Beetlejuice, Guest Comic, and Thesis

As you may or may not remember from an earlier post, I've signed up and have been working on Artist Trading Cards. One such swap that I'm signed up for and participating in is a Tim Burton swap. Being a huge fan, I wanted to join in the fun.

After seeing what some of the others have submitted as their cards, I was noticing something rather startling: a lack of Beetlejuice characters. So I rewatched the film to get some ideas for my cards. I can't say that the film has aged well, but even as a kid I remember thinking that Michael Keaton did a great job as the ghost with the most. Seriously, this is one of the most-underated performances, right up there with Jeff Bridges' The Dude in The Big Lebowski. Keaton's voice changes, general zaniness, and random gropings make it hard to even recognize that this is the same guy that played Bruce Wayne. Good stuff, Mr. Keaton, good stuff.

In other news, I produced a comic for Michael Elder's Lost in Thought. He is the fine artist/writer that gave me yesterday's guest comic. It's a bit of a swap, and a partial payment for all his help in designing the new site for Gibberish. I plan on doing more for him too, as his characters and storyline offer up all sorts of gibberish-esque goodness. Plus, I've forgotten how much I enjoy working with multiple panels.

And lastly, my thesis is seriously one step away from being done. Once I encorporate the final changes from my mentor, it is off to my second reader, then off to the binder. And the best part is, is that this means my novel is also one step away from being finished. So be wary all you literary agents and publishers, awesomeness is on the way.

Residency

Happy MLK day. I hope most, if not all of you, can have a bit of a holiday, on this a celebration of one of the greatest men to ever live.

As I said on Friday, I'd keep this brief, and basically catch everyone up to speed on what happened over the two week period where my retelling of Nutcracker Prince occurred.

This last portion had to do with my MFA program and the twice a year residencies that I attend. Unlike past residencies, this one was quite low key, going to bed at normal hours, still fighting off my sickness, bringing in the new year by playing Rock Band, and watching such films as The Triplets of Belleville, Godzilla: Final Wars, and The Big Lebowski. The true highlight of the whole thing came in the fashion of being paired with an amazing mentor to carry me through this final semester as I scramble to finish my thesis/novel, and whip up an interesting lecture to give this coming summer. My mentor's name is Karen Gettert Shoemaker, and she is an unbelievably intelligent woman that I believe will do everything she can to push me through the final goal posts. Her collection of short stories, Night Sounds and Other Stories, is not one to be missed.
That's really about it this time around. No real drama or craziness.

And that brings you all back up to speed, and allows me to finally comment on my recent comings and goings. Gibberish tomorrow, with a special guest artist on Thursday, so be sure you check back--at the very least--for that one. I'll introduce her more thoroughly on Wednesday.

Have a good one.