Cocktail Hour, a webcomic by Scraps

Wow. Something occurred to me around lunchtime today (Monday, December 14, 2009): I was dreading the prospect of facing my drawing table tonight. Whoa! That’s never happened before. And I have this week’s comics planned (though not yet drawn) so it’s not so much writer’s block as just complete and utter creative fatigue.

Sure, I’ve got a lot on my plate, but that’s nothing new. Yeah, I didn’t get any pencilling done on Sunday but that, too, isn’t exactly earth shattering. And despite things going fairly steady in the way of pageviews and so forth, I feel like I’m facing this humongous brick wall and cannot find my sledgehammer or ladder.

So I’m taking a week off from both comics, totally without warning or planning, and while I hate to do it (because I’ve never been that type of artist before and don’t plan to make it a habit as some do) I think I need to do this or risk worse next week or next month. I know I took an announced, scheduled break earlier this year and I’m thinking that I might actually consider some planned breaks for the next calendar year. Like a week off every 6 months. Chances are good I’d still be working on comics-related items (and, at least this week, I want to do some brainstorming on some upcoming things) during these breaks but I think it’s going to happen and I think the overall work I put out will be stronger for it.

I hope you’ll understand and not hate me for this. I love knowing what I post makes people smile or outright laugh and I have so many stories left to share that I don’t have any intentions of ending these comics any time soon. It’s just, I’m human, and I need a week.

We’ll be back to business as usual on the 22nd.

Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green;
Here we come a-wand’ring
So fair to be seen.
Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail too;
And God bless you and send you
a happy New Year.

Growing up, I often heard the traditional carol about wassailing sung with caroling in place of the unfamiliar word, leading me to think that wassail was just another word for going around, singing carols to the neighborhood. Makes sense, right? When in actuality, wassail (originally was hál in the Old English) translates to “be in good health/fortunate” and is more like a toast than a song.

Of course, there’s also a drink by that name that has roots in the ancient Roman drink of spiced wine known as hypocras. In the Middle Ages the wine and the spices used in it made it a drink for the elite rather than the masses, until beer and other spirits came into the mix, making it more of an everyman drink. During the revelry of the holidays the practice of sharing a bowl (literally, a large bowl filled with the spiced brew and passed from one person to another with the litany of “wassail” and “drink hail” being repeated all the way around) among the household took the streets much like the carolers and other merry-makers of the time at which the wanders would offer the houses a drink (expecting some small payment in return) or the wanderers being offered one by the home owners. Very convivial, no matter how you look at it.

To make your own wassail, either for Christmas or, as is more correct, New Years Eve, combine the following in a large saucepan (enameled or glass being better for it than a reactive-metal type)

2 qt Lager
5 oz Simple syrup
3 ox Lemon juice
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Ginger
1 qt Dark rum

Heat this mixture until hot but not boiling and pour into a heat-proof punch bowl (unless, of course, you have a pewter or wooden Wassail bowl handy) over thinly sliced apples and lemons. Give it a few stirs and ladle into waiting mugs. This amount should serve about 10 people, depending on how large the mugs are or dry their throats!

Toast to all with a merry Wassail and enjoy the rest of the holiday season!

It’s that time of year, folks, when we look back at the year that was (and wonder where it went so quickly!) and contemplate the year ahead (and what we’re going to do differently). As much as I dislike the word “resolutions”–it sounds so official and ominous and unyielding–it is what most people call their intentions (my preferred word, leaves some necessary wiggle room) that they set. Do you have any that are food-related?

No, no, no, I don’t mean the usual big-d-Diet ones. I mean little-d-diet ones, the everyday practices that we have, the getting out of ruts or starting new habits. Whether we live to eat or eat to live, food is a necessary part of our daily lives so it makes perfect sense that there might be some food-related intentions to be made for the start of the next decade.

If you want to eat healthier in the new year, instead of declaring an all-out war on carbs or fats, why not try a more subtle shift like these:

• I intend to eat more vegetables. If you’re more of a meat and potatoes type, try mashed cauliflower instead of the usual spuds, bake sticks of turnips or rutabagas drizzled with olive oil instead of fries, or even creamed spinach on the side of your grilled or broiled steak or chicken.
• I intend to watch my portion sizes. Pick up a deck of playing cards and place it next to your plate at home–that’s the size your portion of meat should be. Does it look very small on your usual plates, making you feel deprived? Buy smaller plates! It’s true, we eat with our eyes just as much as our mouths, and seeing a full plate of practically any size will increase your satisfaction with a meal.

Perhaps you already eat healthily but your usual meals have gotten a bit predictable. Maybe you want to try new things but don’t know where to start. All it takes is an idea:

• I intend to try a new recipe every week. Too drastic a shift in our eating habits can be upsetting on several fronts. Immersion works well for languages, but I think a more gradual introduction to new ingredients, cuisines or cooking techniques is a kinder way to expand ones horizons; knowing that the familiar is waiting around the corner allows us to experiment more easily.
• I intend to buy a new spice and learn how to use it. One of the most fascinating things in food, I think, is how different the same basic ingredients taste when a new spice or seasoning is employed. I recently picked up Ian Hemphill’s Spice and Herb Bible and am amazed at how thorough a reference it is, including helpful tips about which spices easily combine, what quantities to use with what sort of foods and what each is best suited for.

Or, maybe, it’s the food budget that needs an overhaul:

• I intend to eat out less. While I’m all for supporting local restaurants whenever possible, let’s face it: eating out costs more than cooking at home and, when you are out more nights than in, your food budget can be way out of proportion. This means fast food and take-out, too. Not only will you be doing your wallet a favor, but your waistline may show the difference as well. And when you do go out, pay attention to those portions and bring half of it (or more!) home for future meals.
• I intend to make shopping lists each time I go to the grocery store. There’s just something about having a list in-hand (yes, you have to bring it with you, not leave it on the counter) that curbs the impulse to toss stuff willy-nilly into the cart. It may mean a bit of pre-planning about your menu for the week, but I’m always astonished at how much I spend when I go shopping sans-list compared to with one, not to mention what I invariably forget and have to go back for during the week!
• I intend to shop locally. While not always the case, many times a farmer’s market can yield better prices on fresh produce simply because the farms are down the road and require less transportation costs instead of several states (or countries!) away. Similar deals can be found with local meat markets that do their own butchering and therefore fewer middle-man costs. Even if the prices are the same, you may feel better for supporting the local economy in a more direct way than shopping for everything at the larger chains or big-box stores.

Whatever you intend for 2010, keep in mind that it should be to add something to your life. By keeping a positive spin on things and concentrating on meeting small milestones on a frequent basis you’ll have a higher sucess rate and be able to look back on the coming year with a smile.

‘s Eve, that is, at least for a handful more hours.

(A few bits of housekeeping then some art to share.)

So! I was actually thinking that regular comic updates were approaching 300  and would finally reach that benchmark sometime in February. It’s a good thing I don’t do math for a living (oh, wait… oh, well!)–my mental calculations were WAY off and the last comic of 2009 actually brings the count up to 329! Blew through that milestone without even blinking, huh? (If you count filler art and extras it’s closer to 350.)

That feels like a lot, doesn’t it? Of course, it’s going to take a bit longer to get to #400. You see, I’ve been having a lot of long talks with myself (and with others, but mostly with myself) and I’m looking at the projects on my to-do list and the hours available to me and wondering when I’m going to get anything done.

There was a tweet going around (I saw it on wilw’s feed, first) that said something to the effect of: The worst thing you can say to a creative type, when shown something created by said creative type, is ‘you have too much time on your hands.’ And boy is that true. It’s akin, really, to the cake clients I used to have who would say ‘it’s too beautiful to eat.’ Uh, folks? I spent a lot of time making this cake. It’s cake. Eat it. Let it fulfill it’s destiny. Please.

Anyway, the point is that no, I don’t have too much time on my hands. Truth is, I could use some more. But since the world is stuck on this whole 24-hour rotation thing and I have to work and sleep and I like seeing my boyfriend at least one evening a week (when he’s not already asleep, that is, and I’m trying not to wake him as I crawl into bed later than I’d planned), etc etc etc I figured out that I have, on average, 30 hours a week to work on creative work (comics, writing, etc.). And, right now, 5 comics and 2 blogs a week take up the largest chunk of that.

So, if I ever want to print What to Feed Your Raiding Party (it has it’s own blog, now, to follow it’s creation) much less touch my graphic novel again (did you know I have one of those in the works? it feels like a like to say ‘in the works’ because I haven’t touched the script since we moved and that was only to pack it!), or the other serialized comic I have planned (1 issue written, no art yet), the bio-comic I have in mind (someone else’s life, historical whatnot, not my own) or any of the non-comics projects waiting in the wings I’ve got to change some things around.

To that end, beginning in February (approximately–it’s really once I finish the Doctor, Doctor storyline which should take another 3-4 weeks)–Cocktail Hour will return to it’s original format of 1 full page posted weekly (Wednesday). The website will be streamlined over the next month or so and the 2 blog features moved to their own domains, separate RSS feeds but all linked over in the sidebar. Where the Geeks Are will stay as it is. Random Acts Radio will return.

The result will be, I hope, a better experience overall between the integration of the various sites and more productivity on more projects for me. We all win!

And now on to some fun stuff…

Have a Funky Monkey Christmas

Belated Christmas wishes to all of my wonderful readers and friends. This is the image I designed for this year’s card and, with some trial and error (substitute screen material for my gocco wasn’t quite as user-friendly as I thought), finally printed. Not many got mailed out (by me, at least, Todd sent out several) but, then, I don’t usually DO cards, so digital greetings work, right?

Something else fun for Christmas was participating in the Webcomics Secret Santa exchange. I don’t think I realized how much fun doing “fan art” can be! I played santa for the webcomic IDGet (you can see my gift on this page and got this fun piece from Johnny Lin of the webcomic, Orbit:

Cocktail Hour by Johnny Lin of Orbit

I love how he got the monkey slippers in there and the little martini glass on the clock! So cute! You can see all of this year’s participants and gifts over at the Webcomic Secret Santa Exchange blog.

And, finally, coming up on January 11th is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the United States. Lora Innes (of The Dreamer webcomic) is organizing over 80 webcomic artists who have all agreed to draw one of their female characters to be included in a single wallpaper. This wallpaper will be available for downloading on the 11th to anyone who makes a donation to the cause. The funds will be split between Love 146 and Gracehaven, both of which exist to rescue children from slavery (a vast majority of which is sexual) and help them heal from the physical and emotional trauma they’ve suffered. I have my own, personal, reasons why this effort is so important to me but even if you’ve never experienced anything remotely like what these children are going through, these activities are not something that should be allowed to continue. To that end I’ve contributed the following character art to the Comic Creator’s Alliance project and hope that as many of you that can will consider making a donation next month when the wallpaper is available.

Scraps for the Comic Creator's Alliance