Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, It's Off To Work I Go

At the beginning of May, I had an inkling that it was going to be my month. Not because of my birthday on the 19th, but because there was a sizeable uptick in Zoom interviews with potential employers. The entertainment industry is healing, and I’m happy to be welcomed back into the fold.

While I had been applying to entertainment studios, publishers, and various streaming platforms, it’s the creative advertising sector that I’ve found myself gravitating back to. Specifically, Leroy & Rose. You’re looking at their new Assets Manager & Copywriter, and I’m absolutely thrilled to be a part of such a talented team. I’m also happy to be working again!

My last job was located in Venice, and this new one is based in Santa Monica. Amanda’s new job is also in Santa Monica (we’re a few blocks away from each other, actually!), so we’re now starting to look for a new apartment to move into nearby. Well, more like “hunt” for a new apartment since I forgot how hectic it can be finding a decent place. After several years of living in North Hollywood, we’re ready to kiss this godforsaken portal to hell goodbye. I feel like the Universe is screwing with us, because the past several weeks have been filled with helicopters circling in the early morning hours, loud domestic arguments on the street, and supped-up shitty cars drag-racing down the street at all hours of the day.

I was up in Northern California for my birthday this year, finally being able to visit fellow-vaccinated family members without feeling unsafe. I got to see my 1-year-old niece Violetta, and man, has she grown since I last saw her! She’s running around, falling down, crying about it, forgetting she just took a head-dive, and is back to the races! It was definitely a highlight of the trip, and I enjoyed being the fun uncle (“Funcle”) for a few days. Amanda and I even had a chance to stop by our alma mater Sonoma State University for a little lunch by the pond. Since everyone already graduated a week earlier, it was a ghost campus, and very peaceful. We enjoyed walking around the old stomping grounds and picking up old issues of the Sonoma State STAR to see what kind of news coverage has been happening since we graduated.

Work starts June 1st, so I’m wrapping-up some things in the meantime. CLUSTERFUX COMIX #2 and FUGU COMIX #1 are ready to go, and should be delivered to me shortly. Keep an eye out on the Comix page for when they’ll be available to purchase. The third issue of CLUSTERFUX is already 85% complete at this point, with the projected release date of November looking very good. I still need to get the cover done, and stop futzing around with sketches. So comic projects are (as of now) on the back-burner, which is fine, because I can still edit on the weekends with ease. Now to start planning the fourth issue, and to see if I should maintain the same format for the next few issues, or switch to a larger size and Kickstart it. I’m still at a crossroads on what to do.

Amanda and I went to the Los Angeles Zoo yesterday to celebrate my last weekend of freedom. She bought me an annual pass for my birthday, and it was my first time attending. It was such a great experience, and not once did we feel unsafe. We avoided any major crowds because we went fairly early, and even inside there was plenty of room to see the different animals and not feel crowded. And people were wearing their masks properly! The two times we visited the San Diego Zoo in the past year, people were horrible about proper mask-wearing etiquette and it left a real sour taste in our mouths. The Los Angeles Zoo on the other hand was a lot more on top of things, and I can’t wait to go back on a free weekend down the line. It sucks that it’s such a lovely gem tucked away in Griffith Park, because had we known how wonderful it was, we would have gotten passes years ago! Oh well, the drive from Santa Monica to Burbank won’t be too bad.

That does it for this update. Another post will be coming within the next week focusing solely on the release of CLUSTERFUX COMIX #2 and FUGU COMIX #1 with links to give me your sweet, sweet monies.

Until then, here’s our Caca Visage McGillicuddy.