Bonnie Moves to Twice A Week!

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Bonnie N. Collide, Nine to Five, my sassy little webcomic, is now moving to twice a week!!

Which means instead of being posted every Wednesday, it'll now be posted EVERY TUESDAY AND THURSDAY. Sandwiching Wednesday with comicky goodness, if you will. STARTING NEXT TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18th. Which is kind of crazy, since I'm going to be off to London that Thursday, BUT that's why I switched this here website over to WordPress last month - so I could start scheduling this stuff!

(wish me luck in remembering to DO this twice a week now ... )

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A Comic Con in Baltimore

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I love me a good Comic Con. And although I've only exhibited at Baltimore Comic Con twice now, it's definitely become one of my top faves. I was a little apprehensive this year about my location (across from Stan Lee, kind of hard to compete with that), but the sheer dedication and interest of the fans that come to this show never leaves me disappointed. Women, families - I've never seen a more diverse group of nerds than at Baltimore Comic Con. LOVE IT.

I tried to make my table display a little higher this year but honestly my teeny logo couldn't compete with the giant back walls and banners of everyone else:

The rest of my display was sectioned out into Comics, Prints, and Cuffs.

 

Some highlights from this year:

  • Exhibited next to Howie Noeldechen, whose vaudevillian Sean Connery impersonation of Bane kept me and Dennis going
  • Tiny girl in Batman costume,  complete with tutu (read: not BatGirl, BatMan and arguably pulling it off better than he ever did)
  • Actually, LOTS of girls/women in superhero costumes instead of superheroine ones. Did I miss the creation of this trend? I get it, I'd rather wear Loki's horns than butt floss. And these ladies were rockin' it.
  • 2 nearly naked dudes - Tarzan (GAH  OLD MAN IN LOINCLOTH) and Xerxes (heyyy, not so bad)
  • Learned that NO ONE wants my Sue Storm prints. Poor Invisible Woman.
  • Saw a HUGE guy dressed as Satan from Legend, fake-battling a Ghostbuster in the street for Orioles fans (aka, the reason I love comic cons)
  • As usual, met loads of awesome people who were cool enough to stop by and talk to me.

Here are the sketches I did, for those not following me on the Twitter/Facebook/Tumblr's!

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FINE. ... Fine.

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Awright, awright.  I guess it's time for me to grow up and accept the fact that I'll be on the FODMAPs diet for a while.  I know, I've been a brat since I first heard I have SIBO, and only *kind of* did the whole FODMAPs thing at first. Basically, since I was MOSTLY following the diet, and doing the herbs, I thought it was bullshit that I wasn't feeling better.

(And then threw caution to the wind and grabbed up some cheese and bread and stuffed a lot of it into my face).

Some stuff's happened since. Basically my SIBO is NOT gone, the power of the herbs was useless, and my insides are trying to violently overthrow me. Maybe I'm being dramatic. After I found out my SIBO wasn't only gone but worse, I wasn't sure what to do and limped back to my scattering of ol' FODMAPs recipes and blogs I'd found. Then I lucked upon a Facebook group committed to peeps dealing with FODMAPs and related cray-cray eating plans. Everyone was supportive, friendly, and best of all had stories to share. Immediately I was tld that you can't  do the FODMAPs thing half-assed (to be fair, I was at least doing it three-quarters of an ass). If you do, you'll never figure out if it can help or not. Like one genius poster noted, you've topped off the level of FODMAPs in your body and until you start to make that level decline, you're just adding to the problem. I'm already at a point where it's too easy to make bad things happen, and it's going to take a lot of work to make good things happen. My FODMAPs are at 11.

It's interesting too, to think I was treating this eating plan like a weight loss diet. I figured any effort I put into eating this way was bonus -  as long as I was mostly doing it, it had to be better than my previous habits. Right?? Nah. My gut's not MOSTLY dead, it's all dead.

Anyway. I just wanted to update you guys to my food struggles, and give mad props to the folks out there with specific diet to adhere to. Especially the pioneers in the field! Just like when I meet an older gay man or lesbian or feminist or civil rights activist, I want to shake the hand of the gluten-free fore-fathers: Thanks for all the hard work  you did to make my life easier.

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Which Bonnie Floats Your Boat?

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I'm thinking of putting some original art up for sale of some of my Bonnie N. Collide strips, this weekend at the Baltimore Comic Con but also to be posted in my Etsy Shop after that. Which ones would you guys like to see for sale? Bonnie and Stuart, Bonnie and her coworkers, Herb?? I'd love any/all opinions! :)

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Which Bonnie Floats Your Boat?

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I'm thinking of putting some original art up for sale of some of my Bonnie N. Collide strips, this weekend at the Baltimore Comic Con but also to be posted in my Etsy Shop after that. Which ones would you guys like to see for sale? Bonnie and Stuart, Bonnie and her coworkers, Herb?? I'd love any/all opinions! :)

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Grand Prix All Up in My Biz

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Last weekend the city of Baltimore welcomed a bunch of high-speed cars and their international drivers to careen around the city streets that us city dwellers merely use for gridlock. This is the 2nd year Baltimore has hosted the Grand Prix, which at first I only liked because it brought attention and dollars to the fair city (charm city) in which I live. But since my boyfriend just happens to be a prix fan, or rather a Fan of Fancy Cars That Drive Around But Definitely Not NASCAR, he loaded up on tickets for the weekend and I let him drag me there for one of the days.

Outside events typically aren't my thing. There's something about the combination of aluminum bleachers + burning hot sun with no shade + port-a-potty's that can ruin a good weekend day. This is why, years ago, I dragged my boyfriend away from a Ravens game to go sit somewhere cool and air conditioned before the game was over (he claims we were there only 5 minutes; I claim 10 days). But for the Grand Prix I decided to put on a brave face and suck it up. A brave face and lots of sunscreen, and a hat.

I wasn't sure what to expect. I'd witnessed a bunch of races on TV, but in person I was worried I'd get vertigo trying to track the cars zooming by. Luckily my boyfriend had picked some killer seats, not only high up in a corner with no one in front of us, but also in a spot where we could witness cars careening by one way, then turning around and heading back towards the other. This allowed me time to figure out which car I needed to root for, and I settled on a green Ferrarri.

My boyfriend informed me it wasn't JUST a green Ferrarri, but the Team Patron Ferrari 458 Italia. It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize there was not one, but TWO of them on the track. I had actually chosen this particular green car initially because it had the funniest, loudest PUTT-PUTT-PUTT sound as the driver was down-shifting around the corners (using the flappy-paddle gear box, as the Top Gear boys have taught me to say). So I kept clapping for it, which was pretty stupid since I wasn't the only one wearing earplugs.

Blissfully, after an hour the sun disappeared behind some hazy clouds and the seats weren't nearly as unbearable. I enjoyed myself (after wolfing down a giant pretzel), and it was hard to deny how exciting it was just to hear those cars zooming around, trapped between the concrete barriers like a pack of angry wasps, let alone see them. My boyfriend graciously let us duck out early to meet a friend at a bar with a view of the track, and I was proud for our city to have successfully hosted such an event. It's rare when I experience moments of civic pride, but I do indeed have them. (Also, I'm proud of myself for not being an indoors-only spoilsport as per usual).

Go green car!

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Vampire Saturation

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I've held off on watching True Blood for a while. At first I heard things like "this show is amazing! You gotta watch!" and then it quickly turned to "that show is crap" or "it's just a big dumb soap opera" to eventually "omg you have to watch because the men are so hot". So obviously, I became intrigued. As someone who's been too inundated with images of naked women romping about (Game of Thrones, even though I love you, give it a rest already), I figured it was fine time to get to see a show that celebrated the male form. The NUDE male form. Hence, True Blood.

But even though my initial impulse to watch wasn't necessarily noble, I quickly became interested in the story and fell in love with (most) of the characters. Lafayette, Tara, Sam, Jason, Alcide, Jessica, Eric, Andy, Pam .... just a few who are never predictable and every time you see them they add another notch of complexity. Much like Friday Night Lights, it's easy to pigeonhole these "types" before you get to know them, and then watch as they unfold into ever changing, unpredictable people.

Except for Sookie. Ugh. Can they do something with her, please?

Sure, I could tell on the series when they were throwing in obligatory Maenad sex parties or romps with fairies in the forest in order to boost ratings. Luckily the strength of the actors was enough to keep things interesting and flowing and not cringeworthy when the script suddenly made someone a little TOO over-the-top.

So I just want to thank you, True Blood, for all the seasons I recently binge-watched. As I mention in this post on my other blog, summer is not my favorite time and these cold-cheeked vamps have helped me get through another one.

Oh, and does Pam remind anyone else of Janice?

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Vampire Saturation

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I've held off on watching True Blood for a while. At first I heard things like "this show is amazing! You gotta watch!" and then it quickly turned to "that show is crap" or "it's just a big dumb soap opera" to eventually "omg you have to watch because the men are so hot". So obviously, I became intrigued. As someone who's been too inundated with images of naked women romping about (Game of Thrones, even though I love you, give it a rest already), I figured it was fine time to get to see a show that celebrated the male form. The NUDE male form. Hence, True Blood.

But even though my initial impulse to watch wasn't necessarily noble, I quickly became interested in the story and fell in love with (most) of the characters. Lafayette, Tara, Sam, Jason, Alcide, Jessica, Eric, Andy, Pam .... just a few who are never predictable and every time you see them they add another notch of complexity. Much like Friday Night Lights, it's easy to pigeonhole these "types" before you get to know them, and then watch as they unfold into ever changing, unpredictable people.

Except for Sookie. Ugh. Can they do something with her, please?

Sure, I could tell on the series when they were throwing in obligatory Maenad sex parties or romps with fairies in the forest in order to boost ratings. Luckily the strength of the actors was enough to keep things interesting and flowing and not cringeworthy when the script suddenly made someone a little TOO over-the-top.

So I just want to thank you, True Blood, for all the seasons I recently binge-watched. As I mention in this post on my other blog, summer is not my favorite time and these cold-cheeked vamps have helped me get through another one.

Oh, and does Pam remind anyone else of Janice?

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Me N' Thomas Jefferson - Twinsies

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This past weekend, while traipsing through a few of the 200 magical vineyards that Virginia has to offer, my boyfriend, his sister and brother-in-law, and I all decided to stop by good ol' Monticello and pay homage to Thomas Jefferson's crazy, elaborate mansion. If you've never been to Monticello before, and are also considering stopping by James Madison's Montpelier first, definitely do Montpelier FIRST, because it's a good warm up. If you went to Monticello first, then Montpelier would be kind of a letdown. And then the thing that you'd reminisce over the most was seeing an old guy's car with no e-brake slowly rolling/crashing  into another car in the parking lot.

But Monticello - woooeee is it a lot of fun! So I'm not an expert of historical sites, but one of the best things about Monticello is that it's determinedly unique and quirky. With other homes, it was obvious the owners just wanted to show off and pump a lot of money into the tapestries or the staircase. But Jefferson's singular purpose was to have everything look cool from the outside, and screw everyone who had to inhabit the weirdness of the resulting interior. Gotta love a man with purpose!

One of the ways he managed this was by having giant windows on the first floor, smaller windows on the second floor (that were at floor level to the rooms), and nothing but skylights on the third level. That way everything looked like one big room from the outside. Then he capped this all off with a dome surrounded by windows, which were kind of (but not quite) symmetrical.

Design philosophy like this suits my personality just fine and I'll tell you why. Sometimes things just don't seem to line up properly the way you imagined, no matter how much thought and planning you put into it. So what are you going to do, scrap the whole project? Heavens no! You're going to make slight adjustments to windows, so some of them are still symmetrical but some graciously incorporate the use of a mirror so you won't have to view the awkward roof right outside (which would have totally destroyed the illusion of seamlessness).

And who cares if you're going to have random, creepy rooms created as a result that people don't really have a use for?

One of my favorite inventions/designs that Jefferson envisioned was a giant clock inside his front entryway, complete with weights and big markings for the days of the week going down one side of the wall. The only problem was, he mismeasured and Saturday didn't fit in the room. Did he change his design or scrap the idea? Eff no. He simply drilled a hole in the floor so that Saturday could hang out below and still be included with the rest of the gang. Again - that's problem solving I can get down with. He also had no use for stairs and even though OTHER people in the house might need them, he strived to make them as narrow, steep, and inconvenient as possible to get to. Further proof that he had no problem ignoring the upper levels of his house.

So I definitely recommend visiting Monticello and taking in all the design wonders inside and outside the house that Jefferson envisioned.

 Even though, really, there's no contest for winner of his best invention ever. And that is The Wine Elevator, hidden in his living room fireplace. Aww yeah.

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"Some Kind" of Actress

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This dude in Starbucks today told me I reminded him of "some kind of actress", which left me a bit perplexed. He couldn't remember exactly who, and that was the most information he could give me. Yet he felt compelled to tell me such.

Anytime I'm approached by a stranger, purely for them to compare me to someone else, I get curious. What is this interaction meant to do, for them, and for me? What was it about the way I ordered my tea that made me remind him of an actress? Why an actress? And what on earth kind of an actress? What is he basing this comparison on - do I look more likely to bust out a monologue than the guy in line behind me? I think I have a right to know exactly in which way I'm being judged:

  1. My make-up choice that day
  2. The gracefully forced way I interacted with the Starbucks barista
  3. My Outfit
  4. The flair I demonstrated while dumping sugar in my cup
  5. The obscene show of wealth I displayed by plopping my ten cents of change into the tip jar
Somewhere, buried in those ol' mannerisms of mine ... is an ACTRESS. One that DOES SOMETHING. Y'know, I thought my time spent in seventh grade as Hot Lips Houlihan in our middle school's production of M*A*S*H was long buried in my past, but clearly it's stuck with me. And it's written on my face large enough for anyone to approach me and see.
Does anyone else have trouble with this kind of pronouncements from strangers? It always leaves me feeling a bit embarrassed.

Except, of course, when I'm approached by fellow Gallaghers. We Gallaghers are a strange breed, with the curious habit of seeking one another out, just to ask "Where are you from? Where are your ancestors from in Ireland?" then flash the signature Gallagher teeth n' eyebrows . . .

. . .  and awkwardly wander away. And that I don't mind one bit.

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This Warms the Cuckolds of My Heart

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The cuckolds that yearn for more kick-ass ladies onscreen ... Your dream picks for the female Expendables, courtesy of Jezebel.

Which include ...

Feel free to add your own nominations!

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Femme Con this weekend!

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I have the pleasure of exhibiting at the Femme Conference 2012 this weekend, which is happening right around the corner from my li'l ol' home! The conference actually started today with oodles of panels, but I'll be stuck here tonight working away in prep for tomorrow ...

If you're headed to the conference, stop by and say hi! I'll be in the vendor arena.

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Kick-Ass Women: Tyra Collette

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Nope, not Tyra Banks (though there was a time when I loved me some America's Next Top Model).

Since I've mentioned before that I'm working my way through back issues of popular shows, I'm referring to Tyra Collette from Friday Night Lights. Now, before I say anything, I have to say that I'm only part-way through Season 3, so this is purely based on what's happened to Tyra thus far. There are some spoilers below, though, for those few of you who, like me, are only now just watching this super awesome show.

I count Tyra as one of my Kick-Ass Women for three reasons:

  1. She kicked her mother's abusive boyfriend out of the house - hell, SCARED him out of the house with a fireplace poker
  2. She didn't let a rapist shame her into silence
  3. She channeled her rage into being an awesome hitter on her school's volleyball team

At the beginning of the show, Tyra was depicted as just the trashy ex-girlfriend of Tim Riggins. With some mishaps here and there, she was getting labeled as the "no good girl" that The Taylors didn't want their daughter Julie hanging out with. But when Mrs. Taylor reaches out to Tyra to give her a wake-up call on her schoolwork, we get a window into how effed up Tyra's home life is. Basically, her weak, man-crazy Mom would rather Tyra capitalize on her looks and not aim too high in her academic future. Luckily, even though Tyra loves her mom and only wants to make her happy, she struggles to do something foreign to her and start taking her classes seriously.

Tyra enlists the help of nerdy and loveable Landry as a tutor. They get along well, and she feels more comfortable studying around someone she views as so desperately nerdy that in contrast she'll still remain cool. They plan on meeting up for a study date, and then this is when the shit hits the fan.

Tyra is waiting for Landry in a cafe and strikes up a conversation with a friendly stranger. When Landry's car breaks down and he's late getting to Tyra, she gives up and starts to go home. The stranger pounces on her, drags her into his truck and attempts to rape her. This was such an unexpected and terrifying way for the story to go -- I was worried the show was trying to "pull a Mad Men" and rape (who I viewed to be) one of their strongest female characters.

Luckily Tyra gets away, and Landry arrives to help with the fallout. She's understandably shaken and terrified that the rapist will come back - and she has reason to be worried. In the episodes that follow she's stalked by the guy until he picks his moment and attacks again - while she's waiting outside a convenience store for Landry to get snacks (I'm sorry - who does that when they're worried they're being trailed by a crazy person?? Waits outside alone?). Again Tyra has to fight for her life and does as viciously as she can, and once Landry returns the two fend him off. (And by fend him off, I mean accidentally kill him. I warned of spoilers!)

This episode really shook me, I think because I viewed Tyra as such an intimidating presence. None of the boys in school wanted to mess with her, and she exuded a powerful presence beyond just her height. There are times in my life when I wonder what I'd do in such a situation - it was one of the main reasons why I wrote this comic.  So three cheers to a depiction of a strong female character fighting off her attacker - yay Tyra!

Oh, and as a sidenote - I'm so, so bummed that Adrianne Palicki got her chance to play Wonder Woman ruined by such an awful script. Boo. Can we have someone write WW for TV that wants to make it good? Please?

Past Kick-Ass Women:

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