New Year, Same Weirdo

I may still do a "Year in Summary" comic or somesuch, can't decide. But other than that, I'm off for a few days for travel/relaxation/etc.

In case you can't read, that octopus arm is promising that there will be "still more inverts in 2011!". True facts.

--m

Octopus Suckers

Tomorrow I am going to the Shedd Aquarium! Yay!

Anyways, in prep, tonight I was doing drawings of suckers from photos online. They look a little weird/abstract until you know what they are, but my skill for "realistic" leaves a bit to be desired here.

--m

You Could Surf this Bed Head

An old TRS vault special, this is me circa-2006 with bed head. No joke, my bed head deserves prizes. If I lived in a place with birds of paradise they'd be all over me for my sweet 'do. 

--m

P.S. I'll be posting soon about commissions, wherein you would pay me to draw something you wanted drawn in my style. It means you can own original art and I can buy new headphones. Win-win.

This is Why I Can't Use the Internets by Myself

Hypochondriacs + the internet = disaster.

I have a funny bump on my finger (not wart) that looked like a callus but I couldn't figure out what would have given me that callus. Tonight I realized it was because I hold my pen differently when I draw. Yay not going to die after all!

Anyways, after that TMI, night!

--m

Santy Claws!

Such a terrible pun it had to be made. Along with an A Softer World tribute though, so maybe it all balances out. I'm off to read new books I got today! Merry invertebratemas!

--m

Poor, Poor Moosecat

Happy holidays! Don't dress up your pets. (Yes, that is my cat wearing a moose costume. No, he doesn't like it.)

--m

Time to Sleep

I'm trying to reset the good ol' internal clock tonight, and I know if I start a drawing it's going to be another four or six hours before I go to sleep (I don't know why this is, but I can guarantee it).

So, instead, go check out one of the comics on the links header or curse me, whichever will occupy your time/make you feel better.

--m

It's Gonna Be Okay, I Can Tell

Today's comic brought to you by NASA and wikipedia.

--m

Dachshunds are Sneaky like That

I'm staying at Kupcake's house tonight, and she has two dachshunds. They only LOOK innocent. Really, they're robots and dragons. No lie.

--m

<-- What the wieners look like in real life

Pay No Attention to the Octopus on my Head

Really late comic. So late that I couldn't spell "confused." Time to sleep!

--m

Oh, The Holidays

Weekend The Rocket Scandal vault special! My mom, I kid you not, has no less than five different nativity (or créche) sets, and every time she sets them up for Christmas this is what I think.

--m

Going Home, Happy Invertebratemas

 Home is where and what you make it,

so I hope wherever you are this holiday season, you're able to be with your loved ones, no matter how odd an assemblage they might make.

Sure, being around all that family can be stressful,

but there's nothing like being home for the holidays.

So merry Invertebratemas from Octopod Adventures, and safe travels to wherever you want to be.

--m

All images here (c) M. Rock 2010. Do not use without credit.

(I'll be traveling the next few days, so probably no comic. See you Saturday/Sunday.)

Someday You'll Leave, But That's Okay

I know someday you'll want to leave to go terrorize bigger and better places, but I'm glad you're here with me now.

(Whitney, my housemate, moves out at the end of the week. I'm going to miss her. A lot.)

--m

And a close-up of the goggles in this, because they're awesome mad scientist goggles.

Kitteh Reunion

Back home in Chicago I have two smelly, grumpy meezer cats. I just realized how soon it is that I'm going back for the holidays. This is what I predict my reunion with one of my meezers will look like. Note the angry tail twitch.

--m

Dance Party Thanks to Pandora!

Whitney and I have a work Pandora radio station of supreme awesomeness. And when a good song comes on, this is what happens.

--m

That's So Gross--I'm Gonna Eat it Again

Do you ever have a taste that's so bad, that you have to eat it multiple times in order to confirm that it's just as bad as you think it is? That's what this is all about.

A blast from the past TRS update because I need to sleep tonight.

--m

'Twas the Night Before Invertebratemas

Finished our Invertebratemas celebration tonight, complete with several carols and this poem, which I wrote based off of this version of the original "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" by somebody. IF YOU RECOPY THIS, PLEASE CREDIT ME, M. ROCK, WITH ITS CREATION.

"Twas the Night Before Invertebratemas"

M. Rock, 2010

Twas the night before Invertebratemas, when all through the house
Not an invert was stirring, not even a sea mouse.
The waders were hung to dry with care,
In hopes that St. InvertNick soon would be there.

The grad students were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of theses danced in their heads.
And Whitney in her PJs, and me in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the bunny lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my sleeping bag to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the blinds and threw up the sash.

The moon on the droplets of new-fallen rain,
Gave the luster of foggy midday to the scene.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature ROV and eight tiny invert-deer.

While a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. InvertNick.
More rapid than salmon his coursers they came,
And he whistled and shouted and called them by name!

“Now Annelida! Now, Mollusca! Now Arthropoda, now Porifera!
On Sipuncula, on Ctenophora! On, on Echinodermata and Cnidaria!
To the top of the dock! To the top of the intertidal!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”

As dry algae that before the wild storm fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the lab-top the coursers they flew,
With the ROV full of gear and St. InvertNick, too.

And then in a twinkling I heard on the roof jambs,
The prancing and scratching of each little limb.
As I drew in my head and was turning around,
Down the water pipe St. InvertNick came with a bound.

He was dressed all in Grundens, from his head to his pants,
And his Xtra Tuffs were all tarnished with algae and sand.
A bundle of equipment he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a scientist, just opening his pack.

His eyes—how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like lobsters, his nose a salmon berry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a stipe,
And the beard of his chin was salty and white.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a round little belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a mass of egg jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly professor,
And I smiled when I saw him; I expected no lesser!
A wink of his eye and twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And he filled all the waders, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the pipes he rose!

He sprang to his ROV, to his team he gave a whistling blow,
And away they all flew like marine snow.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he rode out of sight,
“Happy Invertebratemas to all, and to all a goodnight!”

So, night guys, I'm gonna go dream of inverts.

--m

For Now

Robots. The end.

--m

I Miss the Ocean Too

Whenever I'm away from here I miss it terribly. Coming back to the ocean is like finding a part of me I knew was missing but couldn't fix myself. This comes from the title of an explodingdog comic.

Now, time to go dream ocean dreams.

--m

Invertebrate Love!!

I have some serious love for the tiny inverts. We're friends. (See: Roly-Poly Love)

It's a Lost Art, Hand Holding

A return of the elusive (or not so elusive, as it is clamoring for attention) emopus. Oh emopus, you can hold my hand.

--m

The Night Before Christmas

So this is the first installment of A Softer World: Invertebratemas Tribute!!

--m

Invertebratemas!!

INVERTEBRATEMAS! This is for my rewrite of "12 Days of Christmas." I turned it into the "12 Days of Invertebratemas":

(I'm only going to write it all out once, so I'll start on the last verse)

On the twelfth day of Invertebratemas, my true love gave to me:

12 biologists drinking
11 minor phyla
10 stupid vertebrates
9 corals spawning
8 jellies pulsing
7 scallops clapping
6 prawns a-swimming
5 R.O.V.s
4 Cheatopterus
3 Hemigrapsus
2 nudibranchs
1 giant pacific octopuuuuuuus

You're welcome.

--m

Seriously, I Don't Even Understand It

Blast from the past Saturday night presents: another excellent TRS. I fell asleep on our couch for maybe an hour or so, and when I woke up I was totally out of sorts and confused. Not to mention I had couch hair, which is like bedhead.

Anyways, happy Saturday! I am going to try and post photos of my cephalopod tree (complete with squid-topper) soon, as we get closer and closer to invertebratemas.

--m

Belching Queen

I also burp so often that my housemates have likened me to white noise, like waves crashing on the beach.

Interesting sidenote: I actually a habit of slightly closing one eye when I burp, and I usually release so much air with such force that I can't keep my mouth completely closed.

I know you're really glad I told you this, so you're welcome.

--m

P.S. I know I look like I have diseased fingernails on top, but I got bored this evening and sharpie-tattooed different marine animals on all my left-hand fingernails.

From My Treatise on Bathtub Crayons

Fig. 1: A bad photo of my shower wall after tonight's adventures in bathtub crayons. Results of experiment suggest that they are fully awesome, and most people would benefit from regular use (of both shower and crayons).

Fig. 2: Cleanliness of artist relative to number of bathtub crayons. Current study implies a correlation between these two factors, and the author thinks with further work, this could be found to be a causative relationship.

I'd like to thank the following institutions for supporting this research: the International Committee on Crayon Use, the Foundation for a Better Tomorrow, and the No More Smelly Artists Society. Further thanks to all those who came before me and to my housemate, the great pretzeled narwhal, for putting up with me during the course of this research.

--m

Burrito-Related Happenings

Three things today were burrito deliciousness. My new jacket is the best. And that burrito bowl nearly brought tears to my eyes. Many thanks to my burrito-courier (who traveled ~60 miles to get it to me). Anyways, time to sleep.

--m