And the Best Costume Goes to...

Costumes involved:
1. Two kids - Mario and Luigi (I actually like their costumes)
2. Man - Dracula
3. Lady- The Corpse Bride
4. Ryuk - Grandma

Ryuk is the God of Death from the anime, Death Note.  I already watched the Japanese and American live action versions and I appreciate both of them.  Some hardcore Death Note fans might not like them, particularly the American version, but since I haven't watched the anime series, I had no basis for comparison.

How about you, did you watch (and like) Death Note?  And what is your costume this Halloween?

Of Hobbies and Art

This week I watched a YouTube video titled "Why I quit art".  I honestly can't remember the video too much but what I do remember was one comment.  The commenter said he quit art because the online world is saturated with artists.  That he stopped because nobody appreciates his art thus giving him a conclusion: art is a worthless hobby.

Sometimes I wonder how true that is.

I've read and heard this story too many times: a person does something he or she loves.  Let's say he created a travel vlog or a tech blog.  He liked the topic so much that he just cranked up post after post regarding it.  His followers grew-- from ten, it became a hundred... a thousand... soon more than a hundred thousand.  In interviews and Q&As, whenever he's asked what's the secret to his success, he always say, "I just did things that I want to do.  I never thought my vlog/blog will blow up the way it did.  It was just a hobby!"

BOOM!  A success story right there.

This seems like the most ideal situation.  Things just coming together: you get to create your art and in return build a lot of audience and earn money from it, too.  But I honestly think this happens to less than 1% of the population.  I'm sure there are very well meaning and talented people out there who do not get to build the audience that they want.  Life is like that sometimes, fair or not, it's just reality.

As an "artist", I sometimes wonder what my motivation is for what I am doing-- am I creating art for myself or for others?  The most logical answer is of course I'm doing it for both.  In general, you do it because you enjoy creating it and you want to share it.  But does that mean doing something is nonsensical because nobody or only a small group of people is using or looking at it?  Is a hobby nonsense if you cannot make it big?  Especially now during the information age where vlogs and blogs could be monetized and everybody wants to get their chunk of profits, too.  Should one stop creating because it looks like it is not worth the time and effort?

I'm one of those artists who gets nothing financially out of my art.  Sure, I have ads scattered around but I don't really get money out of it.  I don't have a big audience and my blog is in the obscure part of the internet.  Sometimes there's that feeling that my blog is going nowhere, that I don't get to impact other people and my blog is a failure because it couldn't even finance my watercolors or brushes. But at the same time if I tell myself to stop creating comics tomorrow, I'll feel totally lost.  My comics is part of my routine and of who I am-- what will I do if I don't create them?  I suppose I could do something else like create an online business or hone my skills harder to climb up the corporate ladder but I honestly can't completely wrap my head around those ideas.  Not because they are not worthwhile (they are actually very worthwhile) but because my heart doesn't scream them, or at least not at the moment.

So at the moment, I will continue creating art because I can't imagine doing anything else.  It might not be the most soothing answer but it's one of those things that you do not need to make logic out of.  Art is kind of like love that way, you're just doing it purely because you're drawn to it and you love it, with or without an audience. 

How about you?  What's your thoughts regarding this topic?

Nothing Short of Zen

*Quote is from bookofallquotes.com

Heaven is a Place on Earth

One day, a young girl came to the town fair.  She had no mom or dad or any guardian with her but nobody seemed to care.

She was skipping and skipping as if she was excited.  If people noticed her they would wonder at the radiance she emits.

Soon, a young boy arrived but unlike the young girl, he had a scowl that was as dark as midnight.  However, his eyes lit up as he joined the young girl.

They greeted each other like old friends and soon they were mingling with the crowd.

They tried doing different stuffs like ride the ferris wheel...

... eat ice cream...

... and their personal favorite-- see who shoots the most ducks!

The boy won a teddy bear for the girl as usual.

But soon the sun was setting and the girl had to go home.  She was having so much fun and didn't want to leave but the boy patted her on the back, telling her it was dangerous for her to be out in the dark.

And so the girl donned her wings and halo and waved to the boy saying, "Until next time!"

And when the boy was sure the girl was safe and gone, he waited for the sun to go down (he was a night owl more than anything else afterall), donned his tail and pitchfork and descended back to his home.

-The End-

The Meat and I

One of my favorite characters nowadays is the still-unnamed Baby Swampy.  This comic strip is just too uncomplicated story-wise and creation-wise that I loved it.

Hand Lettering: Different People Take Different Paths

So... which path do you think is better?

Evidence Gathering

Honesty is always the best policy.

The Killer in the Woods

"My classmates told me there's a killer-for-hire in town," Hanna whispered to Jeremy, her best friend, as they traversed through the woods.  "I'm a little jittery walking through the woods because it got me scared."

Jeremy scowled.  "They're just trying to scare you.  We lived here all our lives, surely no assassin will think of staying long here in this rundown town."

"I swear Jer, in school you'll learn all those stuff," Hanna said as they stumbled due to the uneven dirt road.  "They said he's tall and scarred and all those scary things."

"I learn more about the world through home schooling and through working with my dad in the family business," Jeremy said.  "Besides, look at all your classmates.  You're always so nice to them and yet they take advantage and bully you.  What could you possibly learn from these people?"

"Oh Jer, sometimes they just act as kids but I know there's goodness in them," Hannah said, always the voice of reason.  "Anyway, let's just enjoy our afternoon.  We are near the clearing, yes?  It's always a great place to have our picnic.  And I hear the bushes moving... maybe there's a deer who's going to be sharing our food again."  Hannah looked excited.

"We're here Hannah,  " Jeremy said, helping his friend to the clearing.  "I'll just pick up some fruits after we have the blanket set up.  You should be safe here and holler if you need me.  Will be back in a while."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"Hannah is alone," Gary, a tall, brawny boy whispered to his friend Charlie.  In his hand was a baseball bat.  "I thought that boy is going to stay with her all afternoon long.  Now the fun starts."  He looked gleeful.

"Tell me why we're doing this again?" Charlie asked, picking up leaves from his sweater.

"Because she's Miss Goody two shoes, that's why," Gary said vehemently.  "And  because she's pretty and smart and despite her disability, all the teachers love her.  Don't worry about what we're doing.  We'll just scare her and she wouldn't even know it's us.  She'll just think it's that killer-for-hire myth I fed her with this afternoon."  Gary chuckled.  "As if that's even true!"

"This is stupid," Charlie said rolling his eyes.  "And whenever you say scare somebody, I know it will be something bad.  Ok, let's just do this and get outta here before her friend comes back."

The two boys stood from their hiding place when a hand suddenly clamped down on Gary's shoulder.

"Whaat...??" Gary was turning around as a punch threw him right back to the ground.

"What do you think you're doing?" a menacing voice whispered as Gary felt himself being grabbed by his collar.

Charlie tried to get a punch in but the person kicked him right in the stomach.

Gary looked at the tall, scarred person right in front of him.  His heart froze.  There was something scary about the emotionless dark cloud in the stranger's eyes that Charlie felt his life flash before his eyes.  He suddenly remembered that assassin myth everyone was talking about.  Could it be...?

Charlie tried to fight again while Gary stood immobile.  But the stranger was too agile for them and had the movements of a season fighter.  Soon both boys were blooded and lost consciousness.

The scarred person clutched the boys' windpipes and squeezed.  They will not harass any young lady or anyone ever again.

"Jer?" a soft voice called through the person's consciousness.

The person calmed his beating heart, let go of the two boys and looked at the angel-like girl who stood uncertainly behind him.

"I'm here Hannah," he said, standing up.  He wiped his bloodied hands and looked at Hannah's big, sightless eyes. 

"I heard some noise," Hannah said, going to the direction of Jeremy's voice.  "What's going on?"

"Just some wild animals fighting each other," Jeremy explained, taking Hannah's arm.  He knew Hannah's sense of smell was strong and he didn't want her smelling blood.  Jeremy sneered, looking at the boys' beat-up bodies.  They deserved to be punished more and killing was such an easy thing to do.  Jeremy knew because he has killed more people than he could count, along with his father in the "family business".

Normally he'll finish off the two thugs but he knew Hannah wouldn't approve.  For Hannah's sake, he tried to quench the killer instinct inside of him.  He has never been hasty -- their business has always revolved in careful planning and they made sure the killings couldn't be traced back to his family.  He knew he acted out of emotion this afternoon but he wouldn't change a single thing.  Any moron who plans to harm a single hair on Hannah's head deserves his wrath.  Besides, if this was ever traced back to him, he could always say it was self defense.  And he would win because it was the truth.

"Let's go home," Jeremy said as he lead Hannah out of the woods and away from the bodies.  "You're right, maybe it's dangerous out here."

-The End-

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Note: And this is an example of when I want to write something light and fun and it gets turned into a slightly violent flash fic like this.  Happens all the time.  :-S