Girl and Monster

This is page for a children's book that I am working on. It is a little girl and her imaginary friend...or is he?

Stangler Brothers

Here are some pages of Strangler Brothers that I worked on. I did the linework and color.
Check out the webcomic on http://www.stranglerbrothers.com/

Stephanie Meyer gives me blue balls...

In a 'round about way.... I finally went to go see Twilight: New Moon. I thought I would see it in the theater, before it made it's way to DVD, just in case it was one of those movies I regretted not seeing in a theater. Well, I'm still not sure about that one.
I have read all of the Twilight books. My main problem with the books, is that the author, Stephenie Meyer, didn't put any smut in them. I'm not saying that I need copious amounts of coital activity in the 'romance' novels that I may read, but come on, there wasn't any in these books. Sure, there is a ton of sexual frustration amongst the characters, and there is sex in the last book, but you never actually read anything about it, other than you assume the deed has been done, because the sheets are shredded, there are feathers all over from the ripped pillows, and the main character is pregs, but you never read one bit of 'sex'.
In the second book, there is a scene where Bella and Jacob kiss. In the movie, Jacob gets denied and all I could think was "Poor Jacob. He's 16, hormonal, and just found out that he can morph into a wolf at any given time, and his best friend is Bella, who is nothing more than a huge tease. Poor Jacob, he must have a major case of blue-balls." And, that is the only thing I could think of the rest of the movie. I understand that the author has morals, and didn't feel it necessary to add a bunch of descriptive smut. I'm sure she just thought that we could use our own imaginations, and come up with the missing throws of passion ourselves. In most vampire books and movies, there are loads of scenes where normal mortals are privy to some vampire lovin, and that is just fine by me. I just can't understand why she couldn't give us a little bit of actual boot-knockin. I like Stephenie Meyer, I've met her and have a few books with her autograph, but seriously!
For the most part, I definitely liked New Moon better than Twilight. The cinematography had more depth, better camera angles, and the screenplay was more similar to the book and easy to follow than Twilight. I liked the 3D wolves and the wispy visions of Edward. Speaking of Edward, I did notice that he cannot talk and move at the same time. It never really seemed like he was ever moving and talking simultaneously. He would move, stop, talk, stop talking, and then move. And, he always seemed like he was in pain when he talked. Bella has her own quirks. She always seems uncomfortable and low on oxygen, and cold. She's really stuttery, and it's almost likes she's trying not to vomit as she speaks. But, Kristen Stewart is like that in real life. She seems so uncomfortable during interviews and is always fidgeting with her hair or nails, and can't seem to make eye contact with the person interviewing her. It's painful to watch. And, there were the infamous scenes of Jacob taking his shirt off, which made everyone in the theater laugh.
New Moon was alright. A fun movie about teen angst, love triangles and hot werewolves showing their abs, and getting blue-balls. But, if you feel you got jipped in the department of vamp-lovin', I suggest checking out True Blood on HBO, or reading the books the show is based off of, the Sookie Stackhouse series from Charlaine Harris... where vampires have fangs and get busy with mortals, and you don't have to assume there was smut.

Dear Grandma...

My Grandma, Margaret Sinsel Davidson, died January 25th, 2010. She was a very patient woman, that I never once heard get mad, or complain. She loved cats, tabloids, celebrity gossip, holidays, traveling and her family. Us grankids remember a few of the same moments about Grandma Maggie. One Easter, at her house, after everyone had been served pie, she walked into the living room, looked down at the pie on her plate, looked up and said "Who's is this.... Oh! It's mine!" Then she went and sat down to eat. For some reason, we all remember this moment, and while it may seem non-memorable to you, we all thought it was hilarious! I'm not sure if it's because of what was said, or just that she said it out loud, but we all remember. My Grandma also had this wrist-pinch technique, that would drop a full-grown man. My brother found that out the hard way. She would always drop by my parents house, a mere 5 houses away, just to say 'hi'. She would give you hug, that included a little dance, that always made her laugh. And, when she would have to say goodbye, she used to always say, very incorrectly, but it was hers "Parting is such sweet sorrow... I'll come back tomorrow." We love you grandma and will always remember you and what a wonderful lady you were! http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/saltlaketribune/obituary.aspx?n=margaret-sinsel-davidson&pid=138972951

School? For real?

Wow, I really don't update this very often. It's not for lack of time, it's more of lack of creativity. I'm not sure if anyone even reads my blogs anymore. Oh well. So what's been up? Well, my friend Mandy, and I decided that we needed to go back to school. Sort of. We signed up for this fiction writing class that the Canyon's School district is doing. One of those continuing education classes. Our first class was on Tuesday. Our teachers name is Brenda and she is such a character. She read some of the stuff she has written, and it's awesome! She told us about a trip she took when she was in her 20's. She bought a moped and toured Europe! Holy crap! She was gone for 3-4 months, and she said she only spend a few thousand dollars. So, anyway... the teacher is interesting. Our class is designed to get us up and going on writing a novel. We have loads of homework already which I think is sort of hilarious. In two weeks we have to pretty much have the whole premise for a novel drawn up. Yeah, okay. I don't know where to start! Most of the stuff she talked about dealt with fantasy type novels. What if you just want to write about stuff that might really happen or could happen? Both Mandy and I felt pretty overwhelmed when we left the class. It should be pretty interesting. We have a speaker next week and Brenda said that we will just be mesmerized by him. Hopefully he'll be that kick in the butt inspiration I need to getting working on something. I'll let you know!

Sled 1, Mel 0.... Sled wins!

I swear I'm going to have two black eyes tomorrow. I was trying to throw the kids sled up the hill, since I was thigh-deep in snow, and out of no where, the sled decided that it didn't want to be thrown, it wanted to try and break my nose instead. Luckily my nose isn't broken, the sled hit a little too high, but yeah, maybe black eyes. As painful as it was, it was also hilarious. I am a self-proclaimed klutz, so it wasn't a shocker that a sled connected with my face. And, another non-shock, a half hour before, I was trying to stop Merrick from sledding out into the road, and my crouch stance to block him, landed me on my ass. Bumps and bruises aside, I had a blast sledding with my kids! I haven't been in a really long time, and as much as I don't like being cold, I was surprisingly warm and I felt like I could've been out there for hours. I forgot how much I like being outside in sunny-snowy weather. Merrick was content to eat as much fresh snow as possible, and I couldn't help but laugh at him, head to toe in winter wear. He could be the new Randy from 'A Christmas Story'. Rowan was just happy to be outside (and to have someone else carry her nose-cracking sled up the hill for her).
I got to drive a 4-wheeler for the first time over the weekend, so that was a blast! My only memory of 4-wheeling as a kid, was being dragged by one on a sled, driven by a neighbor kid, through our neighborhood. You had to make sure you had some major 'leaning' skills, because there was always the fear that you would go around a corner and skid right underneath a parked car, and be decapitated. And, that is not something you can't put a band-aid on... Needless to say, driving one is funner than being dragged by one. I can see how people get addicted to buying toys like that.
So, even though it was the dreaded V-Day this weekend, it was a blast!

We All Fall Down...

“When things are bad, we take comfort in the thought that they could always be worse. And when they are, we find hope in the thought that things are so bad they have to get better.” So true. This year is one for the history books. Not only for our country, but for me, personally. It's amazing what one person can do to change the course of history. How things can be altered in the smallest amount of time. I've been on a rollercoaster of emotions since this spring. It's a miracle that I'm still in one piece after 2008! I've had my share of ups and downs this past year and for sure, my fair share of life changing events. I've done some things to be proud of, and some, not so much. I'm thankful my friends still allow me to be their friend, even when my evil twin shows up. I'm also thankful that they and my family have been there for me and my occasional meltdown and were always there to lend an ear. I'm also thankful for medication. :) -- Things have to get better. I'm excited for 2009! My New Year's Resolution: treasure every moment with my kids, learn to live, and be happy!