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Be There or Be Square!

by Jules on February 20, 2013 at 3:16 pm
Posted In: News

I’ve been meaning to do an announcement about this year’s convention appearances, and once again time has gotten away from me. The Sarnia Pop Culture Show is nearly upon us! This Sunday, February 24, 2013, 10 AM – 6PM at the Holiday Inn, Sarnia (1498 Venetian Blvd, Point Edward, Ontario).

This is an extra-exciting show for a couple of reasons. The first being that it’s sponsored by Future Pastimes, my home-shop for comics, (followed closely by The Silver Snail), it’s organised by some good friends of mine who have been working their butts off to make it great, it’s my first show of the year, and lastly, it’s the first event of it’s kind in Sarnia!

So, I’ll be there with yoga prints and signing and sketching-up copies of Starting Tomorrow. If you’re planning on attending and wanted a special commission, print or piece of original artwork, drop me an email and I’ll do my best to have it ready for you at the show.

I still have a bit of planning to do, but so far, I’m also exhibiting at Toronto Comicon in March and Vancouver Fan Expo in April.  In May, I will be making my first appearance at TCAF where the new Promises Promises collection, Starting Monday will debut!

Ta-Daaaaaaa!

I’m at a bit of a loss for words to describe how excited I am about that. TCAF is an amazing show and (obviously), I’m looking forward to showing off the new book. It won’t be available in the Promises Shop until Monday, May 13th, so I hope to see you there!

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Toronto Tea Festival

by Jules on February 5, 2013 at 2:06 pm
Posted In: News

http://17und.tumblr.com/

Made the trek up to Toronto last Saturday to check out the Tea Festival with my friend, Victoria. I was hoping to do a big long post on the health benefits of tea, (which I’ve been meaning to do for a while), but thanks to Old Man Winter, we got there much later than I’d hoped, and I missed the Tea & Health lecture.

Bummer, but fortunately, Karla posted this handy reference (on the right), to tumblr, that pretty much sums it up…I’ll have to take her word on the cat one.

It was a good show. I can see it getting exponentially bigger every year. (Tea drinkers are a remarkably dedicated lot.) In addition to an incredible variety of tea for sale, they had cultural events, lectures, tea ceremony demonstrations and samples everywhere. (I’d bet the washrooms at the reference library rarely see that much traffic.)

It was pretty crowded so I only took a handful of photos and they don’t really do it justice. I’m already looking forward to next year.

Correction, (09/02/2013):
I got an email today clairifying a mistake I had made. The instrument in the photo above, is a Chinese Guzheng, not a Japanese Koto. Also, the costume Sunshine was wearing is a traditional Chinese costume called Hanfu.

Many apologies for the misunderstanding and thanks for letting me know.

~Jules

 

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The New Guy

by Jules on February 1, 2013 at 12:43 pm
Posted In: News

lance4Introducing the newest edition, and first official dude of the Promises Promises cast, Lance LaChance! Oddly enough, he’s the only one with a surname, to date.

Lance also has the distinction of being the only character who’s design is not based directly on anyone I know. (Although, there are some similarities to my brother and that guy I married. Mostly in his height, hairline and jaw.) Consequently, I’ve been struggling with his design for ages. It felt like everything I did was way overboard, forced or stereotypical (IE. every guy I’ve drawn in every strip since the gym went co-ed), and I’d like him to be more than a spider-squashing, pickle jar opener.

I like him, he’s a nice, middle-of-the-road guy who brings another warm palette to the colour scheme. (I mean that artistically and multi-culturally. Not that it matters much in a black and white strip.) He’d be really easy to put into weight-training roles, but I think he digs Zumba too.

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Wit and Wisdom From The Baroness

by Jules on January 11, 2013 at 12:01 am
Posted In: News

The Baroness Knows Best is now on Tumblr!

I’ve moved a few of the questions from the original formspring account to get the ball rolling. She does tend to favour questions of social behaviour and etiquette but feel free to ask her anything you like.

The best questions and answers will be featured in the next book of Promises Promises comics!

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Resolutions and Restitutions

by Jules on January 9, 2013 at 5:50 pm
Posted In: News

Happy 2013, Everybody!

I’ve been putting off my new year’s resolutions post, (the irony of which isn’t lost on me). I was hoping to come up with some lofty goals and serious issues to correct, but the truth is, last year was really good to me. So, for a change, I’d like to talk a bit about what worked.

2012 was all about making a serious effort to change my thinking. In years past, I’ve been up and down on every diet and exercise program you can imagine. Some successful, some not so much but the thing they all had in common was the amount of unhealthy expectation and self-loathing that came along for the ride.

For example, journaling is a great way to keep yourself accountable, but I’m probably the worst cheater you’ve ever met. I found I was using it to figure out ways to squeeze in every last treat I could and I was eating when I didn’t really want to just because I still had calories left. If, (ok, when) I overdid it, I’d beat myself up about my big failure and toss out the whole week as ruined.

So the question became, do I deserve junk food or do I deserve to feel good? As self-indulgent as that sounds, it worked for me. I know the diets, I know what a reasonable portion should look like, I know how much water I and exercise I need, I know that when I slow down and pay attention, the body will tell me what it wants. Why was I making it so hard to make smarter choices? When I was starting to go overboard or looking for ways to ditch my workout, my inner Baroness would pipe up and tell me I deserved better.

That said, I’m not knocking the other programs. If journaling is what works for you, by all means, do it! But when you’re as frustrated as I was after a long and honest effort, it’s time for a change.

I don’t have any big weight loss numbers to report, I’m down a little bit, but more importantly, I didn’t bounce back up, even once, last year and I feel great. I tried a lot of new food, a lot of new exercise classes and for the first time in ages, I’m not dodging mirrors or choosing clothing based on what’s easiest to hide behind. It’s amazing what can happen when you stop treating your body like a dumpster.

Yeah, there are things I’ll do differently in the future. After all, who doesn’t have a little room for self improvement? But for now, eating clean, exercising often, feeling good and liking myself are bigger priorities than squashing into some unattainable notion of how I should look.

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