FC 18 - Soap Box Derby

I haven't been able to shake the creative bug* recently, so I took another stab at comicking. (And again I was reminded of how talented my comic artists are and how grateful I am for their contribution.) In all honesty, I spent WAY too much time dinking around, layering, picking colors, etc. etc. This is one of those cases where doing in on paper would probably have been much more efficient. If I only had the skillz.... While the inspiration for this comic came to me so long ago that I can't remember the particular circumstances, I've been reminded of it often in these past couple weeks with politics in such a flurry. So while last Friday's comic about snow was apropos, I like to think this one is appropriate too, what with this week being all super and everything. Should we try to find some relevant topic for next week making it 3 relevant comics in a row?*

Thursday February 7 2008

File under: comic

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on Fri 08th Feb, 2008 12:50 am PST dave said: that's a smug look on your face! ************************ on Fri 08th Feb, 2008 09:02 am PST Sweet Julie said: I love how you incorporated that picture of you! So funny! :) ************************ on Fri 08th Feb, 2008 09:25 am PST Saxtor said: You know, Wren...very seldom do honestly funny things elicit an audible laugh* from me, but I couldn't hold it in on this one. As they say, practice makes perfect, and your comics are becoming more hits than misses. ************************

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Create a Crossword - CHECK

Years ago, I made a list of things I wanted to do before I died. I was reminded of this list recently by a [great!] post over at IHJ. (Another great example of a life list, and actually the one that inspired me to make my own years ago, can be found here*.) I'm not going to post said list because it is still a work in progress (both in terms of refining goals and attempting to accomplish them). One of my proudest to cross off, however, was trying out for Jeopardy*. I didn't get on, but that's okay because it still felt great to have tried. But I digress. This post is supposed to be about the latest thing I've been able to cross off my list*. As an avid crossword puzzle doer for years, I've always wanted to create my own – not a ghetto one like we made in high school using all the words from the spelling list, but a newspaper worthy crossword that adheres to strict standards (at least in format if not in content). So here it is: You're in My Top Level Domain Now. There are a few words that I am not overly proud of and a few others that are obscure pop culture references that only very very few people will get, but it's not bad for a first try. Have a go. Tell me what you think. (You can either print the puzzle (please make sure it shrinks to just print on one page) or you can do the puzzle as it is on your computer screen. The "software"* isn't as fancy as the commercial ones, but it does the trick.)

Wednesday February 6 2008

File under: games, coding

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on Wed 06th Feb, 2008 08:35 pm PST Saxtor said: Hmmmm, perhaps I should start one of those fancy lists. At the top, get better at crossword puzzles. ************************ on Wed 06th Feb, 2008 09:45 pm PST Mom said: Can I join you on the 'Taste Absinthe" item in the list? Do you have to have a lisp to taste it? ************************ on Fri 08th Feb, 2008 10:34 am PST Wren said: It looks like Internet Explorer rears its ugly head again in the printable version of the crossword. For some reason, it doesn't want to print what is on the screen. Anyway, for all you IE people out there, please check out the PDF print link at the bottom of the crossword page, or get it here. ************************

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One Panel Comics

:D Like I mentioned in my last post, I've kind of got comics on the brain lately. I'm growing esp. fond of the one-panel comic genre. It is hard to explain: maybe it has something to do with the experience being non-linear. Or maybe it is because the subjects often vary so widely. Of course it doesn't hurt that there's usually not much to read*. Anyway, I thought I might highlight some of my favorite one-panel comics. Many of them you've probably heard of* and some of them are more obscure. Common newspaper ones include Bizzaro (which has a neat co-posting arrangement* with Neatorama), the Lockhorns, Herman, That's Life, Pardon My Planet, and Rhymes With Orange. And then there was the Far Side: the world may never see another comic so great. (For full disclosure, not all of these are always one-panel, but most of them are most of the time.) There are a whole slough* of web comics out there which I have only barely gone through. Most of them haven't made the "big time" (e.g. newspapers) because of either content or quality of drawings. But I think they are often as good or better than their printed cousins. Anyway, be warned: these may not appeal to everyone's taste. See Mike Draw and The Fretting Zoo. Also, XKCD is worth a mention although it is only occasionally one panel. Anyway, did I miss any? Do you have any good one-panel web comics that you'd like to share?

Monday February 4 2008

File under: misc, links

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on Tue 05th Feb, 2008 03:12 pm PST Joe Wilbur said: no but if i may rebel against your one panel kick and recommend another online comic strip which happens to be multi-paneled for the most part? occasionally you do get a single panel, so i guess it does apply. www.achewood.com There's a whole archive for you guys to go through, several years worth of laughs. you're welcome. ************************

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R. Crumb at the Frye

Museums = culture*, right? Whenever I am feeling under-cultured, I try to find my way to a museum, preferably art*. On a recent visit to Seattle, in an effort to pass the time and up my lagging culture, I visited the Frye Art Museum. It was my first visit, but the great experience insured that it won't be my last. The exhibition we went to see was about R. Crumb, a name that I have heard many times but never could quite place. After seeing some of his pieces, I realized that I was quite familiar with his work. The reason that I didn't make the connection is because I didn't think comics would ever make it to the walls of a museum. There were great examples of his work from one panel posters to 4 page comic book stories and much in between. Not only was it great to see a more accessible form of art in a museum, it was great to see some of the process of a famous comic artist (what with me spending an increasing amount of time thinking about my comic series). Anyway, if you are look for a fun time that can also be cultural, check out the Frye Art Museum in Seattle. Oh, and I almost forgot, it's free!

Sunday February 3 2008

File under: misc

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on Sun 03rd Feb, 2008 01:01 pm PST Joe Wilbur said: free is good....that does look really familiar ************************ on Sun 03rd Feb, 2008 01:06 pm PST Jule said: they made a documentary about him, called Crumb. His life and family are probably a little different than say Charles Schulz or Jim Davis. Nice post! and Keep on Truckin' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:KeepOnTruckin'.jpg) ************************ on Mon 04th Feb, 2008 12:03 pm PST Saxtor said: That documentary is THE one that can be credited with my thus-far lifelong obsession with the genre. Such a strange movie, but oh so great. ************************ on Mon 04th Feb, 2008 08:34 pm PST jule said: If I could hyperlink, I woulda done that. oh! my boring text! ************************

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FC 17 - On Being Unique

I was feeling particularly creative this week so I had a go at the artistic side of the comic myself. Granted it is nothing in comparison with the usual artist types I sucker* into doing the dirty work, but it gets the jobs done. After dinking around in Paint Shop Pro* for a long time, I was again reminded how talented my other comic artists are and how grateful I am for their contribute. It is kind of a coincidence that this comic is running this week where we got snow here in Anacortes. I've had the idea for a while, actually probably the last time we had a good snow.

Thursday January 31 2008

File under: comic

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on Fri 01st Feb, 2008 09:20 am PST mandy said: this is actually my favorite comic yet! simple & meaningful ************************ on Fri 01st Feb, 2008 10:49 am PST Joe Wilbur said: haha. that's pretty good. i like it. what a messed up little snowflake, poor guy. :-) ************************ on Fri 01st Feb, 2008 11:35 am PST Amiel Martin said: I like the "real world" out the window ************************ on Sat 02nd Feb, 2008 09:36 am PST cardboard said: at least it aint turned to groppel or even worse....remember rain is just snow that went horribly bad ************************

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GreenPrint

A friend of mine works for a company down in Portland with a really great idea which turned into a really great product. The idea is to minimize the amount of printing we do from our computers not by threats, guilt, or peer pressure*, but simply by eliminating all unwanted/unnecessary printing, like those pesky near-empty pages that always seem to show up after printing a web page. As I understand it (I've never actually used the product because I only print about 4 pages per year and I am extremely cautious to make sure there aren't extra pages), this program intercepts the data sent to the printer and then allows you to pick and choose what you want to print. It also has other options like printing to PDF and tracking paper saved. The company is called GreenPrint and they've just offered up a version of their software for free called GreenPrint World. The two minor downsides are that it is only available for PC (sorry Maccies) and there is a little bit of "tasteful advertising" involved. Anyway, you should check it out. Besides a listing of their products (they also have corporate versions which could really do some change), they have some interesting facts about office paper consumption. Go forth and print green. After all, millions of trees can't be wrong.

Wednesday January 30 2008

File under: links, environment

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on Wed 30th Jan, 2008 01:38 pm PST Saxtor said: I saw a writeup on this yesterday on Lifehacker. Seems pretty cool, however the addition of yet another dialog box in order to print doesn't seem particularly appealing to me. I do manage to avoid those rogue blank pages, but they do come through every now and then, so I could see it being helpful. ************************ on Thu 31st Jan, 2008 03:24 am PST Ryan Walters said: I thought this was going to be cool when I saw it a few days ago... then I installed it. It shrugs off Windows conventions, using dark green buttons (with black text!) and non-standard tabbed dialogs. It has a tray icon for no apparent reason and is constantly in memory. Its feature set is limited. I only run into blank pages when printing from the web, and if you just choose Print Preview in IE you can see if any blank pages are coming and eliminate them from the print range. If you find you really need GreenPrint's capabilities, I'd suggest investing instead in FinePrint which, although not free, has a much larger feature set and has been around for more than a decade. ************************ on Thu 31st Jan, 2008 03:25 am PST Ryan Walters said: Here's an alternate way to reduce the amount of printing waste. ************************ on Fri 01st Feb, 2008 10:53 am PST Joe Wilbur said: or here's an idea. if you get an extra page printed that's unnecessary, flip it over and stick it back in the printer. i mean even if you're printing a resume on it, you really think they're gonna look at the back? didn't think so. ;-) ************************ on Fri 01st Feb, 2008 11:16 am PST Caitlin McCool said: Thanks for the post Wren. GreenPrint World is having a lot of success so far, which is really exciting for us as a start-up! It's understandable that Ryan would want to compare us to FinePrint, but unfortunately that is a fairly specialized product that isn't designed for the average user and doesn't have the environmental tracking ability included in GreenPrint (if you click on the system tray icon you'll be able to see your savings in terms of dollars, pages & greenhouse gasses).If anybody wants to discuss the program with me directly, feel free to drop me a note at caitlin@printgreener.com ************************ on Fri 01st Feb, 2008 11:21 am PST Joe Wilbur said: Ryan = served ************************ on Sun 03rd Feb, 2008 11:29 am PST Sean said: i usually just cut and paste into a word document and then shrink the font.Less paper used = Less money out of my wallet. ************************

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Snow Day

Wasn't it just a week ago that I was diving into the waters of the Pacific to go for a nice swim? Well, this morning I woke up to a couple inches of snow covering the ground. For those of you in Iowa, Minnesota, and Ohio, you probably don't fully appreciate the way snow affects places that don't get snow very often. It is looked on as a novelty rather than a hassle. And since around here it usually doesn't last through the day, you gotta get out and take advantage of it when you can. First thing this morning, I put on some gloves and went outside to scope the quality of the snow: decent for packing and enough to embark on a modest-sized project. After mulling it over for a bit, I came up with the idea of building an arch. It felt very Andy Goldsworthy-esque. As I worked, the snow got even better for packing which I knew meant it was melting fast. Well, I'm proud of my little arch – so proud, in fact, that I went a little crazy with the camera. Here is an attempt to make it bigger than it is and here is Tussieroo enjoying it*. After my snow architecture session, I went up to the local sledding hill with the neighbors. (Sled technology is vastly improved since my days.) Good times in the snow. They say more snow for tomorrow. Maybe I will attempt something more ambitious like an igloo*.

Monday January 28 2008

File under: misc, pics

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on Mon 28th Jan, 2008 11:14 pm PST Horge said: Good times. When did we build that? During some break, right? But then some Villager peed in it. Darn drunkies. ************************ on Fri 01st Feb, 2008 11:40 am PST Joe Wilbur said: I do think it's funny how we were "supposed" to get a whole bunch more snow and haven't seen anything since... ************************

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Mexico Pictures for All

I tried to take pictures on this trip. I wasn't always where the action was and my camera accidentally got switched to macro mode for a while rendering those pictures not so great, but overall I got a few good ones. Other people got a lot of good ones too. (Many of the pics I've used on the blog have come from other people's cameras.) Anyway, one of the great things about group trips is that afterwards, everyone can share their pictures with everyone else. For all those interested, I've posted my photos on Photoworks.com (disclaimer: I used to work for them and might very well do the same in the future*). To see them, click here. Or if that interface doesn't suit you, you can try this one. (I don't really understand why there are two different shares and what the difference is. Maybe one you have to have an account to view and the other you don't. I dunno. That all came about after my stint.) If any other fellow veggie bussers have their pictures somewhere shareable, I'd be stoked to get copies. Who knows when I will get the urge to scrapbook*, do a slide show, or relive that crazy month of January of aught 8.

Sunday January 27 2008

File under: pics, Mexico

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on Mon 28th Jan, 2008 02:58 pm PST Amiel Martin said: my photos at: http://flickr.com/photos/21948453@N07/sets/72157603521820338/ ************************ on Mon 28th Jan, 2008 09:41 pm PST Wren said: Those pictures are better than mine. And it looks like I missed out on a good time on the sail. Alas. ************************ on Mon 04th Feb, 2008 03:00 pm PST Joselynn said: Hola Wren, I have pics posted up at: www.flickr.com/photos/organikfanatik ************************

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Mexican Food

River and I at one of the many taco stands. (The cook was nice enough to offer to take the picture) I love Mexican food. More specifically, I guess, I love American*-style Mexican food, as that was pretty much all I knew...until recently. Mexican-style Mexican food is awesome! Granted they don't have some of the staples of their northern cousins (burritos and chimichangas all seem to be imports to Mexico rather than exports), but the street tacos can't be beat. Even after eating mostly Mexican food for a month straight (I'll admit I had a hamburger every now and again), I am not even close to tired of anything wrapped in a torilla. Aside from the great gobs tacos and quesadillas I ate, I also got to try a few new things: ceviche tostadas, fruit flavored tamales, and avocado pie. Oh man, the avocado pie at Tacos y Mas in Yelapa really hits the spot. (Add that to your list, Sunset Magazine.) So unlike Italian food in Italy and Chinese food in China, I rate Mexican food in Mexico as as good as or better than the interpretations I grew up knowing. The food alone is a good enough reason to head south.

Saturday January 26 2008

File under: food, Mexico

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on Sat 26th Jan, 2008 06:14 pm PST Andrew said: Eat any chalupas? ************************ on Sat 26th Jan, 2008 06:27 pm PST Wren said: No chalupas, but I did have some gorditas (nothing like their Taco Bell counter parts) and churros (freshly fried right on the street (although the owner didn't want to dump his oil into our gas tank)) ************************ on Sat 26th Jan, 2008 08:18 pm PST Chris said: I don't know, Mexican food that has been blessed by a talking chihuahua? I'm skeptical. ************************ on Sat 26th Jan, 2008 11:52 pm PST Saxtor said: There is an unbelievable Mexican-style Mexican restaurant in Ballard called Senor Moose. The people who run it are super-friendly, and the food cannot be beat. I've heard great things about their brekky, but I haven't had the opportunity to verify that. ************************ on Sun 27th Jan, 2008 04:58 pm PST Sean said: I went on a big quesadilla kick while living in Houston, and I strongly advise you avoid the bacon quesadilla... ************************ on Sun 27th Jan, 2008 11:22 pm PST Wren said: There is a story behind the bacon quesadilla that is begging to come out. Let it out, Sean, let it out. ************************ on Mon 28th Jan, 2008 05:44 pm PST Sean said: Well, there was definitely a big something that I let out after the bacon quesadilla, but I'll spare you the details. ************************ on Thu 31st Jan, 2008 09:03 pm PST blank said: Wren, I'm going to have to disagree with you there. If you only eat street tacos then yeah, mexican food is pretty good, but from the extensive mexican restaurant eating (in Mexico) I've done over the years, I've come to not be very impressed at all with the food. Really in all the time I've spent in Mexico, the only good food I've had was made at home, or from a street vendor. ************************

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FC 16 - Alliday

This week's comic is a collaborative effort by a bunch of us bus people while we were sitting around waiting*. Well okay, most of us just sat around and said "wouldn't it be funny if you made him wear..." and then we all laughed but then realized it wouldn't really be that funny. Kelsey waded through what we all said and turned it into this brilliant comic. I like it so much, in fact, that I've posted the original, unaltered version here. (I did go ahead and colorize a version just to see how it would turn out. Not too bad*. (Oh, and while many of the previous comics* have been based in personal experience or represent my personal views, this one is/does neither. Any similarity to actual people or situations is purely coincidental.) To add a bit of interactivity to this one, let me ask this: how many holidays/special occasions can you see represented in the picture?

Thursday January 24 2008

File under: comic

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on Thu 24th Jan, 2008 11:38 pm PST Horge said: I see 13, but that's if you count Flag Day, Carpentry Appreciation Day, the shades are either celebrating Stevie Wonder's or Ray Charles' birthday and then there's International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Actually, put me down for 12 - Flag Day isn't a real holiday. ************************ on Fri 25th Jan, 2008 07:40 am PST Jule said: I usually try to compensate by wearing a tutu as well... ************************ on Fri 25th Jan, 2008 01:55 pm PST mandy said: what is coming out of dad's head? ************************

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