April 29, 2013

Bathus Interruptus.

Aaaaah...! At last, a nice hot bath all to myself. Or so I thought.







Seriously? In desperation,I call on Lady Liberty herself, the most immoveable symbol of personal freedom I can think of, to essentially imprison myself in this bathroom in the name of performing my ablutions uninterrupted.




As usual, the Lords of Irony have the last word.

How do you  get your "ME" time?

This story appeared on Aiming Low.


April 18, 2013

Spring. And dogs.

Ah yes! Spring in Montreal! The long hard winter is over and the snow melt reveals some pretty amazing gems.

I say “gems” but I really mean (dare I say it) ...dog poop. Let's stick with "gems" shall we?

Usually I pick up after the dog soon after she goes out in the garden. But when the temperature drops, the idea of venturing out into sub-zero Canadian winter in my pajamas is less than appealing. So as the dog lays her eggs, I let the snow fall and cover it.

I warn the kids of the dangers of building a snowman. I wait patiently until spring. I look out the window and admire the pure, white, freshly fallen blanket of snow masking the evil that lurks beneath.



The spring thaw yields layer upon layer of treasure. It resembles an archaeological dig: the snow melts enough to expose a few sparkling jewels at a time and I remove each layer over a period of weeks.



It’s normally hard going because the gems are cold and soggy; some even need to be dug out of the ice with a trowel.


An emphatically unglamorous activity.

This year however, I decided to refrain until all the snow melted. I waited for a dry day (today). Armed with my usual protective gear...



...and a zillion plastic bags... I went out to face what would surely be a bumper crop.

To my surprize, there were only half as many and the ones I found were half-sized hard little nuggets. Also, being dry, they didn’t smell.



Why, in twenty years of living with dogs, am I only just now discovering this?


April 15, 2013

Greenster.

Somehow, cartoons just don't feel right today...so I'm hoping to cheer you up with these pictures of me from when I was green.








I hope that you will be okay.

*     *     *     *

I've been green here and here thanks to my friends: Kathy Slamen Photography, Body painting  Alex Hansen, Hair & make-up Naita Ratycz, jewelry and hair accessory by Serafina, vintage gown courtesy private collection of Nancy Marrelli.

April 3, 2013

An Animated Announcement.

Boy was I surprised when my friend Jasmine Banks phoned me up, sweet-talking like a pro...


...and asked me to be the KEYNOTE SPEAKER at the very first, long awaited #SoFabCon.

It's the inaugural conference of Collective Bias to bring their community of bloggers, their Social Fabric, together to learn, hone their skills, connect and party. Obviously.

I'm tremendously honoured.



Who's coming to this? I hope to meet some of you in person in Bentonville Arkansas, during the May 3 - 5 weekend. I may do some toonswag while I'm there, if any attendees hold still long enough for me to draw them. My keynote is on the Saturday afternoon and it'll be animated. Obviously.

And for the record, the video was Jasmine's idea. That girl is spectacular.


PickleWeasel EGG Hunt - WINNER.

Sooooooo....time to announce the PickleWeasel EGG Hunt winner. There were 13 entrants who tweeted the magical words,
"The #PickleWeasel app is simply marvelous for comics & drawing. But don't take my word for it - try it yourself. http://itun.es/i6JL3nG"
and took a stab at guessing where the Easter Egg was hidden. I'm shocked at how many of you guessed it was under the Bunny's bum. YOUR MINDS ARE IN THE GUTTER PEOPLE. No, really folks, it was hidden under his tail.


The winner of the contest has been selected by random number generator, number "1" - the first person to tweet the magical words.
And that person is Pickleope. Congratulations Pickleope! Go now to my Zazzle shop and choose something (mug or t-shirt).

I like Pickleope. Not just cuz he shares some freaky DNA with PickleWeasel, but he's also a very funny blogger. I like him cuz he's not afraid to poke at stuff. Like human foibles. Squirm.

Surprize! I decided to throw this drawing in on a whim.



See? You never know when I might do that. I'll bet you're regretting not entering the contest now eh?

Fear not. There will be more contests, with prizes and drawings, and possibly even an iPad mini in the not too distant future.

All because I love you.


April 1, 2013

I quit.

You read that right; I'm committing blogicide.

Maybe you don't realize this, but it's a lot of work drawing a blog. While other bloggers take a cool 30 minutes to whip up a post, it takes me hours and hours, and sometimes even days, to draw something for you. And in the past I've been lucky enough to get some decent page views, a handful of regular fans and enough comments to make it all worthwhile.

But lately....not so much. I grow weary. I'm actually tired of drawing. 



And I'm tired of being taken for granted. I just don't think I can keep this up for you guys, especially as my blog isn't monetized. That was my decision, I know, but I've avoided ads to keep this web space looking decent. If anyone was going to assault my viewers with attention demanding images it was going to be me, dammit! But no one seems to appreciate it, so whatever.

I never thought this day would come. I never thought I'd care if no one came here to look at my silly drawings, never imagined that it would matter that I don't have a book deal to show for all my efforts. But I was wrong. I do care. Blame it on my fragile ego.

And so I bid you adieu. I know I'll miss you. But I'm pretty sure you won't miss me. If there's any chance that someone should think of me and wonder what I'm up to, you can always visit me at work.

Love forever, 

JC aka The Animated Woman.