Journal

State of the Buffer…

16 Comments

Being sick at Penguicon was frustrating. I managed to discharge my critical responsibilities (wrangle chaos, do panels, be “visible”) with flair, but I didn’t get a stitch of drawing done. I brought a week’s worth of scripts in the hope of at least pencilling on them, but I just didn’t have the energy.

I got home and realized that I’d been running on fumes. Monday and Tuesday were almost total write-offs. Lots of naps, lots of lounging around, lots of coughing… very little drawing.

Tuesday morning the colored-and-uploaded buffer stood at 4. I managed to pencil and ink two strips. Today I’m on target to ink the rest of next week, but the colored-and-uploaded buffer is at three — Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Hopefully by tomorrow I’ll have a full week inked, colored, and uploaded. I can feel my strength returning slowly, and I need it all back, because having 9 strips ready to go isn’t nearly enough. I need a month in the can so I can dig in on some other projects without having to worry about what’s airing next at schlockmercenary.com.

–Howard

16 thoughts on “State of the Buffer…”

  2. If it’s any consolation, you did manage to keep your best public face on at Penguicon. Sorry for not even realizing that you were sick! I thought you were just tired from the long week. Hope you get completely better really, really soon.

  3. a month in the can?

    I need a month in the can so I can dig in on some other projects without having to worry about what’s airing next at schlockmercenary.com.

    I was just starting a request to know what the sam hill you meant when your meaning of the words “in the can” hit me. All I could think for a few seconds was that spending a month in the can wouldn’t get you anything but a bad case of hemorrhoids. I mean, you can work wherever you want, but if I were you I’d use that nifty little workspace you’ve got. It just seems healthier.

    1. Re: a month in the can?

      In the can is listed towards the bottom of this dictionary.com page.

      It means “completed or ready for release,” and comes from the film industry where finished film is literally in a can ready to be shipped to theaters.

      –Howard

  4. I feel your pain. There is a Flu Of Doom going around, and I’ve got it. I hope you aren’t coming down with the same thing. I’ve been down for almost two weeks, but that’s mostly because this is the last week of school (aieee!) and I haven’t been able to rest for all the projects I’ve got due.

    But why am I griping in your LJ? Pardon me while I run off to gripe in proper detail in mine….

    Also, I’ve decided to give you prior warning. If I spot you at CONduit you may get fangirlishly glomped before I can get ahold of myself. You have been warned.

  5. Feel better, and take your time recouping if you need to. Your readers will forgive you if you miss a bit, I’m sure. =)

    1. Um, well. No?

      Ok, not exactly. I’d forgive Mr Tayler, but I don’t believe that I’d forget. One of the absolute best things about his work is the way you can count on it appearing when you expect it to. No filler days, no odd jumps in continuity, no bad scenes that need rewriting, no strips with “I’ll color this later”, and He Never Misses A Day.

      Even PA gets shaky sometimes. I’m pretty sure their problem is an occasionally overloaded server, but it still means that I might check in at Noon on Monday and NOT get the funny that I’m looking for. Schlock, though, has not failed me once. It will lose something if it does.

      1. The strip may be there, but the website isn’t.

        traceroute http://www.schlockmercenary.com
        …
        13 ra1sh-ge4-1.mt.shawcable.net (66.163.66.18) 67.931 ms 63.344 ms 76.147 ms
        14 rx0sh-canaca.mt.bigpipeinc.com (66.244.223.194) 73.183 ms 62.338 ms 61.865 ms
        15 66.49.255.5 (66.49.255.5) 65.056 ms 65.528 ms 64.788 ms
        16 66.49.255.5 (66.49.255.5) 71.595 ms !H 65.384 ms !H 76.364 ms !H
        knoppix@ttyp0[~]$

        No route to host. Been down since yesterday…

        Rob

        2. Yep it’s down…

          Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with the hosting or the comic… I’m just a fan.

          That said, I figured out who his hosting company is – they’re only a 20 minute drive from where I live, who’d have thunk it – and sent them an urgent support request.

          Howard’s email server is hosted on the same system as the site… so there’s no contacting him. 🙁

          2. Re: Yep it’s down…

            Email me or chalain directly on this, would you please? Canaca hasn’t gotten back to us at all (12 hours of non-response when they promise a 15-minute response for gold accounts… I’m not impressed).

            howard at schlocktroops.com
            chalain at shinybit.com

            –Howard

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