11: Allen Duffy's Song and other thoughts

So, Allen Duffy officially rocks my socks. How? He pre-ordered my book, OMGcow: The First Year! I have to be honest, when I first wrote up the post about fund-raising to see RENT, I didn't really think anyone would take me up on it. To my utter shock, a whole lot of love has come my way. Two amazing friends have ordered custom paintings, as well as pre-ordered some stuff. When the messages came in and the e-mail confirmation from Allen dinged on my phone, I seriously started crying.

I think I'm mostly overwhelmed because I don't have the biggest opinion of my own work. I always think "if only I could draw better" or "I need to write better stories" or other thoughts along those lines. I worry that people see my work and think I'm just another hack wannabe with mediocre comics on Blogger. To see actual quantifiable proof that there are people who like my work enough to buy it is...just amazing.

It also resulted in this. A "Thank You" song for Allen Duffy since my hand isn't well enough yet to do a Thank you drawing. You can view it here or on Facebook.



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I also spoke to April Nash today which is always such a treat! I've always thought she was the sweetest person ever on her comic and her comments, but it still surprises me that we have such an easy time chatting. Seriously, talking to her isn't at all awkward or stunted or any of that stuff you'd expect from two people who have never met and live on separate countries and have entire timezones in between.

Also, she totally geeked out with me over musical theater, Batman comics and digital printing companies!!! Hahah!

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This is going to sound weird...but I took a shower today for the first time since the accident! It felt soooooo amazing. Don't get me wrong, I would take sponge baths and change clothes everyday so I was relatively clean....but its nowhere near the same as an actual shower. This is the first time I'm actually felt really HAPPY since the accident.

My family even forced me to go out to a restaurant for lunch where it was super crowded and people were really rude and wouldn't move out of the way for me....but I didn't let it get me down. It was hurtful the way they stared at me but I was just like..."whatever." I can't make them stop but I don't have to pay attention to their dumb ass.

10: More silly songs

So it seems I've been a little too eager about getting better. I am now able to put some weight on my leg and because of this have been rather active, walking around the house and sitting up a lot. This resulted in my leg and foot swelling up massively last night. So now, I'm confined to the bed again...or to at least prop my leg up when I sit.

 My left leg looks like an overstuffed sausage!

I can't wait for tomorrow. We're heading back to Victorville, just for a few days, but at least I get to see Micah! It's been a while and I miss him a ton (even though I'm usually cranky whenever he's around...)

Anywho, another silly song I made for a friend, Deb. You can watch it here or check it out on Facebook.

The URL as promised: http://OnCupcakeMoon.blogspot.com

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I spent this morning bawling my eyes out. A friend linked me to a website containing Jamie Livingston's Photo of the Day project. If you've never heard of it, Jamie took a picture every day of his life from when he was 18 in 1979 to his death in 1997 of cancer at age 41. It is heart-wrenchingly beautiful and funny and sad, a collection of memories.

When people take pictures, often its because something "worthwhile" is happening....a wedding, birthdays, a special occasion in lifetime of "ordinary." Jamie's pictures are of those ordinary everyday moments that we often forget are so absolutely beautiful in their simplicity.

I think that is often the reason I falter in my own auto-bio comics. Every few months I'll resolve to do it daily, I stick to it for a few days and come up with comics that are funny or interesting or visually appealing. Then I run out of steam because "nothing important happened today. What do I comic about?" I'd like to try and re-evaluate how I view my life and the things going on around me.

See Jamie Livingston's photo project here: http://photooftheday.hughcrawford.com/

When I got near the end of the project, where Jamie is visibly weakening and succumbing to cancer, I started getting freaked out. We all know we're going to die, that's inevitable. But we, or at least I, often have this mentality that...I'm immortal until the day I die. I start taking for granted that I'll be awake tomorrow, that I'll have time tomorrow to do all the things I want to so I can just waste today. When I read about people dying young, I think "that could happen to me...but it probably wont."

Like getting hit by a car. Its one of those things I just never thought would happen to me. The cops and Dr.'s kept saying how lucky I was to be alive, that there is an 80% chance of death when hit by a car going faster than 30mph (the car was going 40-45 ish). If I hadn't been able to take a step back at the last minute, I'd be badly injured if not worse.

I'm just....freaked out. The reassurances I tell myself when I read about bad things happening to people...just don't work anymore. "That would probably never happen to me." Yeah...it happened to me. How do I know I won't get hit by lightning? That the house won't be swallowed up in an earthquake? That I won't get stabbed to death in a mugging? That I won't contract a rare deadly disease? It sounds absolutely ludicrous but it *is* possible (if not probable.) I dunno. I'm not sure how to deal with this.

8: SIlly songs, gifts and a connection!

I wasn't able to update yesterday. Waaaaay too tired out by the whole x-ray and going out in public thing. Pretty much spent it asleep. Anywho, here's the picture I promised of the gifts Micah got me! He also came by yesterday and brought me ice ream. Yummmm!

Awesome lace gloves and huge purple butterfly earrings!

Another development, I have a new phone! My sad old dinosaur of a phone (I couldn't even get pictures in text! It was all black and white, no color!) has been retired and I have myself a fancy new smart-phone. I think its my mom's way of saying "Here's a nice new phone for your birthday and to make up for you getting hit by a car." LOL

I made up a song for Micah on a guitar app I downloaded (Yes, I'm dorky like that) and its called "Your Love is Like Bacon." You can watch/listen to it on facebook or right here:

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Oh and guess who I talked to today? April Nash of Introducing April! She's a fellow auto bio comic blogger who is also working on a graphic novel -- a re-telling of Oz. We've commented on each others' work many times before and been friends on Facebook but we've never had a conversation in real-time.

It was very different. Even though we're a million miles away and in separate countries, it felt like a real connection with a friend. She's always been one of my favorite bloggers and is super duper nice. It was just so great to talk to her. I don't know how she feels about me...I hope I didn't scare her away. LOL

All in all, this is quite a happy blog post! I need more of days like this. My leg is feeling so much better and my hand has stopped twitching so often. My Dr. prescribed some anti-inflammatory meds which is probably why I'm doing so good. Hope this goes on for a while