170 days

The time has come, I'm going into my FINAL finals week at PSU! Not only that, but I ONLY HAVE TWO WEEKS LEFT IN PORTLAND before I move back to the Tri-Cities in order to save some money. I can't believe that it's all happening so fast, and that it is indeed happening!  I've been putting the time and effort in, and now that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel I am equal parts stoked and scared.

I've lived in Portland for 10 years now, 5 of which I've lived in my cozy little house on Montana Avenue. So moving back home will be an eye opener, but something that I do look forward to. BUT, there's some things in the works that might truncate my stay in the Tri-Cities, and that thing is MARVEL. I only have an interview, but hey, I HAVE AN INTERVIEW WITH MARVEL F*CKING COMICS! It's for a summer internship that will perfectly fill the gap between now and Scotland. I just can't even!

The only downside is, I desperately need to save money for school and that will be hard if I get this internship. I have a lot of pros and cons to weight out, but I trust in my ability to figure shit out and make the best of it. We'll see what happens, but for now I'm just glad to be presented with this opportunity.

Also, my crowdfunding page is still up, link to your right!  I still have a ways to go to reach my goal of $2000, but I do have some donors!  The photo above is one of the snail mail packs I'm sending out that includes: a custom portrait, a woodblock print, a notebook and variety of self-published comics. I can't make Scotland happen without outside support, and please know I do appreciate it and will reward patrons with gifts from the heart.

For now, I must prepare for finals and get ready to host my first ever COMICS WORKSHOP!

174 Days

My final term at PSU is quickly coming to a close. I'm so proud of the work that I put in, and the opportunity to present at my first academic conference at CSUN. Above are pictures from the Comics and Visual Culture Symposium, and I cannot believe the engaging conversations and presentations I encountered! I look forward to more conferences and opportunities to share research with like minded scholars. 

Also, March 22 marks my return to the Tri-Cities. From there, I will be able to save money throughout the summer in order to get my Tier 1 Student Visa, and then off to Scotland! *fingers crossed*

200 Days

Updates! Updates! Read all about it! 

I'm nearly a month into my final term at Portland State University. I've been feeling a little anxious and stretched-thin as I'm working 4 positions, taking 5 classes (20 credits), preparing for conferences and setting up workshops. I enjoy being busy, but it would be nice to have some spare time to work on scholarship applications and preparations for moving home as well as moving to Scotland. 

The good new is that I've been accepted to present a paper at the Comics and Visual Culture Conference at California State University-Northridge. This will not only be my inaugural conference presentation, but also my first time in LA! It takes place February 27, so if you by chance are in the area it would be great to have some support! More information can be found here: http://www.csun.edu/humanities/comics

Also, the PSU Comics Club is up and running!  We've had two meetings so far and a lot of ideas. The wonderful thing is that we've formed a partnership with a university magazine, The Pacific Sentinel, and will have our own section!  It's only 1-2 pages to start, provides a great opportunity for lovers of comics, cartoonists and students in the comics studies program to get their work out there. Our next meeting is February 12th. It's a little bittersweet to be a part of the club knowing that this is my last term at PSU, but it's a great group of people that I am happy to know.

Since I've been looking for opportunities to gain some teaching experience, I figured why not hold a workshop of my own?  It seems right up my alley to just make things happen for myself, as in the past I argued and manipulated instructors to let me write about comics, and instead of waiting around for a workshop to present itself I'll do it myself! The focus of the workshop will be creating DIY 1/4 fold mini-comics that are 8 pages in length. I'll provide a step-by-step look at the process from making a dummy copy, thumbnails to how to scan and print it by utilizing resources on campus. My pal Andrew Paris has agreed to help out with the workshop by providing some insights into digital coloring through freeware, such as GIMP or PIXLR. Another cohort Chris Giles will lend his superb editorial skills to any writer in the group.

So far it's scheduled for March 7th, 5-8 in URBN 225 at Portland State University. I will be using this opportunity to also provide handouts and comics detailing resources for the frugal student, including websites such as ComicBookPaper.com, where to print for free and so forth. I'm very excited to put this together as I have a lot of information to share through my own trials and errors making comics and as a student at PSU.

I'm currently working on scholarship applications as well as my coursework, so I should get back to it! Until next time!

247 days

Crowdfunding is now live: 

GoFundMe Site

Here is an introductory comic to my crowdfunding endeavor. I've listed some early bird rewards while I figure out how to navigate the site and upload more reward tiers. Thanks for checking it out!

(click to enlarge)

256 Days

This video by John Duncan definitely inspires! I can't wait to go adventure in less than a year!

257 Days

I've realized looking over my Wishlistr that I've knocked a lot of my preparation list!

Rain boots
Waterproof Jacket
Bus Pass
Passport
ISIC Card 

What I still need:

Suitcase
Plane Ticket 1 (I'm checking every day!)
Noise cancelling headphones
Polaroid + film

In other news, I've submitted formal analysis papers to several conferences in hopes of bolstering my CV which will hopefully in turn result in some grant/scholarship money. I'm really trying to make it work!

258 Days

Fall term at Portland State is wrapping up nicely, and I'm feeling confidant and excited about my future endeavors. I've been working hard to build momentum to fund my Scotland adventure, and the holiday season has provided an ideal time to reflect on how far I've come and what I've accomplished thus far, which both seems like a lot and nothing at all simultaneously.

As far as classes, I think I owned this term!  I took 5 classes whereas most students only take 3. I guess you could call it double time instead of full-time. Courses include:

          -Comics Theory

          -English History 1066-1660

          -Field Studies: Gorge

          -Chaucer: Canterbury Tales

          -Excursions in Math (blech, math!)

Not only did I enroll in all of these classes, but I took on extra work AND another job! Come finals, I did two comic projects instead of one, helped out cohorts with their work, wrote 20 pages about the Stuart reign and still managed to sleep 8 hours a night. One instructor even stopped me before class last week to congratulate me for the great success I had in her class over the term. I am feeling fantastic, and it's all due to dedication and kick-ass time management.

Work wise, here's the update!  I'm still holding down the fort in the College of Urban and Pubic Affairs lab and library, while still temping in the Dean's office when they need assistance. I've also been enjoying working for the PSU Box Office, where through this position I get to enjoy a flexible schedule AND I get to attend the events I work (Plays, chamber music, opera, recitals...).  I've always complained how I never get to go to the symphony because it is expensive for a student, but now thanks to this job, I do get to go! My research assistant position with Dr. McClanan is also going well. This term I helped her due preliminary research for a Byzantine textiles project that centers around GRYPHONS (griffin, gryfin, so many spellings!). At one point I realized that I was living my childhood dream--being paid to read, write and research mythical beasts. I'm still working down at Sequential Art Gallery on Saturdays, and we've had some killer shows over the past few months, namely the work of Jonathan Case. Give him a Google, you'll love his cartooning style!  For side work, I've been hired for a seasonal position at Amazon, which I've only just finished the orientation for. It should be interesting! Last, but certainly not least, over the holiday break from school I'll be returning to Benton City, Wa to play waitress again with my mom. Nothing like a working vacation! (No, really, it's awesome to go on vacation, hang out with my mom, AND get paid!)

Even with working a variety of jobs, it's still hard for this old girl to save. I still have bills to pay, and things like a suitcase and plane tickets to buy. That's why I've been working on putting together a crowdfunding campaign to help get the nominal amount for my student visa. I've been creating a comic to explain my endeavors, organizing reward tiers and compiling a list of potential sponsors to contact. If all goes to plan, I should be able to launch the site within a month. More details to come!

To wrap it up, I can't believe that it's all coming together. I've gotten my passport, been watching plane ticket prices, signed up for my ISIC card and taking daily Google Earth tours. I've hit my $1000 mark on savings, which puts me ahead of my projected savings (5 jobs do help). Next will be to launch the crowdfunding campaign, work on FAFSA, apply for scholarships and continue to work, work, WORK!