Wait...what?

Just a quick post to catch people up on what's going on.

TL is about done with her first year of graduate school.  She'll be coming down to visit in about a month.  We have a trip to Louisiana in May and then I'll be going up to Illinois for a couple weeks.  I've been given the opportunity to work remotely for a week, then take a week of vacation.  If that scenario works out, I might be able to do it again in the future.  I will also be returning via MegaBus.  I'm excited yet wary.  22 hours on a bus might be too much for me, but I will hopefully be able to sleep/read/draw the time away.

Ms. A is also graduating in a couple weeks.  She'll officially, after 20 years we figured, be done with her undergraduate studies.  She already has several plans for graduate studies.  Very exciting.

The biggest news lately is that Lil G officially has been diagnosed with ADD and as of today is now on medication for it.  I know a lot of kids are medicated for it and I know it's not a failure on our part that he needs it.  I still can't quite shake the feeling that he's going to change and it won't be the same little boy.  When I got the news I literally teared up and needed a moment.  After giving it some thought, it's going to be good for him.  Lil G is one of the sweetest kids I know.  He would give you the shirt off his back, provided it isn't a Beyblade or Star Wars shirt.  His downfall is just his lack of attentiveness.  He doesn't have bad grades (all As and Bs) and he's not mean or prone to outbursts.  He's just twitchy and it keeps him from being able to read and focus and learn.

So we're hopeful.  Today is STAAR testing and there's a good chance he will do well enough on it that he won't be held back.

On the other end of the spectrum, Lil Miss Austin has been having some behavior issues.  Recently it's resulted in some major disciplinary action.  She too is not a bad kid, but over time we've all discovered she's not the nicest.  If given the proper attention, (which let's face it parents, it's exhausting, right?) she's equally as sweet and fun.  If that slips for just a moment, she becomes manipulative and deceitful.  Punishing her, and Lil G if it's warranted, is the hardest thing to do as a parent.  I'd rather change diapers for an extra 5 years if it meant I never had to cancel a party or take away an object of affection or forbid an activity.

Hopefully, it's still early enough in her life that she won't follow this pattern and we're able to keep pushing her in the right direction.  Her grades are also good (all As at last check) but she has a problem of waiting till the last minute and panicking at the slightly hint of difficulty.  Some of her behavior is entirely too grown up for her, and some of it is obviously too young.  That's always been her MO.  Just when you think she's mature enough to handle something, she acts like someone years younger and the illusion is shattered.

Still, that's not all that's going on.

There's wedding planning.  We've put a deposit down on a place in Chicago where you spend the day learning metallurgy and at the end you forge your own rings.  TL's parents are helping with the planning in Louisiana and we've already got a place booked and a menu picked out.  TL and I are still debating about favors and decorations, but rest assured it's going to be 100% nerd.  We've also decided on a place in Austin to host a party and there will likely be karaoke.  It will be lots of fun.

If you haven't heard, I'm still drawing robots.  In fact, I finally got a commission to draw something and get paid in LEGO.  There was a guy who was the manager of the LEGO store in Austin who then moved on up in the world and became a community relations rep for LEGO.  So I'm drawing a nice big 14x17 of him as a cowboy space robot fighting an alien slug creature.  Just a reminder that you too can order a drawing.  I'm actually also trying to figure out ways to be paid in Starbucks cards.

I've also been exercising and eating better.   Since the end of February I've lost 14 lbs.  I haven't noticed any health improvements, ie I don't feel any different, but people have noticed and that's pretty cool.

That's all for now.  Carry on.

PS, the little guy in this photo was seen on the Capital building here in Austin.  I've been playing a game called Ingress, which is an Android based GPS turf war ARG.  (If you have an Android and are interesting, I can get you an invite code.)  So it involves a lot of walking and I'm really close to the Capital.  I just saw him sitting on the building as I was walking in from the bus.  TL says people would see them at UT and it meant you'd do well on your next test.

Create 2013 (Test Post)

So this is the artwork for the Create 2013 sponsored by SXSW and some local hacker groups.  This is mainly a test for Networkedblogs on Facebook, so don't read too much into it.

Carry on!

TL vs. Fedex

Fedex will not leave packages in front of my door. Based on my last conversation with Fedex, in which I told them that I never asked for signature on delivery, the customer service said that leaving a package "was up to the delivery person's discretion." So, basically, the Fedex people don't like my neighborhood; to those of you who've never been to my neighborhood, they really have no reason not to. It's has brick streets and old houses. It's very quaint and picturesque in the fall when the foliage is shades of orange and red and when covered with snow. I'm not sure why the Fedex people don't want to leave the packages on my porch, but I've had no real reason to care up an until this point. I did have to drive to the delivery office to pick up some boots and books that I ordered, but it's not very far.

HOWEVER, my generous and amazing parents decided to send me a King Cake. If you've never celebrated Mardi Gras season in Louisiana, you may not be familiar with them. They are delicious giant sweet rolls basically. Usually, they come with a filling (my favorite and the one that most people get - I think- is Bavarian cream). They have green, purple, and yellow icing for the season and have a small plastic baby Jesus inside. Whoever gets the baby Jesus has to buy the next King Cake. It's fun and fattening, but don't worry Catholicism comes with a built in diet - Lent. :) That being said, I am super excited for my fresh from Louisiana King Cake to be delivered to my apartment! (If you'd like one of your own this is where my parents ordered from this year: http://shop.rouses.com/c-8-king-cakes.aspx. These are also very good http://www.gambinos.com/shop/mg_packages.php).

One possible hiccup: Fedex is delivering it, and I will be on campus all day Wednesday, so I won't be home when it is delivered. In hopes that Fedex will leave my delicious present in front of my door, I left them a note. If Fedex does not, there will be swift online retribution and besmirching of their reputation. I posted the note below for your enjoyment. I shall update you on the delivery status later.

Carry on.

TL

UPDATE: Fedex responded very nicely (see photo below). I also added a photo of the King Cake in case you've never seen one. Here is a page telling about the history of King Cakes in Louisiana

The writing says, "You made my day.  Thanks. FedEx."

TL Post- Comic

Hello all! I'm having a fairly relaxed week so far because I got lots of work done during the extra day this weekend. With extra time on my hands, I drew a comic about what happens when Mr. Austin and I watch a TV show together. I will admit that this happens less via Skype, although I have fallen asleep at least once.

I apologize for the poor quality. It's just pen. :)

Carry on.

TL

Guest Blogger

Hi Everyone! TL here. I will be a guest blogger on Mr. Austin's blog. I don't know how much I will contribute, but a lot of it will probably be fun media stuff or news, maybe life stuff if you're lucky ;)

Wedding planning is going well. We'll update everyone when we have more news. School officially started today. I taught my two classes; they went as well as expected. Tomorrow I have a couple of seminars, then the real work will begin. I'm looking forward to my first conference in February and, of course, seeing Mr. Austin there.

NOW onto pop culture stuff. I watched the Golden Globes last night with a couple of my cohorts. If you watched or have been on the Internet today, Tommy Lee Jones was seriously grumpy. It was like he was still Thaddeus Stevens. I mentioned on Facebook that he needed to be compared to grumpy cat. I decided to make one because I had time. Below you'll find the original and my remake. Feel free to Facebook, Tweet, Tumble, Reddit, etc., but at least link back to the blog. Creative Commons!

Carry on.

TL

My Phone Hates Me

I wouldn't even chalk this up to first world problems.  I would chalk it up to me being a giant doofus.

Scenario one:  I'm walking from my bus stop to my office.  I'm not setting any records, but neither am I lollygagging.  I carry a messenger bag kind of across my back and my headphones plugged into my phone in my pocket.  Just as I cross the street, I pass a fire hydrant.  It's a section of sidewalk that's choked by utilities and you have to navigate one of two passages.  I take the one closest to the road.  My headphone cord catches the hydrant, my head snaps back and my phone jumps out of my pocket.

The phone, my biggest concern, is okay.  Thankfully.  I don't have a case on it, and it's a work issued phone, so I'm just happy nothing happened.  Its fall was buffeted by bungee cord the headphones became.  My next concern was my head.  It was really ripped back quite forcefully.  However, I didn't notice any stars or funny sounds or tastes so I guess I'm okay.  My third concern was if anyone saw me.  Hey, I'm only human.  I just managed to recreate a cartoon accident in real life.  Next to a bee or a spider web, this must be high on this list of amusing things to see happen to people at a distance.  I kind of hope someone saw and got a good laugh.

Needless to say the headphones were thrashed.  I've never seen trauma like this on a cord, it was very interesting.

Scenario two:  I'm visiting a comic shop looking for gifts.  As I walk in the door, I notice there's Christmas music playing.  I don't think anything of it.  It started as I walked in the door, it's holiday music, it's all very natural.

I find my gift, and then proceed to meander about looking at other items.  I'm partially aware of stares I'm getting, but I'm not giving it much thought.  At the time I just figured I was a guy dressed in business casual clothes in a comic store and people were eyeing me a bit.  I don't know.  This is also a game store, so there were guys at a couple tables playing something.  There's also a couple people at another table discussing music by the looks of it.  Also giving me a strange look.

I get back up to the front, trying to convince myself I don't need to start buying comics again, nor do I need that Serenity model or that Doctor Who action figure set (with all the Doctors) when I see a lady gesturing to me.  She obviously works there given that she's stacking shelves of comics from boxes.  I walk toward her thinking she's asking if I'm finding everything okay, but I can't really tell over the Christmas music.

She says, "Can you turn your music down?"

I blink stupidly.  My music?  What is she talking about?  "What?"

"That music, it's coming from you.  Is your phone on or something?"

Suddenly all those people staring at me flash through my mind.  I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone and it is indeed open on Pandora and it just happened to be on a holiday song.  (Not just any holiday song either, but some really obnoxious a cappella version of "O Come All Ye Faithful.")

I apologize, explaining I thought it was the store's music.  I fumble with it, trying to find the quit button all the while she's saying repeatedly that I really need to turn that off now, it's very disturbing.  I agree and again apologize.  Once I find it, the lag between hitting "quit" and it actually stopping could be measured in decades.  The music stops and I'm painfully aware of how quiet the store is.

I immediately head to the cashier, pay, apologize again (although the other lady said she didn't hear anything, thankfully) and leave.

Had I heard the music before I got into the store, I'd have known instantly it was my phone.  Had it been anything but holiday music, I might have figured it out.  But the combination of it starting as I entered and it being a Christmas song, just totally fooled my brain into thinking I wasn't a giant walking jukebox of cheer and holiday spirit.

I hope someone told their friends about that one too and they got a good laugh.

Carry on.

Made it so!

By now most of you already know.  Tiger Lily and I are engaged to be wed.

*fanfare*

I'm actually a bit stuck for words.

For those not following very closely, here's a quick run down.

In 2007, my now ex-wife and I split up.  She came back out of the closet and I was okay with it.  No harm.  It was difficult at first but in the end we stayed friends and roommates to raise our kids.  Her new girlfriend moved in and we got to know her family.  Among them was her younger sister, Tiger Lily (not her real name obviously.)  She was visiting Austin to get a look at the University of Texas.  She is several years younger than me, but something sparked between us and both of us were smitten.

It was rough at first.  Her family wasn't happy about it.  We tried keeping it from them for a long time, but eventually they knew and you can probably read back through the history of this blog to see for yourself.  (Although I may have deleted them, it was bad.)  Still, we persevered, knowing somehow that it would some day be worth the trauma.  And I'm glad to say it has.

I'm not entirely convinced her family totally approves, nor my family for that matter.  But we've come to realize that it's our life to lead and that there will always be unhappy or unsympathetic parties involved.  I can't change their minds and I don't want to.  It's their prerogative and I'm sure those who aren't happy for us are that way for their own perfectly acceptable reasons.  I just hope that in the end they at least respect our choice and let us move forward.

But all is not dystopian plains of remorse.  For the most part, everyone was pleased at the news and none more so than TL and me.  We have a lot to plan and thankfully a long time to plan it.  It's always been our choice that she finish her education no matter what.  This union we've agreed upon does not change the things we've planned to do.  To that end, the date we have in mind will likely be in 2014 when she's done with her masters degree.  After that she'll be going right back into it for her doctorate.  At that time, I may decide to move or I may not.  So far the long distance thing has been going great.  Not perfect, and the snuggling is clearly missing, but thanks to technology, it's not as bad as it could be.

For the actually joining, we're still deciding what to do.  Her parents would like a Catholic ceremony, but we're not practicing Catholics.  I'm sure both families would like a ceremony of some sort.  We had a plan of just getting the JP certificate and then having a big nerd party, but there's likely going to be some compromises and some changes before then.  Either way, we want it to reflect who we are above any traditional trappings.  Yes Star Wars, Lego, Lord of the Rings and Star Trek will all be a part of it, and probably more.  Because, well, we're nerds.  And we like that.

So there's that.  Thanks for listening.  I know ABC hasn't replied to my request to develop a story about my life.  Modern Family is pretty close, but I think them casting me with Ed O'Neill is a little hurtful.  I'm not THAT old.

Am I?

Carry on.

Ad Rating: Cadical ATS vs Nissan Pathfinder

I've been watching a lot of TV lately.  More so than usual.  I can't help it.  I like watching football on the weekend.  I'm not even a sports nut, I just like having it on.  There's something calming, almost nostalgic about the snaps and buzzes of snare drums on Saturday and the evening musical cues on Sunday and Monday.  It sounds like fall, like childhood.

Watching all this TV I've stumbled across a couple ads that are in stark contrast to each other, but are attempting to show the same thing.  I'm not an ad guru, or a marketing maven.  I'm just a person who appreciates good ad campaigns.  I don't like feeling patronized or needlessly hooked into a product.  No one does.  If you feel like someone is playing you for a sap, then the commercial just lost that company a client.

Let's start with the Cadillac ATS vs. The World.



At first glance, it's ambitious.  It's part Travel Channel, part James Bond.  The driver, his attractive and excitable passenger and the film crew travel to exotic locals in order to put this luxury car through its paces.  If it can handle THESE roads, it must be good.  It must be able to handle driving upstate to visit the family, or across town to catch that late night sci-fi/horror film.  Is there anything it can't do?

Well, yes.  It's just a car.  And let's put some perspective on it, it's still just driving on roads.  Yes, the roads are twisty and turny and bumpy and shadowed, but my guess is they are still flat ribbons on which this car goes forward with all tires touching at once.  Notice also that the car is brought in on a semi.  It's such a great car, it can't be bothered to cruise the pedestrian streets of Normalville.  It has to be carted in NASCAR style to these locations.

The car doesn't turn into Aquatron and swim to across that beautiful cove.  It doesn't fight those kid judo masters.  It doesn't plow across the ice flow.  It drives on a road.

The co-pilot's line "It's like Armageddon out there!" just solidifies that fact that Cadillac's marketing division really thought that viewers would buy into this whole adventure across the globe as a good way to show off their product.  The problem is, in the right hands, you could drive any car down these roads.  If you are a professional driver on a closed course, you don't need this specific car.  To me, this is an example of hype, and an ad campaign that's over blown and insulting.  It looks like an excuse for a group of people to travel the globe to "test" whether or not this car can handle these roads, as though the R & D people didn't think of that already, as though the safety team didn't smash up hundreds of cars just like this, as though hundreds of well educated people didn't already have their say.  Now we have Bo and Luke driving on a dirt road.

Where do I sign up for this job?

To top it off, it's not just ONE commercial.  Cadillac has created a whole TV/web video campaign about this car vs. The World.  There are episodes.  EPISODES!

By way of comparison, let's look at Nissan's Pathfinder commercial.  In this (remarkably shorter) ad, a family wants to see Glacier Point, but it's closed.  They feel their car can handle the terrain so they ask the trail guide to open it up for them.



What follows is a decent example of what a commercial CAN be.  It shows the car in action, it doesn't pander, it doesn't hype and it uses a bit of humor.  This car actually CAN go to exotic locations, but we aren't treated to the two hour IMAX hosted by Anthony Bourdain version showing us how.  It's simple, it's not overblown and it's not completely out of the realm of possibility.

I guess what it comes down to is why Cadillac may be trying so hard.  Their ATS is only $5k more on the base MSRP than the Pathfinder, but the latter is an all purpose vehicle.  Depending on the driver, it can be driven many ways.  The ATS is nearly a muscle car by comparisson.  It's a compact luxury sports car.  Nissan's site also lists the MPG for the Pathfinder, the ATS doesn't.  I guess "luxury" means we have to also deal with the pomp associated with the vehicle.

I wonder, would the sticker price be lower if they didn't have to pay for these people to fly all over the world doing what you could probably do driving around Colorado?

Movember

Tiger Lily reminded me that it's November, and that means it's another year to try Movember!  Movember is a time when guys enter the month clean shaven and then a grow a moustache (or mustache for us yanks) and raise money and awareness for men's health issue such as prostate and testicular cancer.  Much like October being all things pink, November is now all things mustache.

So I'm giving it a go.  I've already got a few pledges and that's good.  I don't have a goal other than to raise as much as I can.  You can read about the event online and if you'd like you can make a pledge.  

I don't plan on posting photos here every day, but I will put them up on a Flickr set if you're that hard up for entertainment.

Carry on.

Art Appreciation and Moral Integrity

A friend posted on Facebook that after viewing a certain type of behavior on Twitter by an artist they liked, they were now hesitant to keep buying this person's work.  When pressed, I gathered that it was mostly political rantings and that this artist was being a jerk about it to their followers.  This sparked a debate I've had internally for quite some time:  Is your appreciation of an artist's work contingent on how you see them as a person?

More simply, if they are a jerk, would you support them artistically?

We posted back and forth amicably, both of us agreeing that this situation was muddy at best.  I also started the conversation with Tiger Lily, wanting her take.  My initial argument came in the form of movie actors.  I like certain actors and their performances despite the fact that I know in their, sadly labeled, private life, they are either hard to work with, horrible to their friends and family or have a belief system that does not agree with mine.  I'm not terribly religious myself, but I do have an arguably inappropriate distaste for some religions.

That said, my example was Tom Cruise.  He's a believer in Scientology and his exploits in the public eye are weird at best.  In fact, I recall vividly how disappointed I was to find out that Will Smith was also a believer of Scientology.  However, I like Tom Cruise as an actor.  I know he's not the best, but I don't remember a movie he was in where I thought he was the worst part.  I enjoy his character portrayals, albeit limited, and I think he's pleasing to watch.  You could argue the same for any actor in a similar situation now, that despite their personal lives, they may be a very entertaining actor.

You could say the same, also, for writers, directors, musicians and artists.  And living or dead, these artists have or had some belief system that impacted their work in any number of ways.  But what makes us either continue to like their work or stop being a patron?  What throws that switch that says we will not support this person's endeavors because of how we feel personally?  And is it absolute or a level of gradation?

A few examples arose during our discussion, and these are two outliers.  The area's in between are the reason for this discussion.

Chinatown is arguably one of the best films of the 20th century.  Critics have always given it a high mark and film makers cite it as a groundbreaking piece of film.  However, it was directed by an alleged child rapist named Roman Polanski.  The charges against him lingered until his arrest just a few years ago, and even after his release by the Swiss government public opinion of him was negative.  Yet despite who Polanski is and what he allegedly had done (I only say that because he was never convicted) I've never heard anyone say, "I've heard Chinatown is great, but I won't watch it because Polanski is a child rapist."

On the other side is the online video The Innocence of Muslims in which a noted Islam basher creates a trailer for a film (that may or may not be actually ever released) that intentionally creates a false world around the prophet Mohammand in what can only be seen as an attack against Islam.  Creatively, these two examples aren't even remotely similar, but that's not at issue here.  What is is your desire to see it.  Chinatown may be thought provoking, expertly made, and wildly entertaining, but you know who made it.  The Innocence may be all these things as well, but its story is basically telling lies and is told by someone who hates the characters and their real life followers.  So now do you have any problem not seeing this movie?  Why?


Why do we love Chris Brown before he hit Rhianna?  Why do we love T.S. Elliot despite him being a rabid anti-semite?  Picasso left a trail of broken women and yet his art sells for hundreds of millions.

So what's the dividing line?  At what point do we say to ourselves that our principles outweigh our desire to be pleased by art or music or the written word?  Are we not capable of separating the work for the worker, the art from the artist?

The original poster added that if he had a lawn guy that did great work but was later found to be a raging bigot, he'd find a new lawn guy.  It's a shift in art as work versus a trade, but the question still remains.  What about them do you find so offensive that you will not accept good craftsman ship and should that even matter?  Will you let a homophobic cashier check you out at a grocery store?  Would you let a racist dispense cash at a teller window, or fix your A/C or rotate your tires?

Tiger Lily also flipped it on me by asking what I would do if I found out someone didn't order a drawing from me because of my lifestyle.  Maybe someone doesn't like that I'm pro-gay and pro-choice and I live with lesbians while raising my kids and they in turn will not commission work from me.  My response was, that's their right to do so.  Yes I'd be hurt, but in the end, it's their loss more than mine.  They've missed out on having a unique piece of work done specifically for them.  Their lives are less rich culturally because of their personal beliefs.  So does that make them feel better about themselves because they've taken a stand?  My guess is that if they find a gay-bashing, pro-lifer who draws robots, they probably won't care a whit.

Dragon*Con

(from Robot Portraits)

In about 72 hours I'll be in a hotel in Atlanta, anxiously awaiting the start of Dragon*Con.  It's my first visit to this particular event and it will mark the first out of state convention I've been to in 7 years; the last being Chicago's Wizard World in 2005 where I unsuccessfully tried to sell my comic.

This time around I won't have any artwork to sell and sadly I won't be dressing up.  However, my lovely lady WILL be dressing up as Rei Ayanami from Neon Genesis Evangeleon.  She's very excited as this is her first all handmade costume.  We'll also be traveling with a friend who was wonderful enough to book our hotel WAY ahead of time.

To that end, I wanted to say that if you ARE planning on going to Dragon*Con, and you spot me there, I"ll have a QR code pasted on my person or pack somewhere.  If you scan it and email me or text me and place an order, I'll do an additional character sketch card for free.  "Ah, but how will you know I was there.  Can't I just place an order?"  Nay!!  You'll have to include a very special piece of information to get it, something you'll only know if we meet in person:  The shirt I'm wearing.

I'm very proud of my shirts.  They are of a style that is hard to find.  So if you see me, and you like the idea of getting a robot portrait AND a sketch card for virtually nothing, all you have to do is tell me what I wore when we met.

Even if you come by this page after scanning the QR and you don't remember or didn't see the shirt, let's face it, for what I'm charging, it wouldn't make any sense for you NOT to order something.  Right?

So I hope to see some of you fans out there.  Feel free to email if you're going and mayhaps we can share a beverage.

Carry on!