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I drew this one yesterday when I was babysitting. Two things that little guy really likes: reading books and drawing pictures, so I put them together. Here’s the line drawing:

Call it Art Therapy. I finally took the time to grieve. There should be a lot more green and gold in the Super Bowl this Sunday, after a near perfect season. But we choked in our first game of the playoffs, and a whole lot of Packer fans were left stunned (denial) and then annoyed (anger) and then qualifying that it still was a great season, and we’ll get ‘em next year (bargaining.) And then the sadness settled in, to realize that all of the excitement that was building season-long  with each victory had just fizzled out in one wet blanket of a game (really, it was wet, is that why they couldn’t hold onto the ball?) and just like that it was over. This season is never coming back, it’s done. And all of us cheeseheads, we weep.

Hey Portland, come to this reading! For the very first time, I’ll be doing a reading from Picket Line, at the lovely Arbor Lodge. Friday, February 24th, come by around 6 to get your drinks; the reading will begin at 7.

(This “poster” is the result of me realizing I don’t know how to design a poster, only draw illustrations.)

Adapted from a song by the same title that me and my brother and my cousins recorded 5 or 6 years ago. Waldo is kind of a jerk!

Rather than black-out my website in protest of SOPA, I figured I would actually post something for once! I’m not going to write at length about what SOPA is and how it threatens our freedom, mostly because there are already plenty of better-written articles about it out there. (How did I come upon that link, by the way? I googled it, and chose from a wealth of free information, because that’s what the free internet offers us!)

I will, however, chime in with my 2 cents, because this is the internet and, at least for the moment, I have the freedom to write whatever I want here (even if it means mixed metaphors about 2 cents and free speech). Obviously, anyone who uses the internet for, well, for anything, should be concerned about this bill. I’m not actively posting pirated content here on my website, but if you read the fine print, that doesn’t mean I’m safe. Heck, under the current language of the bill it sounds like my website could be shut down for a cheesy reference to a long-retired sitcom. No questions asked, Easel Ain’t Easy is shut down by the government.

Yeah, piracy is a problem. Obviously, I mean, I’m a person trying to make a living by creating original content, and it would bother me if people took advantage of that. There will always be pirates, thieves, and swindlers – that was the case long before the internet, and it will continue regardless of any legislation. Personally, I’d rather sacrifice a few of my comics getting ripped off than throw a wrench in the mechanics of the greatest invention of the modern world, but I guess I have less at stake than the RIAA and MPAA (at least where money is concerned.) Hollywood is such a confusing entity to me… they attempt to reflect current events and public opinion in their movies (not to mention to exploit the current trends and play off the fashionable fear of the moment) and in that way they act as if they are an invaluable provider of our basic need for popular culture. I mean, it would seem silly if an upcoming episode of 30 Rock didn’t take a jab at the whole SOPA/PIPA ordeal, and yet NBC-Universal is a huge backer of the bills! It shouldn’t come as news that Hollywood is manipulating us, but now they are trying to manipulate their cake and eat it too. One way or the other they are going to have to give in… either drop their attack on free internet, or alienate the throngs of tech-loving consumers who could very easily boycott Hollywood and shut them down, if they had reason to. I used to think that kind of mobilization wasn’t possible, but the blackouts of Wikipedia, Reddit, and other major sites (and in some way, the residual anger from the Occupy movements) has me thinking otherwise.

I wrote more than I was going to, but it’s hard not to get passionate about the internet when you are writing for the internet. Initially, I was just going to make some joke that if SOPA passes I should go after the MPAA for stepping on MY copyrights. I’m sure my attempt at shutting down “Easy Rider,” “Five Easy Pieces,” and “Easy A” would show them! But maybe a better approach would be to stop this thing. Sign the petition. Or we’ll be waxing poetic about the good ol’ days, when memes ran free and knowledge was just a click away.

WOW! That was a long time to leave my website dormant. Sorry about that. I wish I could come back and say I have pages and pages of sketchbook drawings to share, but unfortunately all I have is this Colonel Sanders-esque guy I drew on my layover in Detroit. But despite a lack of drawing, or maybe because of it (we can all use a break from time to time) I had a very nice vacation. Wisconsin was good to me, Texas was good to me, and all of the fine people in both were good to me. I got back to Portland yesterday morning, and after a day of napping, a comforting dinner from La Sirenita, and a solid night of sleep I am ready today to get back into the swing of things. That will mean more regular website updates, concentrated work on my second book, and continuing promotion of Picket Line! That last one will mean some more events in the coming months, including readings and conventions and workshops, so look back for updates! Also, since it’s a new year I’ll remind you of some other ways you can stay in-the-know: follow me on twitter, like Easel Ain’t Easy on facebook, subscribe on tumblr, add me to your Google Plus circles and subscribe to these updates via my RSS feed!

And as always, snag a copy of Picket Line by visiting my store, or Etsy, or Powell’s, or a number of other locations (all listed in the store page). And listen to the Picket Line soundtrack (and download it for free!) It’s a new year, and there are adventures to be had! Take a second right now and smile, as that will make me feel like I’ve done my job.

The lights were colored ones, and I have a theory that more boys prefer colored lights, and girls, white ones. I probably wouldn’t have bothered to hang lights on my own, but, like cooking a meal for two, there are certain things that you would gladly do for someone else that you might not bother to do for yourself. Only, it was for me too. In the daylight, as we hung the twisted strands of lights using thumbtacks and masking tape, Zech worried it looked tacky. “Wait until it gets darker,” I assured him, and sure as Santa, when the sun ducked out of sight and evening set in, the cords and cheap rigging disappeared, and we were left with warmly glowing reds and blues and greens and orange, and it was, instantly, Christmas.

Leslie Knope. I would vote for her. Even if someone drew her looking kind of creepy, I would vote for her.

I don’t know what it is about Justin Bieber, but I decided I had to draw him. He’s kind of fascinating, you have to admit. And his song Baby has single-handedly saved me from the earworm that is Friday, by Rebecca Black. Of course then I’m left with the earworm that is Baby, but it’s actually a pretty decent pop song (come on, you can admit it.) Then again, it’s the only Justin Bieber song I could actually direct you toward.