And that's it! You want the backstory?
About a year ago I was looking for something to help give me a creative kickstart. I'd been more than a little infatuated with graphic novels for awhile -- reading Flight my last semester of design school made my head explode (in a good way). That said, I'd always hesitated at making my own comics. There were a myriad of excuses: I didn't understand the format, my storytelling experience was minimal, I lacked the time and I was, to be brutally honest, terrified to try (and fail) at a new form of art.
My workaround was this: a diary comic would allow me to try sequential art in a small, bite-sized way. Also, by pulling material from my day to day life, the storytelling aspect would be a bit easier. Finally, by making the whole crazy thing a New Year's Resolution, the ensuing guilt would eat me alive if I didn't finish. If you think I'm lying about this, I should probably explain that I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about overdue book library fines.
So I dove in head first January of 2011. Was every entry perfect? Nope. In fact, I look at quite a few now and wince, thinking how differently I'd tackle things. But each week I finished a comic and in the process learned more than I could have imagined, had a whole ton of fun and did something that a year ago wasn't even on my radar. And besides the artistic side of things, I also learned to look differently at life. Like John Lennon said, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." I didn't win the Powerball this year or learn Cantonese or take up hang gliding. Instead I spent the year worrying about the zombie apocalypse, eating glitter cookies, obsessing over life-sized plastic dinosaurs and and attempting to find humor and goodness in the little things. And as a I read back through this comic, I think I like life best that way.
And some thank you's -- I owe Erik Evensen BIG TIME for his advice about diary comics. Erik kept a way awesome daily comic a few years back, so he had some great pointers. And when I tweeted early on about my trouble coming up with material, John Lechner made the excellent observation that hopes and dreams are as much a part of daily life as actions. Also, thank you to friends and family who lended their faces, feedback and foibles to this comic. You guys all rock, for reals.
So, thanks for reading and commenting and letting me test the comic waters. I'm hooked, without a doubt. Happy 2012!
(for now)
