You may have noticed the change in web design again. I had no idea until recently that the former WordPress template I used, Suffusion, was playing havok with iPhone users, who, according to statistics, are a great portion of my viewers. So, until I can find a solution, I’m back to using Arras Theme, which I like immensely. I’ll need to do some customizing this weekend. Hope this doesn’t throw anyone too far off kilter. In any case, we move on with Return of the Variety Plate:

• My friend Stacey Graham is featured this week in a Northern Virginia news article about her work in Hungry For Your Love. She’ll also be a panelist at ZomBCon and signing the book too. She also has a new fan page and has supposedly made me something in the area of a metric ton of granola. More on ZomBCon doings in next week’s variety plate special.
• Steve Sansweet is leaving as the head of fan relations for Lucasfilm. He’s done this for a very long time. I talked about Mr. Sansweet in an earlier post and also mentioned him in my contribution to The Furnace this week.
• – Congrats to the Eben07 gang for a success stint at San Francisco’s APE last week!
• – The Space Balloon video has captured my imagination the same way the Dick Rutan Spacecraft did for Richard Branson. Great video. Great ingenuity. Surprised, though, this doesn’t set off any Homeland Security alarms and bells with fatalists and paranoid practicioners of security.
• – I created a few designs for the Zombie Dating Guide (see the note about Stacey above). Now, they are available as clothing and goodies in my Cafe Press Store. Sorry for the design of the cafe Press store, but on the plus side, there is a shirt or something for everyone’s zombie jones at a reasonable price. This is my favorite item.
• – The Undead That Saved Christmas, Vol. 1, is now live and available in paperback and Kindle. I contributed about a half dozen illustrations, including three short story covers, as well as a short story for the collection.
• – This little gem by Triumph is still great, especially lyrically
• – I thought this article about Steve Jobs is important, as it sheds light on his thought processes. There’s some great insight here into why Apple is Apple, though not much about Jobs personally. I get the impression were not ever going to know a lot about Jobs, even when he’s long gone. And that’s okay.

My Prediction for the Raiders Game

That debacle last week versus the 49ers had me questioning my want to watch professional American football. The Raiders are a mess with a few shining stars (McFadden, Bush, Gradkowski). There are certain defensive stars, too, but the defense is allowing too many points, or giving points to the wrong teams. And yet, we’re still competitive in our division. Going to Denver presents an opportunity to exert some strength in the division and rebound from what assuredly will be noted as the worst NFL game of 2010. I know. I sound negative. However, NFL games are a form of entertainment. And the Raiders have not been that. I offer nothing statistically or emotionally other than to say I think the Raiders are staring at three teams that can beat them easily, then a bye, and then the Chiefs, who can beat them then the Steelers and Dolphins. It’s a long road ahead. If Gradkowski plays, there’s guarded hope. If not … BRONCOS 34 RAIDERS 13.

The Last Bits Written in My Manuscript

Sadly, I’ve been tied up with day-job business, illustrations and design. No new words for this space.

For about three months, I’ve wrestled with the idea of pulling the webcomic I draw and write offline. It’s been a while since I’ve done an edition of “Brothers in Virtual Arms.” There’s are a myriad reasons for not doing one. I hate excuses. But it feels right to explain how my creative process works.

Within the comic exist three separate entities. One is a storyline involving Steve Jobs and Tiger Woods. Another involves the day-to-day lives of four friends. A third splinter is something called “Angry John Rants.”

I stopped the “Steve Jobs” storyline when he got sick. I waited for him to get better. He did. But I didn’t have any fresh material, so it sat shelved. When I started to churn some fresh material, Tiger Woods decided to have sex with almost everyone but me. I took the high road, figuring Tiger needed time to recover. About a month ago, I figured I would continue the strip.

Compounding the problem is the Web site design. I mistakenly deleted my previous design and the pages look like the generic template. I don’t know when I’ll get around to designing a new version.

However, I’m not a very good artist. I’m a better designer. In looking at some of my favorite Webcomic strips, I realized that my work fails by comparison, and that’s not good in a market SATURATED with entries. I also don’t have a workflow that I can stand by. I could go on and on with the excuses. The point is that while I have some great ideas for continuing BVA, I’m not sure I will and I’ve given myself until Feb. 15 to make a decision.

I have, however, restarted Galactic Milk, my science fiction writing experiment (http://galacticmilk.twodoorspress.net). To refresh, I wanted to will myself to write 2,000 words a day. Each of those 2,000 words would be one chapter. I wanted to take my love of “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” and a number of other science fiction properties and write a funny space opera.

As it’s an experiment, I don’t do much editing, save what I catch before I press publish (and after I press publish). I’m through 24 chapters. I’ve penned about 44,000 words. I’ve also included Web-based references for many of the pop culture items I’ve included in the tome.

So, I’ll ask you to read it. My goal is to update it once a day until it ends, and, I predict it will end around Chapter 40. I’ll also have a great “I read Galactic Milk” T-shirt available this weekend.

If you liked the comic, please let me know. It may return as something else. It may not return. However, if you enjoyed it, please let me know that, too.