In which I explain absolutely nothing

What do you mean it has been a month since the last post? I have no idea what you are talking about. I'm sure no one (not blood related) even noticed, but out of obligation I must explain.

I have been away.




And BUSY.





Because I went to Hogwarts. Drank at the Hog's Head. Stole the sorting hat and hid in the castle crying with the other 8-year-olds until their parents made us leave.

But out of duty, I returned  (they told me I didn't have enough experience to work the Butterbeer concession...) Of course, that was worth it after working two fabulous SF shows, where I met some even more fabulous people. 

Urban Air Market held their debut show in the Pier 70 warehouse near Dogpatch. I was a little worried at first, not knowing what to expect in space and turnout. But to be honest, it is now one of my favorite venues. I mean seriously, it was a giant, gritty abandoned warehouse! It was so large I couldn't even hear the bands playing from the wee end of the building. And did I mention the people were fabulous? I must say, there are some 16 year olds floating around that have no right to be as cool and collected as they are. Where is the bumbling awkwardness I amstillgrowingoutof remember? These kids are rocking the geeky-chic in ways we old farts could only live in fantasy (while we sat alone on Friday nights watching X-Men re-runs...)

But I digress.
This was also Indie Mart's last show, and I will miss that team terribly. Almost a year ago, Indie Mart's Christmas Speakeasy venue was my first real show (after APE). They took a chance on a scattered, wants-to-do-it-all, craft show newb, and I learned what a great show could really be. I am super sad to see them go, but I am glad I made it in time to see the glory days. I am still a craft show newb, but we are starting to get there.

Hopefully, now you are thoroughly dazzled with pictures not to notice the lack of anything relatively interesting in this post. As always, I promise better things to come.

Oh, hello July

Summer is the time for imagination, exploration, taking shortcuts and scenic routes. A few weeks ago I received a custom order for a map of Neverland, and it turned out to be the perfect July project: pirate ships, mermaids, secret hideouts and adventures. If this spirit of nostalgia and determination-not-to-grow-up isn't an appropriate complement to Awkward Affections, I don't know what is!

On that note, if I ever grow up, I want to be this lady, taking my awesome cane-sword and self-driving moped to Comic-Con (which, incidentally, may be the first time I make it to SDCC). There, I will harass The Youth about not being able to read script and what life was like before the internet.

But what was I saying? Oh, progress photos:

So, my fellow Lost Boys and Girls, make sure you enjoy the rest of summer like you used to! (Unless you live in the Bay Area, and you'll just have to imagine what it'll be like in October).

Speakeasy Recap

 First off, I would like to thank all of the superstars for coming out to Speakeasy on Sunday! We cant do it without you highly motivated and adventurous patrons. Besides, can my awkwardness exit without anyone there to see it? (Yes, actually, but alone it lacks my internal flood of horror).

Let me just say, I love Speakeasy. I had half a mind to abandon my table and hang out in their new taproom, but Pancake gave me that magical yet patronizing glare, so I succumbed to responsibility.

For once, I had extra time after setup so I was able to take pictures before the event began. Now you can enjoy my creepy-stalker-cellphone-pictures.

Pretend I am standing in that center void...

Sometime during the event (about 2 beers in) I saw a little fur ball weave through the crowd. Being (responsibly) tethered to my table, I waited, foamed at the mouth and Jedi willed the owner to wander in my vicinity. Eventually, it worked.

I present Dostoevsky the Bunny (and Pancake's ass):

This is not the rabbit you are looking for...

Luckily, I resisted the urge to hide Dostoevsky in my purse and flee (I blame Pancake).

The only other fur ball was a tenacious black cat who wandered the brewery and stole chairs from vendors. As my phone camera is an underachiever, and the cat was black, the only image I have is rather underwhelming. But she was cute and her belly swung when she walked. You'll just have to believe me.

All in all, the day was a success! With nothing else to say, here are the last blurry show pictures:

inside

  outside

 sign

Toodles!

There ain't no gettin' off of this train we on

It isn't hard to get me prancing gleefully back into the arms of nostalgia, but with all the E3 buzz going on, it seems to be happening more than ever. (Strange that discussing the future only make me regress...) Final Fantasy VII (perhaps the only reason we ever got a PlayStation) was probably the first time game graphics really blew me away. This might be hard to believe nowadays -but lets just say that game progress over the past 16 years is enough to make one feel supremely old. (I wonder if this how our grandparents felt when televisions were brought into the home and movies were made in color? Probably not. That was pretty monumental.) We might pine and scorn all over the new changes in the gaming industry, and that's fine. But once and a while, let's remember what it was like to be awed all those years ago.

A sneak peek (Help us geeky love, you're our only hope)

Some of you may not know this, but I do love a fancy shindig. I may be reading too much Austen, (or "in the era of steam" novels), and this could just be an excuse to purchase an alarmingly excessive outfit, but there is something wonderful about a truly schwank event (like formal invitations, ballroom drama and judging the hell out of someone's taffeta.)

I may disagree with a lot about weddings, but it does seem to be the last great social shindig for normal folk (I say "normal" because watching watching Revenge has taught me not normal people seem to have formal shindigs for just about everything). In order to live vicariously through someone else's really expensive theme party, I got into making invitations. Like, really into it. So, without further rambling...

Lord of the Rings:

One love to rule them all, amirite? (I could only fit so many puns into the set itself, but I could keep going...)

The Comic:

I may have stolen this idea. When my older brother got married (the sibling who took the "natural-ability-to-draw" gene) he drew an homage to this comic cover. Ever since, I have been mulling over the comic book invitation. This invite originally began as a cover, but eventually it progressed into a last page/cliffhanger comic scene. It may be fitting since "Save the dates" are sort of cliffhangers themselves (all the "dropped a bomb" excitement with no information and months in between when anything new happens).

Macabre-ness:

My favorite Dia de  los Muertos figure has always been the wedding couple. I have seen a few Muertos themed weddings and I think they are just down right super. So, you know, this happened.

Finally:

What began as "steam" gradually turned into something of a World's Fair/turn of the century idea. This is still a work in progress, so something of the steam variety might turn up, but currently, I am in no mood to draw gears.

I think a space theme will certainly be next. In the meantime, I will be fishing around my pool of geeky love puns to help me choose between Star Trek, Star Wars and Doctor Who. Then again, I might just put it to a vote. Then again, I might just go with video games instead...Regardless, I am open to suggestions.

Space & Time

You knew it just a matter of time until I came around to this print. Hey, these things have to come naturally right? After a week of Star Trek fan-girling and Doctor Who "research" I am developing something of a space obsession...

Hell, I even made a space-scarf:

Oh, Pinterest. The things you make me do.

(I promise better things next time)

I make no excuses for the past week of radio silence, but tinkering with the behind the scenes business upkeep has given me very little to show for the experience. While I have been obsessively Frankensteining the Awkward Affections website, that experience has been an unpleasant battle between frustration,  agony, and a fleeting, yet vicious pride once I get something to actually work. Personally, I find it easier to draw with oven mitts.

As CSS has given me more time with my left brain than I am comfortable with, I have only a weekend's worth of bad, unfinished drawings and this lackluster post.

But before I fall back into the void, I will leave you with only one terrible drawing, the promise of a slightly better designed website, and a list of things I have been geeking and squeeing over this week:


 1. The new Riddick Trailer- whatever, it could be a verbatim Pitch Black, I would still want to see it. (Bones and Starbuck?!)

2. This gallery of phenomenal embroidery in the Game of Thrones costumes. (As I am obsessed with "The Art of..." books, this will have to supplant my need for a GoT concept book.)

 3. Ok, it's a song about the periodic table (still stuck in my head), but I loved it, if not only because it brings me back to the glory days of The Animaniacs.

                                                       
And now it is time to go back to mutilating my brand!

EDIT: Ok, there are a few new things I failed to mention. One being this "I miss you" card

 ...which was my solution to sending creepy pix messages like these to your loved ones:

 

(my life is an endless source of awkwardness).