So. It’s been quite a busy year for me, some good, some bad, but actually mostly good. Besides the weekly routine of the day job, home maintenance, child-rearing and freelance projects, I’ve actually gotten back on track in updating Dicebox on a regular, nay, weekly basis. (In fact, here have been 15 pages since I last updated this journal.)

I’ve also been actually to get out and do things, like see live music preformed by Jecsa Hoop, Robyn Hitchcock and Janelle Monáe (not on the same night). My most recent musical outing was earlier this week to see and sketch a dress rehearsal of the Portland Opera’s current production of “Hansel and Gretel.”

For the past two productions, Portland Opera has invited a gaggle of cartoonists to come watch the Monday dress rehearsal before opening night and create art from their impressions of the same. Mike Russel has posted a summary of the first one, a production of “Paliacci” & “Carmina Burana” (which I couldn’t attend, alas) which includes links to reports of cartoonists as well as his live sketch blogging previous operas.

Below are my expanded sketches from the visual “notes” I took during the dress rehearsal of a very frenetic performance.

Sandman comes

Gretel in the woods

These are actually executed digitally in Photoshop, using brushes to mimic the colored pencil and pastel on colored paper I brought to draw on during the rehearsal. I tried to keep the execution expressive and loose, reminiscent of my approach to life drawing.

Below are examples of the sketches I did during the performance, including the gesture drawing I built the expanded sketches on. (click on thumbnail for a larger view)

Other cartoonists who attended include Barry Deutsch, Jonathan Case, Indigo Kelleigh, Emi Lenox,Adrian Wallace, Tally Nouriget, Trixie Biltmore and about eight others whose “Hansel and Gretel” art can be viewed on the Portland Opera website itself.

So since the last time I’ve updated this journal, there’s been 6 pages of Dicebox. Um, yeah, sorry about that to all those that use this journal to know about such updates. Life’s been crazy busy and exhausting but not in anyway that’s interesting, I’m afraid. Except that I managed to update this week’s page precisely on time, I was very excited about that.

Now next week’s page might be a bit tardy due to the Stumptown Comics Fest happening this weekend. I’ll be sharing a table with Kip Manley and Barry Deutsch with not much to sell myself but happy to say "Hi!" (If I’m not walking the Kid or forced to strangle Bill Mudron sitting behind us)

Another thing I’d like to bring to your attention is Patrick Farley’s Kickstarter bid to relaunch E-Sheep Comics. If you have a couple bucks to spare, I urge you to donate to the cause as this will allow him to be in a position to complete Spiders, Apocamon not to mention "Don’t Look Back." I, for one, am eager to see how all these tales wind up.

At a bit past 4pm today, the grand dame of our felines, Kali, passed away. She went quietly, in her sleep, not 30 minutes after she was purring happily in Patrick’s lap. (Though, happily, not in Patrick’s lap.)

She had been in serious decline for about six months. Really, we thought we were going to lose her at the end of January. But after a round of treatment she had bounced back and was her normal, dairy product stealing, cat trouncing, human loving self, albeit outraged she was suddenly a strictly indoor cat.

I was hoping we’d have her ’til the end of summer, but suspected she might leave us soon when, last weekend, she slipped out of the house and was discovered about 5 blocks away from some very kind folks who returned her with the aid of the address on her tag. Before then she wouldn’t go more than a block from the house.

She quacked, screamed like a drowning virgin,* never met a cat she didn’t want to beat up, had clandestine friendships with German Shepards, was on constant patrol, collected people, terrorized mice, performed hammer locks on birds, was always dignified except when:

• - She jumped up on a shelf full of CDs which triggered an avalanche of said CDs. She immediately tried to run up the cascade to regain her perch. But she didn’t.
• - She’s found a particularly nice patch of sun..
• - When she met Crash, Jenn and Kevin Moore’s substantial German Shepard for the first time. She was sitting on the porch rail and, upon seeing Crash, arched up so high in rage and fear that she fell over sideways.
• - Being adored by the Boys.
• - More than once she jumped to the top of an open door and pondered vexedly how she was going to get down as she swayed back and forth.

And there’s lots more stories, she had been with us a long time. But here’s one last one: Kali never accepted the fact that she had to share her house with other cats. She tolerated the Boys, but never accepted the interlopers who lived downstairs. I reckon that with Cicely and Roslyn having finally moved out a couple weeks back, Kali figured her work was done and she could rest easy.

*Thanks for that always, Dylan.

additional

The cat page that Kip created a while back for Kali and Ranger
Christopher Baldwin’s collage of all our now ex-cats.

Today I finally got a tattoo commemorating the conception, birth and continuing existence of my daughter Taran Jack Manley.

The inspiration came from the spectacular lunar eclipse I witnessed on February 21, 2008—which is also when I got my first hint I might be pregnant. My last cycle had begun right before the full moon in January, And as my cycle is a fairly regular 26 days and I’m more likely to start early than late… Well, let’s just say that five days later I bought my first and only pregnancy test.

A quick explanation of the symbolism: the hare helps identify the red disk as the moon, but also happens to be our family’s totem animal. As for the four cloud birds —I happened to see the eclipse with clouds—they reference to the ol’ folk augury rhyme, “four is for birth.”

(Tattoo done by Matt Reed of TigerLily Tattoo, designed by me.)

Man, I was all set to do a joke update today, sketched out the art and everything. And then, about 3 weeks back, our four month old daughter who used to sleep through til morning began waking once or twice during the night. (I feel sucker punched, here.)*

Sigh.

I really enjoy April Fool’s, look forward to smirking through out the day (example, our IT guy announced a way to reduce costs and energy usage through limited email access: Last names starting A through M will have email access 6:30 AM through 1:00 PM. Last names starting N through Z will have email access 1:00 PM through 7:30 PM.) And I was totally stoked that this year’s was on a Wednesday, my regular update day. But between the day job, freelance, baby care** and the 5 hours of sleep per night AND baby’s first shoulder dislocation this past Friday AND AND a sudden computer upgrade… just not meant to be. Not with me enjoying it, which is the whole point.

I was contemplating going with a simple “screw comics” post, but I already did that and caused unintended heartburn for some folks. And I don’t think I’m in the right mental space to pull that off, all things considered.

And I told Patrick I got this week so no update from him either, I’m afraid. Entertainingly enough, my original April Fool’s prank was to present a slick, hyper stylized, action and boob packed comic as Dicebox’s new direction. Kinda redundant now.

As penance, and a way to rev back up into Dicebox as I complete other obligations*** I will be attempting to post something in the Dicebox Process Journal at least six times a week for the month of April. I will start tonight with a one of the cleaned up and colorized sketches. And this weekend I’ll share some concept art for Book 2 that I was originally planning to share today a balm for goofiness.

Oh, and updates to Dicebox here on out: Patrick and I will be alternating every other week until he’s finished, allowing me time to ramp up fully as well for hime to wrap up this epic. And they’ll be truly Wednesday updates again! With as much material as we can manage in two weeks time.

See you on April 15th with the beginning of Dicebox Book 1: Part 9: Out of a Molehill. No fooling.

*What she really wants is to sleep in the bed with Kip and me, something I gave her a taste for when traveling–hated the crib arrangement, room temperature and we were in a king sized bed. It’s also part of her biggest growth spurt yet, not just size but mental activity and physical ability. And it’s the fact that she can now roll and hoist herself along and over things that has me firmly vetoing her sharing the bed with us. Which means a good couple of hours every night getting her to settle and go back to sleep. In her own bed/bassinet.

**By which I mean breast feeding. I produce at least a quart everyday for our little monkey girl and, man, what a time consuming, exhausting enterprise that is. Looking forward to weaning, tantrums and all. I’ve seen it compared to a part time job, seven days a week and boy they’re not kidding.

***And wean the Kid.