New journal comics over at These Sweet Memories

So, the last update here on MyLifeComics was a comic about getting married in two months. And here’s an update to that, some two three months later. I got married! Look, here’s proof:

Mmm…cake.

Anyways, I never got to announce the true end of MyLifeComics, but yeah…it’s over.Sorry, kids. I’m rebranding my journal comics over at These Sweet Memories. If you were a fan of what I did here, please continue to follow the adventures of my sometimes boring, sometimes not-so-boring life over there. And tell everybody you know; it’s hard starting out fresh all over again. Link, link, link is as follows:

http://thesesweetmemories.wordpress.com/

Paul, out!

Getting married in two months and there’s lots to do

There’s more thingies that could be added here, but…uh, I ran out of paper.

Two months left to live in the bachelorhood (see, that’s funny cause it’s almost sounds like living in the neighborhood), but really all that means to me is two months left until Tara time. It’s going to go fast and slow and crazy wild. Wish us luck!

Leave what you know now
Put those feelings underground
Fill your heart with strange new sound
– “Adventure Guide” by Lima (from BROTHERSISTER)

Forever LOST

I have now watched the LOST series finale twice, and I have to say that, overall, I am satisfied with its ending. But only because I am adding my own ending details to it. Spoilers ahead, but I’m sure you all knew that anyway.

See, I get what they did. They pulled the rug out from under us one last time, showing us an alternate universe for an entire season that was not so much alternate as it was imaginary. They are dead. They all died. It was going to happen anyway, given time and all, and we’re given a glimpse of them all finally coming together, one last hurrah, to move on elsewhere. It’s emotionally satisfying in that love and peace and friendship is what they wanted most, and they found that on the island, together, each in their own way.

My theory is simple. Jacob, as protector of the island, had powers. He gave Richard immortality, he traveled off the island to touch each of his candidates, thus ensuring their safety until Oceanic 815 crashed. Jacob’s mother also had powers. And if Jack had lasted a bit longer, I’m sure he would’ve discovered some too. This brings me to Hurley. He was told to do what he has always done: take care of people. And Hurley is no Jacob, with Ben passing along the idea that maybe there’s a different way to run things. So my idea is this, and this is why I’m okay with everything; Hurley used his powers as the island’s protector to give all his friends this shared sub-conscious world to live in after death before moving on.

Did I want more plot answers than people answers? Sure. What was up with the Dharma Initiative, and why were they so interested in kidnapping children? Why were some people in the church and not others? Penny was there, but she wasn’t an Oceanic crasher. So why wasn’t Miles and Lepidus there, or Faraday and Charlotte? How did Kate’s horse get on the island if the Smoke Monster could only take the form of the locally dead? Were the numbers really cursed or just ironic and things to be caught by hardcore viewers? Was the sickness real or just Smokey infecting people’s minds?

I could go on…

But it’s over. There’s no more chances, no more hints. It is going to be weird tonight to not watch a new episode, to not get a wee bit closer to unraveling one of TV’s greatest mysteries. Sigh.

But thanks for everything, LOST. I’ll see you in another life.

Good Morning, DMV

Obviously, DMV stands for demons missing voices.

The only things she said to me during the entire process were as follows: “Forty-three!” and “Wait over there!”

But all in all, despite everyone working there professionally scowling and not saying many words, it wasn’t too bad. I got my driver’s license renewed and updated the photo since the previous one was from eight years ago. In the new pic, my chin is much bigger. Oh well. Won’t have to go back for four years, and when I do…I think I’ll save my warm greetings for someone who deserves it.

This probably won’t work out
We might not live forever
While there’s nothing to confess
Please pay attention
– “New Hampshire” by Matt Pond PA

New York City

True story.

So yeah, this weekend was all bout NYC. First, I accompanied Tara to Drink and Draw Like a Lady…at least until the event started. Then I had to go find a way to occupy myself safely for a couple hours. I mostly sat on a bench and people-watched, but I also drank a lot of coffee at a small-yet-cozy diner.

Then the next day we returned to the city to hit up MoCCA. What a totally fun and rockin’ con! Definitely more up my alley than big boy Comic-Con ever was. Lots of zines and indies artists and just an overwhelming sense of art love. Got to see and meet a whole slew of great comic artists such as Pranas T. Naujokaitis, Box Brown, Hope Larson, Raina Telgemeier, Lucy Knisley, and plenty more! Got plenty to read, for sure.

For a more accurate account of the day, check out Tara‘s journal comic: http://gingercurls.wordpress.com/2010/04/11/mocca-2010/

Now you know that you are real
Show your friends that you and me
Belong to the same world
Turned on to the same word
– “Have You Heard” by The Moody Blues

Quiznos Closing

To say I was shocked to see that my local Quiznos is closing puts it mildly. First, some perspective. I moved into the area at the tail end of 2005 and for the first few months there were only a handful of sandwich shop options, most of which were very inconvenient to get to or get out of (hello, Route 46). Then a few months later, a Quiznos opened in the small shopping center where I hit up the videogame store, the Dollar Tree, and the liquor shop. It was perfect, right on the way home from work. And so I went to them and ate a lot of sandwichs and drew a bunch of comics about my adventures there. Let’s take a stroll down Memory Lane…

• Eating a sandwich right next to the employee that made it was a bit awkward, but I got over it. Also, I forgot to color the wheat bread in the second panel. Whoops!
• I was once informed I had the chance to win a million bucks; it never happened.
• On this day, I discovered exactly how much of a loser I was and just how often I came into this Quiznos.
• Yet I kept coming back.
• And it’s good I did because I got to witness a teenager getting fired. Always a fun time!
• But nothing beats hearing Regina Spektor over the radio and getting lost in the moment.
• And, of course, we can’t forget the most recent event where a girl threatened to kill herself if she had to make one more tuna sandwich (spoiler: she didn’t).

Whew. I’m sure there’s other comics I’ve missed, but I don’t have time to go back through the archives. Let me know if I missed any good ones.

In closing, I am sad. Whatever sandwich shop becomes my new home will always remind me of that Seinfeld episode where George had to eat at Reggie’s diner instead of Monk’s Cafe. Sigh.

Local Quiznos, you have graced my life more than you will ever know. Thanks for everything!

Crazy how it feels tonight
Crazy how you make it all all right, love
You crush me with the things you do
I do for you anything too
Sitting, smoking, feeling high
In this moment it feels so right
– “Crush” by Dave Matthews Band

Wedding Registry Love

Seriously, people. I mean, look at this thing and just fall in love:

It’s screaming at me, “FILL ME WITH BOOKS! PUH-LEASE! I’M SO EMPTY, SO LONELY…SO COLD INSIDE!”

Also, registering for gifts is an odd beast. Maybe I’ll say more on that later. The above is our biggest item (size- and dollar-wise) and we fully expect no one to get it, which is fine and all. But booklovers can dream though, right?

I want you to want me
I need you to need me
I’d love you to love me
I’m begging you to beg me
– “I Want You To Want Me” by Cheap Trick

French Toast is Everyone’s Favorite Drink

For some reason, I really struggled with this one. It’s definitely more of an in-joke sort of journal comic, and even then, conveying what was so funny/adorable about this diner moment was hard. That third panel got redrawn a few times. At one point, there were laughing, floating heads. Yeah, I dunno.

But I drew it. It is done.

Next on the list? Wedding registry comic. Oh boyyy…

Well, the rain exploded with a mighty crash
As we fell into the sun
And the first one said to the second one there
“I hope you’re having fun”
– “Band on the Run” by Paul McCartney and the Wings

Kill Yourself Over Tuna

Attention! Attention! All sandwich shops! You’re going to want to stock up on tuna for the next several Fridays until Lent is over. It is going to be a popular item. That is all.

Also, I walked by the Quiznos today and saw the same girl working so I guess she didn’t end it after all. The weight upon my soul has lifted…

So here I am above palm trees
So straight and tall
You are smaller, getting smaller
But I still see you
– “Goodbye Sky Harbor” by Jimmy Eat World

Pre-Cana Marriage Classes and the Awkward Questions

For those that don’t know (and that’s probably many considering the whopping two paragraphs on Wikipedia), Pre-Cana is a number of courses that allow a couple to get married in the Catholic church. Sometimes the classes can stretch over three weekends, but Tara and I knocked it out in one big gulp last Saturday. It was…all right. A little awkward at times (see above), and my biggest gripe with the whole deal was that the instructors already assumed you and your future spouse fought and had many deep, problematic issues to work out from the get-go. That’s not the case with Tara and I. I’m peanut butter, she’s chocolate; we complement each other greatly, and nothing can stop us. But then when you tell them this, it’s still something negative because it’s not good to not fight ever…or some silliness like that. To each his own, I guess.

But yeah, we survived eight hours of Pre-Cana and even got to have mass in the chapel we’re getting married in. It was nice. My head didn’t explode there.

I believe in you even through the tears and the laughter
I believe in you even though we be apart
I believe in you even on the morning after
– “I Believe In You” by Bob Dylan