Friday, January 31, 2014

Thursday, January 30, 2014

2 DAYS AND COUNTING

Tony Isabella's Bloggy Thing will return on Saturday, February 1, 2014.

Monday, January 27, 2014

BACK ONLINE

My new computer is up and running, though I have to figure out a few things before I'm back up to speed.  Look for new bloggy things to start appearing no later than Monday, February 3.

Monday, January 6, 2014

TONY IS OFFLINE

On January 2, my computer crashed.  The problem seems to be the motherboard.  My hard drives appear to be fine and I hope the data on them can be transferred to the new computer that's on order.

I will be leaving for Los Angeles on the 9th and not returning until the 19th.  I don't know when new bloggy things will return.

If you want to see me while I'm in Los Angeles, e-mail me.

I have limited email access, but I will do my best to get back to you.

Tony

Thursday, January 2, 2014

JANUARY 2014

I’ll update readers of this bloggy thing on all things Tony around
the first of each month.  I’ll be covering convention appearances,
garage sales, online sales and more. 

The big news for January is that my friend Bob Ingersoll and I will
be in Los Angeles from Thursday, January 9 to the wee morning hours
of Sunday, January 19.  There’s no business or convention reasons
for this trip.  I just wanted to spend time with some dear friends
I don’t see often enough and maybe make some new friends.  I’m not
adverse to taking business meetings while I’m in town, but I have
not planned or sought any such meetings.

Bob and I will be arriving at LAX around 11 am on January 9.  From
there, we drive to the Disneyland Hotel and stay there through the
evening of January 11.  Bob is a major amusement park afficionado,
so he’ll be spending a lot of time at Disneyland.  I will be at the
park some of the time as well, none of it spent riding things that
will hurt me.  I wonder if the park offers a Prince Makeover?  I’m
thinking Charming, but the Beast is probably a more likely choice.

From Disneyland, we’ll be moving over to the Hilton Los Angeles at
Universal City.  We’ll be staying there until late afternoon on the
18th and heading back home on the 19th. If you would like to hang
out with us or meet with me for other reasons, e-mail me and I’ll
give you further contact information.  I recommend not waiting too
long to contact me as our dance cards are filling up fast.

******************************

I have no appearances scheduled for January, which is fine with me
on account of I’ll be goofing off for ten days on the West Coast.
I’ll probably be going through blog withdrawal midway through the
trip.  It’s sad, really.

This year, I am only planning to accept one convention/appearance
invitation per month.  February is wide open at the moment, which
could change quickly.  I have been contacted in some manner by two
conventions and a university.  None of them have done the follow-up
to secure my appearance, but that’s understandable given that we’re
barely through the holidays.  If none of the three get back to me
to finalize these appearances, I’ll be staying home in February.
That doesn’t displease me for reasons I’ll be covering a bit later
in today’s exercise in “me, me, me.”

For future reference, if you would like me at some event in, say,
March, you will need to contact me and finalize the arrangements by
the end of January.  That gives me time to publicize my appearance
in the various venues available to me.

******************************

The bloggy thing will appear daily through January 9 and then go on
hiatus until January 20 or 21.  I got a new laptop for a Christmas
present, but it’s not what I need for travel purposes.  Not that I
was eager to blog during my vacation, though, as I said above, the
withdrawal pains may kick in midway through the trip.

Between now and January 9, I hope to write about a bunch of stuff
I’ve been meaning to write about.  When I come back from L.A., I’ll
likely devote a few days to telling you about my vacation and then
get back to clearing the decks for February.

What happens in February? We’ll talk about that in a couple weeks.
If you’re half as excited about my plans as I am, then I’m twice as
excited as you.

******************************

My Facebook page will be going inactive while I’m in Los Angeles.
Trying to fend off the trolls from afar would distract from the big
fun I intend on having.  However, up until I leave, I’ll continue
to post all manner of fun and informative material there. 

The downside of going inactive is that I’ll miss posting birthday
greetings and remembrances during my absence.  If at all possible,
I’ll catch up on those when I return.

******************************

Even while I’m away, The Official Tony Isabella Message Board will
remain active on Facebook.  Moderator Jim Guida will remain on duty
and keep the fun going until I return.  If you were a visitor to my
old message board at World Famous Comics, you’ll enjoy the Facebook
version of the board which comes complete with Bob Ingersoll’s “In
the Comics” and “Movie Quiz” features.

******************************

In other online business...

I won’t be checking my e-mail while I’m gone.  If you need to talk
with me about anything, you also need to e-mail sooner rather than
later.  Otherwise, I won’t be able to read and respond to you until
I get back from Los Angeles.

I hope to resume my online garage sales in February.  I’m thinking
about tweaking - not twerking - how I do those sales, but they will
still be filled with great items at low prices.

******************************

Even I’m tired of this “me, me, me” bloggy thing, but please bear
with me a little longer.  When I’m not traveling, I’ll be spending
much of January wrapping up some financial matters, preparing for
some legal stuff and generally clearing my desk for next month and
beyond.  You see...

Thanks to the good fortune I’ve mentioned in some recent blogs, I’m
finally going to get to work on my bucket list of things I want to
write before I kick the bucket.  It’s a long list containing around
160 ideas for books, comic books, graphic novels, novels and even
a screenplay or three.  I’ll be taking the list with me when I go
to Los Angeles and making decisions as to which of these ideas are
going to be written first.

When I complete a script or a proposal for any bigger project, I’ll
start figuring out how I’m going to bring the finished work to the
marketplace.  I have some ideas in that regard, but the writing is
always going to come first.

On any comics projects, I will be looking for artists and doing my
best to create fair and equitable contracts for them.  These will
be partnerships and not work-for-hire arrangements.  As each comics
project is ready for an artist, I’ll start making decisions as to
who the artist will be.  If you’re an artist who has always wanted
to work with me...or an artist who has who’s worked with me before
and not run screaming into the night and wants to work with me once
again...you’ll have a chance to do so.

While my own projects are very important to me, I’m not adverse to
accepting assignments from new or old clients.  As always, if you
have a gig for me, if I can know I can do right by it, if the terms
of my employment are fair, and if I have no moral objection to the
job, I’m good to go.  Sorry, Tea Party, you’ll have to get someone
else to write The Adventures of Ted Cruz.  Yeah, I could write one
hilarious comic book for you, but you wouldn’t like it...assuming
you could even read it.

Whew! Thank Godzilla today’s bloggy thing is finally done.  I’ll be
back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2014 Tony Isabella

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

2014: ANOTHER CHANCE TO GET IT RIGHT

My personal mantra is one I shameless appropriated from the title
of a fine book by Andrew Vachss on the potential of parenting.  In
a sense, I am my own parent and the best advice I can give myself
is to treat each new year, each new day, as another blessed chance
to get it right.

For me, getting it right means that I do my work with clean heart
and hands.  That I show my love for those I love and do whatever I
can for them.  That I try to educate, entertain and help my fellow
travelers on our life journeys.  That I recognize my limits, both
physical and financial, and don’t beat myself up when I just can’t
do everything I’d like to do.

For me, a day when I’ve gotten it right is a day when I have done
the work I planned for the day and finish it early enough to spend
a few hours with my family and friends.  It’s a day when I’ve given
someone a laugh or a smile, shared information that helped them in
some way, even if it’s only to look at the world in a more sane and
humane way.  It’s a day when I’ve been able to do something for a
friend or even a stranger. 

Getting it right doesn’t mean rolling over to avoid conflict.  When
I see idiocy and injustice, I’ll fight it to the best of my meager
abilities.  I wear the disparagement and the rage of those who hate
me for my views like fucking medals of honor.  I mock them at will
for their inability to lay a glove on me, especially when they do
their “fighting” under anonymity or pseudonym.  I have no idea what
they see when they look in the mirror.  When I look in the mirror,
I see a man who has earned every one of his 62 years and who does
not flinch from the image he sees. 

That angry paragraph not withstanding, I am amazingly happy as we
commence 2014.  I have my family and friends.  I have my writing.
I have an audience for my writing.  I have a comfortable if modest
lifestyle. I’m in pretty good health, both physically and mentally.
I get the bear more often than the bear gets me. 

Looking back at 2013, it was a terrific year for me.  I watched my
children continue to grow into the kind of adults we need in this
country and world.  I reconnected with old friends and I made many
new ones.  I figured out who I’ve been and who I want to be, which
is, of course, an ongoing process if one does it right.  I think I
show a lot of potential. 

Thanks to Comic-Con International, I was able to show my family the
best part of my four decades in comics.  They got to witness that
my life in comics is far more than the seemingly unending struggles
they have seen.  They got to see the friends I made along the way
and the readers who appreciate my work.  They even got to hold my
Inkpot award, which I plan to be buried with when I die about fifty
years from now or - better plan - incorporated into the new robot
body that will keep me going for centuries to come.  I don’t plan
on going anywhere until we get those flying cars and jet packs that
we were promised in the comic books and science fiction stories of
my youth.  I’m getting silly, aren’t I?

When it comes to columns and blogs, a new year brings with it the
usual inevitable columns and blogs summarizing the previous year,
predicting what will happen in the coming year and making a bunch
of resolutions for the coming year.  Contrary so-and-so that I am,
I’m not going to do any of those.

What I will do is wish my family and friends all the best in 2014.
I’m excited about what lies ahead for me and I hope that’s true for
all of you as well. 

We all have another chance to get it right.

© 2014 Tony Isabella