Word of mouth... well... post.

I have mentioned it before on my blog, but for those of you that don't know I draw a comic strip for the niche market of surveying. I have a contract with Professional Surveyor magazine and I draw a strip each month. In addition I have a little online store with calendars, shirts, etc. It is a lot of fun and recently (and with the help of my Red Fish Blue colleague, Clinton George) I have moved to doing the strips in color.

I get my ideas from my experience of marketing to Surveyors over the past three years. A lot of the people I work with at Hayes are surveyors as well, so of course I use them a lot for resources.

Anyways, a competing magazine (P.O.B.) has a very popular message board for surveyors. They can come and post all of their problems, solutions, ideas, or general thoughts on the board. I just finished a full year of doing the site and cartoon before the board noticed my work. A couple of days ago however, someone made a post on the board about my cartoon.

Saturday's post | Monday's post

Within an hour more than 200 visitors flooded my website, Out-of-Plumb.com, which is more visitors than I have seen in over three months. Nobody bought anything, but that is my fault. I have to do a new calendar, Christmas cards, etc. before people will want to buy anything. And on all of the posts the feedback was always positive.

The point that I am not making very well here is this: the outcome to this scenario could have been completely different, seeing how I am not a surveyor, have never surveyed, and have only affiliated with the industry for a couple of years. After so many surveyors witnessed my brand of humor applied to their profession they could have ripped me a new one. They could have said things like, "He obviously has never surveyed a day in his life." But they did not. They found the humor relatable and appreciated and supported the continuation of my work.

Whew!

I used to Draw...

I found this in my desk recently, and I forgot that I used to draw. Now I draw a comic strip, Out-of-Plumb.com, but my thing in college was portraits.

This was done on clay board. It works like this: they take a piece of masonite board and paint it white; then cover the masonite in a thin layer of clay and paint that India ink black; then you use these little tools to scrape off the black clay, revealing the white board underneath.

Very cool stuff. It makes you draw in reverse. Normally you draw shadows, with this technique you draw the highlights.

Your Own Way

A song about parenting... well... one small aspect.

Your Own Way

Verse
She moves in ways
I can't understand.
It reminds me of the waves
Crashing into the sand.

The water is cold,
But still I get in.
While two pale blue eyes
Are burning holes in my skin.

Chorus
No matter what I say,
You're gonna' have to
Do it your own way

No matter what I do,
It is still your choice to choose.

Verse
Fail to fly
And the ground is yours.
But fail to try,
You lose so much more.

Years can shape
Wisdom in a man.
Or the first time he holds
His baby in his hands.

Chorus
No matter what I say,
You're gonna' have to
Do it your own way

No matter what I do,
It is still your choice to choose.

By that Name

I like the words to this song. I like the music to this song as well. Some songs are a big thing, they are a huge indication of who I am or how I feel. But this song just took its own personality, and doesn't take itself too seriously.

By that Name

Verse
Cigarette case and a well pressed suit,
Black tie mismatching his snake skin boots, he
Calls his friends and tells them the news,
"The elephant in the room has died."

The hour waits on the second hand,
As it travels around the earth again.
You feel him crawl underneath your skin, you
Try your best not to cry.

Chorus
You want two hearts to beat as one.
You want an empty shell instead of a gun.
You want someone who you know love could reclaim,
But there ain't nobody here that goes by that name.

Verse
You fake everything else, why not fake a smile.
If it'll keep 'em at bay for a little while.
You see your dreams as an unborn child
Your mind has yet to abort.

He's just black, greasy hair without a spine,
With eyes as shallow as the side of a dime.
If you look close enough you'll go back in time,
And see what all of this is worth.

Chorus
You want two hearts to beat as one.
You want an empty shell instead of a gun.
You want someone who you know love could reclaim,
But there ain't nobody here that goes by that name.

Chorus (Key Change)
You want a blue sky with your name in the clouds.
You want a white veil and an egg-white shroud.
You want someone to throw them self in front of the train,
But there ain't nobody here that goes by that name.
Lord, there ain't nobody anywhere... that goes by that name.

Album Art

For our next album, and it is a long ways away, I already have a vision of the album art. Several months ago I was walking through my Florida room when I stumbled upon the picture below (figure A) tacked to a bulletin board. I had seen this picture several times but for the first time ever I noticed the strange symbol in the picture.

Figure A:

Clinton (my Red Fish Blue partner) took this shot (and several others) inside of an abandoned train in our hometown. So I looked through the other shots, and I seen it in there as well. From what I can determine, it is not a logo, but rather decoration for the train. And the train itself was probably 50-60 years old... at least.

It was a very strange feeling when I seen the symbol, I instantly seen the cover of our next album in my head. I jumped on the computer and whipped this up in about 20 minutes.

Figure B:

Now this looks like a photo, however it is all digital. I created this from scratch, armed only with the photo in figure A. If you were to buy our cd in the store this is what the front of the jewel case would look like.

I like the mystery and intrigue I feel when I look at this image. I like the simplicity and the texture. Months came and went since I designed this, and no good name of the album to go with the picture, and our music, ever came to me. Then yesterday, out of the blue, I found the picture again and remembered how much I liked it, and again in an instant something came to me. The name of the album. Ready? Here goes:

"Up and Away"

The image, where I am in my life right now, where our music is, it all works perfect for me in my mind. Plus... everyone likes super heroes.

The Giver

On the surface this song may appear to have religious implications, but the message is a little broader than just one particular belief. The overall premise (and George would get mad at me for revealing so much about the song before you see the words) is that no matter what you believe, it is good to be here and to be presented with so many second chances. There are also themes of 'We don't always know what is best for us", and the old adage, "That which does not kill us, makes us stronger."

By the way... I may have invented a new adjective. See if you can find it.

The Giver

Verse
All of this noise inside of my head,
I can barely hear you say, "Come back to bed."
Somewhere I know there's a light that's left on,
But when I turn to look away the light is gone.

Radio waves flying out into space,
Sometimes I think I'd like to take their place.
And find myself on an asteroid belt;
Watch them all explode without a sound.

Chorus
And the crowd that built me up,
Is the same that spilled my cup.
And the knife that split my vein,
Is the same that spared my pain.

The giver of life and love is just;
I've got another chance to go for bust.

Verse
Somewhere in dream in a desertous land,
As a wad of cotton sheets are in my hands.
Fear I can't breath as I look at the sky,
And the miles of sand between you and I.

As I awake the feeling remains,
That I'm a world apart from who I really am.
And the me that's here now fails to believe
That the gift I have might some how come from me.

Chorus
And the crown above my head,
Is the same that spells my dread.
And the chain around my feet,
Is the same that sets me free.

The giver of life and love is just;
I've got another chance to go for bust.

Outro
Mark a place for new beginnings,
You are more than just your sinning,
There's more to love than just your lust,
The giver of life and love is just.

They don't see, they don't know.
They don't know how far you'd go.
Infinity times the lack of trust.
The giver of life and love is just.

More of my Youngins

I reallly like my new phone. 2 megapixel is plenty big enough for pictures on the web. Enjoy!

A Song of Perseverance

*If the video does not play above then it is still processing.

Jimmy was nice enough to accompany me at a songwriter's night at the Bell Buckle Cafe last night. I've been talking about songs, and writing them, but I need to perform them to see how they stick. And with the band on a small hiatis (due to logistics and colleges, etc.) songwriter's nights will prove to help me still grow my talents in the mean time. I've posted the words to this song on here before. But I will repost them here so you can see them with the video. Thanks to Wes Worrell for taking the video for me.

Verse
These shoulders
May be the only ones fit
To bear the weight
That I must.

This heart
May be strong enough,
To feel what I feel
And not bust.

Chorus:
I was made for this,
From the skin on my hand
To the bones in my fist.

I was made for this.
Though my knuckles are white
As ghosts when I grip,

I hold on.
I hold on.

Verse
They've taken my eyes
And put 'em in the wrong holes,
But they'll never
Take my sight.

They've taken my dreams
And stripped 'em from my soul,
But new ones will come
Every night.

Chorus
I was made for this,
From the skin on my hand
To the bones in my fist.

I was made for this.
Though my knuckles are white
As ghosts when I grip,

I hold on.
I hold on.

Unicyle shot of the year

This is so funny. I am such a nerd. I took this of myself while riding the unicycle.

Feeding the Ducks

My younglins and I bought a bag of hot dog buns and took off to feed the ducks at the local duck pond this weekend.


Hannah (the older one) loved it but was a bit afraid of the ducks. She did very good at breaking off little pieces for them to eat; but when the ducks would see her doing this they would come closer to her, and she in turn would move farther back still holding on to the bread. The ducks still seeing the bread would follow her more, until eventually she thinks, "Oh yeah, drop the bread and they will leave me alone." Now repeat this process several times, and that is what you call comedy.

I gave Ava the bread and she wouldn't feed the ducks with it, she would eat it. I said, "Ava, that's for the ducks." And she'd reply, "Uh, uh... I hungry."

She didn't have a problem getting near the ducks, actually she got in trouble for chasing and scaring them. The picture below is a picture of her after she got in trouble for chasing one into the road. As I am taking the shot she is saying, "Leave me alone."


This picture was an extremely hard shot to take by myself, but I did it! Thank you girls for being still for 2 seconds.