So, Anime North is finished for another year. It was a good weekend all in all.

My panels seemed to go well from what I saw, except for one that I didn’t get to be in due to being mistakenly double-booked. Another panel I was on was scheduled against Anime Hell, which is one of the main reasons why I go to the convention in the first place. So I was very unhappy about that since I specifically asked for that not to happen.. But, apart from all of that, it was a good time. Got to see some friends and talk to new people. I quite enjoyed speaking on the How to Draw Manga Workshop, since I haven’t been able to get into that sort of thing with my teaching in a long time.

I saw a screening of a movie called “The Girl Who Leapt Through Time” and it was an amazing film. Everyone should see it, whether you like anime or not. It’s a about a girl who, strangely enough, has the ability to leap through time, as if the title wasn’t enough of a give away. It’s a very well done, entertaining film. What’s really funny, though, is that while watching it, the DVD somehow glitched and skipped backward to an earlier part of the film. It took awhile before the audience realized what had actually happened. The movie itself had leapt through time! That’s meta. That’s way meta.

I bought the 3 hardcover volumes of Tezuka’s Black Jack manga. So glad to have found those. I was afraid I had missed out.

It’s a good thing that I don’t write convention reports any more because I only took one major picture.

Pretty awesome! I wonder if I know any of them.

Anyway, there you have it. Anime North. It’s pretty good.

I have been quite busy, but after next week things should slow down a little bit.

Sayonara.

So, here’s what’s been going on.

I have a new teaching job. It’s through an art studio for kids situated in Toronto. They have been wanting me to come in and work for them for quite some time, but nothing has worked out except for one special appearance during March Break. I was told that I would once again not be able to teach for them for their spring session, but then at the last moment a class they run for a private school near the studio had filled up and they wanted me to teach it. I had actually finished working on the TFCon comic the night before and had just woken up after a much needed nap when I got the news. It was supposed to start on that day, but by the time I found out, there was no way I could make it on time. So I started the following week and it’s been going fairly well despite the disorganized start. The kids run a wider range of ages than I like to have at once, and there are a few really young ones. It’s not ideal in that respect but it’s worked out fine thus far.

My other teaching job is winding down this month. It’s been tough. I’ve dealt with some challenging students with some bewildering quirks. I’ve had my patience tested quite a bit this year, so much so that I’ve come to question how much I want to do this. I’ll probably always be teaching in some form or another, but I don’t want that to be the only thing I do. I liked it much better during the days when I’d be getting serious students who are interested in the material. I felt like I could really build something and give them some more interesting, advanced lessons. Alas, those days are gone, in favor of teaching little kids watered down “cartooning” lessons. And when the kids who aren’t quite so little start mouthing off instead of taking advantage of the opportunity they have to draw, well, there’s only so much a guy can take. So, basically, after a string of particularly stressful lessons, my eyes were opened. As much as I like teaching, I figured that I didn’t want to be in a position where I absolutely had to take a teaching job because I had nothing else to do.

So, I started looking into possibly going to school again next year. I didn’t really have the best of experiences last time I was at school, and I hurt my wrist in the process, but times change and maybe there’s something else out there. However, it hasn’t been easy to find. My situation is a little different than the typical student looking to get into college. I looked into one school that has a comic book illustration program, and I have signed up to a summer weekend workshop, I just didn’t think things would work out for me in a full time program there. I’ve also looked into a 1 year digital arts program at another school that looked quite appealing. I had a portfolio review there this week and the results were somewhat surprising. The teacher looked at my stuff and said that there would be no problem letting me into the school, but that my work was quite advanced based on what he usually sees and so I might not like it there or get much out of it. Didn’t expect to hear that!

So, not really sure what to do right now. It was recommended to me at the portfolio review that I should be getting my stuff out there, and possibly submitting to Marvel. But, I look at my work and compare it to what I feel is professional, publishable caliber and I think I still have a few pieces missing from the puzzle. Maybe there’s nothing else I can do but keep moving ahead as best I can until the pieces fit. And I’m sure they will fit someday, no matter what. There is always more to learn. I guess the real question is, where do I fit? Judging by the past 28 years of my life, maybe nowhere. I’ll have to create my own place in the world for me to belong. It is not in my destiny to fit in a be gear within a pre-existing machine.

And that’s fine by me. I’m a ninja. I forge my own destiny.

Sayonara.

Who is this? I do not know. So I call him Garage Door Opener Man.

How do I have his picture, you may ask? Interesting story. Gather ’round and I shall tell you a tale.

I just bought an 8 gig Micro-SD card. the device I need it for uses Mini-SD, which is harder to find, not as commonly used, and a little more expensive than Micro-SD. I figured I’d just get a Micro-SD and a Mini-SD adapter. I went to an electronics store to find a suitable adapter, but they did not have one on its own. They did have a package that included a 2 gig Micro-SD card and several adapters, and it just so happened to be on sale. The clerk I spoke to said that if I wanted to buy one that has been opened and returned, he’d give me a further discount. So, thinking that having an extra Micro-SD card handy wouldn’t be such a bad thing, I took the offer. When I got home, I plugged the card in to see if anything was on it, and along with a bunch of pictures of houses, I find this guy. Whoever bought the card before me did not erase it before returning it.

Somehow I knew something like this was going to happen, but I was hoping for something at least a little bit more exciting. Though, if it was something more exciting, I’d probably keep it to myself instead of posting it here.

And so now, Garage Door Opener Man shall become a legend throughout the Internet. Feel free to take this image and desecrate it however you see fit.

I hope you’ve all learned a lesson from this.

Sayonara.