Monday, August 28, 2017

Recharged

This time of the year is always a very positive and hopeful time of the year for me. I feel recharged and excited as we move into the fall.

I know it is weird with summer coming to an end that I would be excited. I love the summer. Being outside, grilling, hitting the beach, wearing flip-flops and shorts, driving with the windows down and the music loud, it's great. My wife is a teacher and hasn't worked a second job since we had our son. We get to spend lots of time together. We hit New Hampshire early in the summer and the Cape towards the end. Summer is fantastic.

We actually just returned from the Cape a couple of days ago. Sitting at the beach, eating seafood, drinking a coffee in the morning on the deck overlooking the ocean, always a great vacation. It is one of my favorite things to do, but as we return home my wife and son both get ready to go back to school. As they prepare for the new school year I begin to prepare for the fall. I always feel recharged and ready.

With my schedule I get a pretty good amount of time to myself during the days. What am I going to do with that time? This is when I begin to plan what I will use that time for. What book will I start next, will I spend more time writing, drawing, playing my guitar? Will I take a class for work? Take a class for fun? The possibilities are endless.

I am also celebrating my 41st birthday today. Having this time of year be near my birthday it really is a time for me to set goals for the upcoming year. This is when I make my "New Years Resolutions".
Fall is a great time to get things started. It is like a reset button for me. If it was summer all year long I would stay in the flip flop state of mind and be unproductive. Don't get me wrong I love spending all summer with my family but it is not a creative time for me. As they both get ready for the new school year my mind is swirling with new ideas. A blank page ready to be filled in.

I hope everyone has had a great summer. I also hope fall brings a time of creativity and productivity. Enjoy.

Cheers!

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Hello to all!

At work and decided to post after an extended time. Mid August, summer cruising along. Wasting as much time as I can, as usual.

So for those of you that don't know me I have had a serious Kickstarter addiction. I support all kinds of projects, (see previous post about multiple hobbies/ADD), but one of my favorites has been the creator owned comic projects. There is some great stuff available covering multiple genres. Like how the music industry has changed dramatically with outlets like YouTube, iTunes... Etc., so has the comic industry. Yes the big six are still in control of the market, but now creators can offer PDF only comics for short money, or free, and build a following.

Let's face it of the big six, Marvel has really changed to producing whatever Disney wants and has abandoned decades old history to cater to its parent company, the next movie, and Netflix. Originally I was all for seeing how they would shake things up, but it is just bland and watered down. After reading multiple X-titles since I was a kid Marvel has finally succeeded in in driving me away completely. I know certain titles are written for a younger audience and I am not getting any younger, but I am finally at a point where I can't identify with the characters, the story or even the art.

That being said I still read several Marvel titles but I find myself dropping more and more in favor of small creator owned projects.

Check out anything by Ryan K. Lindsay as well as the Skies of Fire series, Everland, Ocho by Eric Mengal, any art by Lorenzo Etherington, Space Captain, Vast Expanse, Locksmith, Deep Dive Daredevils, Arcane Sally and Mr. Steam, Merrick, and Apama: The Undiscovered Animal to name a few.

Maybe someday I will actually focus and create something of my own. In the meantime I will continue to enjoy my comics in whatever form they may arise. I hope you check out some of the above mentioned titles, there is some great stuff out there.

Cheers,

Randy