Josh News Update: President's Day 2016 Edition

     Just a short update for all my readers out there.  I've been lax on posting lately due to some serious health issues, and after finishing this post I'll be heading off to yet another clinic appointment to see if we can get this crap fixed.

     So the Lady put my picture into that which dog are you thing and got the image I used here.  [ Update: it's what-dog.net ]  She thought it was super hilarious, and it kind of is.  But why she used such an awful picture of me is anyone's guess?  Perhaps to get a funnier result?  I don't know.

     In better news, I've got a Deadpool review post in the work, some really awesome comic reviews, some video reviews in the works, and so on.  Plus a whole series of posts for the Heroes universe, including both games, the ebook tie-in series, and the Reborn miniseries.  It feels good to return to something that I spent so much time with in the early days of this blog.  Granted, most of those posts were poorly formatted, and very rambling, but it's been years of learning since then and I've gotten much better.

     Aside from this, I've got some real work in progress.  I can't talk much about it other than saying there should be a set of short works available by the end of the year.  Yay!

     Hopefully I can get these health problems dealt with so I can get back on track to actually producing plenty of entertainment for you readers.

Josh News: Christmas 2015 & New Years Eve Edition: Butterfly Painting

     It's been a long year, lots of school, lots of work, lots of an internship, some surgery and a whole shit load of writing.  Hopefully I can maintain the output through the coming year for all of you readers out there.

     Here's a Christmas gift I painted for someone, and apologies for the image quality, I hadn't realized how strange it would look on camera due to the glossy coating I put over it.  It looks 20 times better in person.

     In other news this blog passed 300K visits like a week ago when I wasn't looking.  In addition I have a video channel prepared so I can start adding video content early in 2016!  To top that off, I'm going to try a bunch of new things, including potentially adding a fiction thread for stories and comics, some art as I've gotten the itch to create again, and so on.

     To all of you readers, Happy New Years!

Josh News Update: Poetry City, USA

     Just a small update here, today is my last official day as an intern editor for Poetry City, USA. It was a great experience and I got to read a ton of poems and meet a truly ludicrous number of highly talented poets. The finished project, Poetry City, USA Vol 5 will be debuting at the Twin Cities Book Festival.

Looky at the cover pic I took! 

     The day long Twin Cities Book Festival is a free event located at the Minnesota State Fair grounds on October 17th, from 10am to 5pm. I would recommend anyone that enjoys books or writing to swing through.
     Previous volumes are available via Amazon for anyone interested, and I'll update the blog when the new product is available.

     [ UPDATE ] Here is the link to Amazon for Poetry City, Vol. 5.
          (Disclaimer- I do NOT make any money off of this)

     As for my own prose on poetry piece in the journal, my favorite part was cut. It makes sense as the journal can only be so long. It went from 4 pages to 2 pages, and then down to a single page. No worries though, I'll find another use for it. Here is that small clip from what was cut:

     "Some poetry can be experimental, taking strange and new approaches- a Jackson Pollack filling a shotgun and splattering words across a canvas.  Some find form to be the perfect way to go- like Michelangelo carving the image out of a block of marble.  Did he do the same for his poetry?  Chiseling a massive dictionary down, page by page, to just the right words befitting the ideal piece of work it contained within."

     I really liked the imagery, and honestly, it's how I work when writing- as my background is primarily in the visual arts like painting, drawing, and graphic design. It was the only part of my piece I really, really liked, it stayed in from the very first draft all the way up until the last draft. Although, I'm already working on another piece for a small work of my own with this particular chunk so maybe it'll see print one day in a chapbook or something.

     Seriously, there were so many amazing submissions, it would've been great to print them all.

     Official Site [ Poetry City, USA ]  [ Facebook Page ]

Josh News: A Sad & Terrible Morning: One of My Pets Unexpectedly Died Overnight

     This morning I woke up to an awful sight.  My birds were screeching, fluttering, and acting strange and when I went down to find out what happened, Albert was laying face down on the bottom of the cage.  She had died some time in the night.  It was completely unexpected.  No signs, no warnings, no nothing.

Albert on right, Meira on left.

     Albert hadn't been acting weird or anything, and I know that birds tend to hide their illnesses, but this was so abrupt.  Seriously, just yesterday she was doing great.  What a depressing way to wake up.  I've never taken pet deaths well, and this does hurt.  I'm just glad the other 3 birds are all right.
     Poor Meira, Albert's cage mate, is singing a sad soft song, and it makes me feel bad.

     Rest in peace Albert, hopefully you are now with founding Team Peeper Keeper member George off in Bird Heaven.  You will be missed.

RIP, Little Alberta

Josh News Update: June 1st: Birthday 2015 Edition!

     In a typical Josh fashion, I remembered my birthday while at work after being reminded of it by The Lady via Facebook.  Granted I don't keep tabs on much in the way of celebratory days, I spent most of today at the hospital (work).  No big deal.

What the hell happened at 2am?

     Anyways, I saw there was an unusually high spike in traffic on this blog at 2am.  Very odd.

     For some small personal news I've taken the summer off of continuing education and am almost done with an internship.  My backlog of blog posts is absurd, with exactly 780 drafts currently sitting in various states of completion, ranging from mostly done reviews, to small ideas and sketches, to long ramblings.  So hopefully I can crank up the output.  I know I've mentioned before that I'm working on getting some video content to add to the blog so hopefully videos will be available by the end of June.

     Hobby wise, I'm currently horribly addicted to Marvel Heroes 2015, halfway through Ether One on PS4, 3/4ths complete with Dying Light, and am absurdly excited for Marvel's Ant-Man film.  A part of me was disappointed when I found out the Ant-Man Lego set was supposed to be available today (according to "Brickipedia"), and I couldn't find it anywhere around here on my way home.

     Looking back, I was essentially in the same state of life 2 years ago on my Birthday.  I had an enormous backlog of things to do, and I did increase the blog output, but I believe I can do better.  Much, much better.  I am attempting to be more creative and actually get some of my childhood dreams accomplished.  Making comic books and writing small pulp books to be more specific.  I am on the way to having both of them professionally accomplished soon.  So, keeping fingers crossed, I may have some interesting stuff to be available for readers soon.

     Here's the difference in numbers of posts from 2 years ago to today:

Vs. the old numbers: 623/203/420.

     Back to finishing some of that backlog...

Josh News: The Huh? Passes 250K Visits!!!

     I've been extra busy lately, I had school finals, a surgery, a large amount of editorial work as an intern for Poetry City, USA, got married, and I am still working full time at a hospital with wonderful events like this [ Blood Squirt... Not the awesome Valiant Comics one though ] - so I have been a little behind in posting here.  Although I have been drafting like a madman, and have been prepping to start doing video reviews and a bunch of other small goodies to share here on the blog in the coming months.

     So finally breaking the 250K visits mark is a little bit of an achievement for me.  As someone that doesn't consider himself a writer or artist or any such thing, but simply as "just a guy," I think it's a wonderful thing that I've had so many visits in the last couple years, and want to thank all of you readers for that.  Sure, it isn't anything truly special, but for essentially being a nobody, to me it is a small kind of achievement.

     Thank you all again.

Sir Terry Pratchett: Alas, He Has Walked Through That Door

     The wonderful creator and writer of the immeasurably beloved Discworld books has passed through death's doorway.  Sir Terry Pratchett's works have been a joy for millions, and hopefully will stand against time to change and brighten the lives of million more for generations.  After 8 years of Alzheimers, he has moved on at the young age of 66.  As sad as I am, the announcement tweets were a nice bit of humor in his patented style in this dark time.  His work has made my life better, and I'll continue to buy his books and give them out as packets of happiness for others.

Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night.
— Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015

The End.
— Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015

Knight Models' Batman Miniatures Tournament (Roseville, MN)

     I've been recently playing this new Batman Miniatures game with a friend of mine, and we are lucky enough to be near an official tournament.

Official Knight Models Batman Miniature Game Tournament 
     (Organised by Adam Russell Reeves)

The game play will be the standard 350 points and ($1500 in game).

Date & Time: May 24th from 11am - 6pm

Location:
     Fantasy Flight Games
     1995 County Road B2 W
     Roseville, MN 55113

For more info email:  Batman.tournament@gmail.com

     Due to work and internship reasons I can only appear for the last half of it- so I'll be playing a short game with whoever I can, and not as part of the tournament itself.  This is a very fun game, and I will try to get plenty more matches in over the next couple months to be good enough to play with a group.
     Initially I was planning to play as the League of Shadows, but I can't seem to find any of the Ra's al Ghul 4 packs, so I went with the Joker crew, Elite Clowns, The Riddler, and my personal favorite Mr. Freeze.  Not the best team, but it makes for some interesting play.

Josh News: Bolt Action at The Source Comics & Games: Day 2

     This'll be the second Sunday in a row a few of us got together at The Source for some good World War 2 Bolt Action tabletop gaming.  I think this week went much better as we had much more stuff breaking up combat and forcing movement for progression.
     The next time we have all four of us, we'll actually have the Russian army in addition to the current German and American groups, as well as the added zombie element for some chaotic interference for all players- it'll be adapted for the Bolt Action game so we can see how it goes just for fun.

     Here are some pics for those interested.

Josh News: Fuck the Chikin Nugget

     Today's installment of Josh News is brought to you by a co-workers ingenious child.  They apparently REALLY hate chicken nuggets- particularly McDonald's Mc-nuggets.  The picture on the back shows where they ate.  It also shows what might be an apatosaurus or some similar creature.

     How can kids be so brilliant and hilarious?!?  I wish I could be even half as awesome as this.

Josh News: Playing "Bolt Action" at The Source Comics & Games

     Today a few buddies and I got together for a small round of the tabletop World War 2 game Bolt Action.  The terrain in these pics was all assembled with things found at The Source, while all the figures were painted, assembled, and the bases made by my friend Dan.

     I took some pics of the game, apologies for the quality, as I was in a rush.

     Over the last 9 months or so I've been working on a horror-survival iteration of Bolt Action using zombies and skeletons.  The basis of the future version would be a "Dungeon Master-like" party would act as an in-between with things rising from the dead.  I haven't gotten all the specifics down yet- but essentially the zombies are weak as hell, but are able to take monstrous amounts of damage in an attempt to feed on or overrun soldiers on both sides.  Only head-shots kill them, and a single bite causes a soldier to change into a zombie over a few turns.  So far, I've got a ton of small rules worked out and we may be attempting this in like 6 months once it's set down properly.

Josh News: WTF?!? Edition.

     So I put up a post yesterday about the Nickelodeon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and this was a comment that was left on it.

     Seriously!?!?  This is ridiculous.  Sure, I support their ability to say it, but please not on something meant for TMNT fans or kids.  So in response I will be deleting it, as it is probably just spam.  My apologies "anonymous" but this isn't the place for that.

     I am about equality regardless of a person's gender, race, or even just a crappy personality.  Everyone deserves the same rights and respect.

Josh News: Sociological Images Featured a Picture I Took!

     This morning The Lady informed me a picture I took of her was put up on Sociological Images.  It's about the ridiculous differences in men and women's Halloween costumes.  In fact, I was disappointed that I couldn't find Sexy Duck Dynasty Beard to go as this year.  I suppose I'll settle for something in Star Trek, maybe my old favorite Dr. McCoy... *Grumble grumble* ...doctor...   ... not an escalator...

     Source [ TheSocietyPages.org ]

Josh News Update: Holidays, Horrible Sickness, and the Wasp-ocalypse!

Worst News First

     First off, to any frequent readers, I would like to apologize for my relatively lengthy absence.  It was a myriad of things all coming down at once.  I had a Family Emergency with some very serious consequences as a result, then I had an abnormally large amount of homework that same week.

      Following that I came down with a particularly nasty virus that knocked me out of school and work and right into some hospital care- out for roughly an entire week.  Oof.  It was no good at all, to the point of losing a whopping 10 lbs. in a mere 4 days  For my slight build, that's a problem.
     Anyways, I'm on the tail end of that and on the mend.  Still feel like crap, but I am now up and about, so that is some sweet optimistic news for me.  As I should be back to regular posting soon.  And I may even start putting up video reviews finally.

#IndigenousPeoplesDay

     On to some good news, I'm really appreciative of the fact that Minneapolis, of which I live in the suburbs of, has changed Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day!  That is an awesome start for some serious work towards helping the Native American/American Indian Movement.  I've been in an American Indian Lit class, covering a wide range of subjects from, thankfully, their point of view.  Getting some history from their side is both refreshing and horrifying at their poor treatment over the years, and having Columbus Day is one extra kick in the junk on top of a bad situation.  So thank you Minneapolis, I hope this trend continues.

#GamerGate

     Then we've got the highly volatile #GamerGate going on.  If you are a follower of this blog, I'll be putting up a post devoted to this singular topic most likely in the next couple days.  I've been involved in it on the periphery since it began, and it isn't what the mass media is making it out to be.  It is not a hate campaign, if you make a nice look through my twitter feed, you'll see plenty of evidence that it is not about hate or misogyny.  Please keep the comments peaceful. 

On to Wasp-ocalypse!

     Lastly.  This is possibly the most disgusting thing I've had to do in recent months.  A while ago, a roommate had heard some stuff in the ceiling of his room,  After some investigating we found there were wasps moving in.  Those freeloaders!  Or would they be "Beeloaders!?!"  I know I'm lame.  Whatever.
     Because the dropping temperatures of fall season, they were moving in at an alarming rate and flooding the house.  Hundreds of them a day.  Two weeks ago, we had a pest control come out and spray them.  Then a week ago, we did another spray ourselves, and then last night we (roommate and I) tackled the hive nest removal.  It turned out to be a much larger situation than we had originally anticipated it to be.  So here's are a couple disgusting pic I got.  To give you an idea of the size it turned out to be enough stuff to fill a 13 gallon garbage bag.  An added problem was the fact that at least a couple hundred of the things were still alive.  Sluggish, but still alive, so we bagged them and tossed them out.  The animal lover in me feels bad about it, but these things are dangerous to have in this quantity in my house.


     On a good note the Bumble Bee nest way over behind my shed is untouched and will remain as such.  They are always pleasant and offer a ton of entertainment for me to watch them fly around like happy drunkards.  Their big, fat, and round bodies continuously bumping into everything and swinging in funny circles.  Plus with all the honey bee deaths there is quite a plight for them, I would very much like to keep them alive for more than their honey.  They are nice company to have around.

Free Comic Giveaway! The Little Grey Splot and Over the Wall: Drawing Contest

     After Nicholas Straight's The Little Grey Splot debuted this weekend at SPX I have the wonderful privilege to have a small contest giving away 10 copies of his book.  I thought quite a while on what I was going to do and this is what I came up with.

     Contest Rules:

     Much like the interactive nature of the book I want people to make a splotch of any color you choose and then turn it into a small comic.  Turn one splotch into one comic.  Whatever you want. 

      So if you wanted you could make a blue splotch and turn it into an octopus that lost it's bubble gum dispenser.  You could make a yellow splotch and turn it into a star going on vacation.  Anything you want.  Use the above picture from the book as a rough guide, or the example below.

     Because I have no idea who is participating I would recommend children doing this as it is technically a children's book, but anyone of any age may enter.  Please keep it family friendly.  I ask that participants be fair, you may enter as many times as you like but may only win one prize.  Once your comic has been finished email the image to (joshuabarsody(at)gmail(dot)com) and then I along with Nick Straight, and if we can get him with Peter Wartman, will judge the comics.  All entries will be posted on this blog a week after the contest ends.  All entries must be in by Friday October 3 at midnight that night.  Be sure to include your name, email, and shipping address in case you win.

      There will be 9 winners of a copy of The Little Grey Splot, and the Grand Prize winner will receive 1 copy of The Little Grey Splot and 1 copy of Over the Wall.   

     If I finagle a bit and we get enough entries I might be able to get them to put personalized autographs on the books as well.

Josh News: SPX Weekend Giveaway: Free Comics Contest

     This weekend, September 13 and 14th, is the Small Press Expo in North Bethesda, MD.  In celebration two of my friends are going to be there, the highly talented Nicholas Straight, and the also extraordinarily talented Peter Wartman.

     In an effort to promote both them and the independent comic arts SPX I will be running a giveaway of 10 of Nick's book The Little Grey Splot, and 1 of Peter's book Over the Wall.  What this contest will entail I haven't finalized yet.  Return to this blog to see what we'll decide- if any of you readers have ideas post them in the comments!

I'll debuting my children's activity book 'The Little Grey Splot' at SPX this weekend! I'll be at table K5! #spx2014 pic.twitter.com/8ZwmxkhG1r

— Nicholas A. Straight (@NickStraight) September 9, 2014

Check it out I did one of them map things #spx pic.twitter.com/hPGIc4c6vk

— Peter Wartman (@Peter_Wartman) September 10, 2014

     I would recommend supporting the small press arts at the official site [ SPX ]

Josh News Update! Labor Day 2014 Edition

This is my gross face.

     It's been a busy summer.  Sadly I haven't gotten to as much as I'd like.  Hell, I've hardly gotten to see any of my friends all summer due to school and work.

     On the good side, I'm already back in school, worked all day, and still have a ton of drafts on deck for posting to any readers that might be out there.  Plus I've been plowing through games, movies, and comics to review.

     I've been struggling to keep the right output I shot for up because I get hung up on school assignments.  Working over 40 hours a week tends to kill that nice momentum built up as well and on top of that I've been getting a ton of absolutely necessary work on my house done.

      Currently I'm looking into new windows and siding which is definitely going to put a huge dent in my future economic situation, but they really, really need to be changed- there's wood rotting, a shattered glass door, and a couple birds living in one wall.  These are issues that need attention stat!

     It is kind of tough sometimes, but I'm managing to keep a somewhat decent pace of a few posts a week.  Which was my original goal for school time.

     At this rate I might someday be a real live journalist!

     Or not.

     Whatever.

Josh News Update: 07.20.2014 Edition

     Well, I went and did it.  By "it" I mean I took some time away from the absurd amount of homework I've been chipping away at, and actually rounded up some writing samples, put them together with a decent cover letter and a resume, and applied for Game Informer Magazine's recently opened Associate Editor position.

Here's me with my two co-writers.

    In all honesty I think my biggest selling points are my unrivaled determination to continue writing about gaming culture and creativity... and maybe my location.  Being somewhat local, I understand our state's need to dig our way out of our homes and into our jobs through 6 feet of snow for 9 months a year.  (Yay Minnesota!)

     For submissions I tried to be varied, and the only things that can't be found on my blog were the Twitter contest items- I actually had to use TwimeMachine to root these out of my account- so here you go:

     Dark Horse Comics' Mass Effect Twitter Contest Entries (Won): (Feb 14th, 2012)

My scans of your galaxy show you have an abundance of Eezo in all the right places. #ME3PickupLine  

Want to help me Unlock my Paramour Achievement? #ME3PickupLine  

I'm going to *Probe Away* until I find all of your Element Zero. #ME3PickupLine 

Like Legion, you're a million-in-one. #ME3PickupLine 

Of course we can, but it only took me a single Grunt to lay low Tuchanka's Thresher Maw. #youprobablyheard #impressive #ME3PickupLine  

I intend a whole night of huggin and Klixen on Tuchanka. #ME3PickupLine 

Wanna get Wrex'd in EDI's cockpit? #ME3PickupLine 

"Cant talk now, I'm Mordin you can handle"- Mordin *winks* #ME3PickupLine 

You Effect my Mass more than Miranda's sassy tight pantsed biotics! #ME3PickupLine 

      Mass Effect Twitter Haiku Contest Entries: (Feb 16th, 2012)

Scattering Reapers, Shepard's team unstoppable, Normandy rages #haiku @masseffect 

Enemies abound, Fortunately for the Earth, Shepard never fails #haiku @masseffect 

Reaper's arrival, In Earth's imminent demise, Shepard presses on #haiku @masseffect 

Space hamster saves all, a tiny hero rises, beyond his glass cage! #haiku #masseffect3 #spoilers 

     Nothing breathtaking of course, just a bit to show how I can think outside the space-box.  It also helps that I've drastically improved my writing quality since starting this blog in 2008.  Seriously, it's hard to maintain output when I have a more-than-full-time job in Health Care and have been going to school full-time as well.

     I'm sure they'll get a thousand better submissions, but none as persistent as myself.  I'll be continuing here and my other sites as long as I can- I'll be doing this whether I get a job there or not.  Just they're consideration would be unbelievably appreciated.  I mean c'mon- it's friggin' Game Informer!!!

     Good luck to all the other applicants, especially my buddy Jim, as his dedication and love for games is easily as great as mine, if not greater (his FPS skill certainly is!)- and he is well deserving of a life-changing job like this.  I'm not even going to lie, his writing skill is much better than mine also.  I may take him in creativity department, but his raw writing skill far surpasses anything I could offer- so keep an eye out for him, he'll be great even if he doesn't get this job.

Mister Hide Leather: Great Products

     It's been a while since I blog pimped some friends- and it's due time.

     One of my buddies has been into serious leather working for the last couple years and creates custom leather products.  He is open to making a variety of products and his works speak for themselves.  I would highly recommend checking them out at the links below.  My personal favorite item is the Blue Key Fob with silver Celtic Knot pictured to the right.  

     To check out his Official blog page [ Mister Hide ]

     His Facebook page [ Mister Hide ]

    Or to see some of his stuff without the hassle of a few extra clicks see below.

Butterfly Bracelet

Tobacco Pouch

Abstract Wide Watchband

     As you can see he's got some excellent talent and is on the lookout for new and interesting projects to make for people.  Bracelets, belts, key fobs, wallets, purses, bags, holsters, sheaths, or pretty much any leather project you might want, he'll find a way to make it.  Don't hesitate to ask for something- ask or check for what you may like.

A Merry-ish Christmas for 2013

Yep, that's my ugly mug on the job.

     Once again we've arrived at Christmas Day 2013.  Another decent year despite numerous life setbacks.  It's a time I like to equate with visiting family at gatherings I haven't been able to attend for years due to working in the medical field.  A time of reflection on the wonderful things we have, and that's not including material gifts.  It's about goodwill and common decency.
     And maybe watching movies like Scrooged, Gremlins, and A Christmas Story.  It's about enjoying the old Rankin-Bass claymation specials- Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  It's about being good for goodness' sake.  It's to be a child in heart, and an adult in deed.

     This year however, something was off.  No loss of family or anything  Nothing I could place a finger on.  Just an aura of stress.  Recently I've been having a ton of anxiety over the return to school- I finished a degree earlier this year and will be returning to further my education, but because of my specific circumstances, I'm needing appealing a bunch of things to make the transfer to another school feasible.  Unfortunately, it's a bad time for that, as everyone was preparing for the holidays.  Such being the case, all the classes I wanted to sign up for a month ago are now full, and the remaining class choices are slim indeed.
     All the stories I wanted to write, I never finished.  The comics and art I wished to make, also never completed.  There was always "work" to do, and excuses to be made.  This year I think I'm going to say screw it and follow my dreams of actually finishing my projects regardless of the endless obstacles.  Hell, I might even begin a Kickstarter Project so I can finish a book I started to write in high school about Mars.  At least it's a way to foster the creative drive I want to fulfill in a tough economic time.

     Then to add just a bit more to my plate, every year I try to make Christmas/Holiday cards entirely by hand.  (Here's a link to a some)  I personally prefer receiving things people make, don't get me wrong here, I'm highly appreciative of ANY gifts I receive, it's just that in these days I fully understand many others struggle to provide even small presents.  Even if it's a childish crayon picture I still enjoy them.

     This year however, I was way off my game, and despite having 50+ ideas, I just couldn't seem to get any of them to look right.  None of the watercolors looked OK.  None of the drawings or sketches worked how I wanted them to.  I even had a problem with a tube of oil paint somehow mixed in with all my gouaches- so when I went to use it, I ruined the picture.  Man, this year I feel like an absolute failure in the creativity area.  It's like all the talent and ability I had abandoned me for the holidays.  (The pic to the right is one of my work spaces and a load of supplies.)

     The only card I "finished" was a joke card.  I colored Gustave Dore's Nativity scene and made a joke comment about Jesus being clearly not Joseph's.

     So all I have thus far is a sketchbook of a hundred ideas, and a folder on my computer with 30 partially finished cards.  Last year I had a slew of Scratch-&-Sniff cards worked out with candy cane, gingerbread, and Christmas Tree scents, but the print shop screwed me on cost- so that was set aside, and this year I couldn't find a new printer.  This year I also had a couple lenticular cards based on ideas from 2007, but only recently found a print shop I can afford, so these will have to wait until next year as well.  Same goes with my "Elegant Snowflake" card, which is a watermarked snowflake design on a small card with only (Hold up to light.) showing in black ink, so when you hold it up, the card appears.

     Anyway, sorry to be a downer, I just wanted to share the fact I burned myself up completely this year- both artistically, and at the job, until I was dead tired.  I feel like I haven't done well enough for family and friends.  Today in particular I helped a lonely person feel welcome, made a patient with a nasty hip fracture laugh, promised another I wouldn't send them to nursing home for their present, and helped some visitors smuggle in a bunch of Christmas contraband.  Not much mind you, but it's the least I could do to spread at least a little bit of Christmas joy.  What I'm trying to get across here is that it just doesn't feel like I've done anything, like I haven't contributed properly, and want people to know I tried.

     Merry Christmas good readers.