This week is blatantly unproductive. Sunday I made it into the office and got some work done. Monday, totally wiped, stayed in bed shifting from freezing to sweating to glugging phlegm in intervals that made actual sleep nearly impossible. Tuesday, made it to the office, did some work. Wednesday, feeling thrashed and spewing goo, stayed home, missed the pub quiz. Made it out to the after dinner get together to protein up but then devolved into a shaky puddle watching classic Doctor Who under a blanket.

Fuck.

So it's Thursday, when I get up I'll be back in the office trying to finish these damn pages. I wanted to get them out today but I don't think I'll make the Fed Ex run... not without bursting a vital organ that is. Urgh.

Currently watching: New Comedians of Comedy, the series. I love these guys.

Why the hell am I getting e-newsletters from Blackcommentator.com?

Tried Buckley's cough syrup for the first time in my life. The ads always scared me off ("It tastes awful but it works!"). After this weekend and all the friends who swear by the stuff telling me I should try it I gave in and bought some.

A few horrific doses later and I think I figured out the closest description out there: It's like licking Vick's Vapo-Rub off the chest of a very hairy old man.

Eeeugh!

Listening to: Amon Tobin - The Foley Room

Yeah, Saturday was a total write off. Was all dressed and prettified, about to leave for the wedding when I started hacking up a lung. After apologising profusely I turned around, got back into my jim jams and under the covers where I stayed until evening.

I'm still feeling wrecked and in a constant cold sweat. After another sleep session (hopefully one with fewer dreams of hairless skunks running amok in a fancy condo it was my job to housesit, bleh) I plan to drag my ass into the office and get some work done. Fingers crossed.

On a bright note, new Dr Who was a bloody masterpiece. One more episode for series 3 and I'm both excited and petrified. This show has some of my favourite storytelling ever.

Had an annoying tickle in my throat on Thursday night and by Friday I was slammed. Feeling gross. Trying to sleep off as much of this bug as I can before heading off to a wedding in Mission. Oy.

Well it turns out it was just my computer's calendar set all wrong and it was really Wednesday all along. Ian saw this confusion all over my face on the way to the office today and asked me what was up. I told him I was bummed that the week had flown by and that it was Thursday. "no, it's Wednesday!"

"Oh. Really? Oh good."

Four pages in. Coming along.

Found this great video, best five seconds online. Enjoy.

How'd it get to be Thursday already?

I'm a couple of pages into 59 and will be continuing tonight. Yep, such is the action packed life of a comic book artist.

More later.

Five pages of the Treehouse story just need some background work and they'll be ready to go out.

The script for Y #59 came in and I'll be starting that shortly.

Today is being spent with friends for some much needed levity and Wii-age.

Treehouse of Horror: 4 pages almost completed, 2 pages halfway there. Coming along.

And I forgot to mention, Life on Mars was brilliant, crazy beautiful ending. I can't imagine a remake being done in the states that doesn't look like a cheesy Starsky & Hutch rip.

And...

Woo hoo! New Who tonight! And Captain Jack is back! Happy dance!

Up to page four on the Treehouse story and I'll continue working on those until the new Y script comes in this weekend.

There's a lot I'd like to discuss about issue 58 but it'll have to wait until the issue comes out. I will say Brian did a stunning job and there are pages in this issue I will never, ever, forget.

Oh and over at Newsarama you can find a very nice interview by Vaneta Rogers where we talk about the approaching end of Y, storytelling style and the odd gender issue.

Sometimes it takes a week to get a batch of pages out, sometimes it takes a day and a night. 4 pages out this afternoon and issue 58 is done. Woo! Two to go!

Now for more sleep!

5 pages out. Gah. Need sleep now.

Some weeks you get a crazy amount done, while others it's like drawing on molasses. Not quite there with this set, I'll try and get it done tonight after Ian's Birthday dinner.

On the bright side, the weather's turned around, rain and more rain which will make the office more tolerable over the next few days.

For Shade the Changing Man fans out there, check out this picture found on Neatorama today of an unusual new frog species discovered in Suriname.


What a cool world we live in.

4 pages in progress, going a bit slow but I should have something out in a couple of days.

The real pain of it is the weather which if you're unfamiliar with our seasons goes thusly: September the rains start up and continue right through to the end of May with maybe a couple of weeks in early December or mid February where it gets cold enough for a bit of snow. Then June comes around and summer shows up, BANG, like a much disliked aunt and uncle driving up to your house in a crappy station wagon full of their rude and rowdy kids and a flea ridden dog. Guess who's staying until the end of August?

So basically it's crazy hot, torturously muggy and there aren't a lot of summer clothes in the closet because last month I was too busy trying to find a sweater for the chill among the store racks packed full of capris and short sleeves.

Overnight the office has turned into a sauna, and maybe my Finnish sensibilities wouldn't mind that if dripping sweat and bristol board went together well.

I brought pages home in the hopes of getting some work done in a cooler environment.

On a weird note, earlier this evening we went out to see Knocked Up and on the walk back we were approached by several people on the street with various solicitations: one for magic mushrooms, another for a Bob Marley sketch that looked like it had been swiped from one of those street artist's displays and finally a bald guy came up to us, and I swear this is true, he says "Hey, you're a couple, you think you might want one of these?" and he pulls out a packaged sex toy from under his windbreaker. Something pink and and made of silicon, couldn't quite make it out, and most likely stolen from one of the 'marital aid' shops down Granville. We politely declined and hailed a cab.

That's 1am on a Sunday night for you.

The movie was pretty good.

A couple of pages into the next batch for #58. Lots to do this weekend.

Wednesday night, pub quiz, our team made first place! Woo!

Thursday night, Sophia Books, a Q&A and signing by Scott McCloud! Ian learned of it a few hours beforehand and we headed over. There were many local creators and friends there and we had some really nice conversations. The most impressive being with Scott's daughter Skye who is now a teenager and a brilliant one at that. I first met her as a baby in San Diego in 1993 and now here she is, planning to become a writer and director for TV. She's gonna be the next Whedon, just you watch.

It was sad to hear that some scumbag broke into their family car the night before and stole a bunch of DVDs, some with home videos of birthdays. Some people just suck.

Saw Hitchcock's Lifeboat this morning. Good film. Exciting enough to ignore the crappy, hubris-filled ads on AMC.