My latest toy

I have a new toy... I've been using a wacom tablet for almost as long as I've been doing the comic, and they've gradually gotten bigger and fancier.  I finally got my wish and purchased the grand-daddy of them all: a Wacom Cintiq 21ux. 

Drawing with this is almost like using paper, with all the benefits of Painter or Photoshop thrown in.  I love it. It feels SO much more natural than using a tablet where you're drawing in one spot and seeing it appear somewhere else.  I'm not sure if this would be 'natural' if you'd never used a tablet before, but for someone who's used tablets forever it's nerdvana.  I'm working on the next two pages of the comic at this very moment.

The only thing is, I've had to rearrange my desk twice to try and find a configuration that works.  It changes my seating position a bit 'cause it's HUGE.  But that just means there's more to love.  Right?

I'll give another report in a week or so and let you know how it's going, and if the new-toy-shine is gone.

Places you should visit, and Zombies

Roger Ebert's blog:
http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/
If you want a guide to movies, ebert is your man. I may not agree 100% with each of his movie ratings but from reading his blog it's clear that he thinks deeply about things. You can't have enough of those kinds of people around you. He's kind of like the movie evangelist telling you where the good stuff is. He's spent his life drinking in a particular art form and now that he's reached an age of wisdom he definitly has some profound things to say. I get a thrill reading his blog, and that's not a common thing.

Wil Wheaton's blog:
http://www.wilwheaton.typepad.com/
He traded an acting role on Star Trek the  Next Generation for a spot in the competitive world of blogging... To quote PVP. He's another one of those creative types that I get a thrill from reading. He's more on the creative rather than the Consumer side like Mr. Ebert. If you've Got Geek? Wil's your man with some pointers to good stuff.

Lastly: Lessons learned from Zombie stories.
After reading  "zombie contingency plans" I've been reminded of one of the fundimental aspects of writing. You don't just ride along like you do in a movie or a comic, you actually get inside the character's head for a time. That's both good and bad. The Zombie story character referenced above clearly has something wrong with him. I felt a bit crazy by the end of the story, or as much as I was able to stomach. It was a good story, there was just... something wrong with the main character. It kind of messed with my head. I guess the threat of most stories is that you really don't know what you're getting yourself into when you first pick the book or story up. In this case I didn't actually finish the story because I felt so "off" after a while.  I guess I'm just a wimp when it comes to those kinds of things.