Six Chix: The Comic Strip

Hi Everyone, I’m back with the final reveal for the Win Original Art Contest.
But first I want to thank all of you who sent a guess, educated or random. You made it fun!
And now, [drum roll, please] the Six Chix cartoon.

Congratulations, Kassie!!!
Kassie was the first person to respond and later wrote, amid other guesses, “and because I love him, Jeremy Irons.” So it’s doubly fitting that this prize should go to a fan. Check out her cool blog and cartoons at
IBrakeforDelphiniums@blogspot.com

I’ll be emailing you, Kassie, so please keep an eye out as I may well land in your BULK/SPAM box.

Hello. This is a vacation painting from something I saw out the window on the highway. It didn’t really look exactly like a mermaid, but there was a combination of cirrus (look like strands of hair) and cirrocumulus (look like fish scales). And yes, I did have to look up those cloud terms in my son’s science book.

I woke up before dawn last Saturday and as I was filling Mr. Coffee [I have my
priorities!] I saw moonlight through my kitchen window. While the coffeemaker sighed and gurgled I went out my back door to look at the August moon. Dawn was fast approaching and the sky was a soft shade of ultra-marine, paler yet near the lowering full moon. The air was sharply cool and still, but from high in the sky came a constant rushing sound like water flowing. Something about that slightly sibilant hum whispered to me, autumn is near. Was it a change in the upper air currents that I heard? Or was it just summer sighing? The presence of the moon on my left shoulder encouraged the more fanciful answer.

A little watercolor sketch of the Saturday morning full moon.

The moon with its light and shadows never grows old for me. From the Cheshire cat smile of a crescent to the bright face of a rising full moon no two are exactly alike. Every month the moon traverses the sky bathing everything in its path with luminescence. Sunlight is wonderful but moonlight is enchanting; like a theatrical spotlight it lends glamour to the most humble view.

The December moon casts cold, blue shadows that make a trip outdoors worth bundling up for. And the full June moon seems to linger in the sky encouraging a night outside with a bonfire and beverages.
Here are two of my old sketches of the solstice moons.

The moon clearly outshines the stars and if you live in a big city the Milky Way probably exists only in theory. But even in Manhattan the moon shines brightly! I suggest you choose a calendar that displays the moon phases and follow along. There’ll be a moon coming soon to a sky near you.

The Beatles put it so succinctly. Sometimes, even though it’s hard, and you’ve put in a lot of miles together…it’s time to say goodbye to a good old friend, in this case, my 1995 Toyota Tacoma.

We bought it new, and it was a noble packhorse hauling tons of t-shirts and artwork to many craft shows all over New England.

With the help of Bob of Bob’s Garage fame, the Tacoma kept running, through rain and snow and sleet and mud season, although the body was  rusting away at an alarming rate.

This turned out to be because of a flaw that Toyota acknowledged. Not to go into too many details,but Toyota offered an amazing buy back deal you couldn’t say no to. Then, when Bob said even HE couldn’t pass  the old one through one more inspection we hit the car showrooms in search of the perfect replacement.  It had to have 3 things. Air conditioning. A CD player. And a clock that didn’t fall off.
After a couple of weeks of sales pitches, we found a dealer we could deal with and they called the minute the exact vehicle I wanted rolled onto the lot. It was sad to leave my old truck behind. Farewell. Happy Trails out there in truck heaven.

But also nice to have something brand new with many miles on the road ahead to look forward to.

So, until next week… or whenever I get tired of driving !

Yes, that’s right, we have a winner!!!

I’m madly happy! But also just a bit disappointed that I now have no good reason to pass on all the brilliant clues I wrote. Just to prove how very incisive they were I’ll offer my favorite:
Doesn’t look stupid on a horse.

{Now, if you’re like me you notice these things. As a kid I watched westerns strictly for the horses. Too many actors struggle to get their rears in the saddle, let alone actually ride! But that’s just my little peeve.}

So, here’s the “But.”
I will reveal the cartoon on Tuesday, August 26th, as that is the publishing date. But I won’t name the winner until after 8/26. However, I think you’ll know who you are, Winner, when you see the strip.

At this point I should admit that I’ve never done this sort of thing before and, clearly, my time frame was too long. I had no idea you would all be so keen and quick! Next time I propose a contest I’ll be better prepared. And I will have a contest again; this was fun!

In the meantime, I’d love to hear your take on my quandary. If you had three months of movies whom would YOU watch? Or, if not whom, what? And why??

I think I’ll return to Netflix at some point; I’m already dreaming of a winter with smart, little Indies. Or a spring with crazy French films… Jean-Paul Belmondo, anyone?
Oh, wait, how could I forget Documentaries?? Bring on the weeping camels!

Please come see me for the big reveal on the 26th and THANKS to you all!

This summer my lovely sister-in-law, Marjorie, and her family gave me a gift of Netflix for three months. I admit that at first I felt ill equipped for the task. Three months of movies?! I’ll never find the time for that!!

Oh, yeah? Wanna bet?!

I sought help from my cultural guru friend who gave me some great movie suggestions. But, oddly, most of the films she recommended I’d already seen? And that’s when I realized…I watch a lot of movies!
So what’s the problem? I can do this!

I remembered reading somewhere that when one is feeling overwhelmed by choices it helps to narrow things down by category. So I came up with three: Actor, Director and Genre. From those three choices I decided to go with’ Actor’ and proceeded to fill my queue with films featuring…a certain person. In the process I found myself watching movies I would never have chosen otherwise. That was all to the good because I tend to get stuck in the things I know and like and avoid the rest. Although some of the films were less than great my actor didn’t disappoint; he’s better than I’d thought.

And here’s the best part, I got a Six Chix cartoon out of it! Any endeavor that pays off with a gag idea is worth the price. And since the cost was zero and the experience was fun I figure I won the jackpot!

So I’m feeling generous; want to try to win the original drawing of my Netflix inspired cartoon? All you have to do is guess the actor; how hard can that be? I’ll help by giving you a hint but I can’t reveal too much since the cartoon won’t appear in print until the last week of August.

Here’s the punch line: “I know, isn’t it amazing; he cooks and cleans too!!”
I suggest you think backwards. It’s sort of a reverse “New Yorker” contest!

Guesses must be posted by 8-24-08.
Leave an answer and I’ll contact the first person to guess correctly.
Com’on, I dare you!

This is a big day for bookstores around the country and probably a few other places. The day that thousands (millions even) of teenage girls and quite a few older women (ahem) descend on them demanding their own personal copies of “Breaking Dawn” the supposed last volume of the immensely popular “Twilight” series by Stephenie Meyer.

We can’t wait to find out whether our heroine Bella Swan will make the ultimate choice of life (or un-life) with Edward, her magnetic vampire boyfriend or possibly be swayed by the very sweet and loyal Jacob to a more normal (if life with a werewolf is normal) future.

You can see I have my copy:

You can also see I am wearing my tribute tee:
“Edward or Jacob? That Is The Question”
You can get it here:
http://www.cafepress.com/saturdaychick/3793741 

I am such a fan, that when the last book, “Eclipse” came out, I did a chix tribute strip. Here it is:

 What is it that attracts so many women to vampires? Are they, in fact, the perfect ideal man? An undead boyfriend that wants to suck your blood and possibly make you one of the clan, but is also charming and attentive not to mention some of them are sparkly?  No wonder no real man can compete with these fictional characters.

Speaking of which… I mentioned in another blog, my devotion to “Moonlight”, with the most attractive of TV vampires Alex O’Loughlin.
Some fans came up with the idea of doing blood drives for the Red Cross
as a campaign to raise awarness for “Moonlight”, and if you gave blood… you got this very cool T-shirt being held by Jason Dohring who played Josef on the left and the most gorgeous Mr. O’Loughlin on the right.

 There aren’t any Moonlight blood drives around here, so, give blood when you can, but if you can’t live without these shirts you can get one here:

 http://www.saveourshow.com/

 Back to total “Breaking Dawn” immersion.
See you next week!

Once upon a time people kept journals and diaries. Now, it seems, nothing is too private and personal to keep to ourselves. Or too meaningless.

So, as promised, my grocery list.

And if great writers from the past were with us today…

PROUST

HEMINGWAY

POE