Cartoon Diary, Day 037

I saw Wall-E with my friends Frankie & Lissette yesterday. It was typical Pixar picture - extremely creative & terrifically entertaining. It's amazing how the Pixar folks can give computer animation the spark of life. Having worked for a video game developer for 7 years, I've seen how tough that can be.

I knew I'd do my July 4th cartoon about Wall-E, but I didn't have a good idea for it until this morning, when I remembered a certain reviled character from the 1978 Fantastic Four cartoon. If you don't remember H.E.R.B.I.E., you can find out more about him at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.E.R.B.I.E.

Cartoon Diary, Day 019, Lost Entry 002

Yeah, that's right, I'm naked in today's entry. You got a problem with that?

My back was killing me for the last few days, so I decided to have a nice soak in a hot tub with some epsom salts (God, that makes me sound old. Let me see if I can make up for it... I then got out of the tub, rollerbladed to a rave, did some X, and then played Rock Band until 4AM with a bunch of Suicide Girls. Who I slept with.)

Nope, still sound old. And hideously out of touch. Ah, screw it. Let's see what kind of shape your back is in when you turn 35.

Anyway, taking baths can be kind of a tough proposition when you're over 6' tall. You either have to prop your legs up so your torso can be in the water, or sit up so your legs can get a chance to soak. Either way is less than ideal. Plus, the stopper in my tub is less than 100% effective, so I had a good 15-20 minutes of feeling increasingly more cold on the front side of my body as the water slowly drained away.

It was refreshing, though, and my back felt a lot better when I got out. So I highly recommend a good hot bath to anyone with some aches & pains. Just do it in a 7' tub with a good stopper if you can.

Cartoon Diary, Day 018, Lost Entry 001

For Father's Day I wanted to pay tribute to the two men I've been lucky enough to call "Dad". My biological Dad, Rob, and my stepdad, Hank. Rob passed away a few years back, and I don't get to see Hank nearly as often as I'd like, but they are never far from my thoughts.

Thanks for bringing me up right, guys. I'm doing my best to live up to what you've taught me.

We Now Resume Our Regular Programming...

So... yeah. Got a little behind here.

Suffice it to say it's been a busy couple of weeks for me, and Trumbullshit was unfortunately the main casualty. It bugs me more than anybody, and I offer my sincere & humble apologies to my regular readers. Both of you.

And a hearty THANK YOU to anyone & everyone who has told me they liked the blog, asked to be featured on it, or busted my chops about its lateness. I'm very touched that inside of a month several of you have become attached enough to this blog to comment on its absence, and I will do my best not to leave you hanging in the future. And PLEASE -- continue to give me feedback! Knowing that there are people out there who actually read this thing will help keep me motivated.

Oh, and if you want to be featured in this blog, it's pretty simple -- Just do something funny or memorable enough to make me want to do a cartoon about it. Just continue being your cool, witty selves, and I'm sure you'll make it on here sometime.

I am also open to bribes. Monetary for the men, sexual and/or monetary for the ladies. Get cracking, people.

So, here's my plan: Regular postings here will resume today or tomorrow. Part of the appeal of blogging for me is the immediacy of it, so I want to stay as current has possible instead of constantly playing catch-up. I also want the cartoon diary to stay something I GET to do, not something I HAVE to do.

So we are now introducing a periodic new feature here: Trumbullshit: The Lost Entries, which will fill in the gap for June, 2008. I have a checklist for all the entires I've missed, and I'll be posting them up here in additon to the regular entries until everything is up to date.

And, since I know what's going into 99% of The Lost Entries, I can give you teasers for what they will include. Over the next few weeks, you will see cartoons about: Father's Day, Why Indiana Jones is an Asshole, Fun bar games, Inappropriate ass pats, Paul Rudd screwing me over, Job interviews, the Greatness that is George Carlin, Recognition Night, the Improv show I directed, a tribute to The Family Circus, me totally losing my shit, and Gratuitous Nudity.

Now, if that list doesn't intrigue you, I don't know what will.

Thanks for coming back!

Cartoon Diary, Day 017

Trust me on this one, folks... nothing improves your day like making a life-size face mask of Neil Diamond and singing "Sweet Caroline." If everyone on Earth did this at least once a day, we'd have world peace inside of a week.

Thanks to Vicky for being so much fun to share a shift with!

Cartoon Diary, Day 016

So after I left the theatre on Thursday night I realized that I no longer had my cell phone on me. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this until after the place was already locked up. So Friday I had to borrow a key to the Dover Little Theatre, drive the 10 miles back there, search the theatre and drive the 10 miles back home. Always fun in this age of $4 gas. Thankfully, it wasn't too tough to find my phone again. I'm glad I was smart about it & just dialed my cell using the phone in the box office. It made things a lot easier.

On the way back home I heard about Tim Russert's death on the radio. Such a shame -- he was one of the good ones. In this age of declining journalistic standards, he struck me as one of the few folks in the media who actually WAS fair & balanced, instead of just saying he was. Rest in Peace, Mr. Russert.

In other news, Friday was the last day of our Employee Appreciation Week at B&N. Here's a look at the swag I got for a 40% discount:


Lost Girls was a good read. I ended up enjoying Melinda Gebbie's art more than I was expecting (her work has not been to my taste in the past). I'm almost through the Improv Comedy book, and I've found it very helpful, particulary as I'm in the midst of directing Out of Order's next show (June 28th at Dover, people!).

As for the rest of the books... well, maybe I'll have time to read them in July.

Cartoon Diary, Day 015

Thursday night was improv rehearsal with Out of Order. Since I'm directing the next show, it was up to me to run rehearsal. It started less smoothly than I would have liked. A carpooling mixup made me arrive 20 minutes later than I was planning, one actor called out sick, the temperature inside the theatre was 80 degrees, and the night was half over before we figured out the new air conditioning system. All of this combined to make me feel like a stammering, unprepared idiot.

But I think we turned it around. I think my nerves were more in my head than anything else and I gradually started to find my footing. I raided the refrigerator to get us all water, we worked out some new games for the show, and I think everybody ended up having fun. And everyone was nice enough to stay a little late without complaint, for which I'm very grateful.

So... next week's rehearsal will be even better! Onward and upward!

Out of Order's next show is at the Dover Little Theatre Saturday, June 28th. Tickets $10. Call (973)328-9202 for reservations.

Cartoon Diary, Day 014

This just happened when I realized that the word "Moff" sounds totally stupid unless it's preceded by the word "Grand." At this point, I think George Lucas' primary talent is in thinking up batshit-crazy sounding names.

I am at a loss to explain how my Peter Cushing turned out looking more like Boris Karloff, but I am DAMN proud of the names "Adequate Moff Darko" and "Larry the Moff."

And yeah, I know. I'm behind. I blame it largely on this arriving in the mail on Wednesday:

'Cause when you get a new Alan Moore comic that's all about the sexual adventures of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, Wendy from Peter Pan and Alice from Alice in Wonderland, other things tend to take a backseat for a bit.

Cover price $75, but I picked it up for 40% off. I love B&N employee appreciation week.

New posts coming late tonight!

Cartoon Diary, Day 013

I'm not really superstitious, but honestly -- could there be a more appropriate 13th entry than this?

I already detailed my computer problems 2 entries and 30 minutes ago, so I won't bore you with them again. The partial power outage was the weirdest thing, though -- it killed my computer, air conditioning, bathroom, hallway & stairwell lights, but left my bedroom, living room and cable service still working. If you know the layout of my apartment (Which, as faithful readers of my blog, you really SHOULD, you know), you'd know that this is pretty random. Always fun to go without AC for 3 hours when the temperatures are hovering between 80 and 100 degrees. Good times.

I'm pretty happy with the drawing & storytelling in this one. So even though I had to go through the unpleasantness of the power failure, I'm glad I got something good out of it. When life gives you lemons, you make a blog entry.

...What?

Cartoon Diary, Day 012

I already noted this in the comments section of Day 9, but I thought it was so cool that I decided to make an entry out of it. The internet really is an amazing resource for connecting with people, particularly for shy/introverted types like me. We're living in an Age of Wonders here, people.

So basically (Hi, Omar!), Monday peaked at 11:20 AM. Not a bad day by any means -- it's just tough to top getting a note from Kristen Schaal.

My internet connection died on me as I was writing this post, so I guess this Age isn't quite as Wonderful as it could be. Thank heavens for Blogspot's autosave function.

I'm Back!

Sorry for the enexplained absence. Some lightning fried my router during a rainstorm last night, making it impossible for me to get online until about 10 minutes ago. This was following about an hour & a half with various technical support people. The Cablevision guy was very knowledgeable and helpful, and the D-Link router people were quite the opposite. Apparently, the warranty on my router expired on June 1st, so there's not much they're going to do for me unless I give them some money, something which I'm not terribly inclined to do right now.

So for now, I'm just accessing the internet directly through my modem. I suppose I'm going to have to buy a brand new router soon, perferably from some company other than D-Link. If anyone out there in internet-land has a recommendation for a good router, I'd love to hear it.

Anyway. Enough of this stuff -- Back to the Cartoon Diary!

Cartoon Diary, Day 011

For the record, I decided to refrigerate it. Until my friend Mark told me I shouldn't.

My friends Nick & Su had a baby today. YAY!

Cartoon Diary, Day 010

This is just one of those weird ideas I get early in the morning when I'm in the process of waking up. It still seemed like a funny idea to me an hour or two later, so here we are.

My favorite thing about this cartoon is Jesus' expression. Darned if the Son of God isn't really proud of his ramshackle treehouse.

Other things I considered having Jesus build: a workbench and a soapbox racer.

Cartoon Diary, Day 009

I drew this one this morning, before I went off to work. Frankly, looking at it 14 hours later, I'm no longer sure if it makes sense to anyone who didn't see The Daily Show on Thursday night. Anyway, it was a funny bit, and if you had been watching it with me in my apartment at 1 in the morning, I'm sure you'd agree.

Oh, and to follow up on yesterday's post: I got a paycheck today, so I'm financially solvent again. Yay.

Gratuitous Plug Dept: My improv group, Out of Order, is performing at the CDC Theatre in Cranford tomorrow -- Saturday, June 7th. Tickets $10. Go to www.cdctheatre.org for details.

Cartoon Diary, Day 008

Drew this entry last night, but computer problems prevented me from posting it until today. Sorry about that.

I have another entry drawn, but the scanning, cleanup and posting will have to wait until I get back from the bookstore (10 hour shift today!). See you folks then.

Cartoon Diary, Day 007

The contrast between these two moments above was what really got me. This person & I were talking about how the community theatre world can be close-knit to the point of being incestuous. You meet someone who's been in a show with someone who's dated someone who's cheated on that someone with the first someone. So it's a good idea to watch what you say, and to whom.

Of course, not more than one minute later, this guy starts talking about one of the actors in his current show & the stuff this actor is doing wrong. I'm not really trying to come down on my theatre acquaintance -- it's a natural human impulse. I just thought it was funny.

I should also point out that I'm essentially doing the same thing by making a cartoon about this guy, so I'm just as guilty as him.

Hmmm... my cartoon about this person's hypocracy is also pointing out my own hypocracy. This post is getting so Meta...

Bonus Drawing!

Diary Entry #005 went so well last night that I was still in a drawing mood when I was done. This is one of the things I did. I was trying to capture the general feeling of that creepy-but-cool final close up of Anthony Perkins in Psycho. I like how it turned out.

Bonus movie trivia: Did you know that Hitchcock superimposed a skull over Anthony Perkins' face in this shot to make it extra creepy? Well, he did.

Cartoon Diary, Day 006

Okay, so maybe the accuracy of today's entry leaves a touch to be desired. But honestly, my 15-hour day of working the polls in today's New Jersey primary was fairly uneventful, so I felt the need to goose things up a bit. Nothing like a little Jack Kirby-style action to chase the post-election doldrums away!

Oh, and Ladies? The above depiction of my physique? Completely accurate.

Cartoon Diary, Day 005

I really like how the art for this one turned out. Normally I redraw a lot of stuff while I'm fiddling with the layout or trying to capture the right feel for the piece. This one went really smoothly right from the moment I put pencil to paper. These are the sort of days that artists live for.

I'm proud of the cat & the car - two things I don't normally draw. I also like that I worked in a Matt Feazell "ert" sound effect. A lot of times, it's the little things an artist responds to in his own work.

And for the record, the dilemma was if NOT doing something can count as a good deed, not whether or not I should have run over the cat. I may not like cats as much as dogs, but I still have my limits.

Cartoon Diary, Day 004

It can be tough to be witty & funny when you're still just trying to wake up. It ended up being a good rehearsal, though. We got our groove back shortly after this.

Out of Order's next show is at the CDC Theatre in Cranford this Saturday, June 7th! Tickets $10. Go to www.cdctheatre.org for details.

Cartoon Diary, Day 003

Today I went to a party with the cast for 12 Angry Men. We had a barbecue and watched the DVD of our show. It was fun to catch up with eveyone & see them again. I had a great time, but this little exchange with Anthony was probably my favorite moment. It was meant as a compliment & taken as such. I love it when people are blunt with me in a good-natured way.

Anthony's a talented artist in his own right, so I should take his advice & find myself some new art jobs soon.

Oh, and I realized today that I misdated my first two diary entries. They should be dated 5/29 and 5/30. This is what happens when I post these things at 2 in the morning.

Cartoon Diary, Day 002

Following through on my personal projects is a problem with me... I'm a big procrastinator. I'm hoping this project will help me curb that tendency!

Being isolated in the music department of my bookstore, I don't get out on the bookfloor all that much. So every once in a while, I'm surprised.

Cartoon Diary, Day 001

For my first official entry, I thought it would be a good idea to immortalize my moment of inspiration for this project. I'm looking at my pal Ben Dale's site and... Well, I suppose the rest is self-explanitory.

It's been a long time since I've done any panel-to-panel storytelling, and a bit of nerves is showing through here. I actually redrew the second panel of a sheet of typing paper & taped it into my sketchbook. I don't plan to make a habit of this. Spontaneity over perfectionism, that's the ticket!

Welcome to Trumbullshit!

Welcome to my new blog!

Over the last year or two, I've watched some of my incredibly talented friends take on 365 projects. In a nutshell, they draw/photograph/post something EVERY day, without fail. And now, I 've decided to take a shot at it myself. So I've decided to draw a cartoon diary entry every day for the next year, ending on May 31, 2009.

So a big, BIG thank you to Scott, Anya, Dave and Ben for giving me such great examples to follow!

Now, a word of caution: My schedule is rather erratic (the curse of not having a job with regular hours), but I'm hoping this project will instill a regular discipline. I promise all of you that I WILL draw something every day, even if I'm not able to post it right away. I'm excited about this project, and I hope you enjoy following it!

I got incredibly nauseous right after I finished scanning the art for my first 2 posts. I'll try not to take that as an omen.