So I've been bad about updating this blog for a while. I don't like falling behind, but real-life's been a bit busy in less than fun ways. I honestly don't have a lot of time to both write, get my comics done, and do other stuff... so writing blog entries has fallen by the wayside.
That said, I thought I'd sum up a few things of both relative importance and complete insignificance.
You know, like you do.
1. Upcoming Convention Appearances!
So I know the boxes on my site are out of date, listing stuff from earlier in the fall. I'll be updating that when I get a chance, but for now, a couple of announcements.
First off, I'm happy to say I'll be returning to Nezumi Con this year at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design on January 25th. It's a little one day con, but I had a lot of fun there last year, so you should swing by if you're in the area.
Secondly, I know it's probably not surprising, but I'll be at No Brand Con in Eau Claire, WI from April 25-27. But you probably knew that already.
I've been considering returning to Kappa Kon which I did back in 2012, but since they still haven't opened their registration... well - I guess I'll have to think about it.
2. I have a Christmas Tree.
Check it.
3. One of my favorite webcomics is updating again.
I've written about it before, but one of my favorite webcomics is drawn by my friend Erika -- Parking Gulls had been on hiatus since last May, but now she's posting updates again.
Which is awesome.
And you should read it.
Because it's awesome.
...anywho, that's about it for today. Yeah.
- Traegorn
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So this last Friday's UnCONventional closed out not only the fourth chapter of the comic, but also the story for one of the comic's main characters - Tara.
Tara was the first character readers met in UnCONventional (the first strip included above). She was the initial point of view character for readers, but I always had her four year story arc in mind.
Convention staffs aren't static, unchanging things - especially not when they're built around a college campus. Some people may stay long term, but a lot of staffers will move on. Knowing that I wanted one of the stories to be how a staffer joined, moved through the structures and social circles, and then finally moved on from the event.
Chapter Five is going to see some shifts in UnCONventional's cast beyond Tara's exit. Lynn and Max will remain main characters, but Phil is being shifted down to the secondary cast. Honestly, he probably should have been a while back, but I was a tad lazy. Veronica is moving to more of a central role, as will some of our newer characters like Ruth. It should be exciting, and we have some new places to go.
And it all starts this week.
- Traegorn
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Crysta and I rolled back into Lafayette last night around 10:30, exhausted from a pretty damned fun Daisho Con up in the Wisconsin Dells. I can't begin to tell you how much fun it was for us this year, and how nice it was to see so many friends (even if it was just for a short amount of time in some cases). I want to thank everyone who came to my panels and stopped by my table. I enjoyed meeting every single one of you.
The episode of the Nerd & Tie podcast we recorded live at Daisho Con is now up and available to be listened to. We won't be doing another live episode until the spring, which is kind of sad, but getting Pher, Nick and myself all in the same city can be kind of difficult.
Speaking of Pher and Nick, I had a ton of fun appearing on Otaku Tonight with ProfessorPher. They'll eventually put the recording of that episode online, and it's amazing. Don't watch it for my interview -- watch it for some damned funny comedy performed by the two guys I suckered into being in a podcast with me. Also, Lucky Yates and Amber Nash of FX's Archer appear - so yeah. When that goes up, watch the crap out of it.
I don't have many stories to share (that I don't plan on saving for UnCONventional), so I guess that's my con experience for you. Events like this are both exciting and exhausting, so upon getting home Crysta and I climbed into bed... and then watched the 50th Anniversary Doctor Who Special.
Which was not what I expected, yet still incredibly awesome.
Like "holy crap" awesome.
Ah well, back to real life...
- Traegorn
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 So this weekend is one of my favorite conventions, Daisho Con in the Wisconsin Dells. I will, as always, be there - and for most of the weekend you'll find me in the artist alley.
Selling things.
Selling amazing things.
Selling amazing things like print collections of UnCONventional and The Chronicles of Crosarth. I'll also have my standard array of prints and buttons to sell. Finally, this will be the first con where I have the amazing Hayworth pillows made by my friend Gen. They're pretty awesome.
Besides being at my table, you'll also be able to find me at a handful of panels over the con, which is pretty exciting. Here's my schedule as of right now (obviously subject to change - check the Daisho Con program guide):
Nerd & Tie LIVE!
Saturday 10:00AM-11:00AM, Panel Room 1
Join Pher, Nick and I for a live recording of our podcast Nerd & Tie. It will be fun, exciting, and full of geekery. Be there or continue to live a hollow existence.
How to Start a Webcomic
Saturday 12:30PM-1:30PM, Panel Room 3
An A-Z primer on how to start your own webcomic, hosted by me... a guy who does a couple of webcomics. I know, you're shocked.
Otaku Tonight! with ProfessorPher
Saturday 9:30PM-10:30PM, Panel Room 1
Not my panel at all - Otaku Tonight is a talkshow styled panel hosted by Pher Sturz. I'll be appearing as a guest on this "episode" so you should come. If I'm not enough to bring you... well... his other guests are the FX original series Archer's Lucky Yates and Amber Nash. Y'know, actually talented people. So be there, or have a sad life.
So yeah, I'm excited. Are you excited? Because I'm excited.
- Traegorn
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Yesterday a line of storms carrying high speed straight line winds and more tornadoes than I'm comfortable mentioning ripped across central Indiana and other parts of the Midwest. As someone who, y'know, lives here, it was fairly terrifying. But while homes, factories and schools were devastated, Crysta and I walked away unscathed... as did (to a degree of significantly less importance) all of our stuff.
Frankly, the worst that happened to us was having to stand awkwardly in one of our bathrooms for a half an hour. Our part of town was fairly untouched - a truck got turned over a few blocks away (its wreckage pictured above), a glass bus shelter nearby was totaled, and I think one of the people down the block is going to need a new fence... but that's it. That's all I could see.
Others found themselves without power, some had their homes destroyed. There are people waking up today in Lafayette unsure if they still have a job. But for all of this tragedy, one things remains - how little loss of life their was. For all the havoc and destruction from this storm, everyone made it out alive in our town.
Overall, last I checked six were reported dead. I don't mean to sound callous, but considering the scope of this storm that ravaged multiple states, that figure is thankfully low.
Because man, this could have been a lot worse.
- Traegorn
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 So a couple weeks ago I put online the official soundtrack for one of my webcomics, The Chronicles of Crosath. You can find the soundtrack here if you're interested, but what it got me to think was why don't I have an UnCONventional soundtrack yet?
The reasons are pretty easy - I mean, Crosath is an epic adventure which lends itself to themes and instrumental numbers. UnCONventional is a real-world comedy. But even if I wasn't going to do a completely original project like Crosarth's, I should at least do something.
So I did this.
The following list of tracks are the "official" soundtrack for UnCONventional so far. They are combined from albums recorded by various projects I've been involved in along with a few tracks recorded by friends of mine. For the bands that have websites, I've added a link... so... for Vomit Hat Steve's stuff.
Enjoy:
- Koshuudenwa - Lt. Snorkel
- Loud Guy on a Train (Happy Wednesday Remix) - 1337Band
- Teenage Girlfriend - Regdar and the Fighters (Visit their website)
- I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper - Lt. Snorkel
- Japanese Girls - 1337Band
- The Hokey Pokey (ft. Happy Wednesday) - Lt. Snorkel
- His Tentacled Glory (Live at the Hopper) - Happy Wednesday
- A J-Rock Song - Lt. Snorkel
- The Song We Wrote Last Night - To Slay Zombie Newton (Visit Defunct Website)
And with that I bid you fond listening. Just a warning, these tracks come from very different sources, so they are not really normalized to each other (so check your volume before hitting play).
Rock and roll.
- Traegorn
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A decade ago I used to make blog posts featuring the strange search terms people plugged into Google and other search engines that lead them to my site. I last did one of these in 2010 (?), so I thought it was high time I do another. As I find them hilarious.
So let's dig into my "referer" logs for the last three months and find what odd stuff people looked for that sent them to my (rather innocent website). Let's break this down by category though - starting with just general eyebrow raising search terms:
demonbuster internet porn
project life corn maze
therealglenndanzig
meatloaf recipe for 16 oz ground beef
michelle menting poetry
americanization Anime ridiculos example
hurricane jokes
uwec student arrested
paul's christian indoctrination
flannery o connor imitation
That list is pretty mundane (although I'm curious about that demonbuster one -- the only demonbuster I've ever been familiar with was a kooky evangelical Christian conspiracy website). Some of them are fairly ordinary, but clicking on my website won't be very helpful for them.
Of course, then there are the weird questions people seem to ask Google:is glenn danzig thinking about retiring
what was the music cd that came with shaq fu
how to make giant headphones
is it bad if a girl says pussy
what does chuchu train mean in sex language
how to start convention with girl
What I love about that last item is that I'm not sure if the person mistyped "conversation" or if they really were trying to use starting a convention as an elaborate way of asking someone out. I prefer to think it's the latter, because that's the option that makes life more exciting.
Also, what exactly is "sex language" anyway?
Next up we have the "confirmations." These are things people searched the internet for not beccause they didn't know the answer, but because they wanted to find someone who agrees with them:wiccan rede is stupid
because i am awesome
the doors are the greatest american rock band
Finally, we come to the last couple phrases, which I refer to as "left field" terms. These are things I look at and find myself to comprehend. There are only two of them:orange words
prinephile
Frankly, I have no idea what a "prinephile" is. Is that sex language for something?
- Traegorn
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 So anyone who has been reading UnCONventional for a while knows that for the last couple of years I've done "special events" in November. During these events UnCONventional goes from twice a week to five updates a week, and pre-Chapter Four it would switch to color for the month (although that is significantly less impressive now that the strip is always in color).
Well, this year is no different, as we start out the new storyline "The Election" starting Friday.
Well, really it starts Monday, but Friday will have a single panel go up to begin this year's event. "The Election" is going to follow the events of the few weeks after Bork Con 2013 as the convention chooses new leadership. I covered some of that ground way back in Chapter One's not-special November storyline, but Chapters Two and Three sort of glossed over that bit of con running.
So, y'know, it should be pretty fun.
Now the other two events, "I Hate November" and "In the Beginning," were very different from each other - the former being fairly serious while the latter being more humorous. Where will "The Election" end up falling? Likely close to the latter. I'm not against doing another serious storyline, but I honestly would need the opportunity. I originally thought of saving the Max/Tara breakup for November for that purpose, but it felt more organic in it's final placement.
Also, can you imagine how melodramatic that would have ended up? Yikes.
So I hope you enjoy this year's special event. Lord knows I won't, as I drive myself insane drawing that many extra comics in the same month that I have a convention, a major holiday, and my day job gets busier.
As I am, apparently, a glutton for punishment.
Yeesh.
- Traegorn
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 So I teased it a while back, but I've finally finished the official soundtrack for my webcomic The Chronicles of Crosarth. The preview tracks I released back then are a little different than the final versions, but if you like them you'll enjoy the rest of the album. And, of course, like all my earlier releases you can download the album for free.
So you should do that. Because, y'know, free.
The album is almost entirely instrumental (with the exception of tracks 2 and 5), and even though I work entirely digitally, it has a much more traditional sound than my earlier works. I mean, sure - I've had traditional tracks on my earlier stuff, but it wasn't the dominant theme. There's a lot more "acoustic" to be found here than normal too.
Which is, y'know, funny - since I (again) work entirely digitally.
This album contains what has also become, truly, one of my favorite songs I've ever written - "A Dance With Friday." I included it as one of the preview tracks, and it's the only one that ended up with essentially no changes out of those three. Ostensibly it's Allison Friday's theme, but while "dance" has an obvious possible double meaning, so does the inclusion of her name.
As Fridays can be seen as bad luck, especially in British Naval tradition.
Anyway, as I said previously, you can download the entire album for free by visiting the official download page. There you will find both individual tracks and a zip file of the entire thing. I hope you choose to do so, and listen to it while reading The Chronicles of Crosarth either online or in print form.
Print is always the best of course, but online is free.
- Traegorn
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