Buy This Book, Please

The book is finally finished. After several months of hard work, the writing and artwork for "That Baby" has come to a close. Special thanks to Matt for editing it for me, Lisa for being the nagging perfectionist, and Audrey for the inspiration. And thanks to my family for being the first to preview it this past weekend. As of right now, there's only one hardback copy in existence. Due to its rarity, it's worth approximately $100M.

Now it's time to seek out a publisher. Hopefully it'll make its way to your favorite bookstore sometime in the very near future.

Action Figure!

This is a self portrait sculpture that I did for a class when I was in college. I used miscellaneous doll parts from Hobby Lobby. I was going to display it as part of my Avila exhibition last summer, but it broke in the process of setting-up earlier that day.

Michael Caleb & Michael Caleb

Continuing the tradition of students I have the pleasure of working with, today I give you the brothers, Michael Caleb and Michael Caleb. For some strange reason, their mother thought it best to give them both the exact same first and middle name. Despite living in the same house, Mother isn't too worried about any confusion since they have differing surnames. I should also take this opportunity to point out that Michael Caleb and Michael Caleb have an identical wardrobe. No, they don't share one. This is because Michael Caleb is a fourth grader and Michael Caleb is a first grader. Obviously they wouldn't be able to share clothes because they're at different stages of their lives, thus never the same size at the same time.

Duh.

Bachelor Pad Revisted

It's been nine years since I've seen my old friend and roommate, Terry. Terry and I met in high school art class and became fast friends. I got him into some trouble, and he put up with it as long as I would keep putting him in my comic strips. We eventually got an apartment together. We dubbed it "The Bachelor Pad." It was here that we spent countless hours laughing at each other's comments, throwing food out the window at the white trash neighbors below, and quoting lines from "Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid." I had created a comic strip called, what else? "Tales from the Bachelor Pad."

But as we grew older, I stopped drawing our adventures. I had become frustrated with my life and eventually quit drawing the comic strips. Soon after, our lease was up. We moved into our own apartments and would see each other only occasionally. I met Lisa and my priorities shifted as I pursued a degree in graphic design and spent my weekends with her in Columbia. Terry and I slowly drifted apart. Before I knew it, we had moved on in completely separate directions and lost touch altogether.

I decided that it had been way too long since we had last spoke. I recently became reacquainted with some old mutual friends and, through this, reconnected with Terry.

A lot happens in nine years time. Marriage, babies, lots and lots of growing up. When we sat down across from one another at Borders last Wednesday night, I felt as if I had just woken up from a long sleep. My friend had aged nine years and had gone through life experiences that I had no part of. This saddened me. And, from what I gathered, he felt the same way. It was odd when I realized all the technology and events that had occurred in the time of our hiatus. As I logged his number into my cell phone, I somehow felt as if things had come full circle. Afterall, when we last hung out, cell phones were something that only the Jetsons had used. The internet was on the horizon, but nowhere as relevant as its become. The events of September 11th had occurred and the country had undergone a great change as a result. It's odd to realize how much everything has changed in this time. In the time I've carried a cell phone, I've never looked down and seen Terry's name listed, just like I've never logged into my hotmail account and seen his name waiting in my inbox. He's never even met Lisa, which blows my mind to think about.

I'm happy to announce that Terry has found happiness. A successful career, a wife and brand new baby daughter. The Bachelor Pad may be gone, but not forgotten. And over the past nine years, I've upgraded my VHS copy of "Butch & Sundance" to a DVD. We can take comfort in knowing that our daughters have something they can watch together.

Hmmm. "The Bachelorette Pad?"

So It Goes

From BBC.com: Influential author Kurt Vonnegut has died at the age of 84 after suffering brain injuries in a fall in New York.

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. wrote two of my all-time favorite books, Slaughterhouse Five and Breakfast Of Champions. During his later years, he began to explore the world of visual art, going on to create countless silkscreen prints from his drawings. I've always considered him one of my greatest inspirations, in fine art as well as the written word.

Still Life With Bowl Of Fruit And Baby

An illustration from "That Baby."

¿Cómo Usted Dice "Happy Birthday?"

It's been three years now since Gaby has joined our family. For those of you who don't know, Jeff met Gaby through a mutual friend. From the beginning, we all knew their relationship was built to last, as they seem perfect for one another. They both enjoy regular exercise, eating healthy and keeping their teeth an immaculate white. Gaby, who's native language is Spanish, has often times been the center of attention at family get togethers. We often times find enjoyment in asking her to translate titles of American television shows to Spanish (my personal favorite is for "Diff'rent Strokes." In Paraguay it's called "Negro y Blanco," which translates to "Black & White." There was an even funnier one for "The A Team," but I can't remember what it is right now).

Needless to say, Spanish has always somewhat intrigued me. I took a stab at learning the language while in junior high school. After having failed it twice, I finally decided that I preferred to be left in the dark. But after having met Gaby, I decided it was time to climb back on the horse. I secretly began to take night classes with the hope of one day sending her a birthday greeting. Here goes:

Feliz Cumpleaños Gaby. Espero que usted tenga un buen año y que usted es feliz con mi hermano, Jeff. Seriamente sin embargo, es bueno que él encontró a alguien para colocar abajo con. Él era siempre picky, así que es un honor que él le eligió. Usted lo hace feliz y usted es la mejor cosa que él ha visto siempre. Espero que usted tenga un niño pequeño pronto de modo que Audrey tenga un primo con quien ella pueda crecer para antedicho. Eso sería bueno.

En cualquier caso, feliz cumpleaños otra vez. ¡Nosotros todo el amor usted!