You are currently browsing the archive for the holidays category.
Ah, so true. So sad.
I’m finding getting into 2008 (despite my productive and massive 2008 priorities list) to be quite a drag, which is the opposite of what I was hoping for. I’m getting some things done, but I’m definitely not “having more fun” as I noted I should try hard to do in 2008. I also did a preliminary 2008 budget and cannot believe how strict and horrible it is. What was I doing before? Oh yeah, credit cards. Great. Anyway, how are you guys faring with 2008? Better I hope…
But I made it! Whooo! Now I can get back to important things, like drawing decent comics. This is number 50, which seems like it should be a milestone…but next to 52 books it seems minor at best.
I hope you are all digging into work with a happy fervor. I was disappointed to find that I was as miserable as ever at the thought of returning to work. It’s not like I have a horrible job or work with terrible people…the job is not so bad, certainly the most interesting and rewarding work I’ve had the opportunity to do thus far in life and the people are some of the best I’ve ever worked with, but it’s just not what I want to do with my life I guess, so it’s not so great to return to it after almost two weeks of freedom.
With the exception of being sick for several days over my break, I have to say I had an absolutely fantastic time…did exactly what I wanted all the time…hung out with Adam; played games with Adam – mostly lost to Adam 
; slept in; made pancakes; went to great restaurants; saw movies; did some home improvements – which were rewarding enough in the end to make it seem not so bad; watched some amazing documentary tv; and just layed around feeling free and happy reading and writing (not enough as usual) and drawing (also not enough). It was so great. I guess that is what made it so difficult to return to work. I just really want to get to a place where life is much closer to the break I just had, rather than getting that two or three weeks out of a year. But I suppose there is nothing original about that.
Damn. I didn’t mean for this to be a downer post…but sadly, that’s where it went. Happy New Years everyone…let’s get back to work I guess… 
I didn’t actually take a bite as it had onions in it (yuck! who puts onions in tuna fish? – apparently our diner that’s who!) but it looked just terrible, kind of greasy and like it would just lay down in the pit of your stomach and never digest. Not at all like it looked in the movie, all crunchy and light and delicious.
Anyway, onwards…towards 2008…a year in which I will do everything I said I would do last year. A year in which I will finish my second book (and third! – why stop at two?!). A year in which I will magically become thinner while still happily eating whenever I am hungry. A year in which an agent and publisher will magically appear for me (and will of course want to sign and publish me). A year in which money will come to me easily and leave me never. A year in the which the world will discover my genius…and instantly brand me an overnight sensation, blithely ignoring the fact that I have been toiling in obscurity for years…
What about you guys? Any insane out of control hopes, dreams, and, I hate the word but here it is… “resolutions” for 2008?
My only real true resolution (though I still hold on to those wild hopes and dreams) is that I don’t have a crappy New Years Eve…it is such a lame holiday, built up with too much fantasy and desperation and drama, just waiting in the wings for you to have a lousy night.
Adam and I plan to get out early tomorrow/today to see There Will Be Blood (can’t wait!) and then hope to try a restaurant I’ve been dying to try called The Mermaid Inn (they appear to have delicious lobster rolls – which I adore – what better way to end a year?) and if there is time, finally checking out The Museum of Natural History, which I have been heinously ignoring going on nearly three years here in the city. The ‘Mythic Creatures’ exhibit ends in January, so there is no more time to waste. We’ll probably end up at midnight the same as usual, in the apartment warm and cozy, Adam watching me down champagne and getting a late start on the first thanks to too much of it. But that’s not such a bad tradition I suppose.
What about you…hopes, dreams, resolutions…or just plans for the “big night”?
I actually got off the hook pretty lightly this year, which felt kind of wrong, and only wrapped maybe a dozen presents that weren’t from me. This is good because every year my body enjoys being cramped up on the floor for a couple hours less and less. Although that makes me feel as if I should ALWAYS volunteer, because if I don’t like doing it for my body’s sake, how must my parents feel.
Anyway, for those of you celebrating Christmas, Merry Christmas to you. For those of you celebrating something else, but having Christmas off since we live in America which loves to really only recognize and celebrate Judeo-Christian holidays (and let’s face it, mostly the latter part of that word only) – enjoy the well deserved break, assuming you get one, and if you don’t then an extra Season’s Greetings, because it sucks to work when everyone else is lying around eating too much and watching bad holiday programming.
Several people won multiple years in a row, the IT guy, a really great guy, won a the major prize last year (ironically, a computer) and then again this year won an Ipod Nano. The receptionist, a really great girl, won a stereo last year and a digital camera this year. I don’t think anyone really minded about those duplicate wins. But when an exec, one of the highest paid people at a company wins four years in a row and doesn’t turn down the prize any of those years? People start to get grumbly.
Sadly I have never won. In fact only one person has ever won from our little sister company and that was a guest of one of our staff, he won an ipod shuffle last year. It was exciting to feel we were even getting remotely close to being able to win…
I love this one…if only because it is just so damn true.
So here’s the business class/first class update (there was no first class on this flight, so business in effect was first class) and basically, I will never be able to go back to coach now, but I have some issues with the whole experience…come, let me tell you ALL about it. First of all, forget all the nightmare at the airport, while holiday masses snaked around an nightmare line waiting to check bags and such, I stepped up behind ONE guy in line and was done at the counter in less than three minutes, including wait time. My bag even got a little “business class” bright green tag and was one of the first, if not the first bag to come out of the shoot when I reached my destination. Even my bag flew better. Crazy.
The room for my giant (but shapely and attractive of course) ass, shoulders, arms, and legs was perfect, and if I could fix the airlines to my liking this is how everyone would fly, forget all the fancy bells and whistles, the seats would just be big enough to be comfortable for everyone and airlines wouldn’t understaff all their desks so none of us would have to wait so long. I’ll be honest with you, I don’t need the rest of it, all the extra service and doting, and in fact, knowing how people in coach are being treated (like chattle) it actually makes me uncomfortable.
I was offered a drink two times before even a third of the flight had finished boarding, and I was watching The Bourne Ultimatum before we had even taxied (however the hell you spell that). I was given a warm washcloth to refresh myself and was served a full (and surprisinly delicious) dinner complete with chocolate cake and as many drinks as they could possibly offer me. Are you serious?! Is this for real? It was actually embarrassing.
There is one equalizer, which I was actually surprised to find, though I don’t know why now that I think about it. Children. No matter how much money you pay, and how comfortable your seat is, you cannot insure that there will not be an annoying brat(s) sitting behind you that spend the entire flight asking inane questions and kicking your chair. I hated this kid. I have to admit she was pretty well behaved over all, but I still hated her and her ceaseless kicking and now, somehow magically empowered with the privlidge that my business class ticket had bought, I felt extra entitled to a “perfect ride” and wished for a business class that was “child free”. It also annoyed me that there are parents that have enough money to fly them and all their children Business Class…those are children that will grow up to be spoiled little brats. I flew coach most my life, and when I was a kid it didn’t bother me at all. It was exciting to fly there with my brothers, my legs had plenty of room, and so did the rest of me, it was a great adventure.
Really, if I could mold and shape the world to my demands this is what we would have:
First Class: All the rich and probably horrible people that need to have the ultimate comfort and be doted on from the time they arrive until the time they deign to depart. $$$$$
Business Class: Just what it says, Business Class travlers that are traveling primarily for Business (no children allowed here) and the service would be similar to FC, but not the ridiculous over the top doing. Nice roomy chairs and extra leg room would be the biggest perks, along with no kids allowed. $$$$
Adult Class: This would be like Business Class, the same comfortable size seats and leg room, and no children allowed, but none of the ridiculous unnecessary “extra services” like hot towels, and full hot dinners, and free alcohol. This is where I would choose to fly. $$$
All Class Plus: This would allow all passengers, including those pesky kids, but would be a more comfortable more roomy ride, with the same seats and leg room of the Business and Adult Class where people are not jammed together like sardines. $$
Economy Class: This would be our coach. A complete madhouse free for all, with people jammed three together in a row, with seatbacks that jam into your knees whether reclined three inches or not. This class however, would at least become cheaper and could actually be economic, because the airlines would be getting more money for the other classes, so while your flight would suck, as it does now when you fly coach, at least you wouldn’t be paying ridiculous fees for it – as opposed to the $900 Delta wanted to charge me to fly coach to Utah jammed next to two other people in my own personal hell.
That was the real reason I upgraded this time, had I been able to get a ticket for a few hundred dollars, I never could have rationalized the $1400 Business was going to cost me, but when I realized it would be less than $500 for a completely different, relaxing, non-injury inducing flight (last time I flew coach I hurt my back pretty badly the following day, and I primarily blame the stress and discomfort of that flight), I figured it was the best possible gift to give myself.
I shudder at the idea of paraphrasing a Cameron Crowe movie and Renee Zelleweger no less (the former for fear Adam will decide he cannot love me anymore, and the latter for fear I will not be able to love myself anymore) but here goes, “First Class used to just mean a better seat and a better meal, but now it means a better life”
It’s true and it’s sad.
Well, on that happy note…I hope you’re all kicking off your holidays right. We’ve got like eight inches of gorgeous snow here and I’m really glad I don’t have to go anywhere in it and can just admire it from the comfort of the couch with a hot chocolate. Please remember to check in next week if you get bored or need to escape the family as I’ll be posting comics all week.
Wish me luck…flying today! Good luck to all of you, especially if you’re traveling over the holidays.
See you tomorrow, with a journal comic fresh from Salt Lake City Utah (no, I’m not a mormon. Yes, I know that was what you were thinking. How do I know? Because that is the first thing that pops into everyone’s mind.)
My co-worker Jeff took some awesome pictures of the process which I’ve posted below. My hand has recovered a bit, but I know that doing my comics in advance of my vacation is what really put my poor hand over the edge. My parents don’t have a set up I am very familiar with, as in I think they have a scanner, but no photo editing software, so I decided to prepare all my comics prior to leaving for vacation, so that I can keep you, my 12 loyal readers entertained
Some of these aren’t translating very well to small photos, but I’m posting anyway. I’m also strangely missing a photo of the most important part – the hand applied wax seal after the card is folded! Use your imagination I guess
Card and Envelope.
Stack of cards, pre-folds
Love this photo!
This one is great too. Makes me think I’m working in a sweat shop…but it’s not that bad, really.
Need help with a creative and unique present for the holidays? Check out my great friend and amazing artist Rebecca Hahn’s Rotobee Shop, she has some really beautiful amazing stuff.
My favorite currently are her horoscope girl prints, a perfect gift for any girl that likes to know about her horoscope, even if she won’t admit it (me!).
My personal favorite (of course) is her Cancer print (pictured above), since that’s my sign, and since the beautiful Rebecca got my very Cancer perspective when designing it. Courtesy of Rebecca I have one of these beautiful prints at my house and can’t wait to get it framed and hung.
I urge you to check out her shop before all the best stuff has been discovered and purchased!
