Last night I was settled and prepared to have a nice, long sit down and chat to some friends on MSN. Then, I had a creeping sensation up my back as my eyes fell on a letter from the hospital. After having a re-read, I saw that I had a meeting about a surgery on the 28th!
I felt so relieved to finally go there and find out what was wrong with my neck! I was just surprised that it was so soon. But that wasn't the first time I had to go to the hospital that soon.
Feeling devistated, I had to say good-bye to Loop JUST as I was getting into the conversation and go to bed straight away. Had to be up early to go to the hospital.
That night, anxiety filled my very heart. As nice as it was to find out what was wrong with me, I was scared too. What if it was something serious? What if I had, like, a month to live or something? Or less?
I woke up at 6:30am, took my time getting ready and left the house at 8. I met Emma at the station who rightly called me a git for giving her the wrong time to go into work that day. Damn, I always give the wrong damn impression! Must learn to take my time and go through things properly...
After a short journey on the tube, I waited for the bus. At this moment, my nose was running like mad. I'm slowly, slowly recovering from a nasty cold and my nose has been like a tap these past few days. Mmm, nice…
After fretting about being late, I arrived just in the nick of time, handed over my letter and just when the man behind the counter ticked my letter with a green pen, he looked up at me with a smile and said, "This appointment is for the 28th of May."
Yes, the 28th of May.
But, it's April, not May.
So that means…
... What-a-plonker.

Okay, don't panic, but it turns out that the lump on my neck is a type of cancer.
Blimey!
But it's not as serious as, like, real cancer. What I've got is "Schwannoma" which is like a fatty tissue over the nerve cells that cause a lump. It's a very slow growing tumor (thus why I've had it for a few years now and haven't keeled over) but there is a very, very low chance of it turning into something serious. Not only do the doctors say this, but wikipeadia too so it must be true.
I've got to say, it's very weird. The worry that I used to have has been replaced with relief and… worry! Now that I know what it is at long last, they're going to operate on it next week and get rid of the thing. Typical, all these years of trying to lose weight and the biggest worry I've had lately turned out to be fat!
Please, please don't be worried for me. I'm not worried, well, not panic stricken, I am a little worried. But knowing that it's going to get resolved soon is a huge weight off my mind.
But if you are worried, you could always get me cake. Nothing with jam though, can't stand jam in cakes. Last thing I need to see is a big lump with red ooze inside…
Actually, chocolate will do.
And maybe a new computer chair, mine's a bit broken.
I could actually write a list you know…

After a very bad and miserable morning, last week I handed in my notice at work. It seemed like the best thing to do. I am tired of doing the same thing everyday while constantly thinking about what I COULD be doing. Doing my new comic strip, going abroad, finding something new, get a new life.
So that’s what I aim to do. When the time comes and I do leave work, I’m going to travel and see parts of the UK that I’ve always wanted to see. I want to go to Birmingham to see Lupus, go to Ireland to see Scotty and just generally be out of London.
I’m going to miss everyone terribly at work. I’ve made some fantastic friends at work, whether it’s James and his love of Tori Amos, Emma and her constant referances to things that are a bit too mordern for me, Del in his quiet way who has such a fantastic eye for photography, Lawrence for the frustration and sheer silliness that seem to go hand in hand, Lou who won me over just by her sheer sweetness, Tracy for giving me two jobs and puts people before work, Lee for taking everything in his stride and never taking our silly jabs seriously and Tom who constantly puts his heart on his shoulder.
But the two people I’ll miss the most are Karli and Andy. Karli and I started pretty much at the same time and I knew from the off she was going to be trouble. She’s such a laugh and always has a story to tell and I can’t help listening! And Andy for being so nice throughout. I can’t believe we both worked in the same street before working in Forbidden Planet! He worked in the shop OPPOSITE to mine! He’s got a fantastic smile and yet there’s a battleground behind those sparkling blue eyes which is something I can definitely relate to.
To everyone else I forgot, HA! You’re rubbish! *points and laughs!*
I’ll miss the people in FP more than anything else and they are the reason I stayed on Tills for as long as I did. So it’s all your ruddy faults!
Time for bed now. Max is sleeping on my bed, getting started from the noises emitting from her backside, so this should be a uncomfortable night’s sleep. I know it’s almost a month away, but I needed to say all this. The job may not pay much, but the friends I’ve made are worth their weight in gold.

After a long, hard day's work (stop laughing!) I got home, made some lovely raviolli and turned the xbox 360 on so I could play a short game while I eat. Once my lovely pasta was ready, guess what I got... I got the Red Ring of Death! My poor baby spluttered at me and game me some feeble error message. Poor thing!
For those that don't know, the console has a button with a power light in the middle and a green ring of light around the button. The Xbox 360 itself is famous for having the Red Ring of Death before and I thought I had a newer version coz I got it in December. But, alas, the console shone red and my stomache turned...
The woman at xbox support was lovely though! Very giggly, very friendly, when my friend Karli told me to shout at her, I couldn't! She was just too nice and helpful!
I'm taking it well coz I just got Super Smash Brawl in the post, but this means no Niko Bellic for 3 whole weeks. I'll miss him...
Ooh, and Elemental Micah is going incredibly well! I'm on page 24 now out of 30 (although I think it's now 29 but shhh!) and it's looking exactly how I wanted it to look if not more so! I can't wait to get it done and into shops!

Firstly, I’ve finally finished issue one of Elemental Micah! It took a while, but keeping it in greyscale just made it so much easier. For those that don’t know, Elemental Micah is the new comic project I’m working on. It’s a nice break from Steve & Bob and it’s nice to write something with obscenities in it. The first story is about how a seventeen year old discovers he’s got super powers on the day he loses his virginity. I’ll put more on the web in more time.
Secondly, I’ve finally got a date for the operation for my neck! It’s in early September and I can’t wait to be honest. It’d be nice to get rid of this lump once and for all!
And finally last night, I had my leaving party with my friends at Forbidden Planet. I got presents, got a chance to wear my cowboy outfit and laughed a lot with everyone there.
Tomorrow, I embark on my first bit of UK travelling as I go to the land of Brum. I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do there, but rest assured, I’ll be in good company. Yes, I shall take my Nintendo DS with me. That and Loop has a functioning 360 so I can say hello to my old friend and ally Niko Bellic again.
So, that’s four bits of news for you. Well, I’ll give you five then. Max is looking at me wanting to go to the park…
Hmm, I wonder if she wants something…

Trains seem to be second nature now. After spending nearly two years going to Central London everyday, with the constant delays and smelly people, I’ve become accustomed to it. But the journey to Birmingham was for more fragrent to say the least.
I’ve just spend a couple of fantastic days in the middle of England with Loop to discover a different side to the UK. True, there weren’t that many attractions and in my mind, I kept dreaming up sights to fill up the space, but it was the company I enjoyed the most.
Mostly it was seeing Loop that made my holiday. He didn’t really seem to understand the simple relish I had in sitting in a squashy chair, doing nothing. That’s because it’s been such a long time since I’ve actually DONE nothing, I was quite enjoying it.
Here are a few photos of my trip.
And as a final note, I’d just like to say to Fern, I hope you liked your drawing!

I absolutely LOVE being unemployed at the moment! Okay, there’s no cash, but I’ve been able to do so much stuff! I’ve finished working on issue one of my next project, Elemental Micah. I’ve started on issue two and I’ve bought the domain name for it too!
Elemental Micah
It’s just a preview site at the moment, but it’ll get bigger with some time. Even though it’s aimed at adults, I don’t think it’s really that much darker than Steve & Bob. Just a bit.
Also, this is well over due but I should give a big thank you to Apathetic Rant. I feel like I’m doing them a service by thanking them for linking to the site in August even though they linked to Steve & Bob in April. I feel like I’m keeping in the spirit of things.
That and I kept forgetting to mention it.
While you’re waiting for any other comics news or newsies, have a look at Apathetic Rant and leave loads of comments for them. Everyone likes feed back, especially when they’re awesome and they need someone to tell them they’re awesome. Coz how else do you know?
Apathetic Rant.

I’ve discovered today that the Guest Strip have finally put up the strip I made for them! Woo!
The Guest Strip Project is basically a charity-based project where any artist anywhere can do a quick little comic strip, similar to the ilk of Garfield and Dilbert, but this one is for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Founded by Mike Rouse-Deane, this comic has been going since March 2008 (what is it about March and webcomics? That’s when S&B started!)
Like I said, today they’re showing mine so go have a look!
Guest Strip Project – S&B Contribution
I must say that it is was sheer coincidence that I should look at the site today and see my comic there but one thing that I have noticed is that it is in actual fact, unreadable as the font is far too small!
Gaah!
So, here is the dialogue for that strip and I shall work on fixing this font for tomorrow, promise…

Tom: What a day. A small woman threw her shoe at my face, I’ve got a splitting headache, Morvil "The Bat" Makrodimitris pushed Patty into-
Tom: Oh!
Peter: I thought thish might cheer you up. He’s Hiro the Cat.
Tom: That- That is so sweet! You’ve made my day Peter, I, er, Thank you!
Peter: You won’t need my shecond preshent now.
Tom: It’s not more of that kinky bedroom stuff again?
Peter: Not kinky as shuch. You know this “Bat” person you mentioned?

I’m not sure if that made more or less sense, I just know that it makes sense in my mind and that’s all that matters...

Typical, I just check my email and it seems the long awaited Spore game has been shipped today and I receive it tomorrow! Gaah! I guess I’ll have to wait another day to take over the world...
Yep, tomorrow I’m having this tumour in my neck removed. At last! It’s quite scary business, but I’m pretty confident it’ll go well. If it doesn’t though, I’m leaving all my possessions to Max and that’s that!
I’ve just seen “Get Smart” which was perfect for lifting my spirits. Before the doom and gloom of the up coming op was really getting to me. Then Steve Carell puts a shoe to his ear and everything comes together. But then I thought I’d have a McDonalds thinking it’d be a really good idea. Baaaaad call...
Am I worried about tomorrow? Of course! What if they take the wrong lump out? I might become a lady! I’ll just have to hide my Adam’s Apple somehow...
Until then, here is a picture of me eating an éclair.

On the fourth of September, I went to hospital to finally get a tumour removed from my neck. As apprehensive as I was just to get it out and, well, not die, I’ve got to say the thing that actually drove me to despair was just the sheer boredom of being in a hospital!
It turns out that the tumour was larger then the doctors thought it was. The biopsy showed that it was as big as it was on the surface (which was roughly an inch in diameter) but when they actually cut me open, it turned out to be over three times the size (Which I’ve got to say, I was quite impressed with).
The painkillers were doing their job, so the surgery itself didn’t keep me occupied, so I had to fall back on reading Hello magazine. From front........ To back...
Before the surgery, the doctors told me that they were going to cut a nerve out which I pretty much understood from my last meeting. This would mean that a small part of my neck wouldn’t have any feeling and I’d have a scar. Since I’ve never had a scar before, this was hardly something of a complex so I don’t really mind having one. Especially on my neck. Who’s going to look there? This time however, they told me that it could actually make either my neck on the left hand side numb, or my FACE on the left hand side numb.
This was something that they didn’t mention before. I was angry but I had already signed that form three months ago when they initially told me what would happen. But it didn’t matter, I was there to get rid of it and I could end up paralysed in my face. In fact, the thing that worried me the most was that I wouldn’t be able to pose for anymore Elemental Micah drawings. I thought it was best not to dwell on it and just keep my mind nice and empty until they pricked my hand, put a plastic gas mask over my face and gradually feel different.
My left side of my neck had completely swollen up, I have stitches under my neck (It is nasty to look at, but here’s an image if you’re morbidly curious, like I would be but you’ll only regret it) and I had a weird tub stuck to my chest with a small tube linked to my neck. If any of you have seen Doctor Who, I felt a lot like an Ood. After a few mouth exercises, the doctors said that my face hadn’t been paralysed from the operation.
Thank you was all I could say really.
As for the weird tub with the tube to my neck, this was in fact called a “Drain”. Now if you’re squeamish, you might want to skip this paragraph, but really, you should read it as it’s quite interesting. Basically, because the tumour was so big, they had to make sure that the space in the hole that used to contain my tumour didn’t fill up with blood, so this drain pretty much sucked it all out. And I couldn’t help noticing that a lot of the people in this ward also had drains. In fact, a lot of them had drains that were a hell of a lot bigger than mine.
So that was the reason I had to stay over night. I had to stay to make sure that all the blood would be drained out of this space so that there could be room made for lovely skin.
Until then, the boredom was killing me. Did you know that Madonna and Guy Richie were on the verge of divorce? It seems as though the thing that kept them together were the kids, but I really do hope they patched things up.
Urg, someone get me a video games magazine...

Actually, as a sidenote, the other day I went and got myself an official Darkrai from a Pokémon event! It is in a Cherish Ball, it had an Enigma Berry and it is somewhat of a clown. I love it and am calling it Dave.
Don't pity me.

More non-Steve & Bob news!
I’ve got to admit, I do actually have the next chapter written down. I just don’t really want to draw it at the moment. I’m working on a new comic about a guy with several super powers and have finished issue two just this second.
Ain’t it precious!
You can see the website at this link here.... Link! And here are a few pic previews of ish two which involves fingerless gloves, goggles and a dog called Alfonzo.
You can’t actually buy the comic yet, I just wanted to announce it coz, coz I’m bored, so, yeah.
Cheers!

As I ever endevour to finish issue 3 of Elemental Micah, I can't help let my tapping fingers stray and move on to the easier things in life.

Yes, so, in case you haven't noticed, I'm slowly, slowly submitting all of the S&B comics to fur affinity. Truth be told, I'd quite like to put them in Deviant Art too, but I actually get feed back in this site. I think people are more interested in being emo and depressed in devart where as here it feels a bit more like a community.

These strips will hopefully bring the attention of Steve & Bob to a wider audience and with the constant updates, will hopefully bring a newer audience in who will appreciate it's "Unique" brand of humour.

So for all of you who have just discovered the strip, you can find just a few more (only a few more) at http://www.stevebob.com

There is a flash navigator on the main page, but if you don't see that, chances are your firewall's being a bit of a git. In that case you can click on the big, black "Archive" button on the top left just under the logo.

Cheers and feel free to vote everyday! (click on the rather dubious looking Bob showing the Vs)

Ever felt something empty about browsing on your computer every night?
Is looking not enough?
Ever wanted to... touch as well?

Boy have I got an offer for you!

Now you can! You can actually, physically hold your favourite furry animal in your sweating, undeserving hands!
Yes, you can buy issue one of Steve & Bob ONLINE!!!!!

Go to this link, LINK! and you can purchase this fine piece of comic book history.
Buy it once and you can touch it whenever you want!
Whatever else you want to do with it, I'll just leave that to you...
You can even buy some for your friends!
Don't have friends? Then buy some extra for any friends that you might have in the foreseeable future!

Go, buy!

http://www.stevebob.com/store.html

ps: If anyone can let me know how I can put an add in this site, let me know. There's plenty of these to go around! Woo!

I wrote this in a gaming forum and I found it quite funny, so I thought I'd post it here too. Yes, I really am avoiding my drawings. That said, I have done quite a bit more of Elemental Micah, but the fact that I need to justify myself probably just means that I'm trying to prove to MYSELF that this is justified. Urg, psychology. It's up there with astromony if you ask me. But I'll save THAT rant for another time. Ennnnnnnnnnnjoy!

Post 1: The Thread Starter
Nintendo releases new toy
Post 2:
It's not a toy, it's a game.
Post 3:
What a waste of money.
Post 4:
I don't care about this topic
Post 5:
I'm not surprised that YOU would be interested in something pointless and babyish like this.
Post 6:
You want a game, why not just use your old toys? Try ball in a cup. It's a ball, in a cup. Try and catch the ball in the cup. It doesn't matter if you can't catch the ball in the cup because the ball is attached to the cup with some string. So even if you do fail, you can carry on trying to get the ball... in the cup! Ball in the cup, it's a ball... in a cup...

AAAAAAAAARGH!!!

Stop trying to be cool!
STOP IT!
This is a gaming forum!
A GAMING FORUM!
We talk... ABOUT GAMES!
When someone submits a bit of news and says they think it looks good, you don't have to turn into "Super Cynical" mode and say it's **** straight away.
And as for saying it's a waste of money, THIS IS A GAMING FORUM! Everything we talk about is a waste of time! Everything, whether it's Mario, GTA, Half Life, Halo, Pac-Man, Fifa, Mass Effect, Little Big Planet, COD, Guitar Hero, Pokémon, Bioshock, IT IS ALL A WASTE OF TIME! If you don't like talking about games, then a forum called Gamers Gateway probably isn't for you. Join a forum about putting up shelves or something...

ARGH MAN, it makes me so irrationally angry!

Yesterday (All my troubles seemed so faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar away!) I went for a quick medical examination which consisted of the doctor feeling up my neck. But boy was it a long time coming. I had spent an hour in the waiting room, waiting to be seen! But I was in luck, I had brought my big, fat notepad with me. At the beginning of the day, I had no idea what to do for issue four of Elemental Micah, after that hour, I had written a full plan, with loads of things that I'll cut out and loads of things that still need to be put in. I love it when I have a solid idea of what's going to happen.

And speaking of solid ideas, it seems I should have started putting up Steve & Bob Comics on Fur Affinity a-g-e-s ago and it's starting to get some fans! Two people have already asked me to carry on with the comic and I'm giving it serious consideration.

When I finish Issue Four of EM, I might go back and start chapter 28, "Eingang des Teufels" as it's already been written but might need a re-write, but don't hold your breath... coz... that's... bad for you?

Yes, bad for you.

Until then, sign the Guest Book (http://guestbooks.pathfinder.gr/sign/stevebob)and vote every day (http://www.buzzcomix.net/in.php?cid=12266)! Woo!

Urg, it's only when I re-read this that I've realised that I've forgotten to tell my hospital story. Well, basically, my thoat is healing up nicely. The doctor says that there's still quite a big bruise inside my throat but that's to be expected after such a big surgery. Also, I asked him about my lip as it seems my bottom lip has become lazy on the left hand side. Basically, he said he'd cut a muscle out which isn't usually used by most people and isn't considered vital, but it's only used by a very very few people. Woo! I'm unique! Well, basically, this means I have to do facial exercises everyday to use other muscles to compensate for the missing muscle. It's only visible when I smile, but surely that's the best perk about having a mouth?

On the plus side, Brian Blessed was on Family Guy.

I am most pleased.

I expected it to take longer, but I really did spend all the time I had making this new Newsie Bits Archive work and it does!



The main problem with the old site was that ALL the newsie bits were on the one page. Also, as nice as it is having a simple page, it didn’t have that much character. This time round, I’ve created (for the time being) ELEVEN new pages featuring all of the old articles I wrote since 3rd July 2005! Also, I had to make it colourful, but give it a base background so once you’ve looked at one page, the others would load pretty quickly, so I created a scribble like effect with the background on yellow lined paper.
Even if you don’t read any of the newsies, please do have a look and let me know if there are any technical difficulties with it. If it doesn’t work for you, let me know, but if there’s a problem with spelling or grammar, I just don’t want to know!

I’m not sure what has possessed me, but in case you haven’t noticed, I have uploaded a couple of new Halloween skins for the website.
They include:

Steve the Zombie	Bob the Bat	Shelly and the Swamp	Bearasaurus

ENJOY THEM or you will feel my wrath!

Well, I got one. On Thursday I popped back into Forbidden Planet just to see how the old place was doing and saw one of the managers outside having a crafty ciggy. When she spotted me, we both did the obligatory, exaggerated run and big hug. Then she asks quickly if I wanted to come work for Christmas and I said okay.
Possibly the easiest job I’ve ever had to get.
I left in June for several reasons, mainly because of the whole tumour business but I just wanted to spend time working on Elemental Micah. Over four months later, I’m getting a bit bored of it and need to do something different.
Now I’m thoroughly rested, I’m actually really looking forward to it. True a lot of the people I knew there have left, but it’ll be nice to meet all the new people, as they all seem nice.
Oh yeah, Christmas pocket money won’t go a miss too!
Also, happy belated Hallowe’en everyone! I hope you’ve all enjoyed the Hallowe’en skins I made for the website! Now I have to think of some Christmas ones without making them too twee.
Also, last night I went to a little house party with a lot of friends I’d made at FP and it was so fantastic seeing the old crew again. Andy’s Kracken costume was... was.... well, it was unique!

A lot has happened since my last newsies but I guess the biggie is that I’ve started working in FP again. I started at the beginning of this week and have just been generally moving things about mostly, but the thing I love doing is the shop window.
I LOVE doing stuff like that!
Getting rid of the Heroes window and putting up a wrestling window. Creating a great gifts window and of course, adjusting the new Master Chief costume.
Maybe I should have felt a bit down that everyone walking by didn’t note how awesome my windows were, but were just exclaiming, “LOOK! IT’S HALO!” but it is a pretty nifty outfit. Something you can’t really resist putting on...

2009 will see another year of me going to the UK Mini and Web Comix Thing. Woo! I’ve actually been preparing like crazy while I’ve been off work remodelling some of the Steve & Bob comics to greyscale for issue two. Even though it sounds like I’m selling it, I can’t help it, it just looks so much better in greyscale. Anyone whose read the bears in the sewers story will know what it’s about, but it just adds to the atmosphere to give it that noir touch and just makes it that bit darker.
Also, having got my priorities right at last, when some guys at work asked about my comic, I nabbed one from my bag straight away and showed it to them. Unlike anyone else who has seen it, they didn’t remark on how shiny it was but their curiosity was definitely sparked.
It was also quite fun to see James reading Elemental Micah in the staff room during lunch. He told me loads of things which I think’ll need changing, but it was fantastic to see his reaction to the pivotal part of the story and kindda justifies the double page panel.
I’ve got to admit, I am enjoying being at work now. Before it felt a bit more stressful, but now it feels like I’m wanted there. The fact that I was asked back is wonderful and even when one of the merch boys asked if I could stay on was really sweet.
I think I have acceptance issues. But more important are the S&B issues! (Ah, HA! See what I did there? Honestly, the jokes in the book are going to be waaay better than that...)