It has been brought to my attention that I haven't updated this journal in a loooooooooong time, and that people would like to know what's been happening in RaymondTown!

I find it very amusing that my LAST journal entry said 'sorry I haven't updated my journal in 6 months' and here I am, nearly exactly 6 months later writing a new entry. So I suppose this is a tradition now, I update this journal 2wice a year.

Decembuary Part 2
Not much happened the rest of the last month of 2008, my shipment of cupcakes of doom arrived, very spiffing. Love that new book smell. My family and I celebrate christmas haphazardly, and due to lack of money, didn't do much gift giving. We cooked a big ol turkey though, which is always nice.

January
don't much remember what happened in January. We got a couple snows, and I worked out at the gym alot in preparations for:

February
Me and Aussie Girlfriend Rhianna met up halfway inbetween ourselves in HAWAII for valentines day and her birthday combined. I determined to make it the best/ first valentines day ever, and did all sorts of wonderful things for her. Not to toot my own horn, but I was pretty much the best boyfriend evah. Not best enough though, because in

March
Shortly after arriving back home, we had a big long skypeversation and realized we were having some relationship troubles. Being soooooooo long distance is not advisable, even getting to meet up every couple months or so, spare money pending, doesn't take off the pressure of pining. One always feels compelled to cram as much into those periodic meetups as possible, and putting romanticness on a timetable does much to diminish it's romanticness. I had at one point planned on actually Moving to Australia so we could be together, but we quickly realized that wasn't very practical. Since when to practicality and love have anything to do with each other? So we're not officially dating anymore, which was quite sad, but for the best, I think.. me and Rhianna are still very good friends, if we can ever get any time off work that syncs up with one another, we're cowriting a rather spiffing book together.

April
Began my book promotion tour for Cupcakes of Doom! In earnest, firstly doing my favorite bookshow of the year, the LA Times Festival of Books. SO MANY KIDS WITH PARENTS WILLING TO SPEND MONEY ON BOOKS I love it love it love it! Demand was soo great, I decided to start getting Plush Toys made of my characters, especially because in:

May
I was signing at 'Brave New World' Comics for free comic book day, next to the way cool animators Derek and Crystal, who have plushie toys of their character, Haminal (haminal.com) and they gave me their contact for their manufacturer. If I got a jump on the production, I could have plush toys just in time for the San Diego ComicCon in July! I have maxed out my credit to get these buggers, but I think it's worth it. You guys should all buy some, okay? I decided to launch my new comic strip idea 'irate Penguin vs Ninja Chicken' and get plush toys of them made, since who could resist a plush pirate penguin? and while not being in any of the books I've allready made SPECIFICALLY, the whole concepts tie together quite well, methinks.

Funny story about Free Comic Book day, I got approached at the La Times bookfest, by another comic book store owner, Ed of 'Collectors Paradise' in Winnetka who asked if I could sign at his store! Very flattered, but allready taken I turned him down. Found out later Mark Waid (among others including Mike Kunkel) of boom studios was signing at his store! We could have been rubbing elbows, and me convincing him how great I would be if I had been involved in his company's Muppet line of comics! Oh well, I suppose it was not meant to be.

June
I was back east for the middle half of June, as a special guest at Kids Read Comics, a library show in Chelsea Michigan, which was great fun. My plane got in very very late, 2 am instead of 7 pm, and I was staying at the show organizers house, so I had to wake them all up to get inside. Other cartoonists were staying there as well, twas quite fun having breakfast with them. After that, I stayed at my friend joe's house for a couple days, and then traveled to North Carolina for the Heroes comic book convention, which went swelligantly. I ended up missing most of the after hours parties, but I did get to have dinner with some way cool people.

Then I came home, June turned into july without me noticng because I was too busy getting caught up on the paperwork that had accumulated on my desk, and then I wrote this journal post!

The end

I'll let you know what happens next again sometime in December, I wager.