frown

No. I didn't make this one. I just took a picture of her and made her frown. It is my desktop background to remind me how sad she is about my blog. I try to imagine she would be sad if I didn't doodle. But alas...

old to new

Yup. This new blog design is sad, but it is OK... I will someday grow to love it like I did my minimal black design.

Jared

I don't really like this one... But I started messing around with the skin color and I thought... Humf. This guy would have probably rather been somewhere else. Where? Jared's Galleria.

"jared's"

R.I.P.

Old Blog...

I want you back. This new blog makes me sad.

We had 8 long years together... Sigh.

dude

"hipster"

'nough said.

Books to Read

At home, on my nightstand to be precise, I have a huge stack of books to read… I laugh at the tower of terror every night as it looks back at my tired eyelids as they close in exhaustion after a long day’s work. Today, while teaching my class about allegory and literary allusions one of my kids started clicking and WAH LAH! He discovered a sequel to one of my faves! There goes another book on the list! At any rate, here is a list of some of the books I want to read/re-read this year:

There it is. I am pretty excited to read them, but I am pretty sure I need some weekends so I can dig into these books.

2012 Update...

Well... I have been enjoying my blog for the past month but I thought I'd take today to update you on my life.

(But based on my blog statistics from the past couple of months, it seems my pictures are more popular than anything--1,500 loads per month is saying something... whoever you are...)

At this point I am still working as a high school teacher (by day) and attempting to be a father, husband, college instructor, choir director and writer (by night). In addition to these ventures, I have also taken up a task to write a curriculum for a documentary (which is really a great film). Also on top of all this, I have been working to get my school WASC accredited and am currently working to write a chapter of the report with a small group of teachers.

But I have no complaints. I love all of the things I am doing and feel I am using my skills to help others and support the community.

With all this said, I have neglected to discuss my goals for 2012... SO here they are:

1. Read my Bible in chronological order
(I've always wanted to do this. I got a plan and have made it through Job and Genesis this month. It is interesting to think of it all happening in the proper order. At least to me.)

2. Get published
(Yup, I know I have very little control over the actual publication, but I really am working for it. I posted a little card at my desk at work that says "I will be published in 2012!" Not as a name-it-and-claim it thing, nor as a positive-thinking thing, more as a I will see this and remind myself that all authors have to work to get published. I am willing to put in the work. I may end up publishing something unexpected, but hey at least will get published... And no, this blog doesn't count.)

3. Plan a great trip.
(I realize we may not have the means nor the ability to go on a great trip, but we sure can plan one. I hope to go to Europe, Canada, or the East Coast. Any of the three sound good to me. My guess is summer will be the time to plan this trip, but I know I need to set it as a goal so I actually do it!)

There it is. Three goals. Three hopes. Three dreams. We'll see what will come of them.

My secret blog life...

"Urban Gent"

I admit it. I(periodically) follow a blog called The Urban Gentleman... I love the style and swag they have there. I can't afford anything from it, but it is great to think of urban style. So this is me paying homage to them...

Rushdie

Rushdie inspired this one and the previous post. I have been reading his book with my class and enjoying it (probably more than them).

As for this picture, it is a little sad if I do say so... Not the concept, the drawing. I'll work on these a little more.

gulp gulp gulp

"glumfish"

Yes, gray and white is what I decided this picture should be.

Weave

"Knowledge"

This is a group of circles that are somewhat unified. So there it is...

Design...

"Blovked"

A typo becomes a blessing.

Psalm 16:11

"Fighter 3"

There it is.

Bald.

"Plum Bum"

This is not Professor Plum... I am working on a series with the old Clue Characters, but the idea crept into my head whilst drawing this character. He is odd. But so am I.



Here is the p

Ears...

"Elfin"

This girl is very elfin. And I need to remember not to have my characters always looking at me. Maybe this is an external manifestation of my egocentricity? Eh. It probably is just me being lazy with form.

1000 POSTS!

Happy 1000th to my blog! We've been through a lot together... Ups and downs, forgetful times and times of remembrance. Alas, I love this little place on the WWW that I can call my own. Today I'll post a picture in honor of my Bling Blang Blog's 1000th. Here's to the Blogosphere and my little corner.

Play us a song Piano Man...

"Carl 2042"

This post is dedicated to Carl Swenson, who I imagine to turn into a country bumpkin (in the nicest was possible) when he is in his forties or fifties. Not sure why he came into my head, but there you are. Enjoy Carl!

Cheese and Toads...

"Toady Toast and Cheese"

This woman is called "Toad Lady" she is rather toad like, and because of that I thought she'd like cheese. Not sure why, but that's just who she is. Embrace it.

Worlds of Grey

"Emo in Blue"

I teach a few Emo-Kids. They are an interesting bunch and delightful people. This picture was inspired by Pinocchio and Emos everywhere. Enjoy--or should I say be elusive and dark.

3

"Grrr Meow Kiss"

Sorry for the odd quality here.

I have nothing to say about this one. It was a poor attempt... This was my second or third drawing I did on El Bamboo.

Manna

"Manna"

I don't know why this one is called Manna, but it is. I feel like this guy is the awkward guy at the 1986 party in Brooklyn.


Poor soul...

The End, Quatro

And now we have a senior citizen on our hands. He has aged, wrinkled, and been grayed. Poor soul. He still looks good. But I'd say he's over 70 now (sorry Mum and Dad)...

Fighter Verse

Ah! This one was so long... Alas, I did my best.

"Fighter 2"

Three...

This is when he is pushing forty or so... He doesn't have any wrinkles but he is starting to show the tell-tale signs (is that the right idiom?) of aging.

Sigh...

Part Du...

Here, he has hit puberty and possibly is in his 20s...

Uno...

So, I had this idea... I'll start with a basic kid and as the week goes on I'll age him. We'll see how it goes. Here he is as an eleven year old...

Riddle Me This...

Here is another villainous group of Baddies. Can you tell I'm watching Batman Cartoons on my time off?

Enjoy.

Trials...

Not the difficult ones... The ones where I try some things out. I am trying out this system with circles. I think it is like a modern stained glass window...

I started out with the idea of unity, but it went awry and it turned out to represent cliques more than anything... I hope this isn't symbolic for our now New Year...

Oddy

I think this guy is stuck between Mr. Potato Head.... Ronald McDonald... and The Cat in the Hat... Needless to say, I think this picture is just odd.

Doodle Madness

So our pastor has challenged our church to learn "Fighter Verses". So I thought I'd occasionally doodle these to memorize them. See if you can figure it out.

"Fighter 1"

I should have drawn feet standing on or next to the "Word" but I didn't... Still learning...

More eDoodles

You asked for them... Here is another one...

This one is called "Crazy Color"



Still learning...

eDoodles...

Welcome to the year 2012. The year Michael finally decides to jump into the modern day of doodling and doodle with an AMAZING tablet... Now for those of you who know me well, no, I didn't spend money. It was a Christmas gift. For those of you who don't know me well, what the heck are you doing reading this? At any rate, I hope you enjoy some less than fabulous eDoodles.

Batman Baddies...