Comfortable Places

I went to my favorite sushi place a week ago to do a little sketch research for the latest One Swoop Fell episode called "Comfort Food."

Speaking of comfort food, I also love Juan's Place in Berkeley. I had to take the car down to the smog center this past Friday, which happened to be on the opposite street corner from Juan's.

I wanted to eat there and not just sketch the place, but I had other errands to run. Ah well. Hey, here's something fun to do. Click this link to Juan's Yelp page, and compare the photo to the drawing to see just how many mistakes I can make in a ten minute sketch!

Another fun fact, Juan's was placed in Adrian Tomine's Shortcomings.

On Sunday, Alex and I met our friend Emma in the City for brunch in Noe Valley. I've never really explored this area of San Francisco. It's kinda the new Bermuda Triangle to me (replacing Potrero Hill). Maybe I just have no sense of direction. But I can sniff out a bookshop no matter where you put me. I stepped into Phoenix Books and finally found a new but marked down copy of Blankets. These kids had their own great finds, copies of Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Have a great week!

Climbing Camp. Climbing Walls.

I guess if last week seemed too long, this one went by too fast. Which is always the case when you're juggling a book deadline along with helping your parents move, putting out a full page weekly comic on time, and... climbing camp.

I'd love to write more about the Totoro Forest Project Auction that took place last Saturday, especially regarding the friends and heroes I got to meet. But I thiiiink I have about another week of being out of my mind left. I'll tell you all about it when I get back!

Getaways and Narrow Escapes

Word on the Net is it didn't feel like a four day work week at all. I agree. Here's some journal pages from what already seems so long ago, starting with last Thursday before Labor Day weekend. I was hanging out in Tiffany and Christine's studio, and they were researching getaway spots:

On Friday morning, I had breakfast with one of my closest friends. We were near REI (outdoor gear heaven), and I had a couple errands to take care of there.... it somehow took up the rest of our morning.... oops!

The Cal Bears are looking good this year. We've got a new starting quarterback, and as bad as I feel saying it, I think the days of Longshore are safely behind us. We watched from the usual cheap seats.... literally, the cheapest seats available - they're free:

The rest of the weekend was spent in San Francisco. Alex and I attended her 10 year high school reunion. We also celebrated our two-year anniversary. My, how time flies.... with the strange exception of four-day work weeks...