Killian's Blog/Website/Whatever

Because I can already feel the anxiety creeping back in, I want to catalogue this NOW: this last Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I felt absolutely proud of my work, absolutely supported absolutely happy. I often share when times are rough, but I want to share good times, too. Last week was a really good week. I have three pieces, plus a bunch of large ink doodles, in a show that opens this coming Wednesday (if you are in the Oxford area, you should come !). I have never shown my art before, let alone put it up for sale. Even if nothing sells, I am so glad that I took a chance and submitted my art for consideration. OAC is run by some amazing people--they really make you feel loved and appreciated. On Friday, I submitted my (hopefully, fingers crossed) last draft of my big essay for school. My advisor is amazing, and she pushed me (continues to push me) to the limit. No slacking here, but it turns out that I like the pressure of Needing To Impress. Why settle with meeting ...

I was reading Lucy Knisley's newest comic today, and when I got to the middle, I started crying. I called Daniel, but his phone was busy. I wanted to share my happiness with someone who gets it, with someone who reads Lucy's comics with my same enthusiasm (D and I read almost all the same comics, so this is easy for us to do). I've been reading her autobio and travel comics for so long, it feels like I know her personally. I am invested in her life like a friend. This is the strange thing that webcomics--which are released with a regularity not afforded to printed mediums--and Twitter can lead to: a feeling of friendship with people who don't know you. It's complicated, but I wouldn't trade the intimacy of Twitter (something I try, myself, to employ because I understand how powerful it can be) for the real-acquaintance reality of Facebook ever. Ever. Sometimes it feels a bit like being in high school, like admiring the Cool Kids from the sidelines*. This se...

Glyn Dillon’s The Nao of Brown (SelfMadeHero, 2012) The Nao of Brown is so close to being good. Dillon’s art is phenomenal. It carries the story. The prose is occasionally stilted, very ellipses-heavy in both dialogue and narration, which draws away from the story more than once. However, that art! --absolutely beautiful. And Dillon’s illustrative skills are no one-trick pony; the story takes place in both the real world (narrated by protagonist, Nao Brown) and in the pages of a fictional Manga series-- Ichi --by a fictional author by a similar name. A comic within a comic: very meta. Both sections are illustrated in separate, distinct styles. Both are beautiful. image from The Guardian's review The exciting part of Nao is that the protagonist has obsessive-compulsive disorder. As far as most people understand, OCD is an excessive hand-washing and organizational problem. It’s disheartening that, even now, most mental disorders are still commonly viewed as on...

Thinking about ethics, thinking about my personal beliefs, thinking about how much I hate anything phony. Thinking about applying for an office job again, thinking about how I might be judged for this (from both sides), thinking about my "image." Thinking about personal brands, thinking about the hard-won pride I have in my personal identity, thinking about how these things could be perceived as counter in a more conservative workplace. Thinking about how I am still out of touch with the culture of this place, thinking about how I want to be involved in the writing/publishing community but have had no luck thus far, thinking about how I wish I could open a comics shop here. Thinking about money, thinking about the tens of thousands of dollars of debt I am accumulating in pursuit of my graduate degree, thinking about priorities. Thinking about how much I love my Masters program, thinking about the love I get from that community, thinking about how much I want to move to Michig...

4am is a really odd time to wake up when you don't have to be anywhere. Part of me is enjoying this weird new sleep cycle I've stumbled into, because mornings are really pretty (especially when it's the start of a sunny summer day) and cool (so very appreciated during this stupid heat wave*) and the birds outside are all jumping around in the grass in the little park outside my front window. It's quite nice. Reminds me of when I had to get up at 6am to catch the 6:45 bus to PSU for the Latin classes that were always before 8am. I liked waiting for the bus at that time. Everything smells fresh and delicious at 6am (which is nearly what time it is now). In keeping with those years of Latin commuting, the downside to leading a double life as an early bird and a night owl is that my brain doesn't really work this early. I feel quasi-motivated to do...something...but that something doesn't ever seem to pop out of my brain. My neck is kind of sore, and I have a cons...

I am going to show my true colors as a cat person here in a minute, and if that offends you, then I don't know why you like me, because I'm an animal freak. Reason #642 that the UK is Different from the USA in Minute But Aggravating Ways: Animal Shelters This country is weird about animals. Depending on where you grew up*, you might find them to be extremely conscientious! There is no rabies here (so says the government), and all of the pet shelters (of which there are VERY FEW**) are insane about who they allow to adopt pets. I'm cool with that. I appreciate responsible pet ownership. They do house visits and all that jazz. Excessive, maybe, but sure, ok, cool. Except that they all seem to require that the cats be allowed outdoors. It's a weird, national trend that is exactly opposite of the general opinion on the west coast of the USA (the language from the Pixie Project  in PDX does a good job encapsulating the West Coast sentiment***). One woman I spoke to ...

I'm back in the UK with my boo and my cat. This makes me happy. Here are some more life updates, with pictures: 1. My tea tastes like band-aids for some reason, and I'm not a super fan image here 2. I finally downloaded Scrivener, and it has improved my outlook on life image here 3. I discovered that, despite having 75 pretty good novel pages behind me, I know absolutely nothing about anything, and that is going to cause some problems unless I figure my crap out ASAP image here 4. It is ten million degrees with 80% humidity (that second part is not an exaggeration) and I am worried that England has drifted into the equator since I was last here image = mine 5. The news is very sad this week, as everybody knows (and if you don't think the news has been sad, and if you think the world is "post-racial"/don't believe in privilege, please read someone else's blog), but people are taking to the streets, and hopefully someone will s...