All posts by Howard Tayler

Okay, maybe the Nesquik is a GOOD thing…

Today I drew faster than I ever have before. The pencilling was done in less than 90 minutes for 9 rows (that’s seven days of strips, and yes, that’s less than 10 minutes a row). The INKING took 22 minutes per row for the Sunday, 19 minutes per row for two of the dailies, another two dailies took only 15 minutes each, and another two were completed in record-setting 14-minute inking sessions.

That’s 162 minutes of inking for an entire week of Schlock. Powered, at least in part, by three glasses of Nesquik and almost no food (I did have a pair of fried eggs and some toast for breakfast). When I fall off of the low-carb wagon, I leap clear into the ditch, roll into the brush, and then charge into the woods. And usually the consequences are huge emotional lows, no productivity, and Angry Sandra.

–Howard

No control. None whatsoever.

The fans at Schlockfest brought me Nesquik.

“Ah, my old nemesis. I’ve defeated you before.”

I had Sandra hide the stuff where I couldn’t find it when we got home.

Well, just KNOWING IT WAS IN THE HOUSE did me in. I begged, she consented, and I’ve plowed through at least 4000 calories worth of the stuff in three days.

The good news is that it hasn’t killed me yet. The bad news is that the fans bought one of those 80-serving tubs. The worst news is that it’s not 80 servings for me. It’s like 25, or maybe 30.

–Howard

Call for Linucon Volunteers…

Okay, here’s the deal: I’m one of five Guests of Honor at Linucon October 8th through 10th in Austin, TX. One of the volunteer slots still open is “GoH Liason for Howard Tayler.”

We’re looking for local volunteers. We have a couple of attendees already available for this position, but both of them have lots of other things to do, and neither of them are locals. They’re also both good friends of mine, and won’t be put out one bit if they don’t get picked for this job. In fact, we’ll probably be more likely to REMAIN good friends if they don’t get picked for this job. Especially Chalain, who is twice the genius I am, and secretly despises me for my fame and wealth.

(note: there is no actual wealth, and there’s little enough fame to speak of)

Here are the requirements:
1) You need to be registered for the Con, and sign up as a volunteer with Lisa.
2) I’m going to be really, really, REALLY busy with panels, business meetings for Schlock, business meetings for Novell, drawing stuff for fans, etc. You need to have the kind of administrative skills to get me from place to place without panicking.
3) You need to be an Austin local, preferably with a car, so that if I hand you $20 and send you off in search of sushi, or maybe geisha girls, you’ll stand at least even odds of succeeding in your quest.
4) I’m kidding about the geisha girls
5) You need to be comfortable using a walkie-talkie.
6) You should not suck up to me, brown-nose, or otherwise employ subservient obsequiety. It’s okay if you’re in awe of my work, and it’s okay if you’re not. Just don’t drool, or spit. We’ll both act like professionals, and I’ll treat you like a friend. Honest. That’s the kind of guy I am.

The only compensation I’m aware of is that you’ll get your Con registration fee comped or refunded. You’ll likely need to be staying at the hotel, and I doubt that can be comped. This really is a hard-core VOLUNTEER position. I’m not sure why anybody would want it. I will see to it that you get original, custom artwork in a timely manner (unlike the several people to whom I STILL owe originals.)

If you’ve read this far and are still interested, email me a short resume/bio, and tell me why you think you’d be good at this.

–Howard

Gee, I’ve left comments on down below. I have no idea what you people are going to talk about in regard to this post, but feel free to talk about it.

Earning My Keep

Sometimes I feel guilty when I schedule stuff like this. And then I remember that as much as I love my family, the salary Novell is paying me is sufficient that they DO deserve some serious claims on my time… especially when something important comes up.

My travel schedule just picked up an extra week of bookings — two trips in one week. That means that between September 10th and September 29th, I’ll be at home for roughly (tapping on calculator while looking at calendar) four days. Give or take a few hours.

Yuck.

THIS is why I hammer on the buffer the way I do. This is also why RIGHT NOW I’m booking two days of vacation immediately following the last trip, and why I’ll be pressing to get an additional three the week following. Sure, the salary means they get to drag me all over the planet, but I also accumulate 9 hours of vacation time every pay period, and that means my family gets to drag me back.

–Howard

p.s. I’ll post details later, but right now it looks like I may have free cycles in NYC on the evening of the 21st of September, and maybe in the afternoon and evening in Montreal on the 22nd.