I'm thinking about our veterans today and saying a little prayer for our soldiers overseas.
 

Why do we do this to ourselves?  A bazillion people can pay us a compliment and one insignificant boor can make an insensitive jab and what will our psyche ruminate over all day long?  You betcha.

So-for this week, I'm going to suggest that everyone inflate their egos and tell themselves that they are the best thing since sliced bread.  One hundred percent whole wheat sliced bread...let's go with the good carbs, shall we? 

And what if you really do do something stupid?  Well...then cut yourself some slack.  Tell yourself that nobody's perfect but hell, you're as close as they come.

Happy Monday!  
  

(I actually know what the problem is btw...I need a new video card)

HOWEVER, I'd like to point you in the direction of a short piece written by Anne Hambrock entitled, "Socks".  I love it because I can SO identify with it.  (I'm not sure that last line is grammatically correct but I'm living with the influence of two teenagers)

Click here to read.

'Whatever you give a woman, she will make greater. If you give her sperm, she'll give you a baby.. If you give her a house, she'll give you a home. If you give her groceries, she'll give you a meal. If you give her a smile, she'll give you her heart. She multiplies and enlarges what is given to her. . So, if you give her any crap, be ready to receive a ton of shit.' 

My exhibit of my specially selected Between Friends artwork is now up at the Artway Gallery in Brampton!  (Can you tell I'm excited?)  As the above poster says, I'll be at the Staples Court in Shoppers World on November 14 to give a PowerPoint Presentation, Q & A and a booksigning.  Brampton is about two hours away from where I live so I won't get to see the exhibit until then.

I sent over 200 pieces of art along with a few other bits and pieces.  I selected three story arcs:  the infertility & adoption story, the domestic violence story and the  two-week story line that was inspired by my Newfoundland grandmother's childhood.

In addition to the story arcs, I wrote a little bit of background about the story lines' inspirations and explained a bit about the research that was done.

Also included in the show, are a selection of my favourite humourous strips, both Sundays and dailies.

One thing I neglected to send (hindsight thinking) was an explanation of how I work.  By this I mean, people will see strips as they are before they are sent to my syndicate for distribution.  You'll see spelling mistakes, smudges and overdrawn lines.  You might notice that words in the balloons are not perfectly centered.  Maeve's black hair won't be filled in with ... well, black.  Kim's skin tone (as an African-American woman) will not be screened.

The reason for this is that although I'm still old-school enough (or perhaps I should say a purist?) to draw and ink on bristol, I scan the strips and finish detailing in Photoshop.  It's quicker and easier and more productive.  So, people will be seeing the real deal when they view my original art...warts and all.

When Keith and Janice came to pick up my work, I recall asking if I had compiled enough pieces for them.  Apparently, I sent more than they needed...so in addition to having my work shown in the Artway Gallery, my Sundays have been displayed in their "Fridge Fronts" in the entrance way of Shoppers World. 

If you come out on Saturday, Nov. 14, make sure you say hello! 

The Brampton Guardian wrote a little piece about my upcoming Between Friends exhibit at the Artway Gallery.  You can read it here.

I'm going to be gone for a few days...I'm a little under the weather.  Whatever my son has, I have caught it and he's been away from school since last Friday.

Talk to you soon,

sandra

So what have I been up to?  Well...I did a speaking/Power Point presentation last week for a women's conference in Niagara Falls.  It was the second time I've been asked to speak to this terrific group of high-powered women so I wanted to revamp my presentation to give them something new.  It was a fun, light-hearted presentation with lots of Between Friends cartoons and I really enjoyed the afternoon.

I finished compiling a selection of my Between Friends strips and other various BF bits and pieces for my upcoming exhibit at the Artway Gallery in  Brampton at the end of this month.  I was very pleased to finally meet Keith Moreau (and his lovely wife, Janice) after months of e-mail and telephone communication when they came to my home on Wednesday to collect all my "stuff".

On a non-professional note, my daughter is now swimming with a competitive club and that means mom needs to volunteer to assist the club with fund-raising.  The club is hosting their first invitational meet this weekend so I've been to a training session to learn how to be a "timer".  (I didn't know I could still learn something new at my age ...I'm still not so sure...)  I'll be up at Brock University this Saturday in the wee hours of the morning, drinking caffeine and hoping someone will explain to me what a "plunger" is...

Other than that...I have to get a Sunday finished shortly for a deadline (you may have heard me say this once or twice) and then I'm off to get my hair coloured...I mean cut...and then get a pedicure.  You don't think I'm going to walk around the deck of Brock's pool without pedicured happy feet, do you?  I thought not...

On to work...we'll talk again next week!
 

All you have to do to enter is skip over to her Booklust blog and comment on the Book Giveaway post.  What could be easier? 

Details here...now get going.

The contest ends Thursday, November 5th!

You can read a little introduction about Medicine Hat News' comic page changes here:

http://www.medicinehatnews.com/content/view/144662/65/