It just warmed up 90 degrees

Sooo... about a week ago, it was -50. Now it's 40.

Of the two, I think I prefer this, thanks... although due to some oddities of the roof, the vapor barrier, and a winter's supply of frozen condensation, it's currently raining in the attic, which isn't very good. And the pretty frost crystals on the trees are all gone, sniff.

I've gone from being comfortably ahead on creative stuff, to being behind again, in just a week! I have a pile of VIE's (Very Important Emails) that I should start getting answered tonight ... commission requests, personal stuff, etc. (Jane, if you're reading this, I got yours, I just haven't read it because I SUCK.)

Last night, however, I goofed off and met with some local cartoonists for an art jam session. Always fun. We drew stuff and bitched about the state of the world (Middle East, Denmark, etc). One of my friends has apparently been spamming the walls of the art department with drawings of Mohammed. Go Jamie! Two thumbs WAY up for free speech, two thumbs WAY down for idiots who think that freedom of religion means the freedom to tell other people what to believe.

My goal for the next couple of months is, no kidding, to goof off more. After working what felt like 24/7 in December and January, this spring I intend to read some books, watch some videos, and not spend every night of the week drawing.

Minimalism and humor...

Linked from the blog at Killroy and Tina ... this is one of the most fascinating examples I've ever seen of the way that dialogue and pacing can affect a joke.

http://www.truthandbeautybombs.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=4997

(Note: the first few image links are broken, but if you keep going, there are more images farther down the thread, and quite a lot of them on the next page.)

What they've done is taken the strip "Garfield" -- possibly one of the least funny comics ever created -- and removed all of Garfield's dialogue. The result is a somewhat sad and surrealistic strip about a loser who talks to his cat ... and surprisingly, it's genuinely *funny*. Three panels of Jon Arbuckle talking to a cat who answers back is just sort of lame, but the exact same three panels of the character talking to a cat that stares off into nowhere and ignores him is actually funny. Wordless reaction shot = funny; same reaction shot with a lame one-liner = not funny.

It's very interesting from a writing point of view. (And some of the strips actually made me laugh. I don't think I've laughed at a Garfield cartoon since I was six years old.)