done, the book is done, the book is done!

Seven years after I started it, it's done.

It's done, it's done, it's done!
It's done, it's done, it's done!

*Runs around wildly*

"English Ben & Detective Dave, a Buttercup Burger Mystery."
A young-adult style book for adults, it's small (about 120 pages), about 13k words, barely a novella. But still.

Goodness. Done.

Still have to edit it, make it pretty, do the front matter, index and all that, but...

Done. Woo.

I chatted with a very nice fellow when I was at RavenCon last month, and he asked if I would mind if Daisy appeared in his comic. I was delighted! Here it is: http://journals.aol.com/knightbek/TheWildcatsLair/entries/2008/05/30/franks-ravencon-adventure-episode-iv/1268

Brilliant!

"She looked at the drink. It was in a plain rocks glass, and in the dim light of the bar (they clearly didn’t read much there), the color was a clear brownish-gold. As she picked it up to get a closer look she caught the first hints of aroma. "Honey" crossed her mind, and then something sharper, more woody.

She held it closer and inhaled deeply. It burned a little, but in an odd, slightly pleasant way. The hair on her arms stood up and she shivered. She could smell the alcohol now, very clearly, but it wasn’t the antiseptic smell of rubbing alcohol. "Grain alcohol" she thought. "It smells... warmer?" She supposed that was because it was less toxic. She sniffed it again. Now that she was used to the honey, wood, and alcohol smells, she noticed a few other things, but couldn’t place them. She had to taste it."

~Exerpt from Chapter Eight of 'English Ben and Detective Dave, a Buttercup Burger Mystery'
by Joe Komenda. All rights reserved.

I had surgery to repair a small inguinal hernia yesterday morning. The folks at Rex Hospital are very nice and professional, especially the nursing staff, who were all pretty darn cheerful. So far, so good. No complications, and the pain is fairly manageable. My lovely fiancee has been perfect and... well, perfect. :-)

Super bonus thanks to Ben and Laura for taking care of/babysitting me all day. You're truly wonderful.

Also, ow. Ooooooooooow.

Ok, going back to bed now.

Has it been almost a month since I posted? Yes indeed. Things are going swimmingly in general, and especially with regards to my charming and lovely fiancée. Many thanks to all who have offered congratulations. For the curious, we tentatively plan on getting married next year.

However! Proving that no moss grows under my industrious love's feet, she has secured employment in Raleigh, has been busy liquidating her assets in Roanoke, and moves in with me on Monday. She's a whirlwind!

I have been happily reorganizing the house to make space, cleaning, etc. Laundry, dishes, and vacuuming are done for the day, I've got the makings for pork carnitas in the oven, and I'm happy.

Also, I'm working on a new drink, to be called a Feral Chicken:

- 2-3oz Cranberry/Pomegranate juice
- 3 splashes of bitters
- Dash of five spice powder
- Dash of Tamarind paste
- Lime wedge
- 1/2oz Gin (optional)

Add all ingredients to shaker full of ice, twisting lime wedge. Shake well and strain.

Drove up to Roanoke today to see my beloved crowhen, Rachel. I brought an engagement ring, and joy of joys, she said yes!

SHE SAID YES!!!

Off to celebratory dinner now.

Happy Birthday crowhen!!!

See you in about 4 hours!

Today, I managed to:

• Put my spare bed and treadmill on Cragslist
• Change the catbox
• Do the laundry
• Brush the dog
• Reorganize my attic
• Caulk my bathtub
• Send out some thank you notes
• Vacuum the house
• Fix the seal on the door of my dishwasher
• Finish frosting the windows in the master bath
• Replace the last ceiling fan in the house with a nice track light
• Clean out my guest room
• Put some clothes in storage
• Hook up my good computer speakers
• Dispatch my cat's unused scratching post

That's a pretty good Sunday methinks. Got a 45 minute nap in there too. I'm off to draw Monday's Feral Chicken.

My fellow cartoonist, longtime friend, (and now sweetie), crowhen made a post this afternoon about her cross bite, lack of insurance and the like. There was a strong and immediate support for a fund raiser, and so she's set up a special PayPal account (with an auditor) to accept donations.

It's very compelling, and I strongly encourage anyone reading this to consider making a contribution. In addition, if you can think of some other way of helping out (donations of art/books/commissions) please respond to the special charity email she's set up: rachelnabors (at) gmail (dot) com.

I'm headed down to Savannah for a week. I'll be offline during that time, and perhaps for some time after. ;-)

The song of my heart
is a beat I cannot follow
for every time I stop to listen
I lose the beat.

But if I just keep walking
I'll hear it in the background,
a steady throb of life
and I know it's mine.

But I want to stop and see it
to hold it, to review
but it's like the ghosts in my house
when I turn, they're gone.

I think that's the reward
for a life well lived
you get to feel your rhythm
just as you pass away.

But it's all good you say,
because you've finally heard the song.
The song.
The song of your heart.

http://feralchicken.com/index.php?toon_number=500

Five Hundred. That feels like a big deal to me. :-)

Today I did my favorite thing*!

I cleaned my whole house, and the last thing I did was put a load of laundry in and strip naked, putting the last clothes I was wearing in the wash.

I then took a shower, so every thing in my house was cleeeeeen.

Best feeling ever.







*Besides banging your mum.

Up at 6AM and scurried out to my workshop to turn the heat on. I have a backlog of five(!) woodworking projects, one of which has a hard deadline. Egads. I spend tonight making sawdust!

Scanned and posted all of my tolerable sketches from last night's excellent Sketch Night at Camelot Treasures in Cary, NC.

Also scanned the Grim on the left--I drew it when I was out at the pub on Monday night, inspired in part by my girlfriend's monster illustrations.

Composed a header for a convention display that a fan has most thoughtfully gifted to me. Hm... I must do something really nice for the Uber fans. Anyhow, pics of con display when I get my mitts on it.

Set up/confirmed pet-sitting services for What-The-Hell Con and my trip to Savannah at the end of Feb (the 18th-22nd). Woo! Savannah is only a five-hour drive.

Set up my new webcam (B-day gift from awesome girlfriend) and was of course horrified at my appearance. It's too early, and a robe and stubble do not enhance the self-image much.

Finally, I updated my 2008 Convention schedule.



Also, I think I'm fighting off a cold or something. I only get one very mild symptom at a time though, so I guess I'm winning?

I'm 40!

Most disturbing conversation this week:

Friend: "Yeah, it's like that brain-eating amoeba."

Me: "Brain-eating what now? Zombie amoebas?"

Friend: "Dude! You haven't hear of this? It apparently gets into your nose, works its way into your brain and starts going to town! You die in two weeks!"

Me: "Huh."

Pause to reflect.

Me: "Nyom, Nyom, Nyom."

Friend: *sporfle*