Showing posts with label comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comics. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Revamped Website

Hey, Everyone!

My official website has been revamped! For those of you who don't remember (or never bothered to look), here's a cell phone pic of my old website:It was just had the name, and a list of links that you could go to... But no explanation about who I am or why you should care.

Well, all that's changed now! Please check out my NEW AND IMPROVED Official Webpage!!!

http://littlezotz.webs.com

Thank you all for your support! Hope you like the new site!

--Lauren*
PS: Special thanks to Ramiro for all his hard work.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Quick Update

Hey, Everyone!

Just wanted to give you all a quick update on a few things:

1.) We were unable to catch Robert's Mom with the laundry basket trick. FixNation has now told us to try securely tying a chicken drumstick to the very back of the trap and see if that works. We'll be trying that Tuesday night.

2.) A while back I mentioned I was doing a "creepy" black and white 5-page comic? Well, I finished it, and I was invited to have it published in a zine called Hello World. Here's a panel from it:
That's all my own work. However, Ramiro has been going over the comic adding "additional inks" to make it look EXTRA nice. I'll be sure to post the whole thing once he's done sprucing it up.

3.) I have an interview at Macy's tomorrow! I'm not pinning all my hopes on it, but it's super nice to have someone call for an interview. It's hard not to get discouraged sometimes, sending out application after application and then not hearing anything back. Just the fact that I got another interview makes me really happy.

4.) I've been making steps toward starting up my own writing company, just like my (now very successful!) friend Danielle did. And a few hours ago, I just got my first job offer. I'll be writing an article. I'm far from being rich & famous (I'll be making enough to buy Ramiro & me a dinner at IHOP, pretty much); but it's a good first step and I'm extremely happy/excited! Working as an illustrator was nice, but I really do prefer writing. :)

5.) Yes, there are still 3 kittens available for adoption if you or anyone you know is interested. My e-mail address is littlezotz@gmail.com

Until next time!

--Lauren*
PS: It's now officially Tuesday! Be sure to check out The Greener Side.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Help Fix Rachel's Jaw

Hey, Everyone!

My friend Rachel is selling a really cool sketch book on eBay to help raise money for her upcoming jaw surgery.

Artists include:

* Bryan O'Malley of Scott Pilgrim
* Raina Telgemeier of Smile
* Hope Larson of Chiggers and many, many more
* Dave Roman of Yaytime
* Andy Runton of Owly
* John Peters of Gypsy
* Cat Garza
* Barry Deutsch of Hereville
* Karen Luk
* Leigh Dragoon of By the Wayside
* Theresa Tschetter
* Kelly Howlett
* Stevie Wilson
* Abby Denson of Tough Love
* Martina Fugazotto a fellow gURL.com comicker
* Lauren Weinstein of Girl Stories
* Zack Giallongo
* Stephanie Yue
* Spike
* S. Dave
* Evan Palmer
* Patricia Burgess
* Andrew Farago
* Pete Stathis of Evenfall
* Phil Conigliaro
* Anne Moloney
* Patrick Farley
* Steve Lieber
* Natalie Nourigat
* Dylan Meconis
* Jenn Lee
* Jake Richmond
* Brendan Douglas Jones
* Derek Kirk Kim
* Bill Mudron
* Joe Komenda
* Rachel Nabors aka Rachel the Great

...and more!

If you're interested, please click here or copy and paste this link: http://item.ebay.com/160457800329

Bidding ends in about 4 days. Good luck!!

--Lauren*

Fix Rachel's Wonky Mouth

Friday, July 2, 2010

Ziggy Update & Odd Jobs

Hey, Everyone!

We took Ziggy to the vet yesterday (that was the soonest they were able to see us) and she's going to be just fine. We were doing everything right (we were using the right kind of ointment and all that), but they gave her an anti-biotic shot to help speed the process along. She already looks a TON better today. Thank you all for the best wishes & prayers. :)

I don't have an updated picture of Ziggy just yet, but here's one of Robert that Ramiro took the other day that cracks me up:Speaking of pictures, I took one of my mom's guinea pig Algernon the other day. I finally finished painting the green parts of my parents' bathroom (but I still have to do the cupboards & borders/molding) and we got the stuff to seal it in; however, the sealant made me feel really woozy after a while (I didn't notice it until I went to climb back up on the ladder & got dizzy) so my mom gave me some tasks to do outside. One of those odd jobs was to take a good picture of her guinea pig, Algernon:This picture has been causing quite a (good) stir over on the guinea pig forum that my mom goes to. In case you were wondering, Algernon is a hairless guinea pig. The breed is called a Skinny and my mom has had a bunch of them over the years. She's written a few articles on them and even helps to maintain the Wiki page on 'em. She currently has 4 of them, but until the other day had no good photos of Algernon (he's the least photogenic of the 4).

Anyway, nice picture I took, huh?

In other news, I've restarted my online comic strip (on drunkduck.com) The Greener Side and it's updating every Tuesday. If you'd like to start reading The Greener Side, click here. So far the response has been surprisingly good. I've been getting a lotta hits! For those of you who don't know, The Greener Side is pretty much the same as my blog (all about me) only in comic-strip form.

Guess that's about it for now. Hope you all have a Happy 4th of July! (I didn't say "Independence Day" because I know some of you aren't in America. HI, DAVID!!!)

Until next time.

--Lauren*

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Free Comic Book Day

For those of you who didn't know, today was FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! It's an event that happens every year on the first Saturday in April.

Ramiro and I went to the following places:
House of Secrets
Halo 13
Legacy Comics

And here's our loot:

Here's what Ramiro & I got for Free Comic Book Day:

Fraggle Rock/Mouse Guard
Blondie/Classic Comic Strip Action & Adventure
FAME: Lady Gaga/The Puppy Sister
War of the Supermen
G.I. Joe
The Oni Press Free For All
YOW!
Fractured Fables
The Tick
DC Kids
Bongo Comics Free-For-All
Sonic the Hedgehog
Archie's Summer Splash
Owly and Friends!
Iron Man & Thor
Iron Man & Nova
X-Men Second Coming: Prepare
Toy Story
Doctor Solar Man of the Atom + Magnus Robot Fighter
The Amazing Spider Man
The Invincible Iron Man
Shrek/The Penguins of Madagascar
Atomic Robo + Neozoic and B13x
Artifacts/Magdalena

I put a "/" for the ones that have "another" comic when you flip it over.

We also got a one-of-a-kind comic that a local artist drew. Pretty neat. Good haul. I've read almost half of them already. Most of them are pretty lame, but there are a few that are actually really good like The Tick comic and YOW! and I also liked Owly and Friends. :)

We got the bulk of our Free comics at House of Secrets (they're the BEST!), but they had run out of the Lady Gaga comic so that's why we went to Halo 13. And then we just got carried away and went to Legacy Comics. Which only had the Artifacts comic left over from the morning swarm... but that is where we got the original comic from the local artist (so that worked out well in the end).

Hope your Free Comic Book Day went just as well or better!

--Lauren*

Monday, December 14, 2009

The 6th Day

Wednesday (1), Thursday (2), Friday (3), Saturday (4), Sunday (5), Monday (6)... Okay, so, today's my 6th day in my new living space. And so far things are going great!

Ramiro and I share a room that's smaller than my old bedroom at my parents' house. Which has made things very tough/interesting. We've really had to make the most of the small space and we've both had to get rid of a lot of things.

Also, there's no "my stuff" and "your stuff" anymore. It's "our stuff." We've combined our DVDs, our VHS tapes, our CDs, our games, our books, our art supplies, and (omg!) our comic books. We share a very small closet. It's been a tough adjustment!

On the other hand, we're very grateful for each other's company (not to put words in his mouth or anything, but I happen to know he enjoys having me around). And I love having him around to talk to all the time. Now when I read/hear/see something, I don't have to think "Gee, I wish Ramiro was here to read/hear/see this too!" because he is here. So that's really nice. And, as I'm writing right now, I still have just enough privacy and space to think. Which is something I was concerned about (what with it being such a small space!). So that's quite a relief too!

The first meal we cooked together was a bit of a mixed bag. haha. The hamburger patties came out fantastic and the yams were great too (except that they finished about half-an-hour later than we anticipated). But we failed to follow the directions on this weird multi-grain pasta (boil water, then add the pasta) and it turned into a weird paste. And we didn't have any cream, butter or real cheese... So we made an Alfredo sauce out of milk, sour cream, and Parmesan powdered cheese. It actually tasted just about right (amazingly!), but was a bit grainy. Live and learn, right?

However, I've noticed that I have a lot less back pain here. And Ramiro noticed that I don't have my weird stomach distress hiccups anymore (my "meeps" for those of you who know me well). And I feel a lot more relaxed. Now that I have so much responsibility, there's really no time to be "emo" about things. It's a whole new beginning! :)

Anyway, Ramiro and I also share this computer now, so I should probably get off and let him have a turn!

Until next time...

--Lauren*

Saturday, November 21, 2009

For Dummies

Okay, so I'm a bit sick right now. Haven't been feeling my Smurfy best for the past couple days. Not sick enough to stay home from work mind you (threw up, but no fever = usually not contagious to others), but sick enough where I feel pretty darn crummy by the time I get home from work.

On the other hand, not feeling well always has the advantage of slowing me down enough to catch up on my reading. Here's a list of what I have read or am currently reading as of late:
Okay, I'm going to stop for a minute. That last book is by far the best in that list. I was very skeptical about the "For Dummies" series of books, but they are honestly fantastic (or at least the ones I've read so far have been!). They have good information and are written in a way that can usually make me laugh, or at least stay in a relatively good mood. This is important since most of the books I've gotten from them are about very "serious"/hard-to-deal-with subject matters (which some books make relatively depressing). In fact, the "For Dummies" book on Hypoglycemia is so good that's it's actually referenced in a couple of the other books on that reading list of mine!

I also have/read:

Those last two came in the mail just earlier today. I read a few pages into each of them and so far they're both pretty good. I have high hopes.

Speaking of back pain, I treated myself to an early Christmas (maybe birthday?...since my family isn't exchanging Christmas gifts again this year) gift: A back massager for my chair. With heat!

As I write to you, I currently have a ThermaCare heat wrap on my back. Which is fantastic. But, I got to thinking: with all the money I spend on disposable heat packs, I may as well invest in something a tad more permanent. And, hey, bonus!--Maaaaaaaaassssssssssaaaaaaaaaage. I can't wait.

Ever since my back sprain last summer, my back hasn't quite been the same. I try to be vigilant about the exercises the Physical Therapists gave me, but it's hard. They're so time-consuming! But I try to at least do the twisty one for sure and maybe one or two of the other ones before I head off to work each day. But, lately, I've been having a lot of back pain in spite of things. So much so that it wakes me up at night. Hurts.

In other news, I'm working on a short black & white comic. It's going to be only about 4 or 5 pages long. It's "creepy." It may be for something or it may not. I don't know yet. But I'm having a lot of fun doing it and I'm sure that you'll get to see it either way. (Though don't expect it any time soon since they've increased my work hours and I don't have a lot of free time anymore...and what free time I do have, I'd rather spend with Ramiro).

Until next time...

--Lauren*

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

The Box Sold!

The box I decorated with Fan Art (see entry directly below this one) sold!

My original intent was to keep $50 for myself in order to open a Savings Account (or at least to get by on... I was shorted 2 days pay on my last paycheck and I hate borrowing from my parents) and give the rest to Children's Hospital. But since the box sold for $55, I thought it would be pretty lame to only give $5 to the hospital... So I'm giving the whole thing to the hospital and keeping none for myself.

As soon as the money from PayPal gets transferred to my bank account (should be another 4 days), I'll make out the check and send it to Children's Hospital. I'll be sure to take a pic so you guys can see too. :)

I was originally hoping to go down to the hospital in person and drop off the check (and get a receipt...), but it's a bit far away and I'd probably end up wasting as much on gas as I'm donating. haha. Sadness.

Anyway! On to THANK YOUS!

Special thanks to:
  • Zach of SMBC for his news post about my box (which is actually what ended up leading the buyer to my auction!)
  • Tom of Gunnerkrigg Court for writing me a very lovely letter about my box (he saw it a bit late and couldn't help promote it, but he took time out of his busy schedule to write to me how much he liked it)

and, of course,

  • David from Austria for liking my box enough to actually BUY it! Thank you!!>

More updates soon!

--Lauren*



Thursday, September 24, 2009

FAN ART BOX FOR SALE (MONEY WILL GO TO GOOD CAUSE!)

Okay, so here's the deal... My goal for this year was to open a Savings Account for myself. And I was hoping to do it before the end of October because my bank is having a deal where they'll toss in an extra $25 (good deal!), buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut...I've done the math and I'm probably going to be about $50 short to meet the deadline. So...I'd like $50.

I've also been doing a lot of thinking about my health lately. And, although I've got some troubles (as you may have read about in my other entries), at least I can walk.

Now, this wasn't always the case. Here's me circa 1986:
I was born with a birth defect. Ya know how you're supposed to have a ball & socket on your leg/hip? I didn't have that. So, I ended up needing to have extremely extensive hip surgery that included all sorts of bone grafting and whatnot. This, of course, was very expensive. And my parents had both been laid off from their jobs at the time...

Children's Hospital and Crippled Children's Services came to the rescue. They paid for my surgery in full. That's the only reason that I'm able to walk now.

I'd really like to repay them.

That's where the title of this entry comes in. I've made a piece of fan art and I'm selling it on eBay. I want to keep $50 for myself (to fulfill my dream of finally having a Savings Account!) and then I want to give the rest to Children's Hospital!! So... If I get $150 for my art, I'll keep $50 and give $100 to the Hospital. If I get $1,000,000 for it, I'll keep $50 and give $999,950 to the Hospital! Get it? :)

I will post pictures of the check (and probably me going to the hospital and giving it to them) after the item sells.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd...without further ado, here's what I'm selling:
It's a wooden box. It's eight (8) inches long, four & a half (4.5) inches wide, and one & a half (1.5) inches deep. I used acrylic paints and black ink pens to decorate it. The bottom (not shown) is black with little pieces of felt glued on so that it won't scuff up anyone's furniture. There are fourteen (14) different comic strip/book/characters represented on the box's top. These are all artists/comics/characters that have changed my life in some way or simply make me smile. I hope that some (or all!) have done the same for you at some point!

They are:
1.) Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal by Zach Weiner
2.) Gunnerkrigg Court by Tom Siddell
3.) Uncle Scrooge & Donald Duck by Don Rosa (Carl Barks is the original guy, of course, but I adore Rosa's work)
4.) Archie Comics (my fave is Jughead!) by Samm Shwartz (there are a lot of artists that've done Archie comics, but he's my personal favourite)
5.) The Farside by Gary Larson
6.) Questionable Content by Jeph Jaques
7.) Batman (I chose to draw him in the style of the animated series--which was also the comic series I enjoyed most)
8.) Rachel The Great by Rachel Nabors
9.) Cowbirds In Love by Sanjay Kulkarni
10.) Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai
11.) Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson
12.) Serenity by RealBuzz Studios
13.) SKINCUBE by Ramiro Roman, Jr.
14.) EC Comics (the "Old Witch" from the Haunt of Fear series is featured here)

Here's the listing on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170386715476

HAPPY BIDDING!!! and THANK YOU!!!!!

--Lauren*
PS: This is my first eBay listing, but I used to list things in high school under my parents' eBay name (zotzcoin). So please don't be nervous about my non-existant Feedback rating on my own account at the moment. :) I also sell things on Amazon under the "littlezotz" seller name as well and I have 100% positive feedback on there!