It's December 11th and the site is in the works! I guess we're going to miss launching the site for the holiday gift-giving season, but you can still buy stuff at www.cafepress.com/qlowntown for gifts...or wait till the site is up and running, when you'll be able to buy every cartoon on various forms of merchandise. A QlownTown clock makes a great gift, as do clothes or a mug. The 2009 calendar is also in the works, to be printed by the end of December.
I just decorated our Christmas tree. I decided, if the site is delayed, might as well take some time during the day to trim the shrub. I tend to work late into the day anyway, so I'll probably make up for it running up to suppertime.
Lat me know what you think: what you like, what you want to see, and, I guess, what you don't like (athough I'm always happier with no negative comments; but hey, hissy fits happen).
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Thursday, October 9, 2008
I'm really excited about the new Honda Insight. I guess the Prius must have about the ideal shape for aerodynamics, because the Insight is shaped similarly, but Honda has adapted that form so the back looks nicer than the Prius. (I have a Prius, and, much as I love it, the back deserves to be called the "butt end".) Anyway, the nicest news about the Insight is that it will supposedly be a couple thou less than the Prius. We'll see if this comes true.
On a similar note, check out the movie, Who Killed the Electric Car?. It's compelling, entertaining, funny and sad, and will make you a better person. I saw one on-line reviewer babbling about it being a "sissy movie for whiny girly men", and thought, here's a guy who's unable to step into the 21st century. Wake up, fella. A guy who suggests that concern about the environment has to do with masculinity should wake up and smell the wilting roses. Real men leave the world a better place for their children. Guys like that bore me.
On a similar note, check out the movie, Who Killed the Electric Car?. It's compelling, entertaining, funny and sad, and will make you a better person. I saw one on-line reviewer babbling about it being a "sissy movie for whiny girly men", and thought, here's a guy who's unable to step into the 21st century. Wake up, fella. A guy who suggests that concern about the environment has to do with masculinity should wake up and smell the wilting roses. Real men leave the world a better place for their children. Guys like that bore me.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Finally!
After many months of development and learning, I have hired a web design group. This means that we should have the site up and running by early December at the latest. At that point, daily strips will appear and I'll begin the second phase of the QT Plan, which is to begin approaching newspapers with the intent of syndicating the strip.
In the meantime, I am going to be appearing in the local paper with a bread recipe I submitted. How this can possibly help my comic strip is unclear. However, any exposure can be good if the right people see you.
One of the nicest parts of getting the site online will be clearing my desk off! I have had several versions of every page spread out in piles as I attempted to completely illustrate the look of the site for a designer who couldn't even give me an estimate until I showed him everything I wanted. This was where the term web "designer" seemed a bit of a misnomer.
In the meantime, I am going to be appearing in the local paper with a bread recipe I submitted. How this can possibly help my comic strip is unclear. However, any exposure can be good if the right people see you.
One of the nicest parts of getting the site online will be clearing my desk off! I have had several versions of every page spread out in piles as I attempted to completely illustrate the look of the site for a designer who couldn't even give me an estimate until I showed him everything I wanted. This was where the term web "designer" seemed a bit of a misnomer.
Friday, September 19, 2008
November
There's a new startup target for the website: November 2008. That will make it a nine-month gestation period for a funny-looking new baby. Costs are spiraling out of control and delays are rampant! But I want to get it right, and I hope the end result will justify the development period.
At least the pieces are falling into place. The website will be established online today, albeit with no real content. The cafepress/qlowntown store is already functioning, with an upgrade coming in the near future. And in a couple of months, I anticipate being in the happy position of drawing my little cartoons, corresponding with what I hope will be fans about the strip, and signing and sending out reprints.
Once the site is up and running full tilt, these blogs will be about more than just the strip: whatever catches my eye or ear will be fair game. For example, the outright lies that I'm seeing in the presidential campaign are upsetting. An election should be decided on the issues, and distorting your opponent's positions is just self-serving and cowardly. I won't say who's said what, because it's the voters' duty to search out the truth and make an informed decision. Remember too that you need to choose a candidate whose thinking processes satisfy you: you want a president who will decide things sensibly, whatever comes up. Whoever gets in next year will probably do a better job than the guy who's in there now, but then so could one of my cartoon characters. Try to elect someone you can believe in. I will say that this year, I don't see either candidate as a horrible choice, and there have been many times when I couldn't say that--at least not with a straight face.
Enough about politics! Autumn has come to New England, in terms of cooler weather if not calendar dates. This weekend may call for the first fire in the fireplace, accompanied by apple pie and ice cream. Wherever you are, enjoy your climate in whatever way you can.
At least the pieces are falling into place. The website will be established online today, albeit with no real content. The cafepress/qlowntown store is already functioning, with an upgrade coming in the near future. And in a couple of months, I anticipate being in the happy position of drawing my little cartoons, corresponding with what I hope will be fans about the strip, and signing and sending out reprints.
Once the site is up and running full tilt, these blogs will be about more than just the strip: whatever catches my eye or ear will be fair game. For example, the outright lies that I'm seeing in the presidential campaign are upsetting. An election should be decided on the issues, and distorting your opponent's positions is just self-serving and cowardly. I won't say who's said what, because it's the voters' duty to search out the truth and make an informed decision. Remember too that you need to choose a candidate whose thinking processes satisfy you: you want a president who will decide things sensibly, whatever comes up. Whoever gets in next year will probably do a better job than the guy who's in there now, but then so could one of my cartoon characters. Try to elect someone you can believe in. I will say that this year, I don't see either candidate as a horrible choice, and there have been many times when I couldn't say that--at least not with a straight face.
Enough about politics! Autumn has come to New England, in terms of cooler weather if not calendar dates. This weekend may call for the first fire in the fireplace, accompanied by apple pie and ice cream. Wherever you are, enjoy your climate in whatever way you can.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
House
I've been playing with a design for our next house. I don't think we'll move for two years, although I'd like to move next year. The design keeps evolving around a plan I found in a Small House Designs book. I still haven't pulled up the two-page list of Ideas for Next House, which are specific features I want to include, such as Outdoor Stream, Chute for Glass (so it'll shatter when it reaches the basement storage container--easier to recycle), Indoor Clothesline (must be in a non-public, sunny area), Residential Urinal (shouldn't these water-savers be pretty common by now?)
I hope to finalize a layout, then check the list and tweak the design as necessary to include ALL the features. Getting this designed a year or two before we build/renovate will give me a sense of peace, knowing what the house I want looks like. If we decide to buy an existing house, we can at least weigh it against what I designed and decide what, if any, compromises we're willing to make.
The trouble with getting an existing house is almost no one will have built the type of superinsulated, low maintenance house I want--so we automatically have to plan on refinishing the inside or outside of the building envelope (whichever side we add insulation to), adding solar panels and/or water heating, adding skylights and/or windows, which means buying a low-priced-enough (read: probably crummy) house to be able afford/justify the expense of improvements.
I hope to finalize a layout, then check the list and tweak the design as necessary to include ALL the features. Getting this designed a year or two before we build/renovate will give me a sense of peace, knowing what the house I want looks like. If we decide to buy an existing house, we can at least weigh it against what I designed and decide what, if any, compromises we're willing to make.
The trouble with getting an existing house is almost no one will have built the type of superinsulated, low maintenance house I want--so we automatically have to plan on refinishing the inside or outside of the building envelope (whichever side we add insulation to), adding solar panels and/or water heating, adding skylights and/or windows, which means buying a low-priced-enough (read: probably crummy) house to be able afford/justify the expense of improvements.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Another rainy day
This is what, the 100th rainy day in a row? Boy, it'll be nice to have natural light coming into my office some day. In the meantime, I can console myself with the fact that I'm blesses--or cursed--with a generally sunny disposition.
The delay of a strip and website that I thought would be up and running in two months--it's now six months and likely to be the better part of another--still seems to me like just another delay in what I expect will be a big success. So bear with me. I know I am.
The delay of a strip and website that I thought would be up and running in two months--it's now six months and likely to be the better part of another--still seems to me like just another delay in what I expect will be a big success. So bear with me. I know I am.
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