mom on board, who is about to freaking lose it i swear to god

something to consider when purchasing a mirror...

ah, i love the smell of despair & desperation in the morning

yes! i am the greatest living failed children's illustrator!

the new puppy

so we have a new puppy...harry the dog is half white german shepherd (his mom was rescued while pregnant) and apparently half standard poodle, and at six months is the size of a small pony. the boys love him, quite possibly too much.

more rejection letters

A follow-up to a previous post about rejection letters.
They just keep a-comin'!

while i'm away....

sorry for the lack of updates. busy busy. we moved, blah blah blah.
in the meantime, please check this out:
http://www.petsinuniform.com/gallery_of_pets.php
i just laughed so hard i gave myself the hiccups.

guest artist corner

i just had to share my six-year-old's artistic interpretation of, that's right, a farting contest. note dude with trophy on right.
happy thanksgiving, folks!

another hastily-drawn comic about my strange children

click to enlarge...
yeah, i don't get it either.

happy halloween!

perils of taking a 3-year-old out trick-or-treating...

yet another something to tide you over: classic bollywood

my kids' current favorite song of all time:


okay, so, this song is actually on the Ghost World soundtrack, which we have on the ipod in the car...apparently it sounds close enough to the old Neal Hefti Batman theme to the children (who are obsessed with the '60s Adam West Batman) so it is known as The Batman Song and we have to listen to it on the way to school every morning. (the best part of the morning commute is the 3-year-old belting it out in mock Hindi.)

also, i still feel sorry for that poor girl shaking her head through the whole thing.

one from the vaults

this is an old one...my old boss just sent this to me...from back when we had an impending layoff at disney. thanks, old boss.

fat wonderwoman returns

another one for jamar's fat wonderwoman blog.
i could draw fat wonderwoman all day.
(yes i know comic-con ended months ago. i live in wisconsin, okay?)

the great house search

so we are looking for a new house. actually, with the current credit freeze, we are looking for a kind soul to lease us their house for a year and then we will cheerfully buy it.
everything in our price range has ONE glaring thing wrong with it:
cute house, no yard.
cute house, haunted. tiny living room. also no yard.
huge yard, but the house may fall down. sigh.

update: we found one we want to buy! BUT! see below for giant crisis!

ALSO- is there anyone in the Manitowoc area with minor carpentry skillz that will accept payment in artwork and/or a deferred payment plan? we need help to finish a project, and can't list the house till it's done, but we can't pay to HAVE it done till we sell the house. anybody? please? help?

another something to tide you over: the nicholas brothers

i know how you guys enjoy wasting time reading my blog, so here is something even more entertaining for the time being. if you only have time for the ten-second-highlight-version, skip to about 2:30 and hold on to your freakin' hats.

the six-year-old's comment was "that's a really bad idea, because you could get hurt" but then he and his brother proceeded to try to re-enact it while loudly singing the music.

also, seriously, look at how few cuts there are.

this old @#*&!! house

we are fixing up our house to sell it. (hence the lagging on posts.)
this is what i'm dealing with.
ummm, maybe if somebody wanted to help us, i'd have more time to entertain you folks with comics.
just sayin'.

sputnik tina

this one is for kim...and everyone who bought a poster. thanks!

why you should come to my show

a wee hiatus

Dear gentle reader, please excuse my brief absence as I prepare for my very first solo exhibition (and Sputnik Girl poster release par-tay) on Friday, August 15th from 6 to 9pm at Persimmons Art & Vintage Gallery (314 N. 8th St., Manitowoc, 920-684-3006). I will be posting updates on my other blog.

In the meantime, I will try to unearth the drawer in my file cabinet that holds all of my old crap & post something from there. Probably.

a crummy commercial

We interrupt our regular programming to bring you this public service announcement. Do you like this poster? If so, please scurry over to my other blog and pre-order it.
It is for Manitowoc's upcoming Sputnikfest!

I AM MAD.

sometimes, the shortsightedness and sheer stupidity of others drives me to, well, freak out. this, my friends, is one of those times. i LIKE living here. also, i like living where there are nice things to do.
okay, for those of you who are not manitowoc dwellers, here's the deal: yes, it does get hot here in the summer. yes, we have beaches (we are on lake michigan, which is a great lake), but ours are sadly, frequently closed because of pollution (usually e coli from 800 million seagulls crapping at once, or perhaps something about the 10 billion cigarette butts strewn all over) and, frankly, they aren't as nicely accessible as they should be.
anyway, the public city pool (circa 1969) closed several years ago because it was leaking. a lot. so, since we need a new city pool, why not make it DECENT? so a design was made with a zero-depth entry area for toddlers, and a water play area, and a lap area, and a water slide, and it was a WONDERFUL idea. and they raised a whole bunch of money for it, but they still needed funding from the city.
and now, after five years, the manitowoc city council has rejected it. no city pool. god forbid your property taxes go up two dollars to improve the quality of life. hmm, i wonder if they will fix up the beaches then? anyone? bueller?
so our family swimming options are:
1. overcrowded ymca indoor pool
2. slathered in seagull poo and sprinkled with cigarette butts and dead fish parts
3. drive down to sheboygan for nice beaches & waterpark
get in the car, kids!

surf's up!

why yes, i do have dainty ankles, thank you.

in the meantime...

sorry i haven't posted on this one for a bit. kids making me crazy.
in the meantime, enjoy this minute & 16 seconds of sonic goodness (yes, it's safe to play in the company of toddlers, they will dig it too).

tina versus a tiny creature

true story! another multipanel extravaganza. i apologize (well, not really) for the bad drawings but i was holding a gigantic crying baby and arguing with a two-year-old while drawing it. i have a mental backlog of a bunch of other post-its but had to get this one out first.
also (unrelated) while i was checking email last night i heard this. which was pretty cool. see, i don't hate all wildlife.

the big question

today, i asked myself this question.
and the verdict is still out. so my sweatshirt is in the laundry basket, just to be safe.

rejection letters!

click to enlarge, if you dare!
and you know what, J-Ro? i don't even care anymore that Harry Potter was rejected by a dozen publishers. boo hoo. i need to buy diapers and toilet paper and the only marginally useful skill i have is drawing. and it's not even that much of a skill. o highlights, why will you not let me draw your hidden picture?

i wish i had time to take a shower

but as long as everyone else is happy...
because, how many people care if i take a shower?
two: myself & husband (most likely)
how many people care if i update my blogs?
three*
(* high estimate)

the dog days of april through october

our neighbors have dogs. 4 or 5, actually, very large dogs. i am sure deep down they are nice, really, but bored out of their minds.
the children, on the other hand, are now terrified of dogs, any dogs, to the point of hysterics and tears. the weather is nice now, so they want to play in the backyard, but the minute they get out there, the dogs start up, and it's all over...

illustration friday- "primitive"

For Illustration Friday, "primitive." I have wondered whether our ancestors had the same mood swings, irrational cravings, etc when pregnant as we do today.
P.S. Note to friends before you freak out: I am NOT pregnant.

So what DOES the Easter Bunny look like?

some questions are better left unanswered...

a couple from the vaults

i was going through some old storyboards this weekend & found these xeroxes.

the first can be titled "tina vs. soy milk"


and in this one i appear to be a drunken homeless elf:
(possibly an abandoned christmas greeting?)

ding! ding!