Last week I sacrificed Schlock buffer to finish a commercial project, and succeeded in putting that project to bed. This week began with a bit of anxiety on Sunday when I realized that I was going to wake up Monday morning with only four scripts to work on, and with only five strips in the buffer.

The anxiety led to a late night, during which I scripted a bunch of crap I couldn’t use.

Monday morning I was determined to at least pencil and ink the Sunday that I knew worked (yes, that’s THIS COMING SUNDAY), and then dig in on scripting. I hoped to be able to script, pencil, and ink an entire week, but by 9am I hadn’t even started.

Well, here it is, 6:35pm, and I’ve succeeded. The buffer has more than doubled in size, because I cranked out seven strips. They’re good ones, too. Especially the one with the elf in it.

Anyway, the fight is NOT over. The buffer stands at 12 inked, 5 colored, which means I need to color seven, and then script, pencil, ink, and color ANOTHER seven this week. In fact, I hope to be able to do another FOURTEEN this week, because next week ends early with the start of LTUE 2005, and the week after that sees the beginning of another commercial project which is going to require MASSIVE amounts of time in a very short window.

So, here’s to continued cranking. I’m off to see about some fresh scripts.

–Howard

I don’t ordinarily talk much about the crap that floats through my brain when I dream. Most of it is uninteresting anyway, since I’m (wait for it…) LIVING the dream these days, but last night’s was an exception.

There’s this Isaac Asimov story about Entropy called “The Last Question.” The text is here. If you’re familiar with the story, head behind the cut. If you’re not and you don’t mind a bit of a spoiler, head behind the cut. If you want to read the story for yourself first, well, the link is right there.

The Cut

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to get credit for the extinction of a species?

The Baker’s Larkspur is an endangered plant whose total population has been reduced from 100 to five by some earth-moving equipment in California. (LINK). Apparently the plant only grows now in ONE PLACE and hasn’t been successfully transplanted elsewhere.

That means that a bottle of Round-Up could get you into the history books. Admittedly you’d probably also get arrested, and maybe even shot at or fire-bombed by some over-stressed eco-freak, but think of the notoriety! You’d be the Lee Harvey Oswald (or at least the Charles Guiteau) of the botanical world!

In other news, statistics fabricated only moments ago show that 99% of botanical preservationists put all of their eggs in the same basket when they shop.

–Howard

The little old lady in the apron at Wal-Mart was giving out samples of new Chocolate Lucky Charms today.

I went back 5 minutes later and snuck a second cup while her back was turned. Because, you know, I’m too cheap these days to actually BUY them. Besides, they’d be like crack — addictive, bad for me, and my kids would get into the stuff causing no end of troubles.