March 29, 2008
Reinventing Rob 2008
For those not familiar, I like to set goals for myself to achieve as the year progresses, both in regards to my comix and my life in general. I put these goals into categories, assign a color to each category, and assign a marble to each step I take to achieve those goals. This year started off rocky, but it's finally settled down enough to where I can start planning further ahead. Here's the plan for the remainder of this year starting April 1st.
Finance - 49 Multicolored Marbles
9 Marbles - Create a new budget each month
40 Marbles - Stick to that budget each week
Health and Fitness - 80 Green Marbles
40 Marbles - Work out six days a week each week
40 Marbles - Stick to my diet each week
Comix and Writing - 104+ Red Marbles
40 Marbles - Write a minimum 30 minutes each day
40 Marbles - Working on comix six days a week minimum
1 Marble - Write 'Too Soon'
TBD Marbles - One for each page of 'Too Soon' drawn
22 Marbles - One for each page of AJ and I's comic
1 Marble - Overhaul this website
Self Enrichment - 49 Silver Marbles
9 Marbles - One book read each month
40 Marbles - Doing my share around the apartment each week
Posted by Schamberger at 05:54 PM
December 31, 2006
Reinventing Rob - Forecast For 2007
2007 is going to be a time to reexamine where I'm at, where I'm going, and how to get there, as well as finishing up several things. 2006 taught me I'm not getting any younger, but I'm still young.
Exercise: 65 marbles
52 green marbles - one for each week I stay on task
12 green marbles - one for each month where I'm in better shape than the month before
1 green marble - hitting my target weight of 200 pounds
Ultimate Goal: Be the healthiest and fittest I've ever been.
Day Job: 12 marbles
12 black marbles - one for each month that I stay out of the bullshit office politics.
Ultimate Goal: Continue to have a secure, well-paying source of income that I enjoy doing.
Finance: 79 silver marbles
1 silver marble - open a savings account
24 silver marbles - one for each $100.00 deposit to said account
1 silver marble - make a list of income and expenses
1 silver marble - make a plan to improve that situation
52 silver marbles - one for each week I stick to said plan
Ultimate Goal: To not have finances be a source of worry any more and to have a firm plan in place for my future.
Comix and Art: 116 red marbles
49 red marbles - one for each fully completed page of The Black Chamber
1 red marble - for completing the cover
1 red marble - for completing all post-production/pre-press work on The Black Chamber
1 red marble - find a publisher for The Black Chamber
12 red marbles - one for each month's gallery of new work presented here on the site
52 red marbles - one for each week I draw or write
Ultimate Goal: To complete The Black Chamber and to continue to grow and evolve as a creator.
Personal: 24 blue marbles
10 blue marbles: one for each novel I read
12 blue marbles: one for each month I do my chores around the home
1 blue marble: get enough shelving for all my books (it's getting out of hand, folks)
Ultimate Goal: To continue to push myself to be a more well-rounded person.
Posted by Schamberger at 02:46 PM
Reinventing Rob - 2006 In Review
So, I didn't accomplish everything I'd set out to do. All relating to weight loss and some of my artistic goals, as well as learning Chinese. Ah well.
So, what happened in 2006?
Ups:
* Got better at drawing
* Stayed physically active
* Read a lot of really great books
* Had the best year ever in regards to a day job
* Met a swell gal
* Got published several times
* Picked up a ton of freelance work
Downs:
* Had a heart attack
* Still not where I want to be with my finances
* Didn't lose all the weight I wanted to
* Didn't finish Black Chamber (although came very close (several times))
So obviously the pro's outweigh the con's, which is, as the Deutsch say, "Sehr gut." 2006 was about Staying the Course that I had started in 2005, and as an ultimate goal, I definitely obtained that. Go me.
How was your year?
Posted by Schamberger at 02:23 PM
November 05, 2006
Reinventing Rob - October 2006 In Review
And I thought September was a blur!
The day job continues to be eventful. I'm now over five locations in four states, with more on the way. One of my employees said to me Friday, "You're for real, aren't you?" I guess so. Frankly, it's intimidating at times. I find myself constantly thinking "Don't fuck it up, don't fuck it up..." That's my motto, I guess. My mom's is "HDEOMS", which stands for "Head down, ears open, mouth shut." I think mine is just the distilled version of that. "Don't fuck it up." I'm going to have a cel phone finally, come Monday. Modern exec on the go! I'll be traveling to Columbus, OH and Clearwater, FL sometime this month to visit with my offices, which is kinda exciting. Rob Schamberger Whirlwind World Tour!
Art's coming along. I need to shoot a few more scenes for BC, I've discovered, as a bunch of my stuff got corrupted. Suh-weet! I loves me the modern technology!
So, how was the month for y'all?
Posted by Schamberger at 01:43 PM
October 14, 2006
Reinventing Rob - September 2006 In Review
September got devoured by the day job. Lots of art did get made, though, so there's that, at least.
Posted by Schamberger at 08:17 PM
September 09, 2006
Reinventing Rob - August 06 In Review
In August, I:
* Started working on Black Chamber again
* Had Band on the Sun published in the KC Star every Thursday
* Had a new boss come in at work
* Quit drinking
* Paid off my debt to my mom
* Didn't finish reading any books
* Had one of my best friends move to Florida, which is a bummer. Fuck law school Andy, move back!
* Mostly just worked on Black Chamber, so I don't have a lot to report, really. Still, it felt like a good month without any major bummers going down.
Posted by Schamberger at 12:30 PM
August 05, 2006
Reinventing Rob - July 06 In Review
I'm having a hard time summing up July. I'd say it was mostly a month of me trying to calm the fuck down, and mostly being unsuccessful at doing so.
It's the heart thing, folks. I've got a lot of things that I still need and want to accomplish with my life, and the fact that I need to pace myself in accomplishing those things is a new experience for me. I'd always felt that I'd never before really reached my limit, really I felt I didn't have limits, and having to face the reality of the matter was something I hadn't ever encountered before.
I keep flashing back to myself, on that Sunday, June Eleventh, busting my ass at the day job, having gone fourteen days of working straight without any breaks, and pulling ten to twelve hour days, having my heart all of a sudden freaking out on me, making me feel like there's a subwoofer playing rave music inside my chest, and my only thought?
"Fuck, not here. Anywhere but here."
Don't get me wrong, I actually really like my day job. I am, literally, the best in the country at what I do, no bullshit, and I take a lot of pride in that. I've got two departments worth of people working for me that I'm equally proud of, they're just a great group of people. My bosses are the most receptive, responsive, and all-around-great I've ever had. But I just don't want to die there. Not me.
So, in July, we hired on several new people, put in a layer of management below me to handle a lot of my burden, and have put in several new procedures and technologies that are improving things drastically. So, the dayjob? Ain't no thing no more.
I'm off my medicine now, too, to no real averse reactions, other than the meds made me put on about five pounds, which I'm now working back off.
But, over the last couple of years, I've just been go, go, go, get it done, do it now, move on to the next thing, get it done, go, go, go. And I just physically can't do that anymore, which is frankly a little terrifying more than it is humbling. I hate admitting that I'm just a man, damn it.
But I ain't done yet, and I'm not done fighting to accomplish all of the things that I've set out to do in my lifetime. I'm no quitter.
Oh yeah, yesterday was my new Dayjob Gallery opening, which went off magnificently. The painting in the post below seemed to be everyone's favorite, which is good, since it's my most ambitious yet. I had several people offer to buy it, we'll see if anything comes of that. Also, I had up that black and white series I've been posting up, and one person gave me the highest compliment I've received to date:
"These remind me of those old comics made by the people who did Tales From the Crypt. You know what I'm talking about?"
Yeah. Yeah, I fucking know what you're talking about. They're only my absolute favorite comics ever, done by a collection of all of my biggest influences. Yeah, I know all about EC Comics.
Posted by Schamberger at 11:25 AM
July 01, 2006
Reinventing Rob - June 06 In Review
Well, if I were to sum up June in one word, it would be either 'gauntlet' or 'crucible'. Hell of a month. Literally. Sixteen days straight of working the day job, averaging sixty hours a week with no lunchbreaks. Having my heart freak the fuck out on me. Having my stupid internet stop stupid working. All sorts of stupid office politics coming up at the day job, with me fighting hard to stay out of them (and succeeding!). All sorts of stupid politics coming up with one of my collaborators, which I still haven't addressed with that party, and which I'm debating is even worth my time (it's probably not).
But, see, the Reinventing Rob Plan for 2006 is all about sticking to my path and seeing it through to the end. Too often in my past I've just given up on things when they got too tough and walked away, and this month it would have been really easy to just walk away from a lot of my obstacles. I could have changed my position at work. I could have decided to stop trying to pursue two careers simultaneously. I could have recused myself from the project with the troublesome collaborator. But, for the most part, I just continued down my path and its paying off. My employees respect me even more now. I sold another painting. I did what I feel to be some really good illustrations and paintings in June. I got to draw a fucking SUPERMAN comic. Yeah, I'm doing alright, I guess.
Another month down, half the year down(!), and today I'm twenty six, so twenty six years down. And I'm just getting started.
Posted by Schamberger at 04:54 PM
June 19, 2006
Reinventing Rob - May In Review
Better late than never, eh?
And yes, this is my salute to Cinco de Mayo.
It's strange not being a kid anymore. I think that sums up where my brain was at in May. I'm management for a large national corporation, with several peoples' lives revolving around my every decision and action, depending on me to always do the right thing. I'm responsible for my own life, too, and all the varied repercusions that my actions and inactions may cause. I'm a professional artist and writer with various collaborators and clients depending on me to deliver what I say I will when I say I will. I'm a big brother to four great kids who need me to be the role model that they deserve. And I have to be the man that my parents raised me to be and live up to their expectations.
And I have to just keep working at all of those aspects, improving on my shortcomings and learning from the inevitable mistakes that I'll be making. Sometimes, it seems like it's too much. Other times, it may actually be. That's more than likely why I had to go to the doctor today to have my heart checked out. Serious. Racings and palpatations. Tomorrow I'm having a fucking heart monitor put on me for what the nurse called a "24 Hour Event" (I didn't know she was a comix fan...), to see if it's 'just a thing' or 'A Thing'. All the men on my dad's side of the family have heart problems, and now here I am, facing my mortality in the face.
And what comes to mind?
That I'm doing the right things with my life, and there's no regrets.
Posted by Schamberger at 01:28 PM
May 01, 2006
Reinventing Rob - April 2006 In Review
Man, April was a LONG month, wasn't it? What causes that? There were only thirty days there, but that sumbitch seemed to go on FOREVER.
A lot of changes in my outlook on things over the course of April, too. For instance: Not dating's A-Okay. I hate dating, anyway. I'm a relationship guy. It's like the difference between Navajo sand paintings and Jackson Pollack (is that the second Pollack reference in as many months?). It just reinforced that, hey, I like my life right now. It's a'ight.
Dayjob's been killing me softly. Running two departments while still doing the work of two people and training new hires, and starting up one of those new departments, all at the same time? It makes Rob's hair fall out, is what it does. Worth it, though. Just for those heartwarming moments where one of my people calls me, and I quote, an "Inhumane despot." Suh-weet.
The new music season's really amazing so far, isn't it? I picked up the new Streets and Yeah Yeah Yeah's albums, and they're fantabulous. Between them, the new Beth Orton, Flaming Lips, Josh Rouse, and Little Willies, I'm really enjoying what I'm hearing. DJ Danger Mouse has a new one out in May that I've heard a track from and it sounds god damn astounding. Can't. Wait. For that.
Got back on track working out, doing two sessions a day now. Resistance training in the morning, and treadmill at night. I feel great, and continue to look better and better. I know, how is it possible for me to look any better, right? Blows me away, too.
Comix are exciting again, too. Scotty Skyrocket starting up, and more Band on the Sun on the horizon as well. I don't know what's going on with Black Chamber, honestly. What a strange experience, but ultimately the knowledge gleaned from working on it has been invaluable.
Finished strong on the art front. Did four(!) paintings yesterday. Two of them I still need to scan in and post here. One of them is the latest installment of Reckon. We're a few pages from the end of installment one on that, which will just ask more questions than it answers, unfortunately. I'm gearing up for the genre and style change in the next installment, which I'm excited about. Should be fun.
Oh, and my cat's still cute:
Posted by Schamberger at 06:23 AM
March 31, 2006
March 2006 In Review
Was it just me, or did March seem like a REALLY long month? This month felt like I was mainly just rethinking everything that I'm doing. This is where I'm at. This is what I'm doing. Why? And where am I going? March also seemed like a month being focused on the day job, which just happens sometimes. I'm over two departments now, with a third on the way, which is taking a lot of brainpower. Plus, I've started dating again, and we all know that that calls for a lot of time and brainpower as well. These things I'm doing, they're worth it, especially in the long run.
The long run. That's something I've been thinking about lately. I had my early 20's so well-planned out, but the second half not so tightly. I want to do comix. Passionately. But, I've had some setbacks and some reality checks, and I think I bit off more than I could chew a few months back. My goal is to be doing comix full-time by my thirtieth birthday. And I'm still on track for that, and I need to keep sight of that. I've still got five years. Look at what I did last year, y'know? Now multiply that by five. That's exciting.
Posted by Schamberger at 06:10 PM
March 01, 2006
February 2006 In Review
My initial thought for February was that it was a complete wash. Just worthless. A waste of a month.
But then I realized that I was being the bug in the rug. You know that story? There was a bug that lived in the world's most beautiful Persian rug. Everywhere he turned, he saw his problems, his blocks, all of the things that were stopping him from being able to do exactly what he wants to do. But, if for just a second, he'd been taken up, to view the beautiful rug, he would have realized that all of his problems were the very things that created the beauty in the rug.
That was me in February, and really in January, too. Not looking at the rug.
I've had a lot of things seem like they've been just too hard to fight for, or not worth it, or whatever. I was doing the exact opposite of what the marble program was supposed to cure in me. I wasn't taking the steps neccessary to keep moving forward.
Identifying my problems.
Understanding my problems.
Identifying solutions to my problems.
Accomplishing the needed steps to complete the solutions.
It's like I'd been not breathing right or something, and now my lungs are full of air. Seeing the light, as it were.
I'd spent the last year viewing myself in one manner, in an almost passive manner, when in reality it was the very opposite. I'd seen myself as the person who followed, who learned, not realizing that I'd been the leader, and the one teaching. How odd. Normally when I stop and look at myself through others' eyes, I see myself in a negative light. But, finally, and for the first time really, I can see that I'm living my life the right way. That all of my beliefs hold true, and that my path is as important as I'd always felt it would be.
Good times ahead.
Posted by Schamberger at 06:46 PM
February 05, 2006
Reinventing Rob - January 06 In Review
Things learned from January:
Success is not measured by how high you get, but by how high you bounce back. I used to really whine about circumstances working against me, but maybe with age or maturity or experience, I'm starting to learn that negative experiences are just obstacles to be overcome.
Self-doubt is a waste of time, but something I have trouble getting past. There's a fine line dividing self-doubt and desire for self-improvement. It really is a state of mind.
There's also a fine line that divides efficiency and laziness. Knowing which side of the line you're on helps in making decisions.
In 2001, it took me six months to ruin my life. It'll probably take six years to get it fully fixed. I've got big hurdles to overcome this year, but I have have have to do it this year.
Godzilla ain't no bitch.
Gang of Four rocks my socks off. I can't believe I missed out on them until this last month.
I sold my first painting.
My cat's cute.
Posted by Schamberger at 03:22 PM
January 01, 2006
Reinventing Rob - Forecast For 2006
Exercise (82 Green Marbles)
52 marbles - One for each week I stay on task
12 marbles - One for each month I stay on task
12 marbles - One for each month I stay on my diet
1 marble - Hit 225 pounds
1 marble - Hit 220 pounds
1 marble - Hit 215 pounds
1 marble - Hit 210 pounds
1 marble - Hit 205 pounds
1 marble - Finally hit my target weight of 200 pounds
Day Job - 12 Black Marbles
12 marbles - one for each month I don't get into bullshit offic politics
Finance - 55 Silver Marbles
1 marble - Make a list of expenses and income
1 marble - Make a plan for decreasing expenses
1 marble - Start a savings account
52 marbles - One for each week that I stick to my plan
Comix and Art - 66 Red Marbles
1 marble - Finish The Black Chamber
1 marble - Get a publisher for The Black Chamber
6 marbles - One for each finished painting
4 marbles - One for each released issue of Rob Schamberger Makes Comix
1 marble - Write my next graphic novel
1 marble - Shoot reference for my next graphic novel
52 marbles - One for each week that I stay on task
Personal - 23 Blue Marbles
12 marbles - One for each month I do my chores around the house
1 marble - Start learning Chinese
10 marbles - One for each new novel I read
Posted by Schamberger at 07:28 PM
December 31, 2005
December In Review
Exercise - 6 Green Marbles
I lost four inches in my waist since the beginning of the year. Four. Inches. That's fantastic. My double chin has disappeared. I don't have fat rolls anymore. But, the best thing of it all, is that I finally beat 25 years of bad habits. That's one way I positively changed my life this year. This is one of only two categories where everything got moved.
Day Job - 1 Black Marble
I had my year-end review yesterday, and my boss told me that it was merely a formality, because I've exceeded every one of their goals to the point where they can't set any for me. I get along fantastically with my employees, and I enjoy every day going into work. This is the other category where all marbles got moved.
Finance - 1 Blue Marble
This was my weakest area this year, I'll admit. I was passively letting things get under control, but there was very little actual proactive-ness. This is going to be my biggest focus in 2006.
Comix - 7 Red Marbles
What can I say about the year in comix that I haven't already? I went from amateur to pro. I went from barely able to draw to in demand. I accomplished everything I'd set out to do, and exceeded even my own expectations. My plan was to get myself to a position where I can start really bringing in some income from comix in 2006. I honestly believe I've done that, and it's going to happen.
Personal - 6 Silver Marbles
Read The Man Who Fell To Earth and A Scanner Darkly. Kept the apartment clean-ish. Made a new good friend. Had a couple pleasant surprises.
So, let's take a look at what didn't get done:
2 Blue Marbles - I didn't pay off the two cards I'd intended to. But, it will happen next year, so these are getting moved over to next year's jar.
8 Red Marbles - I'd originally envisioned Comixperience as an online journal/magazine, and had set for it to be a quarterly release, with one marble for each release. Ah, well. There were two anthologies which I had hoped to get made, but neither came to fruition. Ah, well, again. And, of course, becoming CCN prez became a non-issue. Ah, well, again, again.
11 Silver Marbles - The three marbles set aside to do things with my now ex-girlfriend obviously didn't go through. Que sera, sera. For some reason I never started learning Chinese, but that's going to get moved over to the next year. And, of course, I didn't expect to really have 25 unexpected good things happen. You can't plan for that, but I thought it was a good thing to strive for. It made me appreciate life a lot more, you know? I think we take those sorts of things for granted, and this was my way of breaking out of that mold.
So, what was accomplished this year, overall?
I'm in the best shape of my life, physically.
I'm comfortable and secure at my day job, which keeps a roof over my head and my cat fat.
I'm not in the hole to the point where I can't see the light.
My goals for my career in comix are now within grasp.
The quality of my life overall has raised immeasurably since this time last year. New Year's Eve of 2004 was a real low point for me, and I thought to myself, "Self, we need to change the way we're doing things." I think the results speak for themselves.
I've got a strong, steady, level foundation now. Time to build something on it.
Posted by Schamberger at 08:06 AM
December 30, 2005
Year In Review: November
I had my first vacation since 2001, which was nice. Did some reading, did some drawing, but overall just took a breather. I needed it.
Eddie Guerrero passed away on the 13th.
And I built this website, which I'm pretty danged happy with. A lot of room for growth with this sucker.
Since it was in November that I moved my blogging over here, I say just peruse through the archives and see what I was up to, as well as reading the November wrap-up.
Tomorrow, it all gets wrapped up. Exciting!
Posted by Schamberger at 06:24 AM
December 29, 2005
Year In Review: October
I started off the month releasing my collection of short works, aptly named 'Rob Schamberger Makes Comix'. Branding, is what that's called. It didn't set any sales records or anything, but everyone who bought it liked it, so that's a plus.
At the dayjob, myself and my officemate Gary Rittermeyer (who's also the model for the lead character in Black Chamber) started up a gallery in our space:
This has become a great tradition at work and has really boosted morale here. We treat it seriously, changing it up every First Friday, offering snacks and beverages on opening day. We probably get around one hundred views the first day alone. It just changes the whole atmosphere here. If you have the ability to do this at your job, I'd highly recommend it.
Otherwise, the month was spent mostly on drawing The Black Chamber:
...teaching myself some coloring techniques:
...and teaching myself to ink with a brush:
This was really a "Break On Through" month for me, artistically.
Here's the big recap:
October was a very good month on the Rob front. Here's why:Exercise - 6 Green Marbles
I started a new resistance program this month and it has done WONDERS for my body. I look like a whole new person, or at least someone I haven't seen in quite some time. I really think I'm on task for getting within my target weight by the end of the year. That is so awesome.
Day Job - 1 Black Marble
So, you'll note I never really talk about the dayjob here. With good reasons, of course. But October was just fantastic there. See, a little over a year ago, I created a new product for the company, something that I saw the title agency moving towards in the next few years. They've given me the time to build it and work it into their line of services, and a couple weeks back we hit the point where that product had brought in half a million dollars (!) for the company. I had one person working for me, but now the company told me they're going to give us ALL of their orders to work with, which I see making my order count go up by a factor of ten or so, which means that I'm now going to be over six or seven people. That's kind of neat, too. Also, one of the owners of the company had lunch with someone from a competitor, a big corporate national chain, and found out that they have six people trying full time to build the database that I've created, and found out that theirs is, like, nothing compared to ours. As the owner told me, "You're on the cutting edge and they're on the bleeding edge." Wow. I know, I know, good times now mean bad times coming, but I won't let that take away from the joy I'm experiencing now.
[Note from future Rob: I'm still riding the same wave. It's great]
Finance - 2 Blue Marbles
I expect the blue marbles to begin to be positively influenced by the black marbles in the next couple of months.
Comix - 7 Red Marbles
Thirteen pages into Black Chamber, plus I put out a 48 page book, and had a gallery show. I'm also getting several comissions, and positive feedback from pro's in the industry. October was very good for my art, I can tell you that.
Personal - 6 Silver Marbles
Several happy surprises, due mostly to the dayjob. Also, I finished reading Umberto Eco's "The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana" this morning. Very, very good book. Insanely good, really. Took me way too long to read, though, to stay on my schedule of ten for the year. I believe it's my sixth novel read this year, so I need to read at least two each month in November and December. I'm up for it, though. Next up is Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood", then "The Man Who Fell to Earth", followed by "A Scanner Darkly". I'll find something else for number four, I'm sure.
I also realized this weekend that I have zero social life, but what really disturbed me was that I'm not sure if that bothers me or not. If I did have one, I'm sure my art would suffer the most. I'm at too critical of a stage right now to give that up, but damn, I'd sure like to have someone to go see movies and eat dinner with every now and then. That sounds pathetic, doesn't it? Here I had one of my best months ever, and I'm still wanting more.
Posted by Schamberger at 06:37 AM
December 28, 2005
Year In Review: September
September was a great comix month for me, because I had my weekly engagement in The Kansas City Star. That was a great experience and really opened a lot of doors for me.
Over Labor Day Weekend, I went out to Western Kansas for the Annual Schamberger Open, a family reunion/golf tournament. I'd never played golf before, but that was okay, because that put me at about the same skill level as the rest of the family. My eleven year old brother won the trophy for MVP, and he earned it. The kid's just a physical marvel. I did this picture for my grandma of her and my late grandfather. It's always a neat experience when you unveil a picture for someone and you can actually hear them lose their breath:
When I got back in town, I discovered that my cat Monkey was extremely sick. She was barely able to stand, had dropped a ton of weight, and was really disoriented. I rushed her to the vet, and we were pretty sure she had gotten poisoned somehow. I think it was a plug-in air freshener that was over her water dish. Poor thing:
It was also in September that I started in on pencilling The Black Chamber. Best decision made all year long.
Best pieces of the month:
And here's what September held for me:
I've found that doing this, each month, it's giving me a better appreciation of how much time a year really is, and how much time there is to accomplish the tasks that we set out for ourselves.6 Green Marbles - This has easily been my very best year for personal health.
1 Black Marble - Things are going great at the day job, and actually looking up.
7 Red Marbles - In September I had decided to hand-draw Black Chamber, which I think will prove to be a very good and very big decision. Six pages in, I'm definitely enjoying that choice.
3 Silver Marbles - It was rough, because I had a bad parting of ways with an old friend. He got himself into a lot of bad positions, from bad decisions, and was doing bad things, and I just couldn't have that in my life anymore. His lifestyle was starting to affect mine in a very negative manner, and was refusing to get any help, as much as I offered it. Tough love. I never understood that saying was a double-edged sword. Tough on both of us. Hopefully he'll turn himself around, but at this point I'm finding it unlikely.
That parting of ways there was probably the toughest time of my year. This guy was a friend of mine for a good seven years, and now he's a total stranger to me. It really sucks to see someone do that to themself.
2005 seems to have been about endings in a lot of ways. They seemed to counterweigh all of the great beginnings. Hm. Something to ponder on.
Posted by Schamberger at 07:42 AM
December 27, 2005
Year In Review: August
Started off the month with maybe the most fun weekend I've ever had:
I'm god damned exhausted!
Friday, I picked up some new music: Crystal Method's 'Community Service II' and Common's 'Be'. The Crystal Method album was definitely more of an instant gratification album, as I'm a long-time fan of theirs, and their remix of my favorite Doors song 'Roadhouse Blues' is fantastic. The Common album was more of a slow burn, taking a while to grow on me, but I'm definitely into it. The live track on there with Kanye West, 'The Food', is just great. I met up with Mike Sullivan for dinner, where I had some great enchiladas and he gave me a Big Audio Dynamite album (still haven't listened to it, actually). We then went over to Hollywood Video to rent 'Trekkies', as Mike hadn't seen it before, and we each ended up dropping some bucks on other movies, too. I came home with the first season of 'Dead Like Me' for twenty bucks.
Saturday was the big day, though. J and Sarah had invited me out for a day on Lake Jacomo on a couple of pontoon boats (not to be confused with 'Poontang Boats', as I swore J's initial email to me said). You can rent these things for 180 bucks a day, and you can fit ten peep's on each one, so it came to about twenty bucks to cover our group on two boats. I met a lot of cool people, drank a lot of good drinks, and did backflips off the top of the boats. I hadn't had this much fun in fucking ages. We went back to J and Sarah's house (which is nice, and it's too bad it took me this long to make it over, especially since it's only six minutes away from me), where everyone made a point to tell me I was doing a nice impersonation of a boiled lobster. I mean, I'm motherfucking burnt, folks. I haven't been this burnt since probably when my mom and I went to Florida back in 93 or 94. Constant pain. But we scarfed some pizza and had some great conversation.
Sunday, I wake up in time to catch CBS' Sunday Morning show, which I always love, and they had a great interview/biography of Al Green. The rest of the day, I sat around feeling miserably sunburnt and watched most of the season of 'Dead Like Me', which is really an enjoyable show. Very smart, very well-written, directed, and acted. Which, I'm sure, doomed the show to failure. Glad I got it, though. I went over my outline for the radio show again, and I'm ready to start writing it in earnest now.
-whew- What a great couple few days!
That sunburn became the most hideous thing ever. I was just constantly amazed by the way it would continue to mutate. Just awful.
Finished up Empty House, my piece for the Star:
Peter Jennings passed away:
I guess that because he was always there as I was growing up, that I never fully appreciated Jennings. His appearance on the TV was as reliable as the Quck-Trip being there at the corner for when I needed gas.
When the second plane hit on 9/11, my mom called me and woke me up (I was off work that day), and asked me to watch the news so that I could keep her updated. I ended up settling on Jennings' broadcast, as I felt I could trust his reporting the most. He'd always been so solid and able to report without interjecting his feelings, that I thought he'd give me the best representation of what was happening. When the first tower went down, I could tell he was choking back his emotions, going on with the broadcast.
But then the second tower went down.
And I hear Jennings just...exhale. This long "Hhhh" that said so much. The camera stayed on the tower going down. I'm sure the production crew were all too horrified to change away from it. For maybe five minutes, no one says anything. Jennings' mic was still live, and I could hear people in the background breaking down, but he didn't make a sound. Finally, he's able to speak, but all he can get out is "I...I don't know what to say."
That's what made the whole thing become human to me, become personal. Here's this guy, he was a rock all my life, and he's finally reporting something that's too big for him to deal with. To me, probably one of the most profound moments in television history.
His eyes watched the world for so long, and his eyes became the filter that so many millions of us saw the world through. He was a giant among men, and I know he'll be missed.
Went to see Ben Folds and Rufus Wainwright at the River Market with J and Sarah. It was a good show with good friends.
I drew what ended up becoming my most controversial piece ever:
...which led to me finally breaking all ties with the CCN, as being called a pornographer (!) just doesn't sit well with me.
Got some early feedback on Empty House, all negative:
I sent out some preview copies, for folks to read. Here's the responses I got back:
"Those are really cool. I don't think I've seen a whole strip without people before and it really works. Thanks for the preview. I hope everyone enjoys this as much as I did!"
"Damn..."
"...Its different than what people are used to seeing in the paper! The story is compelling, focused, and has emotional punch that I'm sure everyone can relate to in some way or another...The disembodied voices lend it a ghost like quality. As though we're sensing the empty house...a long time after the drama actually went down."
"Very nice, Rob. Excellent work. Especially poignant for me."
"Nicely done Rob...I think people will really relate to this."
"One word - WOW!"
"Wow. The Star must have some adventuresome strip editors. Very nice, my lad. Very nice."
"Your strips are really nice. I like the atmosphere and the mood. Good work."
Did this piece, which made me decide to hand-draw Black Chamber:
Finished writing a script for a radio drama thing, which will hopefully "see" the light of day eventually.
Best piece of the month:
And to wrap up the month:
It's getting to crunch time, folks! Two thirds of the way done!6 Green Marbles - I lost five freaking pounds this month! Yahoo!
1 Black Marble - Things are going really well at the D-A-Y-J-O-B, actually. Probably the most comfortable I've been at a job. Things are even looking to improve, believe it or not.
1 Blue Marble - I'm not broke!
7 Red Marbles - Things are going good with the comix thing, as well. Expect to see an anthology/sketchbook from me on the last Thursday of this month. 48 pages for two bucks or less! It will be called, appropriately enough, 'Rob Schamberger Makes Comix'.
3 or 4 Silver Marbles - This was a really rough month personally. A lot of it of my own doing, and other parts not. I think we must make mistakes, simply so that we can learn from them, and we have to experiment, so that we can learn from both our accomplishments and failures. I learned a lot in August.
Posted by Schamberger at 08:05 AM
Year In Review: July
Turned a quarter of a century old on the first, and also drew this:
The birthday party was a hell of a lot of fun. Good beer, good friends, bad singing (on my part, it was Karaoke night).
I started doubting the merits of the digital approach to Black Chamber. The reality of the whole thing really started to set in.
While in crisis about BC, I started in work on my engagement for the Kansas City Star.
My buddy Brandon got married, and we had a fantastic, good time. The day before, I went walking around the neighborhood that I had grown up in, and did this photo essay of it. Probably the most emotionally true thing that I've ever written.
Did some figure drawing courses. This is from the first session:
Instead of just one best piece of the month, I did these four within a couple days and really felt good about them:
And to wrap up the seventh month of the year:
Exercise - 7 Green MarblesStill plateaued on this, but, eh, it's still progress. I'm eating well, feeling well, and I'm pretty sure looking well.
Day Job - 1 Black Marble
The day job am gud.
Finance - 1 Blue Marble
I'm not broke. Actually, getting to be the opposite.
Comix - 8 Red Marbles
Didn't get NEAR the work done I'd originally intended to, but that opened me up to where I'm at now, which is turning out to be a good place creatively. A lot of things on the plate right now, and all of them are guaranteed things, actually, which is cool.
Personal - 4 or 5 Silver Marbles
I forget, as I lose track on the 'Pleasant Surprises' I get. I know J and Sarah putting together the impromptu b-day party for me was one of them. They're good people and good friends, and I feel very lucky for having met them. Mike Sullivan's the same way. Mom and I seemed to bond closer this last month, too, which is good. She's a swell gal. I need to do a retrospective piece on her career as a mom some time soon. A son couldn't ask for a better mother.
July was definitely a time where I rediscovered myself, I think. It's like I'd been 'gone' for the last three years or so, and I've finally 'come back' now. I also discovered how important family and friends can be. I've always been a sort of a loner, but July helped reaffirm that I don't have to do it alone. So, I'm dedicating the July of Oh-Five to:Dee and Roger Clark
Gary Schamberger
Jason and Sarah Preu
Mike Sullivan
Mark Stinson
Duane Cunningham
Gary Rittermeyer
Brandon and Robin Moore
Andy Denzer
Tom Denzer
Shawn Geabhart...and everyone else who did something nice for me, and didn't expect anything back.
(By the nature of making a list, I'm sure I've inadvertantly left someone important off. Nothing personal, whatever-your-name-is.)
[EDIT: See? I left Jason Arnett off the list. I'm tellin' ya...what kind'a friend am I?]
Posted by Schamberger at 07:08 AM
Year In Review: June
Started off the month strong:
I also started off the month by kicking drinking soda. I'd had a six can a day habit, and just went cold turkey. I really didn't have any side-effects or tremors or anything nasty like that. I've maybe had ten sodas since quitting. Tea. That's my drink of choice now. I mix four packets of Green Ginseng, two packets of Moroccan Pomegranate Red, and one packet of Jasmine. Make a pitcher of that, pour it over ice, man, it's great.
I still dig this piece. I inked it sitting out at a park:
My best friend's mom died. Carol was a good person, and we were all very lucky to have had her in our lives.
I had this moment of insanity hit me:
You know what would be cooler than anything else in the whole universe? The whole multiverse at all times?Adam West and Bill Shatner doing a duet of 'Drummer Boy'. Just imagine.
Best piece of the month:
Here's the July recap:
Exercise: 7 Green MarblesStill at a plateau weight-wise, but I think that's because of the muscle I'm putting on while losing the fat. There's a definite difference in my appearance.
Day Job: 1 Black Marble
Things continue to go well at the ol' 7 to 4. My mom gave me a piece of advice a few years back that really fits an office environment: Head down, ears open. It works.
Finance: 1 Blue Marble
Not having a car payment is NICE. More on finance in a bit, though.
Comix: 8 Red Marbles
The comix thing just keeps getting more and more exciting. I feel the most alive when I'm drawing.
Personal: 4 Silver Marbles
Read 'Fortress of Solitude' by Jonathan Lethem and 'Eisner/Miller' conducted and compiled by Charles Brownstein. Almost through with the classic-but-for-some-reason-I-never-read 'Farenheit 451'. Should be done with it this weekend, then back to an old favorite, Heinlein's 'Stranger In a Strange Land'. Had a couple nice pleasant surprises.
So, the finance thing. I'm going to have to seriously look at the cost for moving to New Jersey, if I'm really going to do this Kubert School thing. Already this week I cut back on my comix-buying habits, which should considerably save money over the long haul. I'm going to translate that over to a savings account which I'll open on Tuesday. I'm going to have to cut back on new music, too, but with everything I got off J a couple weeks back, I should be able to maintain. I know rent's higher on the coast, so that's something I'll have to figure into, as well. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to keep my current day job out there, which should help out a lot. I'm currently at a spot in the day job career where I'm skilled in an area that's always in demand, that I can give high quality in a quick time, for low cost. That'll be something I can use for several years to come.
This is an exciting time to be alive for me. I'm feeling refreshed, reinvigorated, and ready to show the world who I am and what I have to offer.
Note From Future Rob: Decided not to do the Jersey thing.
Posted by Schamberger at 06:56 AM
Year In Review: May
Started off the month with some Black Chamber art:
And some hand-drawn sketch practice stuff:
The best piece of the month:
This piece was a real turning point for my art, I feel. A lot of things started really clicking for me on it.
By May I had lost twenty pounds. That felt so great.
I had my little brother stay the weekend, which was just a great, fun time. He's eleven years old. We saw the final Star Wars movie, went to a Roller Derby match (where, for the half-time show, the Marching Cobras pulled me out of the crowd to dance with them. Nuts!), ate some Mexican food, and watched some scary movies. Had a blast.
Otherwise, not a lot happened in May. It was a month of adjustment and settling, really. Here's the recap:
Exercise: 6 Green MarblesI have now lost 20 pounds since the end of December. I'm not in the best shape of my life, but I am in the second best. Not only am I down in weight (the least I've weighed in over 18 months), but I just plain feel great. My energy is way up, and it's really gratifying to be getting rid of 25 years of bad habits.
Day Job: 1 Black Marble
Not a whole lot to report here, mainly because things are going well, getting busier, and staying interesting. There's no one there any longer that I don't get along with, and the actual work is very intriguing and fulfilling. How many people get to say that about their jobs, huh?
Finance: 2 Blue Marbles
I now own my car. That's pretty fucking cool.
Comix: 7 Red Marbles
Black Chamber's going great. Comixperience is a riot. CCN stuff is fun again. Did a 24 Hour Comic, though I only completed 16 pages, it is, in my opinion, my best of those yet. It's neat having people tell you your horror comic actually gave them nightmares, or watching them visibly shiver when they get to the last page. June is going to be a big month for comix stuff from me. Stay tuned.
Personal: 4 Silver Marbles
Finished reading The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum. Good at big ideas, bad at pacing and dialogue. Still an overall fun read, albeit very different from the movie. As my buddy Shawn Geabhart put it, the book is at the height of the Cold War, and the movie takes place as a result of the fallout from the war. Two good unexpected things happened, but I can't go into them here, because they're fairly personal things.
May was a good month for a lot of things, bad in a few others, which really put my doubt in people in my life, but we'll overcome.
Posted by Schamberger at 06:46 AM
December 23, 2005
Year In Review - April
Started off the month with a bang! Had the ex finally move out, went to PlanetCon and ran into a lot of good friends, saw Sin City, bought bootlegs of both Battle Royale movies, and watched...WRESTLEMANIA! It has to be said in all caps. WRESTLEMANIA!
I quit doing '22, Three Sixty Five' altogether, devoting the work towards 'MURDER!'
Heard the best thing:
"We heard some cool news about David Bowie, who is working with Mansell to write a new Major Tom song for the end of the film. His “Space Oddity” was one of the things that first inspired Aronofsky, and the way he portrays the desolation of deep space travel certainly calls that song to mind. We also learned that Bowie grilled Aronofsky about his involvement with WATCHMEN. Turns out Bowie’s working on a rock opera version of WATCHMEN on his own, although details about that production are still tentative."
I officially started working on The Black Chamber, after finishing up Sunday Drive.
I was approached to do a five-week engagement in the Previews section of the Star. Approached. That was super cool.
Did this fun piece:
I found myself in a point of crisis, over suspending production on 'MURDER!':
"I'm not going to make any excuses, although to be honest, by Sunday evening, my hand was fucking crippled from two solid days of drawing. I do have the next page scripted out. Thumbnailed, even. I do have every intention of getting this story completed, because it's a story I really dig. I just, you know, haven't worked on it for two weeks.I think I need to go back to the origin of why I started working on it, to get to why it's not a top priority anymore. When I first did the whole 'marble thing', the comix portion of it was to get me ready to start on BC, but I had anticipated that being much later in the year and completely hand-drawn. Obviously, the New Style made that dream come much sooner than planned for. Adding on the Star thing, and I'm now booked up with work that I'll actually make some money on, but more importantly, that people outside of my clique will actually read. Also, Black Chamber is the most personal and most emotional thing I've ever written. I actually found myself close to tears while writing it, dredging up old memories and feelings, and applying them to the story. I think when y'all finally see it with the dialogue, you'll see that this is the best story that I can possibly do at this time.
And, yeah, that makes the other stuff not as important.
I feel like I'm breaking a commitment, even though I'm in reality ahead of my self-proposed schedule."
This was my best piece of the month:
And the month-end round-up:
Seemed like a void of a month, while I was experiencing it, but I think I got a lot of things in motion that will pan out well for me over the next year or so. Without further ado:Exercise (Green Marbles):
7 marbles. March was a plateau month, weight-loss wise, and I started to make up for that this month. Lost six pounds, but put on quite a bit of muscle, so I don't think the weight thing is fully indicative of my body transformation going on here.
Day Job (Black Marbles):
2 marbles. Kept under the radar in a positive way, and applied to get certified. I should have the answer on that in the next week or two, once the state's done processing the paperwork. Hopefully some past transgressions don't come back to haunt me. Knowing my luck, they probably will.
[NOTE FROM PRESENT DAY ROB: Turned out there was no need for me to get certified, as it's not required by Missouri or Kansas, and the states that do require it also require you to be a resident, so the whole thing became a moot point. Que sera, sera.]
Finance (Blue Marbles):
1 marble. Car gets paid off in May, though, so that's exciting. That extra 215 a month will be nice.
Comix (Red Marbles):
8 marbles. I really quit 22 and Murder, but don't feel bad about it at all. Black Chamber's taking up all my time, plus I'm working up what I'll be doing for the Star. I'm busy and I'm happy, and I'm finally getting the recognition that I think I've earned. And, as Mark Stinson so eloquently said, "Once the work starts to pay, the free stuff goes away." Ain't that the truth.
Personal (Silver Marbles):
4 marbles. Kept the apartment clean, even with an extremely sloppy new room mate (who's coming around. My 'lead-by-example' mentality I'm talking is really working in all facets of my life). Read 'The Final Solution' by Michael Chabon, and am over half way through 'The Bourne Identity' by Robert Ludlum. Made a new good friend. Had an unexpected good thing happen right out of the blue, too, that being the Star approaching me to do a strip.
Like we talked about last time, I was wondering what to do with the left-over marbles. I think what I'm going to do, when the year is over, that I'll make some sort of art out of them, to keep them there as a reminder that no matter what, even though we're able to steer ourselves in the right direction, that we don't have any control over the world around us, and that environment can affect us. So, I'll incorporate those things back into my environment. Seems poetic.
The not-cleaning-up-after-himself became a large contributor in me now having no room-mate. It got to beyond-disgusting levels by the end.
Posted by Schamberger at 06:18 AM
December 22, 2005
Year In Review: March
By the sixth of March, I'd finally decided to stop doing the 'Bad' comic I was doing. I still remember being really torn up over the decision:
"Fuck it. I'm sick of drawing that asshole in 'Bad'. I never really connected with the character or the story. I was doing it as a way to express myself sequentially and to learn in the process.In hindsight? I grew a TON as an artist doing it, making a lot of mistakes and then learning from them. But, yeah, just sick of that asshole Tex.
Have no fear, though, I'm replacing 'Bad' in comixnovella with 'Murder!', which will now go daily with a whole page on Sundays. I think that's a good trade-off.
The daily schedule begins next Monday, giving me time to ramp up to it, but you will get FOUR! installments this week, with the first directly below."
I think this was the picture that I started developing my 'look' with. The one people seem to most identify with me:
But, it was also in this month that I developed the 'look' that some people still hold against me:
See, at the time, I was just really wanting to do my Black Chamber graphic novel, but knew that I didn't have the skills to pull it off hand-drawn yet. So, I worked out this digital method as a shortcut. While I only worked this way for maybe six months, some people still assume that I do everything digitally. Still, I learned a ton from doing it.
At the same time, I was still doing 'Murder' as well, and turned out this really nice Sunday page:
And this was my best piece of the month:
I'd also started in on a three-pager that was my folks performing at one of their gigs, done in the digital style:
This was arguably the strangest month of my entire life, as well. I was living with my ex-girlfriend until her new place was ready. What a head trip that was. Luckily, we had opposite schedules at this time, so we really didn't ever have to see each other, really. I got to do some couch-sleeping all through this month. I remember how almost everyone would ask me how everything was going at home, and all I could reply was, "It's...weird."
And, on to the month-end wrap-up:
What a tumultuous month! March saw me closing the latest chapter in my life story. I feel like, right now, I'm existing in some sort of limbo-like footnote in said book, waiting for the reader to get back to some actual reading. It's weird.Here we go:
Exercise - 6 Green Marbles
Plateaued this month, but kicking it up to the next level next month. I made a good solid base to work from.
Day Job - 1 Black Marble
Nothing new here to report, just staying on task.
Finance - 1 Blue Marble
Not everything going as I'd like, but I'm not in any sort of desperate situation, either. The car's paid off in June, though, which is really damned exciting.
Comix - 8 Red Marbles
I've combined the goals for 22 and Bad into my daily work on Murder. Murder's coming to about three pages a week, so it's definitely not like I'm doing anything less. I've been getting some really positive feedback on this, too, which makes it even better. The most important thing, though, is how much I'm learning and growing from doing it. I've also come up with a style and method to work with for Black Chamber, which is very heartening. This project's my baby, and I'm happy that I'm going to have complete control over its final product. Final casting for the Jodie character this week, I promise.
Personal - 4 Silver Marbles
Read two novels, kept things clean (mostly) around the apartment, and had one really good pleasant surprise, just this last weekend. I had no idea how many good friends I have in the local comix scene until I got to the show and found it impossible to take more than ten steps without someone stopping me to talk. How great! Also, and I tied these together, last week someone had told me that I'm the most positive influence on the KC scene right now, but then had that echoed by SEVERAL people on Saturday. There were even some people that came from behind their tables just to shake my hand and say 'thank you' for all my hard work. To all of you: You're welcome.
For most of us, when our time is up, all that we've really got left to show we were ever here are the lives we've touched. Fortunately, for those of us in the arts, we can hopefully leave behind a good body of work to help those touched lives remember us.
Posted by Schamberger at 06:17 AM
December 21, 2005
Year In Review: February
Started out the month strong, drawing like a maniac. I was doing the daily panel, as well as a weekly page, in addition to sketching for fun. My growth rate was staggering already.
I officially stepped down from my leadership role with the CCN on the ninth. That was such not a good time.
But, it also showed me who my friends were. I got so many phone calls over that whole debacle.
I started scripting the now award-nominated Band on the Sun strip for Duane to draw. I have a fond spot in my heart for these:
I got Bronchitis. That was a waste of a week.
I wrote a love-letter to the music of David Bowie. Funnily enough, it's still one of my better-remembered writings.
I bought the special limited edition final issue of Promethea:
"And when I say 'limited', I mean 'only one thousand produced worldwide'. When I say 'special', I mean 'signed by Alan by god Moore and Jim mothafuckin Williams III'."
This was my best piece of February:
I've still got it hanging next to my desk at home. I just cut loose and had fun with it.
On February 18th, my mom's birthday, my world got turned upside down:
"Twenty five years to the day that my dad told my mom that he no longer loved her, Nichole told me that she wanted out of our relationship. It's an amicable split, without a lot of drama, but it's still a bummer nonetheless. We were to be together for three years this coming July.We're working out all the fine details now, like our lease and living arrangements, but it shouldn't be too much of a shake-up. This is easily the easiest break-up I've ever had.
There's a passage from the Tao Te Ching that's always stuck with me, and has been my life's mantra since the first time I read it:
The sage's way,
Tao
is the way of water.There must be water for life to be,
and it can flow wherever.And water, being true to being water
is true
to Tao.Those on the Way of Tao, like water
need to accept where they find themselves:
and that may often be where water goes
to the lowest places, and that is right.Like a lake
the heart must be calm and quiet
having great depth beneath it.The sage rules with compassion,
and his word needs to be trusted.The sage needs to know like water
how to flow around the blocks
and how to find the way through without violence.Like water, the sage should wait
for the moment to ripen and be right:water, you know, never fights
it flows around
without harm.If you've ever spoken with me at length, you've probably heard me reference this piece. Something like 'Be the river' or the like. I view every life as a river flowing to its eventual end. Sometimes rivers flow together. Sometimes they flow apart.
For a while, Nichole and I, our rivers flowed in the same path, but now our final destinations are taking us apart. It is what it is.
"It is what it is." My favorite bit of zen from Goodfellas."
Instead of turning to booze (although I did have a few Black & Tan's in the evenings for the next couple of weeks (I have a really fond memory of reading Born Again while drinking one)) or something else self-destructive, I turned to my art to help me cope with what I was going through. I may have been going through some really emotional times, but it was also the most energetic and invigorating time I'd had in a long while.
I started up a weekly strip:
And, the review of February:
Exercise (Green Marbles) 1 marble - Staying on workout schedule for whole month 1 marble - Staying on diet for whole month 3 marbles - One for each week I stayed on the workout schedule (I added the weekly marble, as it was a little nicer having that immediate reward. I'm changing a whole lifetime's worth of bad habits as far as exercise and diet go, so this is a tough category. I'm stickin' wit' it, though, for the whole long road.)Day Job (Black Marbles)
1 marble - Stayed out of the bullshit office politics
(And damn, but was that HARD this month...)Finance (Blue Marbles)
1 marble - Stuck to the planComix (Red Marbles)
1 marble - Worked on developing Black Chamber
1 marble - Stayed on task
1 marble - Whole month of 22, Three Sixty Five
3 marbles - For each page of 'Bad'Personal (Silver Marbles)
1 marble - Did chores around the homeThe positives:
My art has really drastically improved over this last month. That's always nice. This was also my first solid month of working out, and I'm seeing some positive changes in how my body looks and, more importantly, feels. Also, for the first time in a LONG time, I'm not financially strapped. I've actually started developing a nice little cushion.
Setbacks:
Well, the biggest change, of course, is the split between Nichole and I. That's caused a lot of changes in my plans. Moving into a house is now out of the question. A longtime buddy of mine is going to be my new room mate, and the apartment complex is actually building a third room onto this apartment for only an extra $35 dollars a month, so I get to keep my studio space, and will have a three bedroom apartment for just over $500 a month. All of the living arrangement changes go down at the end of March, so that makes it so I can't go to SPACE, though, which is a bummer.
The other obvious setback was my stepping back from my involvment with the CCN. I'm still fairly active there, but not in any sort of leadership position. I'll probably not want to get back into a leadership position, either. I don't know, I think I'm more of a nomad than a leader. I'm definitely not a follower, but the hat of leadership just didn't sit well on my head.
So, the obvious problem now is, what do I do with irrelevant marbles? Do they stay in the old jar? Do I go ahead and move them? Do I just take them out of the equation? I'm unsure of what the most productive thing to do would be. I've got seven of them now. I'll have an answer by this time next month, hopefully.
The question of the unused marbles really puzzled me, but over time, I came to a really good conclusion on what they would represent.
Posted by Schamberger at 07:00 AM
Year In Review: January
I started off the year right, by of course drawing this page. I did that symbolically, showing that I was going to really focus on my craft over this year. My intention was to get myself to a professional level by year's end. I'll leave that up to your tastes on whether I accomplished that or not. But, I guess by definition, I am, since I'm getting paid for my art. So there.
Here's what it looked like when I moved the first marble over:
My first thought after that first marble?
"Fuck."
Will Eisner died on the third of January. Here's what I had to say about this giant's passing:
"Will Eisner probably understood sequential storytelling better than anyone else alive. His absence in our world will be sorely noticed.The first thing I did this morning, after the shock had worn off over his passing, was to draw. I don't think there's any way to better honor his memory than to make sure that the medium he so actively advocated will continue to thrive and prosper.
This one, and all of them to come, are all in part for you, Mr. Eisner."
I switched to Firefox on the seventh. Best thing I ever did for my computer.
I got to my 100th panel on 22, Three Sixty Five. Man, that shit made no sense at all. But, doing a daily panel did wonders for my work ethic.
I started coloring with my Wacom tablet. Here was my first attempt:
I think I've improved a little bit since then.
I added three marbles for what I felt needed to be adjusted on the original plan.
This was what was, at the time, my best piece. Man, I have learned so much since doing this thing:
Finally, my run-down on January:
Exercise 3 Green MarblesGot treadmill moved into apartment
Started realistic weekly regime
One month downDay Job 1 Black Marble
Stayed out of the bullshit office politics
Finance 3 Blue Marbles
Made a list of expenses and income
Made a plan for decreasing expenses
Stayed to the planComix 7 Red Marbles
Started worksite for Black Chamber
Stayed on task all month
Worked on Black Chamber
Completed four pages of 'Bad'
Complete month of '22, Three Sixty Five'Personal 3 Silver Marbles
Did chores around apartment
Two pleasant surprises
ADJUSTMENTS:Added 3 red marbles to better represent the work needed done for Black Chamber
Added 48 green marbles, as I have found that a week's goal for the workout regime works better than a monthSETBACKS:
Screwed up on not opening the savings account. I should rectify that in the next week.
Becoming CCN prez is not on the agenda anymore
The Tsunami relief anthologies appear to be a figment of my hopes and aspirationsI think the CCN, as it currently stands, is a dead horse getting beaten like one of Hillary Swank's opponents in Million Dollar Baby. It's unfortunate, but there's good things on the horizon.
A very strong start, I think.
Posted by Schamberger at 06:39 AM
Year In Review: Introduction
Heh. Should've started this on Monday. Ah, well.
Last year, around this time, I felt myself at a real nexus point. There were a lot of things that I wanted to do with my life: Improve my skills as an artist, improve my physical fitness, increase my circle of friends, stabilize my finances, and keep my day job. I found I was at a crossroads. I could just keep going on as I had been, more like a piece of driftwood floating down the river, or I could become proactive, and force myself to attain these goals.
So, I listed out everything that I wanted to do, categorized, and created my now infamous Marble Plan. I also had a blog going, which really makes it super easy to look back at what I did over the last year, and hopefully make sense of it.
And, since I'm the media darling that I am, I'm going to do it all here in public, for y'all's entertainment.
Posted by Schamberger at 06:30 AM
December 07, 2005
Looking Ahead, Looking Back
Last year, I played along with a meme, and figured I'd do the same one again this year:
01. What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before?
Wrote and drew a comic for a major metropolitan newspaper.
Built my own website from scratch.
Broke up with a girlfriend I'd been with for three years.
Toured a brewery.
Broke a 25 year bad habit of not exercising and eating crap.
Got my dad to say he was proud of me.
Grossed half a million dollars for my dayjob. Personally.
Drew over two hundred pages of comix art.
Saved my cat's life, after almost killing her.
Had someone tell me they're intimidated by me because of my intelligence.
Turned a quarter of a century old.
02. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more?
Almost all of them were kept, or exceeded, or kept in ways I hadn't planned on. I'll have an exact list of what wasn't kept at the end of the month (Not Through Yet!).
Yeah, I've made my list for next year. 440 things to get done.
03. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope.
04. Did anyone close to you die?
Carol Moore, mother of my best friend for twenty years, Brandon Moore. She was my second mother, really. I was very fond of her, and am blessed to bear memories of her with me for the rest of my life.
05. What countries did you visit?
The US of A.
06. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
Love. (Yes, mom, I know you love me. Listen to what I mean, not what I say...)
A finished, printed copy of The Black Chamber.
Balanced finances.
A weight of 200 pounds.
07. What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
February 18th. "Rob, I'm moving into my dad's house."
08. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Damn, it's really hard to narrow it down to just one thing. My biggest achievement? The whole year was dedicated to making my life better in every way, and I can honestly say that I accomplished that.
09. What was your biggest failure?
Well, the obvious answer is "Breaking up with a girlfriend of three years." But, honestly, by the time it was over, it was time for it to be over. In the bigger picture of the rest of my life, I'd say not focusing more on my finances.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not in any way worth mentioning. After the brewery tour I puked on my bathroom floor. That's about it.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Little Nemo In Slumberland: So Many Splendid Sundays! is the best graphic novel.
North Mississippi Allstars: Hill Country Review is the best CD.
The Man Who Fell To Earth was the best novel/DVD.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
My cat Monkey. She's my very best friend. Always there for me, always keeping it real for me.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
My own. The brightest light casts the darkest shadow.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent.
Comic books.
Utilities.
Payment towards my debt to my mom.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Drawing. Exercise.
16. What song will always remind you of 2005?
Conversation Piece by David Bowie, from the special edition of 'Heathen'
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder?
Happier. By far.
ii. thinner or fatter?
Quite thinner.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Being mindful of my money.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Living with Chris for five months. Worst decision made for the whole year. But, unfortunately, a decision that was the best of the options available at the time.
20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Beats me. Probably eating with my folks.
22. Did you fall in love in 2005?
Fell out.
23. How many one-night stands?
Three.
24. What was your favourite TV program?
Monday Night Raw on equal basis with CBS' Sunday Morning
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't hate. That's a weak emotion.
26. What was the best book you read?
Novel? The Man Who Fell To Earth by Walter Tevis
Comic? Let me think on this one. I feel it deserves its own post.
27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
North Mississippi Allstars
28. What did you want and get?
A published comic.
29. What was your favourite film of this year?
That came out this year? Jarhead
That I saw this year? The Man Who Fell To Earth
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
25. First went to the dayjob, where they treated me very well and warmly, which I hadn't experienced on a birthday at a dayjob in a long, long time. Mission Bank days, really. Then had dinner with my folks. I believe I had fried mushrooms and onion rings, washed down with a nice Boulevard Wheat. After that, Jason and Sarah Preu hosted a mini-party for me at the River Market Brewery, where good friend Mike Sullivan also showed up. We had a lot of fun, and drunkenly sang karaoke. I did "Folsom Prison Blues", "Desperado", and a horrendous dryraping of "Modern Love". Best birthday since my 21st.
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
That's a 'gift horse in the mouth' question. I had the best year of my life, hands down, and I did it through my own dedication, perseverence, and ingenuity. Or, to quote the immortal bard Kurt Angle, "Intensity, Integrity, and Intelligence."
There are certain actions that I wish I could have redone. Certain people whose hearts I broke. Certain words that I either would have added or taken back. But, really, those are the same things that we all have to deal with all of the time. Those bad things we've done, that for some reason we have to do, so that we can learn from them.
I guess the biggest thing was seeing my good friend Chris deteriorate into a place that I had to give up on him. He stared into that abyss for far too long, and ultimately, there was nothing I could do for him, and had to cut him out of my life before I got sucked into it.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
Buying smaller sizes, bay-bee.
34. What kept you sane?
Comic books.
Monkey.
Mom's words of wisdom.
35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
David Bowie.
36. What political issue stirred you the most?
The fact that all politicians lie. I can't get past that.
37. Who did you miss?
Nichole, Chris, Carol, Thom
38. Who was the best new person you met?
Dale Morton
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005.
The only thing holding you back is you. This is no lie. You are capable of doing anything and everything that you want, but you have to, you know, do it. This is YOUR LIFE, and yours to do with as you wish.
I went from being a sub-par artist to having editors soliciting work from me, from being fat and lazy to in-shape and active, from miserable to excited, from a rut to an open highway, from angry to even-tempered, from taken advantage of to admired.
As much as I talk about myself, I really don't like tooting my own horn. But, really, if what I accomplished over this last year inspires even one person to do the same for themselves, then it's worth it.
Go out there! Seize your life and mold it into your dreams and desires! Show ME how it's done!
Posted by Schamberger at 08:39 PM
December 05, 2005
Reinventing Rob - 2005's Art In Review
There were two things that were my biggest focus for this year: My health and my art. I really do honestly feel that my art grew by leaps and bounds over the course of this year, as I'd like to illustrate for y'all here. I'm picking out a few highlights from each month. This is a big-ass post, folks, so give 'er time:
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
-whew- Guess I was pretty active over this year, huh?
Posted by Schamberger at 12:13 PM
November 27, 2005
Reinventing Rob - November In Review
Homeward stretch, folks!
Exercise - 6 Green Marbles
I believe that I am now in the best shape of my life. I was telling my buddy Gary the other day how I had a muscle aching that I'd never even knew I'd had. I work out six days a week, doing high rep/ low weight excercises, and it's done wonders for my body. People that haven't seen me in a while always comment on it, which feels so great.
Day Job - 1 Black Marble
Both of my employees are just fantastic to work with. We've got a great relationship, get a ton of work done, and make it look easy. My week's vacation really helped to reinvigorate me, too. I'm lucky right now, having a day job that I actually enjoy.
Finance - 1 Blue Marble
Nothing exciting here. I'm not broke!
Comix - 6 Red Marbles
I really feel that my art's grown by leaps and bounds even in the last month. I'm having a lot of fun inking right now. Here's a piece I did last night just for fun:
Personal - 6 or 7 Silver Marbles
I read Greg Rucka's 'Private Wars' and will finish Capote's 'In Cold Blood' today. I had several pleasant surprises, as well. I forget how many, but last weekend was full of them.
So, one month to go! It's obvious that there's going to be a few marbles not moved, and I'm cool with that. I've accomplished SO much more, and I've really improved my life in so many positive ways. I'm really debating on if I'm going to keep up with this program next year. I like what it's done for me, so now I need to just sit down and figure out what it is next year that I want to get done.
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For those of you who don't know what the hell all of this is about, I refer you here.
Posted by Schamberger at 09:43 AM