Well, kinda. The last new update I did was about 7 months ago, and so much has happened between then and now that I'd never be able to complete the article before something else occurred to be added. So instead, here's a brief summary of the major events that went down here at the Petting Zoo...

1. Mid-July - My friend missed his flight leaving California, so I took him on the high speed mini-tour of some of my old stomping grounds. From Sacramento, I took him to San Francisco via the Golden Gate, down to San Jose to visit the Mecca of Geekdom (Fry's Electronics), down through the mountains to Santa Cruz to sea the coast, to Carmel to watch the sunset over the ocean (although it was cloudy), then to my favorite restaurant in Monterey (The Fish Hopper). I then showed him the infamous "Casa de PeePee" (at Casa de Fruta), then over Pacheko Pass to show him the reservior by moonlight, then up I-5 to see the windmills, and back to Sacramento. I know my state like the back of my hand, and Superchamp is a wonderful car to see it in. ^_^
   
   
2. Late July - Post Otakon, I had a major falling out with a good friend for stupid reasons. I hadn't cried that much in a long time, and haven't cried that much since.
   
   
3. August - Was Guest o' Honor at Shoujocon in Rye Town New York. I'd never been to New York state before (well, except to drive through it...) and now that I've been there, I'm not sure what all the hub-bub is about. In a four-hour span, I went though Laguardia Airport, Queens, Brooklyn, and some portions of New Jersey. The outskirts of the city look a lot like Tacoma Washington, and the streets of Brooklyn look a lot like parts of L.A. Overall, I never had the feeling that I was anywhere new. o_o'

   It was also there that I met Voice Actress (and Opera Singer!) Kelli Shane Butler, and said farewell by smashing my face between her boobs and doing the Haposai manuver. I chafed my nose on her bra.
   
   

4. September - Went to my 10 year high school reunion. Got to kiss the guy I had a crush on forEVER on the cheek. (I'm not as shy as I used to be!) Danced my version of "YMCA" on an empty floor, including the thumb-in-cheek manuever for the line "You can have a good meal."
   
   
5. October - Worked, worked, worked. Got very ill. Continued to work.
   
   
6. November - Got in a very low-speed car accident that folded in Superchamp's front half while on my way to Disneyland. I guess that teaches me not to try to have some fun! o_0'

Also, I got to see my brother when he came to visit for Thanksgiving. Don't let anybody fool you into thinking that working in the videogame industry is fun. I'll send them a picture of my brother. (I was smart enough to get out while I was only 21!)

Oh, and I accidentally knocked my Palm Pilot into the trashcan without realizing it until about a week later. I lost all my addresses and quite a bit of valuable info.



7. December - This was s'posed to be my month off from wigs. Guess what I worked on all month? Hint: It rhymes with "figs".

   On the plus side, I got some really cool X-mas presents, including a new Red Octane Ignition Pad, a new Palm Pilot
   
   

8. January - Back to wigs, and trying desparately to get two issues of NHS out in one month while also preparing for Katsucon.
   
   
9. Early February - Bobo died at a ripe old age of 11 years old. Zeus is now the oldest pet. (Followed by Burb, Thing, Mappy, then Ike.)
   
   

Superchamp's smooshed nose. Because he's a little bit lower than stock, the Lexus I bumped slid right up onto his hood.

People have asked me about this before, so I figure I'll just clear it up now. It always seems so strange to me that people freak out about "famous people", and that's why I try so hard to let folks know that we're really just the same as everyone else. For instance, many people know who Chynna Clugston-Major is from her many comic titles, including Blue Monday and Scooter Girl. I've known Chynna since our Sophomore year of High School, so she's just "Chynna" to me. Just like her ex-hubby, kick-ass colorist Guy Major (who happens to be my ex-boyfriend) is just "Guy". We've known each other for over 13 years, back before I had boobies, when Chynna was still a blonde, and Guy was begging one or both of us every day to have sex with him. 9_9'

Famous people aren't any more cool or special than everyone else. They're just somebody that more people have heard of. And while there are those who use their popularity as a tool to get special treatment, or have become so full of themselves that they actually believe their own hype, there are still quite a few of us who just want to live our lives like nobody knows us.

Ruben Santos Jr., Me, and Fred Gallagher, as "Team Shadow Faction"... Iron Artist 2004!

A fine example of this would be Fred Gallagher. I'm not going to link to his site, or tell you what he does, because you probably already know. The thing is, I got to talk to him back stage at Iron Artist (we ended up being on the same team...) and although I didn't get to talk to him for very long, but I sensed that he's one of the "I've created a monster" group. (And Fred, if I'm way off base, just let me know.) It was like he said, "Hey, I've got some time to kill, wouldn't it be neat to make a little online comic? Maybe I could even make a little money with it by selling t-shirts or something. It'll be fun." Next thing he knew, people were bombarding him with emails, some gushing in adoration, some complaining that he isn't updating fast enough. Then his time vanished, replaced by this unsatiable beast called "fandom". Cons to go to, messages to respond to, a comic to post 3 days a week, and no time to live. And now a shy man is thrust into the limelight, made a celebrity, recognized by complete strangers who claim to know all about him, and called "a god"... when all he thought would happen was that he might sell a few t-shirts.

People forget, the fans forget, that we are just as human as you. We have bad days, we get sick, our pets die, our cars break down, we get viruses on our computers, we get tired or injured. The fans forget that we are not our websites, our comics, our characters. We're not larger than life, we're actual size.

The worst part is, we forget that we're human sometimes, because we're so afraid to let you down. Right now I'm typing with two braces on my right arm. The reason they are there is because I pushed myself too hard to try to get the last couple issues of NHS out faster than normal so I could try to get back on schedule. Due to all the real life things that have happened over the past year, I'm over a month behind on my release schedule. I won't go into the technicalities, but basically I need to get a comic done every two weeks until I get to the point that the issue I finish by the 16th of the month is the issue that's sceduled to be released two months from now. My publisher doesn't care that I'm in pain, or that working this hard without breaks is causing permanent damage to my already fragile tendons, they only about whether or not comic book shops are ordering my issues three months ahead of time.

But it takes more than the nastiest string of bad luck to hit this side of the Pecos to defeat me. The soul still burns. ~_^

As always, comments are welcome.