These lyrics are keeping me afloat right now. I'm not her biggest fan, but Hilary Duff's youthful-yet-mediocre singing only complements the point of this song. Funny how that works out.

In a moment everything can change
Feel the wind on your shoulder
For a minute all the world can wait
Let go of your yesterday

Can you hear it calling?
Can you feel it in your soul?
Can you trust this longing and take control?

[CHORUS]
Fly
Open up the part of you that wants to hide away
You can shine
Forget about the reasons why you can't in life
and start to try 'cus it's your time, time to fly

All your worries, leave them somewhere else
Find a dream you can follow
Reach for something when there's
nothing left and the world's feeling hollow

Can you hear it calling?
Can you feel it in your soul?
Can you trust this longing and take control?

[CHORUS]
Fly
Open up the part of you that wants to hide away
You can shine
Forget about the reasons why you can't in life
and start to try 'cus it's your time, time to fly

And when you're down and feeling low,
just want to run away
Trust yourself and don't give up
You know you better than anyone else

In a moment everything can change
Feel the wind on your shoulder
For a minute all the world can wait
Let go of yesterday

[CHORUS]
Fly
Open up the part of you that wants to hide away
You can shine
Forget about the reasons why you can't in life(can't in life)
and start to try(start to)
Fly
Forget about the reasons why you
can't in life(can't in life)
and start to try (start to try)
'cus it's your time, time to fly
In a moment everything can change

So it turns out that I am one of the very lucky women whose physical response to a pap smear is unrestrained, hysterical laughter. I tell you it was quite a sight: me with my legs spread, the medical assistant passing tools, the gynecologist poking and prodding, and all three of us laughing like maniacs. As the doctor aptly put it, "it's better than crying!"

While my insides were tickled pink, my outsides are still struggling with work. After finishing Blackbirds, I've practically crashed head first into un-productivity. Next time I shall pace myself more reasonably when working on such a large project to avoid this burn out. Even as I'm writing this, though, I am drawing (not simultaneously, of course - the drawing is sitting next to me... but if I could type and draw at the same time...). I also hope to make some progress on the next strip for Black Ink Bird today.

Other than my piling work, life is pretty boring at the moment. The most exciting events of June were going to Boomers (a big arcade/mini-golf/go-cart place) and meeting two relatives I've never seen before. Yup. Good times. Tomorrow I hope to visit my friend Dayanna, who I haven't seen in about a year! I miss that lady. :3

I also miss my friends in Olympia. And my friends at in Georgia, as always. And Texas. Damnit. Why can't I live in several places at once??

If you want to post this on your own blogs or social networking sites to spread the word for other comics fans to take the survey, feel free to do so. The survey is open today 6/23 until Sunday 6/28.

************************************************

Hello, my name is Miguel Gonzalez and I am a Psychology graduate student at St. Mary's University in San Antonio, TX. I am conducting research focused on understanding the factors that influence readers' perceptions of female characters as they are portrayed in comic books. My goal is to develop a survey that measures readers' perceptions accurately, reliably, and consistent with my theory, but in order to do this, I need your help!

By clicking here.

and filling out the survey you will be helping me collect important data that adds to the (relatively small) body of knowledge pertaining to comic books. Most research is done using college students which severely limits the ability to generalize the findings to the larger population, especially the population of people for who this research matters, comic book readers! To ensure your voice is heard follow the link and take the survey, and equally important, direct anyone you know who reads comic books back to this announcement so that they can take the survey as well.

The survey will only be available from Tuesday, June 23 until midnight Sunday, June 28. Data will not be collected after Sunday to allow enough time to analyze the data and write up the results to meet my deadline.

My research is in no way affiliated with any publishing company or marketing research firm. The survey is completely anonymous and as a participant you will not be placed on any mailing list, as a matter of fact at no time during the survey will you have to provide your email address or name. The study has been approved by the St. Mary’s University Institutional Review Board and regulated by said Board and the Federal Government. Participation is voluntary and I’m sorry but compensation can not be provided. What can I say, I’m a poor grad student and what little money I do have goes to feeding my own comic book addiction. Thanks in advance to everyone who takes the survey, you help is greatly appreciated!
-Miguel Gonzalez

Blackbirds is now available for sale! Click here to purchase it at IndyPlanet.com.

Here's the teaser for you all. ;3

"For Dante, life as a guy with only one wing isn’t easy. Poverty never helps much either. Frustrated with the hypocrisy and discrimination all around him, he spends most of his time alone, perusing the discarded treasures of the rich and the wasteful in the privacy of his own junkyard. When forced to get a job to help out his family, he confronts the fact that there are people out there just like him who face similar problems, even though their faces differ vastly from his."

Click on the cover image below to see some sample pages!



*jumps for joy*

Just updated my web comic, Black Ink Bird! Make sure to check it out. ;3

Blackbirds is now available for sale! Click here to purchase it at IndyPlanet.com.

Here's the teaser for you all. ;3

"For Dante, life as a guy with only one wing isn’t easy. Poverty never helps much either. Frustrated with the hypocrisy and discrimination all around him, he spends most of his time alone, perusing the discarded treasures of the rich and the wasteful in the privacy of his own junkyard. When forced to get a job to help out his family, he confronts the fact that there are people out there just like him who face similar problems, even though their faces differ vastly from his."

Click on the cover image below to see some sample pages!



*jumps for joy*

So I renamed my blog - wadyano.

Before it was titled "Supertheory of Supereverything" after a Gogol Bordello song that I like. Now it is titled "La Madre de los Tomates."

"And what in God's holy water-rusted name does that mean?" is what you're all surely thinking.

"La madre de los tomates" is a Cuban colloquialism that literally translates as "the mother of (the) tomatoes." It roughly means the same thing as various American sayings, including:

- the whole shebang
- the whole package
- the whole nine yards
- the kit and caboodle
- the whole enchilada
- including the kitchen sink

Et cetera.

Basically, it means everything.

Working on Blackbirds means I've been a shut-in for the past two weeks, leaving the house only to go to class and other important meetings. Today, I took a much needed break with Jon: we went hiking! We go to the Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA, which is completely surrounded by acre upon acre of forest, including a shared border with the Puget Sound. We got exercise, picnicked on the beach, talked about everything from imperialism in the Middle East to women's liberation to the meaning of meaning, had a doe sprint past us on our way back - it was fantastic. :)

While hiking to the inlet, I decided it would be fun to go "off the beaten path" so to speak, so we wound up taking a most treacherous route to the beach (re: I'm a big-city wimp who can't climb trees and thinks giant slugs are scary)! We had to navigate our way up steep, muddy inclines; use natural log bridges to cross ravines; leap across streams; and cling to trees to avoid sliding down tall, muddy banks. Not to mention fight off hordes of man-eating giant slugs (I exaggerate). Being me, I was horrified! But I'm glad we did it. It was a great experience, and it got me thinking about my existence as an animal who lives out of context with the rest of the natural world - the world, as it is (as opposed to the structures we build in it).

I have no flowing prose to offer today. I'm much too busy to write an essay or a story. I'm too busy drawing one.

I'm working on the first comic book I will ever self-publish, titled Blackbirds. It's half "project for my class" and half "something I've always wanted to do:" a comic book about race. Here's the teaser for those of you who are curious.

"For Dante, life as a guy with only one wing isn’t easy. Poverty never helps much either. Frustrated with the hypocrisy and discrimination all around him, he spends most of his time alone, perusing the discarded treasures of the rich and the wasteful in the privacy of his own junkyard. When forced to get a job to help out his family, he confronts the fact that there are people out there just like him who face similar problems, even though their faces differ vastly from his."

So. That's what I'm up to. Two weeks to go. :)

-Joamette Gil

I've been thinking about dresses.

A lot.

I was always branded as the one who people "just can't picture in a dress."

So when I do where a dress or skirt, it knocks people out.

I only own one casual, "everyday" dress, and I seldom wear it.

I like how I look in that dress, and I feel comfortable in it. So why don't I wear it more often?

Habit.

So I've been thinking about incorporating more dresses into my wardrobe because I'm starting to get tired of My Classic Look (TM): jeans and a t-shirt. Don't get me wrong - it's the best combo ever. I'm just bored.

I was checking out some of the dresses on http://www.pinupgirlclothing.com/ because I know their styles rock (not that I could afford any of it). I will probably end up buying some dresses from Goodwill, select thrift stores, or even Walmart or Target.

Yeah, I know - I'm a bad person. :P

Edit:

OMG.

I really hate this dress.

http://www.anntaylor.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=9040&categoryId=2259&subCategoryId=2262&cid=CS001&srccode=cii_10043468&cpncode=22-16600709-2

But the website's zoom feature is SO cool! Scroll your mouse over the image! Go on, do it!

Isn't that NEAT?!

I updated my web comic - woohoo!

http://www.blackinkbird.com/

We just got back last night from our second craaaaazy trip to San Jose for the writing workshops with Serena Valentino. We'd all reached the plot synopsis/condensed summary/character bios phase of the operation, so we all got our first critiques from Serena. She says that she really loves my idea and that I'm off to a great start - hurray! Now I've just gotta finish all of the character bios and art, plus finish polishing the plot synopsis so I can begin writing the script. :D

This weekend I also got to hang with Leigh more, which was fun. :) We watched the first episode of True Blood together, which was really, really, REALLY bad in a I-want-to-go-die-now sort of way. She also introduced me to another show which is ridiculously bad on purpose and really funny. On Saturday she recommended that I watch the anime Vision of Escaflowne, so now that's on my list (as soon as I FINALLY finishing watching Sailor Moon Stars).

This weekend was incomparably awesome.

Jon and I signed up for a writing workshop held by Serena Valentino at Slave Labor Graphics HQ in San Jose, CA. We live all the way up in Olympia, WA, but we both decided to go for it since we're a) huge fans of SLG and b) more than a little insane. There was no way on this green earth that we could drive 13 hours to get to San Jose and retain a single word Serena would say on Saturday, but thankfully we were able to break the trip up into 10 hours on Friday and 3 hours on Saturday morning by spending the night at ldragoon's house. I just wish we'd gotten there a few hours earlier to spend more time with her and Gordon (Leigh - YOU ARE A GODDESS! <3). Eating breakfast with them was really nice. :)

The drive to Antelope (around Sacramento, where Leigh and Gordon live) was AMAZING! I'm from Miami, FL, where palm-lined medians constitute most of the natural environment and the land is as flat as month-old soda. The stretch from Southern Oregon down through Northern California was filled with rolling hills and foothills; snow-capped mountain peaks jutting up through clouds; miles and miles of evergreen forests; deep river valleys and the massive Lake Shasta. I'd never seen anything like it. As breathtaking as the sights were, they were also a disheartening reminder that there are people who could look upon such grandeur and see "potential" for the land, see nothing.

Ironically, the palm trees we saw littering San Jose on Saturday made me very happy, in a nostalgic sense anyway. Saturday was the first in a series of 4 workshops taking place over subsequent Saturdays (skipping over May 2nd, which is Free Comic Book Day). During the workshops, Serena is going to guide is step-by-step as we write the scripts for the first issues of our comics (mine is actually going to be structured as a one-shot, but we'll see what happens).

For workshop 1, she had us each tell her how far we were in the creation process. Several people already had ideas in mind for which they needed to flesh out character descriptions and series summaries. Others had way too many ideas to pick one; her advice to them was to choose the one they genuinely felt was their favorite or the best developed - no use in working on something you don't have faith in! There were also people like me who had only the vaguest of themes in our minds. I told Serena the process I had gone through to take my idea from something daunting and aloof to a more personally-driven narrative with a single main character, and she said I was off to a good start. Next week she wants to see a at least a plot summary (plus a condensed version) from everyone. Her main suggestion to us all was to think in terms of 6 issues because it was highly unlikely that any publishers would be willing to commit to anything longer given the current state of the economy (works for me). The woman was just overflowing with valuable advice that's easy to forget/not think about, plus she is incredibly down-to-earth and friendly.*

She had us watch a silent film called Sunrise directed by F.W. Murnau (of Nosferatu fame) as an example of visual narrative techniques. The film was very well made, but the dated acting and sexist undertones made for much hilarity. She wants us to practice never saying anything that could just as easily be portrayed through imagery. And at the end, we got homework! YAY!

My homework is to write a 1 to 2-page summary of my plot, write a one paragraph condensed version, and start fleshing out my main character. On top of that, I have a pile of books on race relations I still have to read for class. Good times ahead!!



*Side Note: Some of the people in the room were unnecessarily obnoxious whenever she tried to point out good visual techniques in the film; I guess some people got too caught up in our wild (albeit fun) game of Mystery Science Theater. One person in particular did something really sexist while she was dispensing advice before the film. Needless to say I was infuriated, but I wasn't sure what do (if anything). Suffice to say that what he did could warrant a whole separate rant, or even a comic... hmmm.

Wow. My friend witchrevolt just "nudged" me using LJ to make me update my journal. I didn't know you could do that with LJ!

Anyway, I'm having a total-lack-of-focus moment, so I'll post a quickie before getting back to my oh-so-important homework. :P

Work Status: I've fallen behind on my readings! BAD! Gotta read twice as fast for the next two weeks to read these six books! On the positive side, the first session of Serena Valentino's comics writing workshop is this Saturday, and I get to go and meet the awesome ldragoon in the process. Two points! I've also gotta update my comic somehow... I JUST found out that my scanner was delivered to my door 1 WHOLE WEEK AGO; for some mysteeerious reason, the FedEx guy thought it was okay to leave the package with my neighbor (who I DON'T know). Is that an acceptable delivery practice that I was unaware of? Because it's really creepy!!

Life Status: Buffy the Vampire Slayer is officially the bane of my existence - I've been SO distracted by that show for weeks. I should have just given into the peer pressure in middle school and watched it then. The good news is I FINISHED ALL 7 SEASONS! Now I just need to exercise some self-control and stay away from the Season 8 comic (which had to be in comic form because Joss Whedon would have to start crapping money to afford the SFX a live action version would demand). Oh! And Jon and I went with our friend Mish to Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle this past Sunday. We got to see Ted Naifeh, Becky Cloonan, Keith Knight, Erica Moen, Phil Foglio, and Jewel Staite from the cast of Firefly and Stargate Atlantis. Good times.

Emo-Status: Yes. You have no idea.

My God...

I...

I have a website now.

*cue hallelujah choir*

I've got my first comic strip up. I want to do anywhere from 1 - 3 per week from now on. They're all going to be based on current events that piss me off: trust me, it'll be fun. :)

There is still some housekeeping to be done, but here she is: http://www.blackinkbird.com/

I had no idea my friend was doing this:

http://www.myspace.com/thedallasfiasco

Tonight is opening night! I'm part of the cast of this year's Vagina Monologues at my school, and I am SO excited! All the proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the worthy cause of ending violence against women.

This gets performed at universities all over the country on Valentine's Day weekend, so find a performance near you and learn to love vaginas!

This year, 2009, I resolve to:

1. Achieve CSS competence.

2. Build a proper portfolio/comics site using CSS.

3. Finally finish coloring A Colorful Character.

4. Print A Colorful Character (sale), Queer (handout), and a compilation issue of Manga Punk Monthly (handout) in preparation for conventions.

5. Prepare other convention essentials such as personal cards, art portfolio, ad cards, bookmarks, etc., by April.

6. Attend Emerald City Comic Con and/or Sakura-Con, both in Seattle, WA; try my very best to have an artist alley table at one or both.

7. Get my shit together with 22DA1000N (top-secret comics project! ...not really).

8. Study abroad in Japan this summer.

9. Go to the gym for strength training AT LEAST once a week; drag Jon with me.

10. Draw SOMETHING (even if it's just an incomplete doodle) every day for a whole year (so far so good).

11. Formally introduce Jonathan to my parents this summer.

12. Spend Spring Quarter drawing comics about current events and political economy (for school credit).

13. Get more scholarships.

14. Be happier!

HAPPY NEW YEAR PEOPLE!!!

A list of my resolutions - coming soon!

I'm pretty happy that I made most of them happen last year. :3

Good to everybody! May life, love, and luck all smile upon you!!