Going up is all the fun
Too exhausted for words
I'm usually good at putting things together. Give me a large Ikea box, and I can build furniture in less than an hour. The barbecue we bought for the Castle wasn't as easy. A few of the screws they gave us didn't fit in the holes they drilled. I spent many hours trying to make them fit, and then decided to create my own holes. I used too large of a bit, of course, and ended up with bolts holding on the left arm-thingy.
That's my mom (who visited for the weekend) and Julie in the back, watching my frustrations. While I didn't come away with a bandage on my head, I did get a few nasty splinters in my fingers from the deck.
The instruction book was really fun to draw. I need to do more of those.
Seattle, WA | 2007.06.12 | Cast of Horribles | Barbecue, Diary, Julie, Mom
The world changes in a moment
It took me awhile (three months to be exact), but I've arrived at this set of doodles. I drew this after speaking with my mother back in September. She was diagnosed with uterine cancer. She called me in the morning, while I was in the parking lot waiting for my vanpool ride. It was a shock. She had told us earlier that she was going in for tests after unexpected bleeding. I remember telling her that it was probably nothing. When she called, I had forgotten about the tests. That's the type of terrible son I am.
When caught early, uterine cancer is highly treatable. Luckily, my mother was very conscientious and went immediately to the doctor and followed their instuctions. She is doing very well now after a successful surgery.
This is the first of a handful of doodles I drew during this time. There was a lot of waiting in the hospital, and I spent much of this time in Illustrator. Doodling was calming and eased (at least for me) the passing hours while we waited.
Seattle, WA | 2007.12.04 | Cast of Horribles | Earth, Mom, Space
She'll be fine
My mother's surgery went well. I doodled this while in the study near my mother's hospital room. Besides a large television, the study had a seperate room with internet-enabled computers and a large table. While my mother rested during one of my visits, I sat at the table, plugged in my computer, and doodled away.
My Horrible is hiding behind is the symbol of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the hospital where my mother was treated. Sloan Kettering is the leading hospital in NYC for cancer treatment. While my mother went through tests, we saw many other cancer patients from around the world in the waiting room, including many small children.
It was the same hospital that treated my father's cancer back in the 1980s. It was one of the reasons my mother tried to avoid it. In the end, she chose this hospital because it provided the best care.
Seattle, WA | 2007.12.18 | Cast of Horribles | Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Mom
Poulsbo and Dog Park with my Mom
Poulsbo, WA | 2008.06.15 | Photos | Button, Ferry, Mom, Poulsbo, Ziggy
Rosh Hashanah in Brooklyn
Brooklyn, NY | 2008.10.01 | Photos | Brooklyn, David's family, Mom, Rachel, Sarah
"This is what I call self cleaning"
My mother visited this weekend. Besides our fun-filled activities, my mother volunteered to clean our oven.
When we use our oven, it fills the kitchen with smoke. We've tried the self-cleaning function a few times, and it filled the house with poisonous smoke. Julie hates poisonous smoke. I thought there was something wrong with the oven. I imagined that the chimney that sucks the smoke out of the kitchen was broken. I was surprised to learn that ovens are not designed like that.
My mother identified the problem: too much grease at the bottom of the oven. The self-cleaning function clearly does not work well anymore. She took it upon herself to clean it because she's the bestest. This is better than the alternative: call the oven repairman, and have him laugh at me when he identifies the problem: too much grease.
Zoom in on the drawing (click the picture!). I spent way too much time detailing the oven's dials and gauges. Man, I spend hours on these silly details that nobody ever sees. I guess it really is just for me.
Mercer Island, WA | 2009.03.09 | Cast of Horribles | Cleaning, Mom, Oven
Happy Mother's Day
I thought I'd post a quick Mother's day Horrible for my Moms. I love you, Mom!
