Friends of mine

Yesterday was Kati's birthday, and as she's a new friend, I went out with her and Frown to celebrate... well as much as I could celebrate anyways, seeing as I had to update the comic today, so it was an early night for me. But still, it was fun for a bit, got to play pool, and she was one of the few to get a free issue of BadBlood #1. I'm such a sucker XD

So this brings up the topic of friends. I've had few over the years, and none from my past have withstood the test of time. Not that it makes me sad, nor am I heartless about it. It's just that we've always gone our seperate ways after a while.... though it seems I'm usually the one to move on first, and usually through a change of pace, setting, or city.

Like my buddies from the teen years, Jeremy and Carmen.



We were inseperable, as in this pic (shortly after I first had to get the dreaded glasses, 1988 or so) at a birthday party for one of Carmen's relatives where we were forced to sit and eat cake before running out to do whatever it was we had been planning before we'd been interrupted (usually music shopping).

I had meet Carmen in my pre-teens while out bike riding around the neighborhood. She was also bike riding, and she just stopped and asked my my name... which usually ends in an akward silence as they try and figure it out, but she just blurted out her name in return and asked if I wanted to be friends. What a shocker. Turns out she lived right down the street. And she also liked horses. I'd already been an avid collector of Breyer Model Horses and she had one already also... so then began the 'arms race' if you will to see who could get the most horses. It ended disaterously when she took and hid one of my first and finest, and for a few years I couldn't even talk to her.

In 1987 though I ran into her at a Duran Duran concert and we once again struck up a friendship that lasted pretty much until I moved to Seattle.

As for Jeremey he and I had one of those strange friendships that started out because we were both picked on and bullied at school, that is, until we both found someone on which to pass the buck. Being a school bully is not something I'm proud of... and it did have negative consequences for the kid who was our primary target... or, at least as I eventually heard... ...but anyways, after I left school I kept in touch with Jeremy via phone, and eventually once he got his license to drive he'd visit all the time with his other friend Brian. Those three became the core group of friends for the rest of my stay in Sacramento. We'll be seeing more photos with them as we go along. Aren't you excited? XD

~Liriel

TV is scary

Would you believe I went down to a bar to watch the Season premiere of Family Guy? It was nice though, while everyone was gathered around the bar watching the Seattle Sonics win over the Sacramento Kings (I grew up in Sac, how's that for ironic?) we were in the back room gathered around the big screen TV, drinking beer, smoking, and watching The Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad. I must admit it's the first time I've watched FG and AD... ever... which says more about my lack of free time then anything else... but really it came as quite a shock and now I'm realizing how woefully out of touch I am with TV. But maybe that's a good thing.

Anyways, worked on sketching the next page today, and penciled all but the last two panels... on which I'm stuck... again. I grow weary of not having confidence in my script, as that's what I've been fighting with for months now. This is turning out to be a very difficult chapter. However, I just keep going, because the real prize is at the end ^_^

Pic of the day:



Ah yes, Sweet 16... this pic is from my 16th birthday, where I spent time with Ena, my grandmother, who was increasingly slipping away due to dementia. Grandfather had already passed on in 1979, and I hardly remember him. But Ena was a cool lady, she lived through the Great Depression and was always full of stories about childhood survival in Missouri, or when she worked as a Rosie the Riveter on airplanes during WWII after moving West with her husband. She taught me a lot about determination, being practical, and scraping by with next to nothing. A great lady, and I'm glad I got to know her before she too expired a few years later.

~Liriel

Battles for the homefront

Well the Axis and Allies game went well, if for 8+ hours, and even if I didn't win (Travis playing Germany did... as usual =_=), I, playing the U. S., did put up one hell of a fight for Japan and pretty much kept it supressed until the very last moment when Germany stormed Washington D.C. and the game ended. It really was lots of fun though, and we've already decided who's gonna play what the next time; I get Japan, which should be interesting and means I need to do some research. But that shouldn't be for months yet. After the game we scooted down to TCP to chill with beer for a bit, unwind, discuss plans.

This is where I discovered a bit of drama having to do with TCP, Travis, his ex-girlfriend and Katie who I had played pool with there last Saturday.

Travis' ex-girlfriend, we'll call her Kia, since that's how her name is pronounced but not spelled, has been not getting over Travis very well, hanging out at TCP (because that's his watering hole), and generally pestering Travis. Well appearently Kia meet up with these two Tattoo artists that have been also coming around there lately (the skinny one's name is Dave and the other one is inconsequential). In some kind of spur of the moment thing Kia went home with Tattoo Dave and did the nasty.

Like who cares, right?

However, before I knew all that, I had been at TCP last weekend with Frown and Katie playing pool until way late. Towards the end of the evening this Tattoo Dave guy comes over and starts talking to Katie. I kinda just stood back and figured Katie could take care of herself, and I honestly don't know what was said or anything, but I could tell what he was after; Katie is attractive. So I don't know if she exchanged numbers or just brushed him off -- eventually he went away and we all left (as the bar was closing and it was laaaate).

So back to the Kia thing... I guess Tattoo Dave was sitting at the bar on Friday night, Travis a few stools down, and Tattoo Dave was dissing on Kia. I'm not exactly sure what was said, but it was enough to get Travis riled up -- a fight almost broke out when Travis' buddies wanted to shut Tattoo Dave up, but Travis wasn't having any of it (last thing he wanted was to get 86'ed from his home away from home). Travis, deciding to be the nice guy (because well, he is), later called Kia to warn her what this Tattoo Dave guy was all about. She didn't take that well, and the night ended with her outside his house screaming at it about how she didn't need Travis to look out for her... really just psycho. The funniest thing though about all this was listening to Travis' mom threatening to go down to TCP and chew Kia out. That would have been hilarious as she has that quality of mother-voice that can not be ignored -- the whole bar would have been humiliated.

Tattoo Dave and his buddy were there last night, playing pool, which kind of made me tense, waiting for something to be said to Travis, or waiting for Kia to show up.... geh, though by my third beer I was done worrying about it -- what will be, will be.

Really though I just hope that Katie brushed that punk off, because he's obviously just out to keep a running score on how many women he can do in a month, or whatever. Probably running around with seven kinds of STDs too. It kind of saddens me though that TCP has been tainted by these kind of people.

At any rate... before heaing home, we made tenative plans to do an Exaulted session next Saturday, which means I need to get my character history together or something @_@

And now -- onto the photo of the day~! :D

Fashion Experiment Gone Wrong of 1986:



Being as I was outside of the school social scene I was free to experiment with my idenity, do all kinds of stuff with how I looked, and play around with what I wanted to do with my skill set. At this point I was doing a lot of realistic sketch work based on pin-ups, writing fantasy-fiction, playing keyboards, and generally enjoying the time period that most teenagers are in rebellion and lost.

Not to say I wasn't also in rebellion and wandering, but I had the support of my mother, and it made the whole thing safer -- in other words I didn't fall in with the wrong crowd, or end up doing things that I regret; like drugs, sex, and/or violence.... I've always said that if I hadn't had this luxury I would have turned out a barefoot pregnant druggie by 15.

~Liriel