snack III:

Sibling rivalry:

You know, I think that most siblings born within ten years of each other go through this decade long phase of arguing with each other incessantly over absolutely nothing.  This period serves several purposes:
1. It proves which sibling is better.
2. It drives parents, cousins, friends, pets, furniture crazy.
3. It gets useless arguing out of your system.

Sometimes, siblings just don't have this sort of "rivalry" while growing up together.  Lots of factors can influence this--your parents' marital status, your school life, your extended family, the growing availability of internet, etc.  In the instance of my brother and I, all of the above factors kept a sort of distance between us that bred fondness for the others' company, a fondness that is rare between younger siblings. 
But we aren't young anymore, now, are we?

Don't get me wrong.  My bro is my favorite dude on the planet.  Literally.  He's amazing.  And so when we decided, hey, we should live together, it seemed like THE. BEST. IDEA.
Hindsight is 20/20.
There is no one I would rather live with, and I mean that, honest.  But I'm starting to think that maybe because we missed that nice little decade worth of horrible fighting and bickering and hair-pulling and going na-na-na-nu boo- boo at one another, we are swiftly reentering a second childhood where proximity has forced us into an uncomfortable tense phase of "relearning" who and what we are, and what we mean to each other.
This has been rewarding in a lot of ways.  One, I'm really learning what it means to have someone in my ADULT life related to me by blood  who I trust implicitly and know will take care of me and love me no matter what.  I've really got this horrible fear that all the love I experience with the exception of my best friend, dad, and mom, is conditional.  Finding this awesome dude who has orbited my life but rarely directly influenced it has been an amazing experience over the past few years.  We've lived together now for three months and all the pluses are great.  Some of the minuses though can be rough.  Admittedly, it's mostly my fault.  I tend to nit pick with the bro for no reason at all.  He is tolerant of it.  But sometimes, he intentionally antagonizes me to combat my bitchy, cynical nature. The below comics are demonstrations of actual events.  Enjoy.


"If you give me snacks I'll reward you by no longer invading your personal space!"  -Teej 

snacks II:

snacks I:

Guest Artist: Issabella (It's time to dance!)

"Me (Bella. She's the flower.) and T.J. have an idea and we're going to go to the movie theaters! To see a great movie!"

"Sarah likes to dance, like a tooth. Patrick (the ghost) likes to dance with Sarah!"

"The Vampire Girl (???) likes to dance, too!"

"P.S. Yes, she found out how to dance!"

This week's guest comic author (Oh, I forgot. I'm doing guest artist/comics! Send me yo' stuff!) is my six-year-old little sister, Issabella. She saw me working on the one for next week (Hint: it has something to do with a light-bulb!) and wanted to draw as well. I would write more about the experience, but she really, really wants to watch Superman and Wonder Woman on my computer, so I'll have to cut this one short. 

-T

Sarah 1.

So at the advice of my good friend, Natxtron, I will be continuing to utilize the venerable sketchbook-and-cell-phone-camera method that I've worked so fiercely to bring into the realm of artistic legitimacy.

OK, well maybe not "fiercely" per say; more like "I'm too poor to afford a scanner, and to pre-occupied to go break into MCA and use theirs." That about sums it up correctly. So far, the method for transferring images sort of works, and with my pro-software (ie: iphoto) I can usually make them somewhat readable. Generally speaking my biggest problem is trying to find an angle to snap them at the doesn't include the shadow of my thumbs, or forearms.

That and my damn cellphone wants to argue with me about weather or not I've pushed the button to take the photo or not. I'm sure my neighbor enjoys my ranting "Don't give me any more lip! Take the damn photo!" to the small electronic device which is constantly finding new and improved ways to subtly control my life.

So, I need advice on layout still. Should I change the color/appearance of the blog itself? Words under the pics, or in the frames? There will be more experimentation, perhaps, as I continue the arc of Sarah's Secret Origin!

-T

PS: Big shout out to Patrick for his help with the whole picture/ink advice thingie!

B'aww!

                                             > I'm going to bed.
                                             > Lonely.
                                                                                              I miss you, too.  <
                                             >  <3
                                                                                  Don't worry, soon I'll be <
                                                                                  around to hold you until
                                                                                  you fall asleep.
                                            > Heartmelt.

                                                                         Aww, you can have mine. <3 <
                                          > Nonono! I'll break it!

                                                              I'm not worried; these days I just get  <
                                                              plastic ones.
                                                                                                             In bulk. <