Bring on the Expo.......

This weekend is the Calgary Expo down at the Round-up Center. I encourage one and all to come on down and check out the festivities starting at 10am Saturday and continuing until 6pm Sunday night! This show is always a ton of fun, and I can't express how excited I am to be a part of it. I wasn't able to get 9 Doors off to print on time, but I did manage to put together a nice little ashcan of my story "Fairy Tale Sins". I have limited copies for sale, as well as some new pin-ups and sketches, so come on down and check out my booth (booth 806). As well, I think you should check out the works of my friends at VA (I have stuff out with them too!), Jonny Luu and Dan Andrews in Artist Alley, Fiona Staples and Andrew Foley against the wall in the Guests area, as well as everyone else you see! There's a ton of great artists, writers and celebrities at the show this year, and I know there's something for everyone. OK, enough cheap plugs! (I'm so tired, feel like zombie!)

In the meantime, here's a couple of the reason I'm tired, and that being the cover to Fairy Tale Sins (Ok, not done plugging yet!) and another batch of sketch cards. Enjoy, and as always, thanks for stopping by.

Take care all!

The cover says.......

Hey there folks! I thought I'd drop in and update this blog o'mine with the fancy smancy cover to my new book, 9 Doors. This book is sort of an unofficial follow-up to Never the Less, the ashcan I put out a couple of years ago. I really like the main character Alex Tossman (he reminds me of me, probably because he is me!) and wanted to continue to explore the character and see where his quest leads him. As well, I was looking to do some experimental story telling and this book is anything but conventional. So hopefully folks like it!

9 Doors will act as a set up for the OGN I've been working on, and with any luck will be printed and available for this years Calgary Expo. I'm not overly worries if I don't get it back by then, but it would sure be nice! I do have a back up book for the show, as well as some nice prints and a cool little experiment myself and my associates whipped up. There is also the stories I did for Vicious Ambitious in Gord Cumming's Mercy Seat Presents: Children are Cruel, which I'm really looking forward to showing off and recommend one and all pick it up. Show I'll still have a showing even without 9 Doors. If it doesn't make it back from the printer on time, I'll let you all know where you can pick up a copy to check it out. I'm really stoked by what I've done, and hope that you folks like it too.



9 Doors will also introduce everyone to the new face of Out of Mind Studios, R.E.M.I. the Robot! Welcome him with open arms, as he's cool and would like to be your friend!! And he's one hell of a cleaner. :D

Weird! Take care all!

My pin-up piece for SDCC 2008 Souvenir Book.

Here's a pin-up I've done for this year's San Diego Comic-Con Souvenir Book. Every year they open up the book to fans and pros submissions based on a variety of themes. Last year I jumped on the Star Wars train, and sent in a Boba Fett piece I'd done. This year, it's DOC SAVAGE! The Man of Bronze himself, in all his black and white glory. I haven't read any Doc Savage since I was a wee lad, and the movie didn't do much for me, but there's just something inherently cool about the guy. And since this year's themes were not a deep as previous years, I went with the one theme that struck me as being something I'd like to do. So here he is.





Feel free to bust my balls on the piece if you like. I did this up in about 4 hours, and I haven't been to bed yet so I'm a little out of it. So if it sucks, it sucks! If not, then cool! It just proves I can do things stoned on coffee and high on life!!

OK, enough of that. Thanks for stopping by, and as always, take care!

The Question!

I'm a big fan of The Question from the Justice League Unlimted TV series, and since I've been watching the seasons as I work at night I decided to do up a little pin-up of my hero! He's a little wacky, a little quirky, and a whole lot unbalanced, but he knows his conspiracy theories and he's usually right! So here he is folks! Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!

*Oh, and there are aliens everywhere, especially in coffee shops (and possibly Marvel Comics. SKRULLS!!) Ha ha!*

Take care all.

Zodiac Girl Pin-up.

I've always got a million and 1 ideas floating around in this cranium of mine, and sometimes I jump at one of these ideas and make them real. I've been wanting to do a pin-up style book for some time now, and this is the start of it. so here's the first pin-up from the as-yet-to-be named pin-up book I'm hoping to have out for the summer time. I have much to learn in this craft of mine, but I'm making strides and reveling in the process of it all. Hopefully this year marks the sprint to the finish line. Take care all, and enjoy!

My first couple Marvel sketch cards.

Here's the first batch or Marvel Masterpiece series 2 sketch cards I've done up. They got approved the other day, so I can show them off. Look for them to be random inserts in the card series, out later this year.





Take care!

More site stuff!

This is really just an excuse to keep this updated, by hey, what the hell! Slowly but surely, we're getting stuff done. I loaded a bunch of new sequentials and pin-ups to the Out of Mind Studios website (follow the link in my links section), and thought I'd load a couple of the bio pics I did up for Kevin and I. Unfortunately he's been sick for a bit, but once he's back on his feet he'll get the rest of the updates done on the website and it'll be ready to go. I also did up some new banners, and some other things, but I'll wait till they get loaded on the site to show them. For now, this is it!




I also have some cool things in the works for both the Calgary Expo on the 26th and 27th of April, as well as the Edmonton Collectable and Toy Show on the 20th of April (cheap plug time kids!!). Once I have a few things finished, I'll post them here. Take care all!

Out of Mind Studios is getting a much needed facelift!

Hey all. Just thought I'd post a quick update letting you fab folks who read this know that my studio (Out of Mind Studios) is getting a website face lift. That means more frequent updates to the site, a new list of projects we're working on, and more artwork!!! I've been working on new images and logos for the site over the past few days, and if all goes well the site will be up and updated within the next week or so. I'm excited because that means my studio is not dead, and I'm now getting to work on some projects I had put aside until I knew just what the status of OOMS was. So once it's up and ready to go I'll let everyone know. In the meantime, this is an idea for a knew mascot for the studio. He doesn't have a name yet, but we'll get him one. Take care all.

I'm creating again.

I sat up tonight, working on finishing up some of the pre-story stuff on the Dual Convergence book I'm working on. And then I got to work on an idea I've had brewing for a bit, with the goal of getting as much writing done on it as possible. Several pages later, I've got the start of something I feel could be the best thing I've ever done. When it's finished and ready to go, I'll post some of the art for it here. But I'm happy that it's started off strong, and I just needed to post something on here.

God I need to learn to sleep at night.

Take care all.

A sketch I did.

Here is a sketch I did of a character from one of my upcoming, forever in limbo stories that I hope to get out this year. Her name is Leah.




Take care all.

Pan pin-up-o-rama!

Trying saying it 5 times fast, you'll go insane like me! Here's a pin-up I did for fellow local comic guru Chris P., for his Peter Pan comic. It's a great retelling of the Pan, and when it comes out (which I believe will be in time for this year's Calgary Expo) everyone should buy a copy and check it out. Truly great stuff.


As for me, I'm loosing it. Seriously. I've been battling some health issues (both mental and physical) and a lot of what I wanted to get done for the Expo this year just won't happen. I've been struggling on a few projects I have, but I'm thinking things will smooth out soon. Or at least I hope so. I'll post some updates (if I make any) on here, until then: take care all.

Ch ch ch changes!

I'm thinking of changing this blog up a bit and making it an art blog as well as a life journal. I've had the bloody thing for what seems like forever and don't utilize it that much. So slowly over the course of the next few weeks I'm changing this monkey up! This is the warning shot. The next one's gonna hit ya! So here's a sample shot of the cover for a book I've got coming out soon. You can figure out what it's for if you'd like, cuz for now I'm not tellin'! Enjoy.

A little ditty about Japan. Part 1 anyways....

Halo again! Well, I said I'd do a Japan write-up, so here it is. I figure the sooner I get this out of the way the sooner I can move on to other writings.

I left for Japan on October 21st with my friend Charles, bright-eyed and bushy tailed (not really) and eager to set foot in the land of the rising sun (that parts true). After a long (12 hours) but thankfully uneventful flight, we arrived at Narita Airport in the afternoon on Monday the 22nd to start our 2 weeks of adventure. Thanks to sleeping most of the flight, I was energized and ready to tackle Japan! That wouldn't last long, however, as jet-leg would kick my butt, but I'll get to that.

Charles has a wonderful friend named Yoko who works as an Air Traffic Controller at the airport, and she met up with us when we arrived and helped point us in the right direction so that we could catch the right train out of the airport to get where we were staying. Narita Airport is huge, and I was incredibly greatful that Yoko met with us to help us out. After getting our Japan Rail passes and purchasing a Tokyo Metro Pass we temporarily said bye to Yoko and got on a train bound for Asakusa, were we had a room booked at the Tokyo Smile Hostel. An hour or so later we arrived at the hostel, checked in with Masa, the cool dude who ran the place, and then set out for something to eat. My first true taste of Japan! The area around the hostel is busy, as Asakusa is home to several Temples, a thriving business district, and is also the home of one of Asahi Breweries office building. That's one of the most recognizable buildings in the area, as it has what looks like a giant golden turd mounted to the roof of the building. It's quite funny to see! Anyways, we left the hostel and headed back towards the subway entrances and over the where several restaurants and shops we located. Japan has a lot of tall buildings, as space is an issue, so everything is built "up" instead of out. And it's bright, with lots of colorful signage everywhere. It to is quite the site to see. After wondering around for a bit, Charles recommended we go for some gyudon (rice bowl meal), and what a great suggestion it was! I love GYUDON!!! It was the first of many Japanese dishes I had that I instantly liked. It's so good; rice with pan fried beef, covered in a delicious sauce, much like teriyake sauce. And it's cheap too, only 600 yen, or a little over $5. Awesome stuff!



Now this is where the jet lag kicked in. After we wondered around the area for a bit and checked out the Kaminarimon Shrine, one of the bigger shrines in Asakusa , I was starting to feel the toll the flight had on me and we headed back to the hostel. I was out cold in no time, getting rest for the next 4 days of Tokyo sight-seeing that lay ahead of us. So after a good nights sleep and a quick email check on the free computers the hostel offered, Charles and I set off for our first full day of touring Tokyo. This is also when I first encountered cara age, which became my overall favorite food in Japan. Something I never knew until we got there is that Japan has a lot of stores that we have here in North America, just with a Japanese twist. They have MacDonald's, Subway, KFC, Denny's, and 7/11 just to name a few, and all have a similar look to their NA counterparts, and even some of the same items, but mostly contain items which are anything but! Thankfully though, amongst some very weird but apparently appetizing (at least to the Japanese) delights there is food that a skeptical Canadian such as myself can enjoy. And cara age is definitely one of those things! For 120 yen, you get a kabob with 3 pieces of the tastiest little chicken bites I've even had! The flavor reminded me of honey-garlic chicken wings, without the bone. Sooooo good. But enough about that.



On this day Charles decided to take me to Akihabara, the nerd-geek-tech capital of Tokyo, and man was I stoked! I had read about Akihabara in one of my EGM gaming mags and knew a bit of what the area had to offer, and also knew that this may in fact be an expensive first day in Japan. And although I refrained from blowing a ton of cash, I still spent a bit. But it wasn't so much of what I bought, but what I seen in Akihabara that made it one of the big highlights of the trip and one of my favorite places to visit. This district is famous for having large gaming complexes, a multitude of comic and toy collectible stores, several adult store, and a 6 level technology based store called Yotoboshi Camera, which could best be described as a Best Buy store, only twice the size and 6 levels tall. Anything and everything geek can be found here, and it was very difficult to not drop a shit load of cash in this place. But quite possibly the weirdest of all attractions in Akihabara is their Maid Cafes. These are literally cafes where cute Japanese girls, dressed like maids, serve you your food and offer dining companionship to their clientèle. It quite strange to see, and although intriguing on a base level, I made the decision not to go into any, but to stare somewhat dumbfounded from a distance. From there Charles and I did some more shopping, played some video games, and decided to take a quick trip over to the Imperial Palace before dark to get some pictures. Unfortunately we got there just as the sun was setting and took some dusk pictures of the Palace, as well as some nice shots of downtown Tokyo as it lit up for the evening. Although we missed out on the Palace this day, we would get the opportunity later in the week to see it. Overall, day 1 was quite a fun experience with tons to see and do, and lots of stuff to take in. And although a vast majority of people are not bi-lingual, I didn't find it too difficult to communicate and get around. It also helps that Charles has a good command of Japanese, as well as a decent knowledge of Tokyo.



After getting back to the hostel and grabbing a bite to eat, Charles and I called it a day and decided to get some rest for another busy day. For on day 2, my inner child was allowed to come out and play, as we were off to Tokyo Disneyland! And what a blast that was!!! It's has a very similar layout to the Disneyland in California, only everything is Japanese! From the ride announcements to the food served, this was the first true day of culture shock for me. I think it's because we went to a place that is familiar to me, as I've been to Disneyland before. But never like this! Charles and I went on several rides, had a great curry meal in one of the many food halls at the park, took a ton of pictures, and did a bit of shopping. It was awesome, but truly made me realize for the first time that I was actually in Japan!



Well that's it for now. Part 2 will be up in a couple of days. Take care all.

Merry Christmas everybody!!

I'm still working on a Japan write-up so please bare with me. But in the meantime, and in the spirit of the season, I wanted to wish everyone who reads this a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I spent tonight with my Mom, ensuring that her first Christmas Eve without my Stepdad wasn't spent alone. We exchanged gifts (I'm sooooo spoiled!) and watched National Treasure so that we can go see the sequel later this week. It was a nice way to spend the evening and I know she was happy to have me around. I know I enjoyed my time with her!!! Tomorrow I'm off to my sister Chantelle's place for Christmas with my Dad and Stepmom's family, where I'm sure to get spoiled again! Yesterday I spent the day at my sister Crystal's place , doing the Christmas thing with her and the family from my Mom's side. It was a great day and a wonderful meal. Thanks again Crys!!! So far I've had a great Christmas season and I'm very thankful for that. I can hardly wait for tomorrow. And even though you've heard it before it still needs to be said: BE SAFE!!!! Don't drink and drive; call a cab. Hell, call me if you need to (and if I live near you). It's not worth getting caught. Now that I've done my public service announcement for the evening, I leave you with this.

In a season filled with commercialism, gift-giving, and money spending, skip all that and give the greatest gift that anyone could possibly get this and any other Christmas season: the gift of friendship. Spend time with your friends and loved ones and let them know you love them and appreciate them. I think that's the greatest gift of all.

Take care all.

Damn, I knew I forgot something....

Hello all (all 3 of you; you know who you are!). It's been awhile since I did anything on this crazy blog of mine, so I thought I'd update it finally! First off, a quick update on Japan: it was incredible!!!!! By far the best vacation/trip I've ever taken in MY LIFE! The country is amazing with so much to see and do. And the people I met were truly awesome, with each one of them treating me incredibly nice. I want to extend a big thanks to my friend Charles, who without him the trip really wouldn't have been possible. He's also by far the best travel companion I've ever had and I would travel with him again in a heartbeat! And also a big thanks to (in no particular order) Yoko, Hiro, Shuhei, Yasu, Yuko, Justin, Kaori, Maki, Gori, Katsui, Mihoko and the many other friends I made on my trip. You all made me feel very welcomed during my stay in Japan and I hope to one day see you all again. I'll try (I will, I swear!) to do a separate blog on the whole Japan experience over the Christmas break.

As for the rest of life, I've been busy training hard in Karate, having recently competed in the 2007 Vancouver Cup (a first round loss due to a nasty knee shot; ouch!) and also getting ready to compete this weekend in our clubs annual Team Tournament. I'm looking forward to squaring off against the other good fighters in our club and the area for what are sure to be some great, spirited battles. Go Team! I've also slowly but surely started to finalize plans for next years comic schedule, officially deciding on what I'm going to put out from Out of Mind Studios in the coming months. And yes, in case you've been wondering, Out of Mind Studios still exists, it's just been on hiatus while myself and other members of the studio handled personal issues that have been plaguing us. But I'm confident that things have finally started to clear up in our lives and we can all start to get back to what brought us together in the first place, and that's our passion for comics. I'll be updating everyone soon on what's to come, but for starters look for issue 2 of The Sorrow in the spring, along with a Twice Thursday 1 shot that'll be done in comic form rather then strip form, as well as a little story I've called Underloved arriving (fingers crossed) by late spring. I have a couple of other things on the go as well, but until things are finalized with the collaboraters on those projects my lips are sealed! But they will be good things, trust me on that.

Beyond that, not much is new. I was fortunate enough to be apart of Help TV out of Edmonton a couple of weeks ago, in a segment dedicated to comics. It was a great experience and I'd like to thank Jay from Happy Harbor for putting that together. It got me a lot more exposure then I would have thought it would, and there are good thing to come from this as well. That's it for now folks. I'll do my best to get something new up in the coming days in regards to my Japan trip, and in the meantime Happy Holidays everyone! Only 10 more days till Christmas everybody, so I hope you've all got your shopping done before the madness really starts at the malls!!!

Take care all.

I'm going to Japan, and I can't sleep.

A few hours ago, I bought a ticket to Japan. From October 21 to November 4 I'll be touring around the country with my good friend and proficient in Japanese traveling partner Charles. He taught English in Japan for a couple of years, and wants to go back and visit friends, and see things he never got the chance to see before. I'm going because it's Japan, and I've always wanted to go there. Don't need many more reasons then that. But this will be my last big trip for a while. Because when I get back, I have some serious work to get done.

Over the last couple of weeks I've done 2 smaller projects for my friends at Vicious Ambitious. They have a couple of books coming out in the next month, anthology based projects, and I was fortunate (and honored) enough to get to do some sequential work for these books. Both the story were written by Gord Cummings, who has a very different way of thinking then I do, and therefor gave me an interesting and awesome challenge when drawing his stories. As both a writer and an artist, I look forward to working on scripts that I haven't written, because it gives me a chance to step out of my comfort zone and open my brain to being and thinking in a different and creative way. I had a blast working on these stories, and it's given me the drive I needed to get to work on some of the stuff that I've put off for the last little while. My current goal right now is to finish issue 2 of The Sorrow, my hottie-teen werewolf story, by the end of September, with the hopes that a new printer I'm looking at using can get it back to me in time for Pure Speculation 3, a show I'm fortunate enough to be exibiting at in October. After that I'll be finishing up the long-anticipated issue 1 of Dead Last, which I'm hoping to have finished for the beginning of December. After that, well, that's still to be decided, but I have a couple of things brewing right now, and when I've figured out which way to go, I let you know. But I have a couple of big (graphic novel big) things in the creative pot, as well as continuing to put out issues of The Sorrow and Dead Last set for the foreseeable future, so I have plenty to keep me busy.

That's it for now. Take care all.

I finished The Deathly Hollows tonight!

Although this doesn't seem like much of a feat, or really even that big of a deal, I still need to blog about it! Tonight, I finished Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows. For those of you who know me well, this is a tremendous accomplishment. I've read through a fair share of books in my time, but nothing in comparison to this. I'm a slow reader, and besides comics I don't read a lot of "printed" material. But with this, I read every page, absorbed every word, and experienced the most emotionally gratifying story I've ever read. More times then not my heart raced; plenty of times I had to wipe tears out of my eyes. I became very emotionally invested as I delved deeper and deeper into the story. I can't remember a time in recent memory where I've felt like this.

It's truly over. The story has come to a close. And by finishing this book I've been able to put a bit of closure on a very trying chapter in my life. Every time someone fell to Voldermort in this book, I felt for those around them. I could feel their pain. Because that's what I've been feeling for 4 months now. For 4, long months. I've done my best to avoid it, done everything I can to stay busy enough to not have to deal with it. But thanks to this story, this silly little book (not to be taken in a demeaning way) I was shown a way to confront it. J.K.'s words allowed me the insight I needed to look at everything I've gone through, to process everything I feel and need to feel, because I had this wonderful cast of characters to follow. They suffered, they struggled, and in the end, they endured. Now I'm not saying I've dealt with anything the likes of what Harry and the gang were put through, but metaphorically speaking I can certainly relate. I have lost someone truly great from my life, and I've had triumphs and tragedies to deal with. But so far I've tried really hard to persevere. And I think I'm doing okay. In fact, thanks to this "accomplishment", I know I am. I'm getting by, and will continue to do so for a long, long time.

So I leave you with this tonight: If you need an escape, if you need some way of forgetting about everything for awhile, read a book. Hell, go read Harry Potter. It's helped me in more ways then I can truly express and I think it could help anyone if they're willing to let it.

Take care all.

Okay, here it is.....

I haven't posted in awhile. I guess that goes without saying, since the last post was from June. "No duh!". So what have I been up to? Well, a lot. Besides the day to day handling of my families personal finances and issues, I've done some traveling. I drove to Las Vegas and San Diego with my friends from the studio Kevin and Brian. We met up with another friend of mine named Steve down in Vegas, and then proceeded to drink and gamble like rockstars for a couple of day. It was a blast. Then in San Diego, it was convention time! We all took in the panels and activities that we were interested in and I had the most fun at SDCC I've had since the first time there 5 years ago. It was a no pressure trip down this year, as I have enough comic book work to keep me busy for the next year or so. And that's what I'm going to concentrate on as soon as the rest of the family business I need to take care of is done. With any luck, that will be very soon.

I also just got back from a spur of the moment trip to Cancun! It's such a beautiful place, with clear blue water, white sandy beaches, and a constant temperature above 80F. A true paradise on earth. The trip was made even better by the fact that a good friend of mine Amanda accompanied me for this quick vacation. We didn't always see eye to eye, and we argued a bit, but it was good to have someone I care about there with me. We did some cool activities together, such a scuba and snorkeling, and we even got to experience a bit of hurricane weather! Although that might not sound cool to most people, I've never seen first hand what happens during a storm like that so it was a cool experience for me at least. We also did some shopping, took a boat cruise to Isla Mujures, and did a jungle tour complete with an alligator sighting!! I'm looking forward to going back there someday, because I really enjoyed my time there.

Now that I'm home from my travels, it's time to settle in and start taking care of the loose ends I have in my personal life. I've spent the last few months since the passing of my stepfather doing whatever was needed for my family, but I've let things in my life slip. I've put a lot of things on hold. And now I'd like to get those things rolling and start living my life again. The last few months I feel like I've been living in a dream state. It feels like nothing thats happened is real. Time hasn't seemed to have any meaning or purpose, and days just seem to bleed into one another. Some days I feel like I'm loosing my mind, because I've never had to be in control of this much responsibility before. And I've never had to not worry about money before. It's hard to get focused on me right now because everything up to now has been about everyone else. And every time I get to do just for me I feel guilty. I shouldn't feel guilty, but I do.

Every good thing that happened for me and my family is the result of my stepfather's death. Thanks to his preparations for an untimely death my Mom has been well taken care of financially. And she's doing what she can to help out everybody else, including me. I've fought with her about giving money away, especially to me, because I can take care of myself and I don't want to see her go without. But the truth is, without her financial help, I'd be in trouble. I haven't worked since Warner died because I stepped up to handle everything. I feel guilty about that too because in a way it was really selfish of me to do so. I didn't trust anyone else in the family to take care of anything, and the Leo in me wanted to control it all. It was a very chaotic couple of weeks following the accident, and I wanted to prove to myself that I could handle it all. I did. Now however, I'm dealing with the fallout of it all. I feel really emotional when I think of Warner. And little things make me sad. It's hard to deal with these emotions right now when there's still so much left to do for Mom. Really hard.

I'm just hoping I can keep it all together a little longer, just long enough to make sure everything works out. Then I can let go of it all, and with any luck I'll regain some sense of sanity again. Because this has been the craziest time of my life and I could really use a break.

I'll post again soon, when I can make sense of what I just wrote.

I passed my test!

I'm now a 4th Kyu in Kyokushin Karate after receiving my new belt tonight! For those of you who don't know, that's a green belt in my style. Next up is brown, followed by black, but I'm still another year away from one and 3 from the other. Slowly but surely though I'll make it. I'm very happy right now. I think I tested the best I've ever tested for a belt this time around. The only thing I've been told needs work is my weight, which I've been working on for quite awhile and I'm not far off now where I want to be. And it's not that I'm fat or anything, it's just that I'm carrying around a few more pounds then I need to and it does slow me down a bit. But by the end of summer I'm sure I'll be where I want to be. I'm focused and determined to shed the extra pounds and to make Sensei happy in the process. A small group of us will be training throughout the summer, working on cardio, self-defense, and flexibility. I'm also looking at fighting at a couple of tournaments in the fall, one in Cranbrook in November and the other in Vancouver in December. So I want to be in good fighting shape and the summer training will help me achieve that. I'm looking forward to the hard training and all the results that will come from it. And in the fall, I'm going to do my best to help out with the earlier classes and get some teaching under my belt. It will be an exciting time for me in the fall!

And on a side note, I got my passport! And the best part is it only took 11 days to get to me. That's amazing considering some of the horror stories I've heard about wait times. My Mom's only took 9 days to get to her. That's even faster then the pamphlet in the passport package says it will take as a minimum (they say at least 10 days)! So I'm quite happy about that. Now I can travel freely any where my wallet and ambition will take me. First stop: San Diego! After that: Japan in the fall! And from there, well, we see when that time arrives. But I've heard rumors of a family trip to Europe.

Man will that ever be cool. Take care one and all!

Oddly enough, I might have a girlfriend.

I've never been hit on more in my life then I have been over the past month. I don't know if it's the sad, puppy dog look in my eyes, the unshaven "brooding" look I'm sporting, or my new cologne. But whatever it is, it's working. Thanks to my friend Amanda, I've met someone. Her name is Brenna. She seems very nice, she's definitely strong (she's a farm girl), and she really pretty. But I'm taking my time with her. She was pretty jaded by her last relationship, and I'm not in a hurry to rush into anything right now. But we both like movies and have been spending a great deal of time together watching all the shows I've missed over the past few years. And she's athletic, playing both volleyball and baseball on a weekly basis. So we'll she where this goes. I'm off to Karaoke with her and a group of friends tonight, and those who know me know I love Karaoke! We'll see if she likes my singing.