Lupus: I feel curiously hollow
Mike: Eat some cake, a banana, an apple, bon-bons, cheese, a small lobster, black pudding and spam and you'll feel right as rain
Lupus: I DON'T LIKE SPAM!
Lupus: Apparently I'm Northern because my name ends in Son. Southern names end in s. And you're just a freeloading immigrant usurper! Have at ye, varlet!
Mike: Okie-dokies.
Lupus: Why do random persons feel the compulsion to ask ME for money, directions, train times, etc when they can clearly see the wires from my ears, the hood and facemask! Do I not loom enough? Do my eyes not convey a sense of disgust and revilement? Anyway, I took two hours off work, forgetting I'd have to wait over 30min for a train. And my iPod is running low on juice. And THERE is my mobile Newsie!
Mike: Ah, nice one. Although your Newsies tend to be more eloquent. Oh, sorry I was being a miserable ***** the other day. Been feeling angry lately.
Lupus: More eloquent than revilement? Surely you jest. Besides, what more can be expected from a man relegated to the cavernous underbelly of Birmingham New Street sitting on a thin metal pole for half an hour?
Mike: Ooh err!
1st was ranty
2nd was better
3rd, well, perfection?
Lupus: (This text message has been censored by the HMRS for use of the term HMRS)

As it may occur to people who are regulars to the site, Steve & Bob hasn't been updated online for quite a while. I have been working hard on completing the latest chapter offline for quite a while now but have finally come up with the decision to stop creating strips when this chapter has been completed.
The reason why I've decided to stop making Steve & Bob is mainly due to the absolute lack of time I have to complete them. I originally created the strip to show the world what I can do artistically and literary. Personally I think the latest chapter shows so much hard work graphically that I don't think people will be disappointed.
What started as a go between while I had a writer's block, turned into over 500 (600 including the offline comics) comic strips and I can easily say that I am so proud of the strips I've done.
I have already started working on a totally different project which I will keep secret for a while. While Steve & Bob was primarily a webcomic, this new project is designed to be a solid comic, intended to be sold in comic shops. It's going to be a superhero story, but with a twist (yes, I've not heard of that concept either) and fans of Steve & Bob will see certain parallels when it comes to character development and dialogue.
I will miss Steve & Bob and I definitely will be maintaining the website constantly, but I think it will be time to put them to bed soon. I am very excited of this new project, which is still in its very early stages.
Thought I should let you know. Stay in touch for more news and feel free to write your thoughts in the shoutbox.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Fish-Men...
I've sent off all my presents. Little Lupus has got a pogo stick, Wee Alex has got a panda and tiny Klesk has a new spanking board.
Because there hasn't been an update in quite a while, I thought I'd drop in a message of hello and let everyone know that there are just seven strips to colour in before the next chapter is finished! Woo!
I'm so relieved mainly coz all the difficult and über detailed strips have all been coloured in and finished now. There's a lovely one with a statue, and another with rocks and oh my, so many rocks!
I am determined to get these done before the year's end, so that January will be full of Egyptian funness with traps and revelations galore!
Blimey, I better get busy…
Until then, if you see drunken pictures of the good author of these strips, dancing and singing and pulling ridiculous faces, that's just a stand in that I pay to make me look silly. I'm actually very, very attractive and hunky. Honest.

Yesterday was a very special day for me. It seems that after what feels like a century, after spending each and every day I have doing one little bit at a time, gradually, gradually finalising a bit of pencil or ink or colour or texture or brick or rock, Chapter 27 -The Sedated Shrine has finally been completed!
Soon you will be reading where Chapter 25 - The Archaeologist left, with Steve running into "The Eingang des Teufels" hot on the tail of a rather dubious bear with a mobile phone. He is joined reluctantly by a very dubious Radox, leaving Bob and Alfie drugged and asleep in their tent.
Needless to say it's been an arduous journey, but it had done exactly what I wanted it to do. Well, I say that, some bits turned out completely different. The colour scheme is, what I consider to be, perfect, and the inking is just right.
As the title of this newsie suggests, the chapter will begin being released on 1 January 2008!
Well, why not?
Let's start the new year with something very new, very old and very, very sandy…

With Steve & Bob being released daily now, a long-term goal is finally being realised and everyone can see what it's really like in that temple (and hopefully get the link between the puzzles).
But I've been working on a separate project in my extra time now. As well as treating myself to a XBox 360 (it's so pretty and so black…) I've also been practicing something I haven't done in a long, long time. Drawing humans.
Not just humans. Super humans.
You'll see featured pictures of Wonder Woman, Catwoman and Captain America pretty much copied from the comic books.
As well as doing this for the practice, I also did this just to prove to myself that I actually CAN draw properly. I am pleased with the results.
They're not finished, but they were never intended to be finished. Feel free to have a click at these thumbnails and have a closer look.
As for my next project, I've finally come up with a final design for the main character now. If it wasn't for these practice sketches and inks, I wouldn't have had the confidence to actually get this done, so… would it be over egotistical to say, "w00t me"?
I hope so......
Oh yeah, Happy New Year! Cor, nearly forgot...

Seems I've gone a bit ranting mad. I've posted a very long explaination about the mice on a different site (plugging this chapter like mad!) and ended up writing a very small essay about the mice in Steve & Bob.
To see the strip that inspired it, click on here and, well, brace yourself for a long, how-to story...

This chapter originally had Steve go in the temple with Bob. I love writing their chemistry, Steve with his earthiness and wisdom and Bob with his arrogance and greed. But I thought it was about time to flesh out some of the other characters.

The extremist mice were introduced in strip number 96. It was an intention to develop them a lot more, but I wasn't entirely happy with the results because, well, the bond between Steve & Bob was too strong.

The first character I developed was Colgate, who was introduced way before the others were. He was for comic relief and as a ground for when things seemed a tad ridiculous.

Then there was Dylon, Bob's biological brother. It was never divulged in the story, but he's the only mouse who lost his tail, thus his lack of extraordinary balance. He was a character who was loved by all and he loved everyone except Steve, which, I thought, was a funny sort of chemistry. I was going to develop him more, but he was murdered.

Speaking of which, another mouse was Pledge, the tall, skinny, be speckled ratty looking mouse. Originally a good friend of Bob, he later revealed himself to be a traitor and started his own group of theives (with bears no less). He has also lost a lot of fur since he has joined which is thanks to the lack of information Bob had given the team previously.

Then there's Mr Muscle. The, er, muscle of the team, he's plagued by a very dark past. Bob's sheer disdain for him really shows Bob's influence upon the team. He's the leader and he's intimidating. Mr Muscle does have an obsession with being fit from an impulse to protect his little sister.

And then there's Peanut Butter and KY Jelly. Both of whom are very, very minor characters. Peanut Butter makes the sandwiches and often relishes moments where other embarrass themselves and KY Jelly is the charismatic one who never has or ever will have any dialogue.

Finally, that leaves Radox. Known as the smoking gymnast, his obsession with athletics and aerobics outweigh anything else in his life. He finds it very easy to dislike anyone but also is very trusting.

Radox is a teenager and is studying for his exams. His absolute faith in Bob resides in his knowledge that Bob knows everything. Anything to do with advanced mathematics, scheming or the fact that he's never been caught stealing has had an influence on him. He truly idolises Bob, feels very safe when he's around him and even has a bit of a crush on him.

But this strip in particular is very important because Steve asks him something he probably gets asked a lot. Something about his personal, sexual history. You'll soon discover in this chapter why that is important, but Radox is given time to think about something that isn't appropriate stretching exercises, balance or dietary requirements.

It's important to know that this is the chapter which completely changes Radox's opinion of Steve. He starts of thinking he's a lazy, stupid, randy dog, and ends up, well thinking he's something.

There's nothing like the threat of mortal danger, Indiana Jones style puzzles and being drugged to make acquaintances into friends.

I tell you what, it's difficult putting all of this into a comic strip AND making it all seem very subtle! Every thought and reaction has an essay behind it! Needless to say that Radox is a very important character right now, both as an acrobat and another soul in the devil's pit and when the time comes that a main character has to die, I want to make sure that the reader feels the suddenness and surprise...

It seems that today's strip strip was by far the most difficult strip I've done yet. Difficult and very long to finish. Needless to say, if I wasn't working at the time, it would have taken less time to do it, but it drove me mad thinking, everyday, "Just colour in one bit at a time, just one bit at a time, keep doing it and before you know it, it's finished."
Well, that's been my mentality for the whole chapter really. Every lunchtime at work, I'd finish my food, get out my sketchpad and draw as much as I could. Everyday for the past, well, year really.
I often think that if I left work and really committed to making my comics work, I could make a business out of it. Unfortunately, I'm too scared to try. Also, I don't want to leave because, well, I'm definitely going to get money out of it, I'd miss all my friends and I'd get out of the house a lot less.
To be honest, I have no idea how to get into the business of making comics for a living. The thought of being truly independent and being my own boss scares me a little. But I did take charge for a short time in a previous job when the manager left and I think I did surprisingly well.
I think it's just the lack of knowledge and education that stops me creating my own business. I wouldn't know where to start! I mean, I've got over 600 comics here, ready to get published, but I'm just not financially minded enough to get it done.
I don't know. It's a tricky thing to get into, but I suppose the trick is to have fun while you're getting into it.

Sorry, this is less of a Newsie and more of a confessional.

How do I get out of work in retail and into work as a comic artist and writer?

This is technically the last, big picture I had to do for this chapter.

There were three main ones.

The first was the Christian Cross that Steve had to poke a spear into.
The second was Steve climbing down some rocks and boulders and had a huge stone dude looking menacingly at the silhouetted characters.
This is the last one, a big set piece of a hexagon with six metal balls, two large protruding horns guarding the puzzle, lots of moss and algae on the floor, (those who have translated the name of the temple can guess what's coming up next) and Steve and Radox, again looking with dread at another riddle.

These were the three strips that I was both looking dreading and looking forward to. Dreading because I knew they would be detailed and would take a loooong time to finish, but looking forward because it looked like it was going to be a good challenge.

The cross took a long time because when the final design was made for it (and there were a lot, most of them looking like vast blobs), I had to come up with some other relevant symbols as there turned out to be more buttons then I hoped.

The statue dude took far longer to design. Inking him was a challenge in itself and then I knew I would be throwing that away! The final design has no black lines, but is shaded and embossed. Using photo referencing, I made the man's face look more realistic by sampling certain colours. I also avoided using black at all costs as, it was the intention at the time, to make Steve a silhouette, so he needed to be the only black thing on the page.

Finally, today's strip. This was definitely more fun to create. I did research into different levels of rust to get the metal balls looking just right. Most of the work was done with the inking and I like the effect of the stand for the puzzle. Also, this puzzle was intended for humans, so Steve is just a little too short to reach the top and his eyes barely make it to the board. Later on, you'll only see the board from the bottom up, but it was important to give you a clear shot of the puzzle so, well, in time, you can solve it yourself!

This chapter is unlike any other chapter in Steve & Bob and I'm very thankful that it is! It's given me a chance to experiment and to play with different ideas to give different effects. It's a very strange thing this chapter; as dynamic and detailed as it is, I've also made every effort to make it look as drowsy and sedated as I can! With lighting, lens flares, blur effects and angled shots, I think it gives the right impression of being disorientation and disillusionment which is relevant for the plot and character development.

Hark at him with his big words!

The thing is, I like the chapter more as an art form then anything else and am so relieved that it's finished! And, if I get enough people e-mailing or messaging me, I might work on the next chapter (Chapter 28 - Eingang des Teufels), which will lead to the most complicated and rewarding puzzle yet (as well as a lot of fisty cuffs!)

Badge machine! I've got a badge machine! Time to play with a new toy! I've, like, already done a badge of Steve and Bob and, er, Colgate and Dave Duff and the excitement! Well, I haven't badged the excitement, that'd just be surreal and weird. Ooh, it's like my laminator all over again!
Anyway, back to sanity, Steve & Bob is done and dusted. No doubt in the future I'll want to finish the story that I've started, but I'm more interested in this new project at the moment.
Which reminds me, teaser!

I am very proud of this chapter, but I'm satisfied that it's the last chapter too as it's the best it could be (I think). I used to do this sort of shading all the time with acrylic paints at school and it was much easier then. Ooh, I miss the smell of acrylics. I bet if I had a bowl of Amortentia potion in front of me, one of the smells that I'd smell would be acrylic paints...
I very nearly wrote "acrylic pants"...

I tell you what, there's nothing quite like having a bit of a sit down after a long and hard day. I thought, while I'm chilling with my shoes off, waiting for the pizza to burn to a crisp, I'll tell you about my day.

Today we have been in a blind panic due to getting everything ready for the Coheed and Cambria signing today at Forbidden Planet. Strange really, the Gerad Way signing had more people waiting in the queue and that seemed to go more smoothly. Maybe it was because I was in a different department. Tills is uninteresting most of the time, so I'd relish a signing because it meant stuff to do.

Now I'm a Merchandise Monkey, I'm always on the go, so today was stress-a-rama! Don't get me wrong, I do love being constantly busy (if I'm not doing something, I go mad and start organising the coloured paper) but boy am I going to get my sleep tonight.

The signing went extremely well. They fans were diligently and dignified (no girls crying at me this time) and there was a great sense of happiness in the air. The boys were both happy and very cool and collected. I was surprised to hear such a big, burly American dude talk in quite a squeaky voice, but there must be a sense of pride that he got there BECAUSE of that voice!

Got some lovely comics too for my good friend and often linguist Lupus who first introduced me to the band. Not literally mind, more in CD form. I'm sure he'll be well cuffed to have the comics even if they are issues one and five. Who really needs two, three and four anyway?

What perfect timing! My pizza is ready and by God, it's not burnt! Perfectly cooked! Man I need to do the newsies during my cooking periods more often! Have a good night readers and to the guys going to Brixton Acadamey to see Coheed and Cambria live, you have your rock and roll lifestyle, I'll have some dinner...

Today I just about did one customer before having a stomach attack and going home. Yes, you guessed it, I'm on the game. I've decided, well, why work my nuts off running around putting out stuff when I could just work my nuts off... putting out?

To suit my new job, my new name is now Nipples Del Monté. Nipples because I've got two of them, and Del Monté because I always say yes.

Now that's got your attention, I can tell you what really happened today. I've got food poisoning. Boo! I have taken a couple of days off which has annoyed me to no end. Yesterday I actually stomped my feet on the ground coz I was so frustrated I couldn't go to work. I honestly didn't think I cared that much! Well, either that or I was sick of the house, but the first sounds impressive.

But enough doom and gloom (and strange coloured remains, I mean seriously, green?! Am I now Dr. Spock? Sorry, sorry, I mean Captain Spock.) Production is underway to the creation of my first(ish) comic book!

Woo!

This'll debut at the UK Mini and Web Comic Exhibition Thing this year. Last year's exhibition was my first one and I had no idea what to expect. The one thing that everyone asked for was a comic book, so this year, I've got one ready and waiting.

Not only that but I've got BADGES! I'm basically going to steal Weebl and Bob's idea of the whole discount thing and if people buy ten badges, they'll get a mystery prize.

For the love of God, if you plan to buy ten badges, make sure you know about Steve & Bob and it's characters otherwise this could get embarrassing!

As for the comic, there will be a general cover and a über rare variant cover with Bob on the front instead. For those unable to buy this comic, don't worry, the badges are being made!

I am in talks with getting the comic printed. Sure it's not been printed yet, but come on! What could possibly go wrong...?

I hate banks.
Today I planned to pay for the comics that'll be printed for the UK Web & Mini Comic Exhibition Thing. I went to the bank and they told me to sit down as it might take fifteen minutes to talk to someone. That sounded fine to me. I'd still have time to have some lunch.
So I sat and waited and waited...... and waited. Then I dozed off (as the sofa was incredibly comfortable) and woke up to see the doors had closed. I looked at my watch and the fifteen minutes had already come and gone. They had closed the doors to the general public but they reassured me that I would be seen.
Now I know what it's like in this bank. The customers treat the staff like scum. I'd seen it the day before and I was tempted to walk up to the gentleman, give him a slap around the back of his head and ask if he realised he was talking to a member of the human race.
Then there was my new phone. It's very snazzy. I've downloaded all my songs on it and don't need my MP3 player anymore. It's does everything but the toast. So I sent a bunch of texts as I waited.
I had 15 minutes left until I had to be back at work. I called them and let them know that I was going to be late. And I very nearly was. Before the clock hit five, I got seen and explained that I needed to transfer money into another account. His face dropped when I took the money out.
"We've closed the tills."
"What?"
"We've closed the tills, I'm afraid we can't take your money."
"B-but, this is a bank." And this is when I got embarrassing and started the high pitched voice. "I've sat here for my entire lunch hour waiting and you can't help me?"
Now as members of the human race go, I think that when you see someone nearing tears, you try and be a bit sympathetic. His words were sympathetic but he laughed and smiled when my voice broke.
So then I walked bow legged back to work, furious.
No one really knew what to do with me for the final hours of work. I didn't know what to do either. I just knew I wanted to be really angry.
Some people tried to reason with me, find out why I was so sad and depressed. But in the end, it was Karli who saved me. Her stories of her obsessions with computer games made me think about someone other than myself. It seems I need to get Gears of War, Bioshock, all the Lego games and Lara Croft (who actually gets dirty in the game...)
So, this newsie does have an unusual happy ending. I wanted to say a big thanks to Karli for being a sweet heart. Your frustrations and passion for games defused this miserable sod and made him, well, want to spend even more money!

Well, after numerous crashes, dodgy slowtime and the occasional wheeze, I've finally given my computer an early retirement and have replaced her with a new one and I've got to say, it's very, very wow.

See, now, I don't know much about computers, but as soon as I took this out of the package, I knew it was very snazzy. It's got a transparent side so you can look inside it. The sheer chips and boards and memory and whatnot scares the hell out of me, but it looks very impressive. That and it seems to glow blue! I'm sure this'll grow irritating in time, but right now it does kinda set the mood. As well as numerous colours emenating from inside the computer.

That and my new monitor is very, very impressive. Twenty-two inches of sheer screen and I've got to say, I'm not entirely used to it yet but give it time.

It's refreshing to know that I've got a comp that is future proof just in case I need to play any new, high tech games (like Spore) but it's also good that it will be vital for the next comic which, like so many things, is slowly, slowly getting completed.

This does mean that I need to watch my money for now as this thing is the reason why I now can not go on holiday. Not just yet anyway. But the strips come first. Or so I keep saying to myself.

On some other good news, the Steve and Bob comic is being printed as we speak and I should be getting that later next week, so keep those eyes peeled as I'll no doubt be doing a newsie about that. But until then, I'll just carry on this state of hibernation until the UK Web and Mini Comic Thing is finally on...

What a relief! After spending all night playing Black & White 2, I went to bed a lot later than I wanted to and had to wake up, quite groggily, to a knock on the door.
Who was at the door? Why it was the post man of course! Here to deliver his huge package. So big in fact that he had problems holding it with BOTH hands.
But more on that later.
More to the point, how could I possibly have time to stay up all night playing computer games? Well, I've officially booked the week off work to prepare for this year's UK Web and Mini Comic thing Exhibition! As if I haven't gone on about it enough, this year I've decided to prepare for it.
Last year I had never done an exhibition before so I didn't' know what to expect so I was woefully unprepared and spend my entire week off running around frantically, trying to get everything done as quickly as possible. I remember coming back to work and saying, "I need a holiday!" So this year, I decided to prepare everything early and it's definitely paid off. So much so, that I can actually have a proper holiday!
Huzzah!
The badges have been made and today, at last, I've got my comics! You see, when I said the postman had a big package, I meant a big box full of comics and not… a-anything else…
It's weird seeing them in greyscale but it's even weirder seeing them on paper. After several days of fretting and angry emails, they're finally here and they are mostly looking perfect. I had planned on releasing a varient too with Bob on the cover, but they're all a bit iffy so I won't be selling those.
Also, I'm not sure if I've mentioned this, but this contains two 3 panel strips that'll be exclusive to the comic. I won't be putting them online at all! So if there was ever an incentive to buy it, th-that's it…? Oh you know what I mean, I'm rubbish at selling stuff.
Now all there is left to do is wait for the 22nd March. I'm actually quite excited now that I know I've got these babies backing me up. I hope beyond hope to seeing you there and if you need to know the location, it's

Great Hall,
Queen Mary University,
Mile End,
London,
UK

I know there are fans out there so come on over and say hello. Hell, bring some cake with you too.

So, it's the night before the Thing. I have to admit, I am very nervous. It'll be horrible doing it alone. The best thing about the expo last year was Lupus was there to entertain me. He was good and very welcome company. I don't like doing this sort of thing alone.
My suitcase is packed solid. There's loads of comics, more than I think I can sell (which is a good thing), I've got an updated version of my portfolio with a strip from Chapter 27 and the variant cover of the comic I'm selling, a whole lot of badges and a sketchpad.
For some reason, I thought writing a newsie about the night before the next day would help my nerves, but I think it's making it worse. I mean last year, everyone by passed my table completely. It was later on in the day when someone asked if it was a furrie that I realised why it was so dead.
Once and for all, can I just empathise:

Steve & Bob is NOT a Furrie or Pornographic!

There is no sex, no nudity and no penetration of any sort! Think of it as one day, all of a sudden, dogs could talk and then everyone carried on as normal. That's what it's like. Okay there's double entendres, but there's also slapstick, parody and down-to-earth scenarios too.
This is not porn! (which, coincidently, is a great little website if not a tad cryptic)
So, I'm going to have a sip of wine and go to bed really, really, ridiculously early and I really hope I can see you there. If you are a fan of the comics, let me know! I'll probably give you a hug or slip you the tounge, but, ahem, don't let that put you off.
Did I mention this isn't porn?

As if I haven't been plugging it enough, yesterday was the UK Web and Mini Comix Thing Exhibition and I very nearly didn't go.
Seems that after all my preparations, I had forgotten to plan two things. One was a decent suitcase to put all my stuff in and two, getting to the station. It was freezing when I left the house so it made carrying my case all that more difficult. It was weighing a ton due to all the comics I brought. I brought more than was needed just in case, but it seems I brought four or five times more than I needed.
At one point, I was so exhausted from the walk, I even called my sister so she could bring me home. But after a bit of a sit down, the energy suddenly surged through me and I rememebered that inspite of everything, I'm not a quitter. So my usual 15 minute walk to the station took a whole hour! But I got there in the end and the expo was now getting closer and closer even though I was getting later and later.
It turned out I was only five minutes late, but I instantly sat down and put all my stuff on the table.
It wasn't long before the old sales man in me appeared and I started talking to people. But after a while, the need for getting a sale disappeared as I just realised I enjoyed talking to everyone so much. I'd been worrying so much that I'd be lonely this year without Loop keeping me company, that I suddenly realised that this expo was full of people who all WANTED to be there and wanted to talk about comics. Whether it was aspiring artists or parents to people who had tables or couples who snuggled together as they browsed through each stall.
I wish I got his name, but one of the first guys who bought my comic said he read all of it pretty much in one go! I was so chuffed to hear that and slightly embarrassed to sign his comic for him.
I even had a lengthy conversation with someone about Legend of Zelda at one point. He had some very snazzy badges, which he got from New York and we were talking about how Link as gypped by being given the Courage Triforce when Power and Wisdom seemed so much cooler.
God bless Dani fro coming to see me. Last year she had a table but she seemed relieved to be just walking around, looking at other people's stuff. After getting a hint at how much dough she actually spent, I couldn't help gasp, but when you do walk around, it's very hard not to get temped.
Just walking around the area my table was, man, I must have spent half an hour just talking to people. There were so many fantastic people there, from the Scottish guys from Cascade Failure opposite and their fancy monitor showing drawings and odd animations of a big breasted bunny girl beating up Darth Vader and Transformers, to the absolutely beautifully detailed artwork from Goblin Hero on the table next to me.
And God bless Tards! I stopped at their table. I saw their stands. It just had drawings of pretty much the most ridiculous looking naked girls I've ever seen and I just burst out laughing! Needless to say I was impressed and spent probably ten minutes or so talking to them, laughing some more at the premise of the comic and slagging off Weebl and Bob for their lack of enthusiasm (which felt goooood!)
I instantly fell in love with Freddy the Clown, INSTANTLY! Poor Roger Langridge looked quite embarrassed when I praised him to high heaven and said it's just totally perfect. It reminds me so much of things like The Goon or the Marks Brothers. It's got that sort of humour about it.
Then, again, there were the guys at The Goldfish Bowl who instantly entertained me. Strangely though, their dynamic pretty much drove their comic out of my mind when I was talking to them as they seemed like a good enough comedy double act as they were. But now that I've had time to read their stuff online, it is SO much better than average!
That is a compliment! Honest!
But they should defiantly do podcasts or something.
As well as enjoying the trend of swapsies, I couldn't resist the odd toy. From the Ninja Bunny statuette at the... Ninja Bunny stall (and it was good to meet Mike at last after reading so much about him on his daily blog), to the Bunny comic's only cuddly and extremely cute plush bunny toys, which I kept in my shirt pocket. Just in case there were some dubious people about, he'd sort them out.
Thanks again to all the people who I talked to and currently can't remember. Keep in contact! There's a contacts page button to left hand side of this page, press it and you can email me and we can have virtual biscuits and everything!
This exhibition was infinitely better than last year. I think I put enough emphasis into telling everyone that Steve & Bob was NOT a Goddamn furry! Everyone loved the comic on display, mainly because of the shiny cover. Some people even stroked it against their faces saying "mmm!" and smelled it saying, "Mmm, freshly printed!"
I didn't sell as many badges as I would have liked to, but the big seller of the badges was the, "I Like Bears" badge. I even sold some of the Prints I made for last year too. After my shopping spree around the hall, a guy was going to buy just the one for three quid but when I told him he could get them both for four quid, he caved in.
Yes, I know, I'm going to burn in hell...
Even the anthology this year was infinitely better! The cover was fantastic, the theme was giraffes and I was so chuffed to see Steve & Bob as the first three comics in the book! This also had a first look at the new Jo skin that'll be appearing randomly on this site...
I simply can not emphasis how well this expo went for me! I enjoyed it so much, talked to so many fantastic people and learnt so much about other comics that I've definitely become a new fan of other people!

Today was a day completely ruled by schedules.
I had a pre-booked appointment with the hospital to get this lump on my neck seen too at 9:30 and a guy was coming over to pick up my new and unfortunately knackered computer to get it fixed.
For anyone that's read my newsies before, this lump is just where the saliva gland is on my neck. I've had it for a few years now, which I think is a good indication that it's benign, but I still want to find out what it is and most importantly, get rid of it. There were tests galore during November and it seemed that everything was going steadily in the right direction. Then I heard no word from the hospital.
I called them several times. They explained that things were a bit busy at the moment and they'd call me back. They never did. Strange really, the doctor who saw me said it was urgent that she found out what it was. They were clueless after the ultrasound and said the next step was a biopsy.
Now for those of you who are a bit squeamish, skip the next paragraph.
A biopsy is basically either a needle cutting a bit of this foreign substance out so that they can study it and find out what it is, or they cut the skin to take a sample. This is essential for finding out what it is, getting rid of it and figuring out how to stop it from ever happening again.
So I arrived at the Maxillo-Facial Clinic, explained who I was and they told me that my surgeon didn't arrive today.
One word:
Balls.
As they were planning for a meeting for next week, a doctor came over and said that I had 'special privileges' and was being seen by someone. See, people always said I was special! After chatting with my sister for about forty-five minutes, I came over to the receptionist again and asked what position I was in the queue (didn't want to sound too aggressive).
Soon afterwards, I was seen and it turns out that I wasn't getting a biopsy after all. Well, not today. They actually booked two biopsies for me (which kind of made me think they didn't know what they were doing) and told me to have a blood test, which really annoyed me as I had a blood test in November (for those of you who read the newsies, not the flirty nurse time).
Considering I needed to be home by 12 the latest, it was half ten and the blood test queue was about an hour long AND it's at leat a half hour drive home, I booked it for Friday (which thankfully is a day off).
I tell you what, I'm so sick of hospitals. Not only has it taken me four months to see them again about this apparent 'urgent' matter, they said my biopsy will happen late April! I could quite happily never go to a hospital again.
That said, their café was nice...

This is my last day off before my birthday and it's certainly been a weird one. I wake up, groggily as ever and discover a package addressed to me. When I open it, there was another parcel inside, wrapped in green wrapping paper with a note on it from Lupus saying, "Happy Birthday Dood!"
After several agonising hours of shaking, weighing it and admiring the gift wrapping (I think I'm going to keep that paper, it's good paper), I ripped it open and there was a Wii.
Needless to say I was chuffed.
Luckily, I had prepared something before hand to send to Loop, so I grabbed one of my many padded envelopes and put them in along with something else I hope he'd admire. A drawing to be more precise (I'll reveal more when he gets it)
Now I needed to get Super Mario Galaxy. A Nintendo console without a Mario game is just not worth it. So after posting Loop's prezzie, I scouted around for it around where I live (where I succumbed and bought Tingle's Rupeeland on the DS). Then I went to Wood Green and started chatting to an old friend from a games shop there. We're not, like, super buddies, but we were on friendly terms if you know what I mean...
It turns out the shop is closing down and moving somewhere else! Rubbish! But this guy is looking to work somewhere else and asked about FP. So I told him if he had a CV, I'd give it in tomorrow which he seemed really chuffed about.
Turns out there was no Galaxy there, but he was willing to sell me his copy to me dirt cheap which, hey, I have no quarrels with!
He also confessed that he really fancied one of the girls in the shop. The girl behind the tills with funky red hair and glasses. When he told me he was a huge fan of the Mighty Boosh, well, they already have that in common! As well as a fondness for cute Japanese things and other stuff which I can't remember, I just thought these two should definitely meet.
I mean, of course, there's going to be that awkward first meeting where they don't know what to say to each other (I'd vote for "hello" to begin with), but beyond that, I think these two have loads in common!
So, leaving gameless, but looking forward to Mario on Wednesday, things are looking up. Also I've got to remember to give in that CV and letter tomorrow. Urg, I'll write it on my hand now (I always write things on my hand, it's harder to lose than a piece of paper).
The Wii is tiny and the controls are a bit weird to begin with, but it's definitely fun. Looking back, it's definitely been more active than my usual days off, but I wouldn't complain if I had more of those.

Aaaaaargh! Delivery!
That was the general feeling of the day. Whenever we were halfway finishing one delivery, another big one came and plopped itself on our faces and in our eyes...
I tell you what, it might be stressful, but it is so much better than NOT doing anything! There's nothing worse than being bored. Although I still managed to play around a little (as you can see by the photo).
Speaking of playing around (steady now), around twoish the guy from the games shop from the PREVIOUS newsies popped in to give me Mario Galaxy! I struggled trying to fit it into my combats' pocket while simultaneously trying to open a box and ask if he fancied having lunch. But lunch was three and he was here at two, so meh. But I had Mario Galaxy and he got to see the store in a new light (I was really struggling with that box)
(It's not like it was an oblong box or anything)
(Well, it was box shaped)
(With corners and stuff)
Well, yes, that and a man broke his nose. I've got to say, it was a sickening feeling seeing the blood, but everyone really pulled together and did everything they could to help him.
It's strange though, just before that happened, I had a bit of a nosebleed in the toilets. I would call it a sort of premonition if I didn't have nose bleeds all the time.
During my break, I went to show my mate Andy some of the drawings I've been doing for my brand new, non-Steve & Bob project. It's so nice to see other people impressed and surprised with your artwork. Even better when the other person is so gifted with their own artwork. I was very chuffed and went from only showing three pages to ending up showing them all.
I know, I know, no will power...
Then there was more deliveries and funness and chatting to Karli while putting stuff out. Then to the cinema to see, "The Son of Rambow"
Brilliant film! I loved it and as naff as it sounds, it kind of changes the way you think afterwards.
Now I'm tapping away before slapping in Mario Galaxy and waggling my Wii-mote like some deranged... thing until I pass out.
HUZZAH!

I'll start with the bad coz there's a really big good at the end. A lot of them actually.
Firstly, today I finally had my biopsy although I was worried I wasn't going to have it. The appointment was for 12:40, but I arrived an hour early. Then I was told it was 2pm. Then at 2pm, I had to wait half an hour. Then another half an hour for the machine to be ready so 3pm was when they actually (gulp) cut me open.
To add to the sense of foreboding, they put a big, green sheet over my face. Initially, I thought my face might offend the doctor, but it turns out there was a hole which was for my neck.
After a lot of anaesthetic and (from what I could see from the corner of my eye) a lot of blood, they finally managed to grab two bits of the elusive lump from my neck. It's a very strange feeling. It doesn't hurt in a "Oh my God, they've severed my neck" way, but more in that I couldn't breathe for most of it.
Even now, nine hours later, my neck still hurts and I've got a tiny little plaster hiding the wound. I was hoping for a huge plaster cast (as that would have been awesome) but, alas...
Speaking of chunks of flesh, time for the other big news. Firstly, a huge, big, belated birthday to the sweetest and scariest girl I know, Emma! She's got a week off work so I won't speak to her... for a week... Which... makes sense...
Also, since I'm just in time to do it, I want to wish another very good friend of mine, Scott Curran a very, very happy birthday! Yes, all the cool people are born in April. Scotty's such a diamond and deserves as much happiness as can be thrown on him after a weird and confusing year. We will meet up! We will! I can't pass up the chance to meet someone who is so fun, sweet and handsome!
One more belated birthday left. MINE! It was my birthday on the 13th which, coincidently is national Gaby Roslin Day! I want to thank all the amazing people who came to the birthday drinks afterwards and ate my donuts! The highlight of the night was Ant ranting at me, asking if I had been nursing the same pint all night long. True, I'm a slow drinker and it was a very near full glass. So I said, "Right, one mo..." and there and then, drank the entire pint. Never mind web comics or birthdays or anything else, THIS got a round of applause! From everyone! That definitely struck me as the funniest moment of my day. After that, everything just kept spinning around...
So April really is awesome and all the best people I know had birthdays this month.
Even me.
Rock on.