The LiveStrong Challenge in Seattle was yesterday in Seattle.
Cathy's best friend, Beth Peterman, has brain cancer and she wanted to honor her by having us participate in the event.
As part of the Team Bear -- put together by Beth's amazing husband Kevin Knox -- we raised almost $20,000 in donations to the Lance Armstrong Foundtion for cancer research and awareness.
I had the easy part (see video embedded). Kevin and his sister Erika did the 100-mile bike race.
More photos here.
It's humbling to think what a group can do in the service of a greater good.
And I haven't stopped to think about how many people I know with/fighting/in remission from cancer until now.
Sobering weekend to say the least.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Make a Donation
I don't make pleas for donations.
I hate the imposition and preying upon people's sympathies.
But that changes when you know someone with cancer. It evaporates rather quickly.
Which is why I'm making this one.
My friend Beth Peterman has cancer. She's fighting it. Her and her husband Kevin Knox has asked us to raise donations for cancer research through the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I'm running the 5K this weekend in Seattle and I'm asking anyone reading this to donate HERE.
Thank you in advance.
I hate the imposition and preying upon people's sympathies.
But that changes when you know someone with cancer. It evaporates rather quickly.
Which is why I'm making this one.
My friend Beth Peterman has cancer. She's fighting it. Her and her husband Kevin Knox has asked us to raise donations for cancer research through the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I'm running the 5K this weekend in Seattle and I'm asking anyone reading this to donate HERE.
Thank you in advance.
Monday, May 11, 2009
this is softball......
...this is me on softball.
8 games in 20 hours.
Sunburned, a little drunk, and punchy.
Add diabetes and a gout sufferer to that and I think 2nd place sounds pretty fucking nice.
YEE-HA!!
Friday, April 10, 2009
Smitty, Pirate Eye!
I'm part of a team competing to win a comic book competition and here is the trailer I made in order to support our efforts.
Enjoy!
Pirate Eye Trailer from michael thomas on Vimeo.
Enjoy!
Pirate Eye Trailer from michael thomas on Vimeo.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Commander X press release!!
I'm famous!!!
Not really. But it's just really nice to get mentioned in a press release isn't just a credit for lettering.
Dig it, yo!
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Nemo-Publishing-931042.html
Not really. But it's just really nice to get mentioned in a press release isn't just a credit for lettering.
Dig it, yo!
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Nemo-Publishing-931042.html
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Commander X trailer
So, I contributed to a project for Commander X created by Jay Piscopo.
I wrote a short prose story that part of the release of action figures based on his character.
Jay was a teriffic editor during the process and I'm happy to show you the trailer for the release in general.
How fun is that!
I wrote a short prose story that part of the release of action figures based on his character.
Jay was a teriffic editor during the process and I'm happy to show you the trailer for the release in general.
How fun is that!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
writing pulp
When I worked at Dark Horse, I was privy to creative processes of a couple of different creators there.
One in particular intrigued me because of the two parts that seem part of the same process but are far different than you'd think.
The creator wrote and drew his own material. His style is such that it's deceptively simple. He uses a lot of black and I thought, "Why does he bother with inking all that black when he could fill it in using something like Photoshop? Wouldn't that speed up the process?"
Some people, of course, do not like to give in to technology and when I asked the editor who worked with him, I was told that it wasn't the art that took so long, it was the story.
To which I replied, "Really?"
It seemed like it was a lot of silent panels, punctuated by sound effects and screams.
It took much later when I was attempting to write my own scripts and put together my own projects that I understood what he was talking about.
The process of writing is easy in the sense that it's a lot like putting one foot in front of the other.
Noun verb adverb, maybe adjective with a dangling participle.
But you know, I didn't start really writing until I had the idea percolating in my head and let it fully form.
So stuff that I have to do on the fly becomes a lot harder. Continuity starts to fall apart a little bit in. And you start to rethink every five seconds, "Hey, maybe I should start the story in the past or the present or the future?"
The process becomes of test of how zen one can be. Can you let go of your ego in order to let go and let God, thereby letting the words come out without worry of the quality of what you're writing, but that you're writing? Vanity plays into it much more than you'd think. We are all affected by perception of others; we write for other's consumption.
This brings me to the six drafts of Commander X I wrote for my new friend in the other Portland on the East Coast.
I wrote five drafts of what was supposed to be a short story written in the 50s pulp style.
The first one was a dissection of decompressed crazy. I was writing a crime novel with mystical elements.
The second one was a stripped down process that was a product of the 50s viewed through modern sensibilities. And still too long.
The third and fourth were flailing.
And then I realized that I was over thinking it. My editor -- and the creator who hired me -- gave me a great insight and took a lot of patience in guiding my muse. And I read some Doc Savage. Which means it was descriptive but simple. No post-modern angst. The hero does and the story moves him along.
Five drafts. But I learned something on every one. And saw what I could use for other stories.
So the lesson here is to let go of the fear and just write. Waiting for the perfect story to coalesce means waiting forever in some cases.
And I've waited long enough.
One in particular intrigued me because of the two parts that seem part of the same process but are far different than you'd think.
The creator wrote and drew his own material. His style is such that it's deceptively simple. He uses a lot of black and I thought, "Why does he bother with inking all that black when he could fill it in using something like Photoshop? Wouldn't that speed up the process?"
Some people, of course, do not like to give in to technology and when I asked the editor who worked with him, I was told that it wasn't the art that took so long, it was the story.
To which I replied, "Really?"
It seemed like it was a lot of silent panels, punctuated by sound effects and screams.
It took much later when I was attempting to write my own scripts and put together my own projects that I understood what he was talking about.
The process of writing is easy in the sense that it's a lot like putting one foot in front of the other.
Noun verb adverb, maybe adjective with a dangling participle.
But you know, I didn't start really writing until I had the idea percolating in my head and let it fully form.
So stuff that I have to do on the fly becomes a lot harder. Continuity starts to fall apart a little bit in. And you start to rethink every five seconds, "Hey, maybe I should start the story in the past or the present or the future?"
The process becomes of test of how zen one can be. Can you let go of your ego in order to let go and let God, thereby letting the words come out without worry of the quality of what you're writing, but that you're writing? Vanity plays into it much more than you'd think. We are all affected by perception of others; we write for other's consumption.
This brings me to the six drafts of Commander X I wrote for my new friend in the other Portland on the East Coast.
I wrote five drafts of what was supposed to be a short story written in the 50s pulp style.
The first one was a dissection of decompressed crazy. I was writing a crime novel with mystical elements.
The second one was a stripped down process that was a product of the 50s viewed through modern sensibilities. And still too long.
The third and fourth were flailing.
And then I realized that I was over thinking it. My editor -- and the creator who hired me -- gave me a great insight and took a lot of patience in guiding my muse. And I read some Doc Savage. Which means it was descriptive but simple. No post-modern angst. The hero does and the story moves him along.
Five drafts. But I learned something on every one. And saw what I could use for other stories.
So the lesson here is to let go of the fear and just write. Waiting for the perfect story to coalesce means waiting forever in some cases.
And I've waited long enough.
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