Thursday, April 29, 2010

What More Can I Give?

It's the end of the semester, and I have various responsibilities taking a toll on my time. But in the meantime, how about taking a poll on my blog? I only wish to serve you better, without compromising my integrity.

If you're new to Bibliowhining, consider reviewing some of my posts before taking the survey.

This survey is in two parts, each part containing 10 questions. The whole shebang will take 5 minutes or less. Please give serious answers. Sorry to break the survey up like this, but I opted to do this rather than pay for a deluxe account on Survey Monkey. I would love for you to take both surveys, but feel free to answer as few or as many questions as you'd like, depending on your time budget.

The Bibliowhining Poll Part 1
The Bibliowhining Poll Part 2

Every response counts! Remember the equation for an effective, low-error-margin survey:
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Friday, April 23, 2010

Carousel

And the seasons they go 'round and 'round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game
-Joni Mitchell


Remember the good old days? When people left comments on my blog posts? Anyway, in honor of the good old days, here's a comic about the future: "A World Without Surprises".






"A World Without Surprises" (c) 2010, Christina Spallone


More of my ramblings under the cut.

As I was writing the script for this comic (I write out a script first -- just the dialogue. It's very helpful), I noticed the common themes between this storyline and that of a couple Twilight Zone episodes, notably the one where the young girl doesn't want to get a transformation to look like all the other girls, the one where the gambler goes to hell and keeps winning, and the one where a bandaged lady is told that she's ugly and is later revealed to be a woman with movie-star looks in a world of monstrous beasts with a different standard of beauty.

I think I would have come up with this storyline even if I hadn't been a Twilight Zone fan, but who knows. And if I am ripping off the Twilight Zone, I mean, who hasn't? It's awesome, and at least I gave the themes a refresher for the new millenium +10.

I remember reading an R.L Stein Goosebumps book, Say Cheese...And Die! I believe was the title... It basically ripped off an entire episode about a camera that took pictures of horrible things that would happen in the future. Or was it an episode of Are You Afraid of the Dark? that did this? Or both?

After a while, dystophile.
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Wednesday, April 14, 2010

2000 Watts

I take story requests, and if inspiration hits , I honor them. Someone wanted me to write a comic about my life. My life isn't that interesting to talk about right now, which isn't a bad thing. I'm just really relaxed and in my normal, quiet zen state that some people mistake for being blase and/or unsatisfied with the status quo. If I was overly bothered by these stereotypes, I could easily create some kind of smokescreen to avoid them; for example, I could shriek and carry on and grind up against strangers at the dance club while wearing a form-fitting ensemble. This isn't necessary, though; I'm usually pretty content and peaceful. But my life hits a snag once in a while, as does everyone's, and this comic is about those snags that slow down my days sometimes. I try to be no emo, so enjoy the hyperbole!



So...why do I draw myself as a pig? I don't have some kind of body dysmorphic disorder that makes me see a pig's face in the mirror instead of my own, human face. In fact, there are a couple self portraits further back in this blog.

I used to draw myself into comics, but my face is so complicated, and I'm always making these weird expressions that are difficult to draw from panel to panel. I'm trying to make my characters have a consistent, recognizable look throughout a story; something I've struggled with in the past...if I drew myself with a more simplified look, like Veronica Lodge for example, I'd feel like I was being vain or deceptive. So...(oh this is so embarrassing) I guess ever since reading Lord of the Flies and identifying strongly with the Simon character, I've been drawn to pigs as a sort of spirit animal.

There. Now you've learned more about me than you could have ever hoped to.

Tune in next week for this awesome dystopian future tale I'm working on called "A World Without Surprises". It's a satire on all the new technology that keeps coming out, and how it increasingly isolates us from each other, though it intends to make us more connected. The script is done, and it's one of the best things I've written so far...I've drawn up some new, plausible inventions and laws...it's going to be really cool, so look forward to it soon! Same bat blog, undetermined bat time.
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