Minions #3

The book is here. Wow. See this book, I've been working on it for four years. Very slowly, obviously - a single 31-page comic book does not take four years to complete if you're working diligently.

I had some down periods and one rather major disruption.

But it's done. And this weekend we debut it at 5Pi-Con, a local con that's mostly about writing but they branch out a bit to include comics, webcomics, costuming, music, and that sort of thing.

It should be good. I remember it as a nice little show, and Tom Smith is the musical guest this year. He's very funny.

Getting the books has made me start to wax philosophical about accomplishment as a general concept. Do you ever stop and say to yourself, "I want to accomplish something small but nifty!"? Do you think of something to do or make, and then roll up your sleeves and get to work with hardly a plan in mind? Do you end up with a bunch of unfinished little projects packed into boxes in the basement? Do you care?

I have the unfinished projects in boxes, but I don't care. I may finish some someday, or not. I've made peace with my urge to start things, my momentary desire to accomplish something that's not strong enough to see the accomplishment through.

I've finished a few. The trip to Arizona was that type of project. There are some craft items bumping around that fit the bill, too. So I don't peg myself as "a person who never finishes anything."

I just don't finish everything. And sometimes I finish it years later, after letting it sit in a box or a sketchbook for a long, long time.

It's kind of like houseplants. I've killed more houseplants than most people own in their lifetimes. But I have a very green thumb. How do I come to this conclusion? Sheer volume. The volume of houseplants I'm working with results in a large number of individual deaths. In fact, sometimes I kill them on purpose if the volume gets too high and I can't give them away fast enough. I can't kill a jade; the jade just grows and grows and covers my bay windowsill. So I kill the delicate orchid that's on its last legs anyway and hasn't flowered in two years.

I don't care. I can get another orchid anytime. I'm running a jade farm, apparently, not an orchid farm.

Same thing with just-because projects. The more I start, the more I finish, because of volume.

I picked up the crochet needle again after sending the book to the printer, and started something new. That must be why. I'm feeling the itch to accomplish something again. It'll be just a little thing, though, and I'm using this time to ponder my next big project, which I've already started years ago but I need some time to embrace it again with my mind.

It's a graphic novel. I've penciled up to page 36 already but altogether it'll have about 80 pages. So. Taking a crochet break, spending the weekend pitching Minions For Hire, and then it'll be time to hunker down and really work. Really really.