Melvin and Things

So, things are getting better...? I think. I mean, I know it. There are still a million anxieties. Anxiety is crazy. Sometimes it feels like a separate monster from me, a monster that just lives in my brain and sometimes gets huge and out of control, like the Hulk. It sucks. And then I feel like myself again and try to cling onto that feeling, and then it goes away, of course. But it's sunny and warm in our kitchen. And we have a cat named Bruce Novax who sometimes sleeps in the sun. Sometimes he's an asshole too, but who isn't?

I'm working on a lot of things! My Freddy book which I will be promoting at Mocca and will be out for SPX (congratulations to the other Xeric winners too!), an anthology that I am putting together with my buddy Jose-Luis Olivares, which will be out for MoCCA, some stories for other anthologies, a tattoo for a friend, a wedding invitation...whoa. I'm getting overwhelmed.

Our good friends came to visit this weekend, it was so awesome. I love friends. And we went to the Time Capsule and I got Melvin Monster #8 by John Stanley for one dollar!!! And an Archie comic, some Nancy and Sluggo, and more....

Here's samples from Melvin Monster (I think this one will be in the next D&Q collection. Thanks to them for introducing me to Melvin...)

I love how he does the one big panel to introduce each story. It's so beautiful.

And here's something I did this morning:

I've been reading some Pema Chodron. She's amazing. I want to try to start meditating regularly. She talks a lot about sitting with your fears and anxieties and accepting them, rather than running away from them.

Now I'm going to listen to some Stevie Wonder and get some freaking work done.

xoxo

Winter sucks

Man, this is the worst winter ever.

At least we have a whole lot of tv to watch. And the snow melting smells like spring.

And I made this for my friends who are about to have a lil' bouncing bombolino...

Today

Hi Guys,

I haven't posted in a little while...I was starting to feel like I was repeating myself. I had an anxious beginning to this week. But every time I cycle back into the anxiety, it gets a little easier to come out of it. Or at least to recognize it. I've been doing yoga and my (nonexistent) "abs" are on fire. And I've been going to acupuncture and taking some herbal stuff, which is really helping...(seriously, acupuncture is amazing, you should try it.)

These two guys have also been getting me through some shit: Marc Maron, a comedian who does a podcast called WTF, and Louis C.K., (his TV shows are Louie, and Lucky Louie) also a comedian. The work that both of these guys do makes me feel better about life, like everything is going to be ok. It's so honest and brave and heartfelt, and hilarious. From Marc Maron I've learned so much about how important comedy is, and how that really is their job, to make all of us feel like everything is really going to be ok....to laugh at the hard stuff also means to acknowledge it, to acknowledge your faults and humanity.

So yeah. It's happening. Every day is different. Sometimes I get freaked out by the future. Sometimes I just want to run away from all of it. But as I start to accept things, those fears and instincts are fading.

Someone I really respect said recently to me "Sometimes I wonder whether anybody really knows anything about anything". That is really comforting to me somehow.

love

me