Prayer Request

Here is a Health Update. A week after going back to work from my much needed bed rest, I was back in the hospital (the week before Christmas). Here is a picture of the PICC tube that they placed into my arm so I can wear an IV tube around for the next 14 day (only six now). Ever twenty four hours I have to flush one of the tubes with hepron and the other with saline solution (making sure not to inject myself with an air bubble and kill myself. Then I have to change out the IV bag and clip the blood side of the tubing so that the blood will not start flowing up it. They even provided me with a green clamp, just in case the unthinkable happens and I need to clamp off a tube to prevent bleeding to death. Sounds like fun, right?
Oh, the white thing around my arm is a cut off gym sock that I made to stick the loose tubing in. That way I can prevent having one of those bad boys nag onto a chair, or what not, and pulling anything loose. You feel me?
The doctors are doing their part and all I am asking is for prayer from the blogging community. I know what prayer can do and if you know like I know, than pray for me.
Thanks.

This Job Stinks

The next few days of post are going to be random as hell. There will be different styles of drawing and stuff like that there, but I will be saying stuff with each post, so it’s all good.
This is a strip from the very short lived comic, Cop Out. It tells the story of rookie officers and their trainers. This is actually a more refined drawing of the original characters. Tomorrow I will post one of the original comic that I did for the Police News (you can compare the two then).
Anyway, being in training sucks on any job, but it especially sucks as a Police Officer. You find out just how boring a day in the life of a police officer can be at points. Trust me; it is nothing like what you see in the movies and on television. Of course, sometimes it is hell-a-exciting, especially if you go out there and actually work. But if you don’t, than it can be eight hours of pure tedium.

Look What I Found

Looky, Looky, what I found. While I was keeping my little man I found the ending to my little comic strip skit regarding Quincy and the Birds and the Bees. I found it when I was looking for another damn book to read to my Nephew, while he was on the pot. I got so sick of reading the same book to him, over and over again (of course, he didn't seem to mine). Anyway, I also ran across variations of my cartoon, Cop Out. So, hold on to your horses, people. Because, although I have not found my motivation, I have found other comics to post for you viewing pleasure. See, my nephew is a God sent. Whew, the boy was wearing me out though.

A Joy To Be Around

While I am on bed rest I get to keep my little, two year old, Nephew for a few days. I know….Bed rest and keeping a two year old seems like a complete contradiction in terms, but it hasn’t been half bad. Actually, it’s been great! My little man is a pleasure to be around. He is so well mannered and full of joy. Oh, and he is so smart. I only wish I had more time to nurture those smarts. I love to see him imprint.
Being around children is nothing new for me. I have a very fertile family. I was changing diapers before I was ten years olds and babysitting as well. I’ve gotten to witness the way my little brother and sister grew up. I played a big part in them learning to walk, read, talk, learn, all the normal kid things. And of course I got to witness the same with my other nieces, nephews and cousins, but little man is different. Part of his learning process is to mimic. It is very cute, because none of the other kids in my family ever did it. If a word is new to him he will repeat it aloud, like he is forcing his brain to digest it. It’s so cute.
I had planned to use my time off to clean my house and find my motivation, but I must say that I am thoroughly enjoying spending this quality time with my little nephew. It is time I rarely get to exercise, working nights and weekends like I do. So, although I know he loves me (I see it in face whenever I come around), our bond is not as strong as I would like it to be. He doesn’t normally want to go with me, now that he is old enough to voice an opinion. And I tell his mom I will never make he go with me if he doesn’t want to (even though I know he will be find once we are one on one). I just think it is important to respect a child’s feelings; they do have them. Heck, I think the only reason he is hear now is because I went and got him while he was a sleep on Sunday. LOL.
Having my little Nephew just makes me realize how much I would love to have a child of my own running around, but it also makes me realize just how horrible I would be if I did have one. Not that I don’t think I would make an excellent father, it just that they take up all of your damn time (and I need to watch television!) I don’t want my children or my nephew to grow up to be a television junky, like myself. He likes to play, and get to read to him while he is on the potty. (By the way, to all you mothers out there. My nephew is having an extreme problem with constipation. He has since he was born. Never a constant bowel movement. I was the first to notice it and bring it to his mother’s attention. She says that she has taken him to the doctors and they say that there is not a problem, but you tell me what child does not have a bowel movement everyday, let alone in three. Trust me, when he was in diapers, it was a pleasure not to have to change to poopy diapers, but I still knew it was not normal. Nor is it health for him to have all that fecal matter stored up inside of him for so long. Any helpful hints out there? Annie? Nitty?) We gonna go get us some prunes today to eat. Yuck!)
Anyway, yesterday we went to the mall, saw Santa Claus, but I did not tell him that is who he is because we are not going to perpetuate that fantasy with him (not my choice, but I have to respect it), went to toy stores out the but, went to the pet shop, ate at McDonalds, took a nap (thank God), went to the movies (were the only two people in the Bee Movie, which was fine with us), went to Denny’s, came home and finally took our butts to sleep at a little past 11pm (and he fought it all the way).
Today, we are probably going to take uncle’s care back to the shop so they can fix the scratches they put into it, then we are going up to the college to take some pictures, then we are gonna go by us a bigger winter coat, because uncle thinks he jacket is too little for him. Then we are gonna go to the library and then maybe have dinner with Uncle Neil (if he comes by). Oh, and we are gonna go to Wal-Mart to buy us some more underwear; because right not we are running around commando style (uncle does not like doing the laundry). LOL.
Still no comics for you, but you can blame that face up there for it. Oh, and don't even ask about that Solid Gold Dancer top he is wearing in that picture. He was in some type of bootleg fashion show this past Satuday. LOL

Ho, Ho, Mom

Okay, People, since it is Christmas time I am going to share with you my very favorite Christmas joke. It is my favorite Christmas joke because I made it up myself. You are free to share it, just make sure you tell people where you got it from. This joke is copywrited, damnit!

It was the night before Christmas when Little Jimmy Thompson came bursting into his older brother Joe’s, bedroom.
“Joe! Joe!” Little Jimmy yells, out of breath. “I just saw mommy kissing Santa Claus under the mistletoe! Let’s go tell dad!
“Jimmy,” Joe says, “That’s not Santa. That is dad, dressed as Santa. You big dummy.”
“No, no,” Little Jimmy persist. “The guy mommy is kissing has a big white beard and mustache. Daddy doesn’t have a beard and mustache.”
“I know that, dummy.” Joe responds. “Of course daddy doesn’t have a white beard and mustache. That’s part of his costume, to make him look like Santa. Duh!”
Little Jimmy ponders this for a second and then says; “But, Joe, this guy was fat with a big fat belly, like a bowl full of jelly. Dad’s not fat.”
“I know dad’s not fat,” Joe says, obviously exasperated with is silly kid brother. “That’s just padding. Probably a pillow or something to make him look fat so he can look like Santa Claus. Now will you get out of here so I can finish playing my game?”
Satisfied with his big brother’s explanation of the events little Jimmy turns to leave his brother’s bedroom. As he is about to head out the door he turns and says; “But, Joe…Dad’s not white.”

HO. HO. HO. You know that’s funny. I love that joke and I made it up myself.

Medicated

Okay, I went to the doctor today. He told me that I have some type of inflammation of something or other, underneath my sternum. I don't remember what he called it, but it was something medical. Anyway, he loaded me up with all kinds of medication, which I hate. I hate taking medication! I will say that it is a load off my chest, no pun intended, that I didn't have to be hospitalized, because that is what I was visioning. I am going on bed rest, while I give the medicine a chance to work it's magic. I told the doctor that I was gonna wait a week to see him to see if the pain would go away on its own. Yeah, he didn't think that was such a good idea either. I know it was foolish of me. Pain is the body's way of saying, "I'm hurting, fool. Do something about it!"

Nitty and Fuzzy, thank you very much for showing concern. Maybe during the week I am laying around at home I will find my motivation to create. Take care.

The Painnnnnnn!

And the hits just keep right on coming. I am in pain, people. Real pain. Right in the center of my sternum, pain. I hurts. It hurts bad. Bad enough that instead of resting up for work right now I am laying here typing up this post. I don’t want to go to the doctor, so I am hoping that it will go away on its own. If it doesn’t, I guess I’m gonna have to suck it up and go anyway. I wish I knew what it was. It’s not my heart, I know that much….Oh, my God how it hurts. This is the kind of pain that makes me feel old as hell. I’m gonna give it a week and then if it doesn’t go away I guess I’ll go to the doctor. Pray for me, please. Ow!

Motivationally Constipated

I think it is so cute (and when I say cute, I means stupid) when people who have know me practically all my life ask me if I’m still drawing. I just wanna say, are you still breathing, because for me it is almost one of the same. Drawing is what I do. Okay, sure I have not actually drawn anything since I got back from New York. (Wow. Has it actually been that long?) I don’t know what my problem is to be honest with you. I wish I did. It’s not a lack of ideas, because I have those out the butt. No, literally out the butt. I mean just the other day I was at the Proctologist’s office and he was like; “What’s this?” And I was like, “Oh, that’s just a bunch of ideas I have.” And he was like, “Oh, well you might want to get to work on that.” And I was like, “Yeah, I know…” So, it’s not that I don’t have the ideas (hell, I even have a studio full of half finished works). And it’s not as if I don’t have the supplies. For some reason I am just missing the motivation. WHERE HAS MY MOTIVATION GONE?

Anyway, today we laid to rest my step-father’s mother, Mrs. Jessie. Everyone called her Mrs. Jessie. It was a term of endearment. Anyway, I was so off today, for some reason. Like I drove directly to the church because I actually forgot that the proper protocol is to meet at the house and ride in the funeral procession. Anyway, once I got there I sought out my mom and made sure I went down the isle with her so I could sit by her side. My mom is so cute. She started crying before the funeral even got started good. She reminds me of that lady on Good Times who would just started bawling every time a word was said during a funeral. And of course, this is the typical ghetto funeral for my family. How come the man in front of me, my aunt’s too young husband, wore a big ass Purple Suit? That crap was so freaking distracting. And then I look down and my cousin, who is wearing sandals, has press on nails on her toes. I didn’t even know they made press on nails for your toes. Oh, and they were orange to boot, which is okay, seeing as she was wearing an orange jump suit.
Then the thing that was really going to cause me to crack up (meaning laugh) was that they keep referring to the good pastor as; get this, Dr. Rev. “I won’t say the name”. No disrespect, but I still don’t remember when this man got his PHD. Heck, I didn’t even know he gotten past his undergraduate. Then, when we go to the burial ground, I make the fatal mistake of having my sister and her two daughter ride with me. My nieces are a mess. I love them to death. They talk about everyone, to the point that I have cracking up with laughter.
Anyway, I hate funeral. I don’t like to think about death. But I did tell my sister and nieces that when I die I want my tomb stone to read; “Bye-Bye, Bitches!” Is that inappropriate? I hope not, because my niece says that if nothing else she will make sure that she gets this done for me.
My family is a mess, but I love them unconditionally. And let me tell you, that ain’t the easiest thing in the world to do.

Thanks again for being patient with me. If I could find out what happened to my motivation I’d be all good. I know I don’t have writer’s block, if that’s what you guys are thinking. It’s just that I am motivationally constipated. I am going to make myself draw something, anything, because I do know if you don’t use your talent, God will take it away. I’ve seen it happen.

Nitty's Advise

Nitty-Gritty suggested that until I posted more comic that I should, at the very least, speak about what is going on in my world. Let me assure you that it is not writer’s block…I have plenty of ideas. I honestly don’t know what it is. I am too lazy to get up off my butt to find and post old comics with different characters. Hey, maybe that is a sign that I shouldn’t be doing this for a living. Oh, no….I rebuke that spirit.

I think it might be the fact that my mind is else where. I want to do so much that I have decided to stop doing anything at all. I have even stopped the illustration of my little Children’s book, and that was going really good too.

On a more positive note, I donated a peace of art work to the Black Police Association (even though I am not a member). I found out last week that someone paid four hundred dollars for the bad boy. Pretty cool, huh. Maybe I need to start making limited prints of my work and putting them up for sale (because I don’t believe in selling my work).

I'm Sorry

Okay, to all my faithful readers who keep coming to this site and not finding an update. To all of you who are thinking, “what’s up with this bastard. He lures us in, gets us interested in his character and then just pulls them away!” I am so very sorry. I have just been so swamped that I was not able to even look for some of my older comics to post. Please don’t give up on me. I promise that I will bring you new stuff as soon as possible. Love ya.

Pueblos

Remember Pueblos? I remember learning about Pueblos way back in Elementary School. Ah, Elementary School. Such a simple time. Things were all so....well, elementary, back then.
That's it. I really don't have much to say. LOL

Little Know Facts

Sometimes I am such a cynic. I honestly think some of the facts and stats that come from the people in the know are made up. People do research and write papers to fit their needs—sometimes anyway. I am constantly amazed how some things go from being bad for you one day to curing cancer the next. Honestly, you never know what to believe. Will taking an aspirin a day decrease your chances of having a heart attack or will it make you more susceptible to strokes? Are dark skin black people more violent than light skinned black people? Are their truly more black men in jail than white me and if so, how come you rarely see a brother in that show “Prison Break”? If you pull out, prior to ejaculation, will your cat really get pregnant? I don’t know what to believe anymore? So, I chose not to believe anything.

It just seems that if you have the word power and clout to get it put in print, you can spin anything into your favor. I take most of the so called facts I read with a grain of salt because you never know what is going on in the minds of the person pushing you their research. Is it for the greater good or is it just to sale books, make a name for themselves and keep the grant money rolling in? Of is it just plain and simple propaganda, use to promote racism, sexism and homophobia or hetrophobia (I think that exists too). What to believe. What to believe.

Case in point; did you know that nine out of ten readers of the @home blog tend to have a better, more satisfying, day? Six out of ten have better sex life (of course that number is increased, exponentially when the reader leaves a comment on the post). Hummmm….I might leave a comment my damn self.

I'm Back

I'm back! Did you miss me? No? Well, I missed all of you, my brothers and sisters of the blog. I had a wonderful time in New York, but I truly did miss all of you. No internet, no nothing. A great vacation but very happy to be back home. I am still in vacation mode but I promise to try to get you some new comics very soon. Love you.

Meet the Artist

You know how it is when you talk to someone on the phone and you develop an image of that person in your mind and you really wish you could put a face with the voice? No? Oh, well, anyway; I am off to New York for five days and will not be updating my blog during that time period. I am using today’s blog to formally introduce myself to you. This is me…Hope I don’t scare too many of you off.
I am also taking this time to thank all of you for checking me out, as well as commenting on my blog. As I have stated in the past, you good people keep me motivated to do this blog. It truly is my dream come true; to be able to enter into the home of strangers and make them smile. I may not have reached the hundreds of thousands that I wanted but I will take the cupful that I have. Below is the list of people who have been kind enough to leave comments thus letting me know that they have stopped by:
Whozhe, Brotha Buck, Fuzzy, Dayne Avery, Rodney, Opinionated Diva, Page Black, Ghost, Nitty-Gritty, Chameleon, M-Dubb, Soldier, Ann(ie), That Dude Right There, LoveMyselfFirst, Joe Chiappetta, Ming, Torrance Stephens bka All-Mi-T, William, Steve Schwartz, Son of a Bishop, So Fa Real, The Diva’s Thoughts, maddypappy1, Ailed Little Knight, lonely schnozz, dc speaks, Dusty McDust, Hallie Lama, Josh, and Josh Hoye. Thank you very much for your patronage.
If I have missed anyone I am truly sorry. I appreciate the silent as well as the vocal readers. Pray for me as I fly back and forth (because I have a mildly intense fear of flying and I don’t drink so I can’t take advantage of that courage in a bottle).

Ralph

This is it folks. The last comics featuring Quincy and Trina. I think I am going to show you something else, when I return from New York. I have stopped working on the illustrations on the little children's book I wrote and I still have not updated the scenes from @home. My new position as a supervisor is taking a toll on me, not that I bring my work home with me, but sometimes I am just so dang tired. Don't worry though, I will keep up my blog because of my few loyal readers that keep me pumped.

Just Some Samples

Just so you good people don't think I am all cartoons I thought I'd share a few of my oil paints. The first one is an incomplete picture titled, "We Are Killing Ourselves. I started it many years ago but it is still incomplete. It was my take on black responsibility. I love this painting because, in my mind, tells how although many blacks blame other people for their problems...we are the blame for our own down fall. (It's really more in debt than that, but.....)
The second is titled, African-American Gothic. My take on the famous American Gothic. I love this picture because it depicts my Mom and my deceased Step-father. His image is just how he looked the day before he died. Me and my step-father never got along and because of a comment he made about a pencil drawing I did of him when I was in the third grade I never drew another picture of him until this one.

Never Feed A Stray

It's true. If you feed a stray animal it will keep coming back for more. That is also true in relationships. If you wanna let og of a relationship you can't keep giving up the cookies, if you know what I mean. LOL

People Are Weird

Kids are so funny. Who gives about the five second rule? Kids will put just about anything in their mouth that appears edible. I actually know some grown ups with the same mentality, but that's a whole different subject.

The Expert

Don't you love how everyone is an expert on something, or better yet...thinks they are an expert on everything. We all have them in our lives. You say something to them and they know everything there is to know about it. I can't be very annoying. Oh how wonderful it is to put those people in their place every once and a while.

I Tat I Taw A Puddy Dat

More Quincy and Trina.

Remember the last post where I explained to you about all of the cartoon characters that live inside my head and the comic strips I’ve created with them? Well, I was looking for the one call Dillard, which was based on my life growing up, but low and behold I was not able to find it or any of the others. Don’t worry. I’m quite sure that they are around here somewhere; it’s just that I am cleaning my house-which means I won’t be able to find jack for a while.

Anyway, I bring to you the tell of the stray cat. I showed the first strip in this series in one of my previous intermission post. Enjoy.

Don't Tread On Us

Okay, here are my Army Brats, again. You might remember them from one of my intermissions. The thing about this picture is that I can remember the exact day that I drew it. This is unusual for me because I have absolutely no concept of time and can never remember when I finished a painting or drawing. The reason why I remember this drawing in particular is because I drew it on the exact day of the 9-11 attacks. I thought it was cute and a show of defiance again the terrorist. Anyway, I never finished the bad boy off.

Intermission (Cop Out) Again

Here are my main characters from my comic strip, Cop Out. When I originally came up with the concept of Cop Out, it was for our company newsletter, but I want rehash that. I enjoyed doing it so much that I improved the characters and decided that I would try to get it syndicated. Of course, like everything else I have done, it was rejected. I think my three rookies here, are cute. But what the hell do I know.

I went to a blog today titled, The People in My Head. I have so many people and characters in my head it is scary. I have Cop Out, @Home, Mom and Pop Inc, Totally SMU, Go Fish, Hero (who is the main character of the children's book I wrote and am currently trying to illustrate), Sibling Rivalry and Dillard. All of them are drawn different and the personalities of each character is unique to them. The only thing that all of the comics have in common, besides being created and drawn by me is that they have all be Friggin' rejected.

Okay, here is my dilemma. I had more comments on the comics that featured Quincy and Trina than any of the ones that I posted with the Family Jacobs. Now I don't know if I should post more of Quincy and Trina or Post some of my other comic and see what you think of them. Hummmm. @home is still on hold, until I find the time to upgrade those bad boys.

Thank you all for your readership. You uplift my spirit and that is from my heart. Thank you very much for reading. And thank you even more for voicing you comments. Even if you think something I do sucks, I would really like to hear it. I know they all can't be golden. (You can blame Opinionated Diva for the long winded posting. She's the one that said I had to write something with every posting,)

Chickening Out

I needed to start a whole new fable about where babies come from with this one. The Sporting Goods Store sounded about as good a place as any for new babies to come from. Pick you sport and we have a baby to match.

Parents, they are so funny. They have to power to mold and influence the minds of their kids for the good or the bad and some just let the opportunity get away. Speaking of kids, I got to spend the time with my little recently potty trained nephew and one of his Aunt's, my sister. We were over her house, watching Akeelah and the Bee, with my 19 year old niece. Manny, the 2 year old is running all over the house, talking a mile of minute (will you please shut up, Manny). Anyway, he went to pot, which is sitting in the corner of the room. While on the pot he takes off his pants, completely. Then, while he is sitting there he puts them back on, like the big boy he is (I love how smart my little nephew is). Anyway, how smart I think he is not withstanding, he somehow manages to put both of his legs into one leg of his pants....It was the funniest and cutest thing in the world (Damn if my camera was not in my car, but my sister got a picture of it on her cell phone though). This has absolutely nothing to do with this posting, I just love my little nephew and wanted felt like sharing.

More Facts of Life

If you think about it, how ludicrous does the truth about the birds in the bees sound? Eggs falling from tubes? Little tadpole like creatures that shoot out in the millions for the opportunity to enter and fertilize one such egg? That egg turning into a person that lives inside of the mother's belly for years, while surviving off nourishment it receives from a tube that connects it with it's mother, via the belly button? Wow. I'm glad my mom told me that babies came from the liquor store. Of course that might be why I'm a borderline alcoholic now.....Hummm........Nay, that's not it.

It's a Rule

Women are always making up their own rules. Stop listening to Oprah, Damn it!

The Facts of Life.

The next few comics were an after thought. When I originally thought of this story, where Quincy finds out that his mother is pregnant, the saga ended once his dad came home. In the process of making it I decided that that conclusion was to abrupt and that there should be a discussion between the parents on whether or not Quincy should be told the facts of life. (The next group of comics are kind of corny, but they bring the story to an end. Oh, and sorry, it will still be a while before we get back to the @home story line. Sorry.)

Fruit Of His Loom

Daddy yells at son. Daddy wakes up mommy. Mommy waddles into the room. Friend declares her innocence. 'nuff said.

You Apply the Anesthetic

You have to appreciate Quincy’s tenacity. He doesn’t miss a beat, once his dad comes barreling through the front door; thinking that his wife is in labor. He even knells down and picks up the mallet that Trina dropped and hands it over to his dad, in the hopes that he will be a more helpful assistant than Trina had been. Little boys…you gotta love ‘em.

She's Not Your Mom!

As I post these strips it dawns on me that this was some of the best pieces of cartooning that I had ever done. I thought the story line was great, the drawing was on point and the expression on the faces of each character were priceless. When I sent these, along with a group of others, in for syndication and was still rejected it was the most disheartening thing that ever happened. These characters had been refined as much as they would ever be; objectively I thought the idea was both unique and funny and if the syndicates didn't except these than it was just not meant to be. I resolved myself to letting Quincy and the gang die. I mean, I started trying to get them syndicated when I was seventeen and here it is, ten decades later and still nothing. I decided to focus my attention on a new set of character; enter the cast of @home. Of course the same thing is going on with them, as it relates to syndication and I'm not getting any younger.
"What happens to a dream deferred?" Well, I can't speak about anyone else's, but I put my dream into a blog to hopefully share with a handful of readers. Hell, I always said that I loved cartooning so much that I would do it for free...Wow. that had nothing at all to do with this weeks posting.
In a nut shell....Isn't it amazing how the Calvary always manages to arrive right on time?

Boy Are You Stupid.

Okay, let me just apologize for this one being posted out of order. I don't know how I over looked it. Posting it now kinda jacks of the sequence of things, but it is so funny that I couldn't let it go without posting.

This one was meant to be read just before "It Bounced". It gives you a great since of just how stubborn little boys can be when they think they are right. Thank goodness we grow out of that pretty quickly. Am I right? Am I right?

What It's All About

I have been receiving a lot of positive feed back regarding the strips featuring Quincy and Trina, but just so ya'll good folks out there won't forget what this blog was created for; I thought I'd drop in an incomplete picture of the three main characters of @home. Solomon is the guy with the bald head (it's a long story). Anyway, I promise that @home is not gone, I just need time to update the old drawings. I don't think they are drawn very well. Besides, I know you wanna find out how what happens with Quincy, Trina and the Alien(?).