I've finally gotten my routine down at work. It took some doing, but I've been rockin' the deadlines and getting shtuff printed. Well, being an effective cog in the overall machine, that is. I haven't had a lot of time for comics, but I think I may have something in the old grab bag. Lemme rummage.
I like this one only because of the sad little moose. If a possible future development gets built, the moose lodge would have to move.
No matter what the politics and feelings involved, I still like the sad little moose.
And pondering... musn't forget the ponderings.
The week has been hectic, maddening, frustrating, educational, strange, and I've loved every minute of it. As I sat in the editorial meeting today, trying to let the different cartoon ideas come, I kept wandering back to what I had to do.
I've got two major deadlines (one of which was met today) and the other isn't until Monday. But, due to circumstances beyond our control (cue Pretenders), our deadline is tomorrow. Thursday. I have to dummy a 20 page tabloid and get it laid out and designed all before I leave tomorrow.
No sweat.
I'm very mentally organized. Unfortunately, that manifests itself physically as great big piles of crap on my desk. As I write this, a stack of papers threatens to topple over and crush me. I had to dig for my CD laden with past cartoons.
I didn't feel like digging, so you get to read a completely digitally drawn Can Hed Comix.
Church and state are separated for a reason. Nowadays our nation truly is a melting pot. If ours is a government of, for and by the people, then every person should be represented. Right?
Old, young, black, white, disabled, Republican, Democrat, no matter who you are or what your affiliation, you are entitled to equal representation in our nation's collective body: The Guv'mint.
Our local City Council recently saw fit to install a plaque at the CC chambers with the national motto "In God We Trust" inscribed thereupon. This brought out people on both sides of the debate. People who did and didn't believe in God said it wasn't proper. Hardline Christians said people could believe whatever they wanted, as long as it didn't stop them from being "right."
I say believe what you want. Live life to its fullest. Let God live in one house and Guv'mint in the other.
Today I was officially named the Lodi Living Editor. Our outgoing LL editor is the reason I'm at the Lodi News-Sentinel to begin with.
A while back, Tricia Tomiyoshi -- the current editor -- interviewed me for a QnA piece. I was supposed to be the hip young cartoonist here in Lodi. Turns out I was just jittery from too much coffee. Either way, she really enjoyed my work and suggested I might work with the paper to develop a comic strip.
Ducks in Lodi was born from the effort.
From there, I went to work formatting the online content for the newspaper on a part-time basis while working at a label company.
Soon, a copy editor position opened up at the paper and I was offered a full-time job. I left the label company and made a home at the Sentinel.
I kept doing the copy-editor gig while updating the web every night. Not long after that, I was approached with the opportunity to create graphics, maps, and other items for the print and online products instead of copy editing. I jumped on it.
During that time, I had the brilliant idea that I could draw editorial cartoons as well. I approached the publisher and editor-in-chief with the idea and they said we could give it a whirl. Sure enough, I started drawing editorial cartoons on a regular basis.
Part of creating graphics was designing the cover of our lifestyle section, Lodi Living; a section that only distributes with Saturday's paper. The more covers I designed, the better they got. I was allowed a lot of creativity, and I've been pretty happy with the results. At left is a portion of one of my favorite covers that reports on women with tattoos. I added the headline to look like a tattoo on the back of the cover model.
Last week they posted a notice that the current editor would be leaving for another position with another paper. I owe a lot to Tricia, mainly helping me get into the newspaper business which I dearly love.
I approached our EIC with the idea that I'd like to take over her duties. We talked about it, had several meetings, and today he made the official announcement that I'd be the new editor. If I could smile any broader, I don't know how I would.
I don't usually do these, but I love this picture:
If there's one thing I don't believe in it's following the masses. Given the choice, I would ride my bike or walk everywhere I went. Two reasons make me dependent on my car: My son and daughter. They live a little ways from me (about 20 minutes south), so it's the furthest I drive to pick them up/drop them off.
Other than that trip, I would prefer not to drive. The gas-powered engine has become both a detriment and a revolutionary invention. It's advanced us in countless ways as a society, at the same time that it's created more damage than we care to think about.
Wanting to share the world with your kids is almost impossible these days. You'd like to be able to take them all sorts of places and show them all sorts of things. The price of gas makes that near impossible. Working stiffs such as myself need to earn money to fuel the car to get us to the place that earns the money to fuel the car ... blah blah blah.
That's the main reason for drawing this cartoon. It says so much more than what I've pointed out above.
National cartoonists have it somewhat easy. They can pick on politicians and world events every day. Let's face it: there is no shortage of material. Between our president and the other nutcases who "rule the world," editorial cartoonists can draw volumes.
However, local issues -- if not a little more challenging to tackle -- can be just as fun. If you're locally known and you live in a small town like, say, Lodi, the people who are the targets of your jokes can hunt you down.
I've yet to have anyone do that, but I have had people call up and cry to the editor-in-chief. He's very tactful and he's made nice (sort of) with those who call and voice their displeasure with the dirty little cartoon man. Basically, he tells them to get over it and stop being stupid. Stop being stupid and the dirty little cartoon man won't make fun of you. Fair enough? I think so.
The cartoon shown here is a direct jab at our own City Council. Not too long ago they deemed it a homeowner's responsibility if a sidewalk was in disrepair in front of their homes. The sidewalk is city property and isn't covered under homeowner's insurance policies. But the CC said property owners had to have the damage fixed.
This caused quite an uproar with the locals. They grumbled and griped and I don't blame them. As time went on, the grumbling subsided and things calmed down. I'm sure the issue isn't totally forgotten, but it's not as inflamed as it once was.
But it proves that there will always be something worth making fun of at someone's expense.
