July 2018

I can safely say that this July was a very mixed bag.

It was inevitable that July would be somewhat of a comedown after the high of June's travelling. Doesn't it always seem that your job is worse than it was a
before you went away on holiday? Unfortunately that's how it's been for me on the work front, still getting used to the management change, and the job just seems more stressful than ever. I have started to look for another job, however as anyone will know, that search could take months, if not years, so in the meantime I'll just have to try and carry on, like we all do.
The weather's been kind this month though, feel free to agree to disagree with me depending on how you feel about humidity though! I've been enjoying bike and beach time when I've been able to. Me and my wife also had a fun theme park trip on the 29th, to Lake Compounce (my first visit there), and I definitely recommend it, especially the Boulder Dash rollercoaster, which may be the fastest and my most favourite coaster I've ridden to date.
This month also marked a significant anniversary for me - a decade ago on July 21, I flew on a plane, travelled abroad, travelled to the US and attended the San Diego Comic Con for the very first time - you can watch my video blog about it right here.
On the art front, the F&S comic is still very much a work in progress, although I think I've recovered my art groove since the fun of the England trip. I do have some potentially exciting news regarding art as well, as I have been approached to possibly illustrate for a book - however that's all I can say about it right now.
I'll leave you with this Surf Club comic. Let's see what sort of weather August brings - hopefully not storms.

July 2017

Another July has come and gone once again - and something happened this month which wasn't something that personally happened to me, it was to a famous rockstar. Most of you reading this will know that I'm talking about what happened to Chester Bennington, the lead singer of Linkin Park - his death was tragic and shocking to hear about.
You might be wondering why I'm dwelling on the death of a celebrity, because I usually don't like to focus on the news, especially when it's about people dying, famous or not. The reason I am is because Linkin Park were one of my favourite bands as a teenager, and were one of the bands that got me into heavy rock music, along with Limp Bizkit and Slipknot. A lot of Linkin Park's music helped me get through my teenage and secondary school years, because I could relate to the lyrics and the heavy music. It's just a tragic irony that those same lyrics couldn't help the man who sang them with the passion and the fury that he had. RIP, Chester - I hope you're in a better place now.
On more personal matters, I've still had no luck on the job front, and as always I'm still looking. Helping around the house and doing the twice monthly side job has been keeping me busy though, as well as my artwork of course. I recently completed illustrating the second of the children's book series for our close friends, admittedly it took far longer than it should've because of my procrastination on it. I'll try and do better with the next book - it's just that circumstances get in the way.
A few blogs back, I mentioned how I was getting disillusioned with DeviantArt too - that's been the case again lately. I feel like there's been a lot of immature people trying to take advantage of me in order to get free art of their characters, or just posting stupid stuff on my pictures or profile just for the sake of attention. I have no time for people like that, and I'm sending out a warning now, anyone who continues to harrass me, or any of my friends that way, will receive an instant ban-hammer to the face. I'm not playing nice anymore.
On a brighter note, me and my wife have been making the most of the nice weather this month - as well as my bike rides, we took a few trips to state parks and beaches, and not surprisingly each place was canny packed. Also not surprisingly, we spent the 4th July week in Newport, the highlights of which were a play on a mini golf course with the in laws, and a sunset cruise around Narragansett Bay onboard the MV Gansett. We also went to a music gig at Mohegan Sun on the 29th, which was our first gig since the Deftones last August - the headline act this time was Kings of Leon, and they were absolutely spot on. The opening act, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, were canny tight too.

That's pretty much it for July. As always, I'll leave you with some artwork - this surfing scene, which was an entry for a summer themed art jam that I hosted this month. See you in August.

July 2016

Warm weather, biking and travels were the order of the month for this July, and in all honesty I don't know where it went - life just seems to pass by much quicker in the States.

On the downside, I'm still no further forward with the social security/green card situation, and me and Nicole's lawyer just doesn't seem to be taking our case seriously - without a social security number I can't work or use Paypal and Ebay, which also means I can't do art commissions - so I really want this to be sorted, it's beyond ridiculous now. I've been living in the States for seven months now, and this really should've been sorted ages ago.

I'll say that again in a better light though - seven months living in the States. I miss my family back in the UK, even moreso since their visit in June, but I'm also still doing great despite that, and with the help and encouragement of my lovely wife, I've been trying new things - this month we both decided to start a diet, and I'm not joking when I say this is the first time I've ever tried a diet. In short, I've cut down on the sweet stuff and started eating more fruit, and it actually has made me feel better, why did I shun fruit most of my life?
On the same note, I've been continuing my bike rides to East Rock, and recently started doing a two-man bike ride each week with a recent new friend of mine - speaking of that, he and his wife (who is my wife's best friend) are trying to write a series of children's books, and they kindly asked me if I could illustrate the books for them - needless to say, I jumped at the chance, and I have been in the process of making the drawings for the first book for the last couple of months now. It's great to have the opportunity to do something like this, and I really hope it might lead somewhere - if not, it's still an experience.
On the travel front, I got to celebrate 4th July with my wife, my first time celebrating the occasion as a US resident - we spent that weekend in Rhode Island, glorious weather for it too, and we got to watch the fireworks over Newport Harbour - good times. We also went to another couple of gigs too - Hellogoodbye and Foreigner. Personally I'm not a huge fan of either band, but they both put on a good show - and any singer who can hold a high note for over a minute deserves a huge pat on the back (Foreigner's singer Kelly Hansen I'm referring to).
I'll leave you with some summery artwork, a quartet of lifeguard characters I came up with.

Till next time, and don't stay out in the sun too long.

July 2015

I know I probably sound like a broken record when saying this, but July was definitely a month of two halves, but at the same time very eventful - I just wish I could say that it was all good things.

So that means there's a lot of bad things to get out of the way first - and this is something that's really been going on for a long time now, and I might've mentioned this already, so I apologise if I'm repeating myself.
I feel that there's a time when everyone gets older and "wakes up and smells the coffee", as the saying goes; a time when you begin to realise how absolutely screwed up this world really is. I'm talking about the bad news, politicians doing all they can to keep the rich richer and the poor poorer, terrorists blowing everything to kingdom come, another person getting stabbed in the street...you know what I mean. I hate it, I hate thinking about it, and I try to avoid is as much as I can, by not watching the telly, not reading the papers, and not checking the sites online, but one way or another I end up hearing about it. As a result, every now and again I'm made all to aware of all that's wrong in the world, and it gets too much for me to handle - but I also have to remember, that not everything that is reported in the news is fact, because it's all manipulated by the media into generating views/readers/numbers, etc. You know what I mean, you know the score.
Lately I've also been becoming very disillusioned with DeviantArt - on both an artistic and a social level. I'm fed up of seeing nothing put MLP, FNAF, anime and Sonic recolours as the popular stuff there, and original artworks and artists getting pushed to one side. Doesn't anyone give a crap about originality anymore? The same question could go to musicians and film studios, but I digress.
I've also just felt disconnected from my friends on DA - like we have nothing to say or talk about. In other words, my social anxiety's just worse than ever. It's why I've decided to stop doing livestreams every week, and just do them every now and again, because the truth is, the last few times I've done a livestream I feel like I'm spectating my own livestream, like I'm not even part of it. It's partly my fault and other people's fault, too - I wish I was better at engaging people and keeping up a conversation instead of being shy and anxious, but I will be more likely to do that if those people meet me halfway. Maybe they don't mean to give me the impression that they're avoiding me, maybe they're just as shy and anxious - but behind a screen, how do you know that for sure? I might be coming across as an attention-seeker with this, maybe I am, I don't know, but I don't intend that. I don't want to be the centre of attention, but I also don't want to feel left out. It's a conflict of interest and emotions, and it just makes me want to explode, to be honest.
On the same note, I'm also sick and tired of getting people on DA who only watch me or interact with me because they want something - only wanting to see certain types of art from me, wanting to do an art trade where they put nowhere near as much effort into their half of the trade as I do mine, etc. 

In short: DA is supposed to be creative and enjoyable - and lately I'm not getting that.

To cap all of this bad stuff off, there's been a setback with my immigration to the US - me and Nicole were told that I could be moving there in August. Not anymore. Basically, it's going to take longer for the US Embassy to give me an interview date than previously thought, it's only the instructions on what I need to do that will be coming in August, not the interview date. It's now looking more likely that I will be having the visa interview in either October or November, which is later than we previously thought. Not gonna lie, both me and Nicole are frustrated about it, because it means more time apart - but on the flipside, it gives us more time to prepare for the interview, and it gives me more time with my family, which is good, and it softens the blow quite a bit. And there's that old saying, "everything happens for a reason" - maybe this is how it's meant to happen.

There has been light in this month too, though - on July 10th, me and my brother revisited a place from our childhood, the seaside town of Scarborough in North Yorkshire - and it was almost like 15 years hadn't passed. We had an absolute blast seeing the sights and reminiscing about our childhood memories, and you can read all about it right here.
Scarborough wasn't the only highlight of this month, either - the end of the month saw me and my brother also making another visit to the Sunderland Airshow. It was my fifth time there and ten years since my first visit, it was just as popular and packed as it was back then, and the aircraft displays as ever were nothing short of impressive - it never ceases to amaze me just how the pilots of those aircraft are able to pull off such technical and daredevil moves. The displays included the all-prop Blades aerobatic team; the Black Cats helicopter duo; two parachute drops from the Tigers Freefall Team and the RAF Falcons; the very loud Eurofighter Typhoon; the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight featuring the Spitfire and Hurricane; an air and ground attack demo by a pair of Hawk T2s, and of course the always awesome Red Arrows. Who knows if I'll ever get to go to that airshow again, given the circumstances, but never say never.

I hope I can give you a more positive blog next month - I'll leave you with some Shark Week-inspired artwork to brighten things up.

PS: Click the links below to check out the action from the Sunderland Airshow:
Sunderland Airshow 2015: Part 1
Sunderland Airshow 2015: Part 2

A Yorkshire Adventure: Scarborough, Whitby & York

Forgot to mention this last week, but at the weekend (10-12 July) myself and my brother Chris went on holiday, to a place that we both remember very well from our childhood - the seaside town of Scarborough, in North Yorkshire. Here's what we got up to:

Day 1
It was an early start for us both as we made our way to Durham to take the hour long train journey down to York, where I'd visited for the first time in April for a DA meet-up (you know who you are!), and also where we had to change trains, though not without having another wander around the city of course. It was Chris's first time visiting York too, and he very much approved.
We'd picked a busy day to visit, as it was race weekend at York Racecourse, so the station in particular was chock-a-block - that didn't put us off one bit though. We checked out The Shambles and quickly popped into HMV so I could buy a memory card for my phone, as I'd ever so slightly forgotten to being my camcorder with me, followed by paying a visit to the grand York Minster, looking glorious in the sunshine. After that, we wandered through York's medieval style streets some more and had some dinner down by the River Ouse, watching the boats come and go.
Before long we were on our second train of the day, and even though we had to stand for the whole journey, we were still able to appreciate the views of the Yorkshire countryside flying past us, the unfamiliar ground that it was, but once we stepped out of the train at Scarborough station, we knew we were in familiar territory, and once we got our bearings, we made our way towards the hotel to be greeted by an awesome view of the North Bay, and all those childhood memories came flooding right back. The last time either of us had visited Scarborough was in 2000, and we both agreed that it had been 15 years too long.
We checked into our hotel, the Miricia Guest House - the hotel owner Joanne was very down to earth and welcoming, and we'd been given a room at the very top of the house, which was more or less in the attic, so there was no spectacular sea view, but that didn't matter as the room was spot on, clean and complete with telly, tea and coffee, and enough room for both of us. The only minus point was that the hotel's wifi was sketchy at best, so I had to rely on my phone's 3G to get online - but we weren't there to go online at the end of the day, we were there for adventure.
No sooner had we arrived in Scarborough though, we were already leaving! Even though it was late in the day, we took a very scenic bus ride through the North Yorkshire Moors and the picturesque coastal village of Robin Hood's Bay, down to the harbour town of Whitby. This was another place we both wanted to revisit - my last time there was in 2007, for Chris it was 1996, and much like Scarborough, it was good to be back there. We made our way up the cliff to Whitby's iconic landmark, the ruins of Whitby Abbey, along with some simply amazing views of the town below, which we headed back down into via the famous 199 steps, complete with a certain Captain Jack Sparrow hanging around at the bottom, and he was certainly right at home with the oldy-worldy architecture of Whitby and its harbour, which was of course very busy, with both people and seagulls (I swear, they own the place!) We walked along the harbour, all the way along its lengthy pier, checking out the town's lighthouse (I'd been to the top of it previously, however it was closed) and taking in the windswept views out towards the North Sea and the North Yorkshire coastline. Finally, we walked up the cliff across the other side of the harbour to visit the statue of Whitby's most famous son, Captain James Cook, as well as the famous whalebone arch overlooking the harbour, before once again enjoying the scenic bus ride along the coast back to Scarborough, where we ended the night with a meal at McDonald's and an evening walk along Marine Drive, from the South to the North Bay.

Day 2
You don't want to start a day sleep deprived - however, noise from a couple across the hall from us and the resident seagulls outside through the night, as well as sleeping in unfamiliar surroundings meant that me and Chris did, but it didn't stop us one bit. After a lovely breakfast of cereal, tea and toast, we headed out to our first stop of the day, and a place in Scarborough that we hadn't previously visited - its most famous landmark, Scarborough Castle. We explored the sprawling headland on which the castle was located, checking out the ruins of a signal station, the castle walls, the King's Hall and the guard towers along the walls, and enjoying the views of both the North and South Bays from the headland. Of course, we couldn't visit the castle without exploring its iconic keep, which despite being blown in half centuries ago, is still standing strong after 3000 years.
It was then time to visit some more familiar places, in Scarborough's North Bay - the first was Peasholm Park, famous for its boating lake and Oriental themed island, including a waterfall, garden and a pagoda overlooking the park. We opted to return to the park later on in the day to see something else that it's famous for (more on that in a bit.).
Across the road, it was memories of attractions gone that we were after - the Northstead Manor Gardens, that used to have three of Scarborough's big attractions, a waterpark named Water Splash World, a playpark named Kinderland, and on top of a hill behind them, an amusement park called Mr. Marvels. All three of them are now long gone, however it was nice to relive going to those places, and it was also interesting to see that there were reminders of there existence, such as an abandoned station for the chairlifts that used to take people to and from Marvel's. However, there were also some attractions to see there that were still around - the Open Air Theatre, which was derelict back in the day but has been restored and is now a concert venue (we couldn't check it out as there was a concert going on); the North Bay Railway, a miniature train that runs from Northstead Manor Gardens to Scalby Mills; and Scarborough's famous Water Chute that was once part of Kinderland. There was also a new attraction there, called a SkyTrail, which was bascially a giant climbing frame/obstacle course.
We then took a walk along the North Bay Beach, which was absolutely packed, to no surprise, because the weather was glorious. After stopping for a burger and chips, we planned to take a look inside the white pyramids of the Sea Life Sanctuary, however we changed our minds once we saw how much the admission was, and instead headed back to Peasholm Park, thugh not before revisiting the hotel that we stayed in on every trip with our family back in the 90s - there were good times there.
Now, that something else Peasholm Park is famous for? Every year they hold a "Naval Warfare" show, which involves a fleet of model battleships taking to the boating lake and re-enacting a famous battle. This was our first time seeing the display, and it was an absolute treat, complete with a pun-dropping and movie medley-playing commentator, model aircraft "flying" over on wires, and a lot of gunfire. What made this show even more impressive is that the ships weren't remote controlled, there were actually people inside the boats, steering them and firing the ammunition (it wasn't live ammo, but some of the ships did actually take damage). It was an absolute blast to watch, to say the least.
Following the show, me and Chris took to the lake ourselves on board a dragon-themed pedal boat, taking a cruise around the island, watching the park's population of Canadian geese waddle around like they owned the place, and getting a close view of the ships from the Naval Warfare display. There were also people boating around the lake on canoes and rowing boats - we remembered our late grandad taking the two of us around the lake on a rowing boat back in the day, and on one occasion almost capsizing the boat!
From boats to buses after that - we took one of Scarborough's many open-topped buses along Marine Drive to the South Bay, which really hadn't changed very much from back in the day, with its seafront full of shops, cafés and arcades, as well as its ever busy harbour full of fishing boats and cruise boats. We popped into Olympia Leisure for a couple of arcade games (The House of the Dead 4 and Jurassic Park) before visiting a shop that :devWhiteBlazingPhoenix: had been recommended to visit - Ancient Warrior, a gift shop with a difference, its specialty was selling weapons, real weapons, most notably swords and pistols, along with ornaments, figurines and lots of other stuff - definitely not your average shop. After that, it was beach time, I took a cold yet refreshing dip in the North Sea, because you just can't have a beach trip without a dip. Me and Chris remembered taking a ride on the beach's resident donkeys back in the day, those donkeys were still on the beach.
After making a pitstop at the hotel, we made our third visit to Peasholm Park, this time to visit the island, it had been closed earlier because of the Naval Warfare display, however it was open, so we were able to check it out. By now it was raining a little, which dampened the atmosphere a little, and seeing some shifty looking people hanging around the park didn't really help much, but we pressed on with exploring the island regardless, seeing all the geese hanging around and getting an even closer look at the model dock where the Naval Warfare ships were based. What we really wanted to see though was the Japanese gardens and pagoda at the top of the island, so we made our way up there, only to get an unexpected surprise - there was a security guard in the garden, and as soon as he saw us, he told us to leave the island. It turned out that the island was still closed, and we weren't supposed to be there, so we quickly left, a little embarrassed about it, but no harm was done.
By now we were all adventured out, so we headed back to the hotel for some rest, not before grabbing another meal from McDonald's though - however the atmosphere around the North Bay seemed lass sunny, and not just because of the weather - both nights we stayed in Scarborough, the entire North Bay half of Marine Drive was overrun with an organised street racer show, with dozens of modified cars and their drivers lining the promenade. There were some cool cars to see, but I wasn't really digging the atmosphere of it, plus there were inevitably some idiots who were speeding around the drive showing off, and the whole show was causing traffic to slow down all along the seafront. For me, that was the only major minus point of the trip, I much prefer the seafront when it's quieter - it was still a good day on the whole though.

Day 3
Another early start, and that inevitable feeling of having to go home had very much kicked in, but me and Chris didn't let it get us down. After another nice breakfast, we quickly packed up our luggage and said our goodbyes and thanks to Joanne, and I couldn't resist making a thank you sketch for her, involving a certain blue bug.
We still had a fair bit of time left before we had to catch our train, so we headed back down to the South Bay for some more beach time, as well as picking up some souvenirs and a tasty meal of chips. I also decided to take a boat ride around the bay on a miniature pirate ship called the "Hispaniola", which gave some great views of the seafront. There was also the option to take to the waves on a high-speed jet boat, but we both decided to pass on that one, maybe next time though.
We chose to take the scenic walk back along Marine Drive to the North Bay, and again it was great weather for it, and it was a lot more pleasant with the aforementioned car show over and done with. It was time to head to Peasholm Park one last time, and this time the island was legitimately open, so we were able to take a full walk around it, and go right up to the Japanese gardens at the top, which looked beautiful, along with the colourful pagoda, which had a great view of the boating lake and park below.
After a little bit of persuasion, we headed across to Northstead Manor Gardens so I could have another first - after all those past trips of never doing so, I finally got to take a ride on the water chute, and it was short but very sweet, and I didn't get nearly as soaked as I thought I would! Following that, time was starting to get on, so we jumped on the bus for one last scenic drive to the South Bay, where we decided to go for the quicker option and took a short ride on one of the two remaining cliff lifts that ferry people from the bay to the town above - and before long, we were at the station, waiting for our train, complete with a curious seagull hanging around the platform. About two and half hours, another changeover in York and two train rides and a bus ride later, and that was our holiday done and dusted.

All in all, both me and Chris had a great time, spending some quality bro time together, and of course revisiting all the places in Scarborough that we knew and loved as kids, as well as the bonus visits to York and Whitby - and I can't recommend taking a visit to all three places enough.

You can see what we got up to, also - click on the links below and have a gander:
A Yorkshire Adventure - July 2015: Part 1
A Yorkshire Adventure - July 2015: Part 2
A Yorkshire Adventure - July 2015: Part 3

July 2014

Things have warmed up this month - not on the job front though, I'm afraid. The TK Maxx job was a non-starter, I heard absolutely nothing back about it, and I'm inclined to believe that contrary to what I was told, there was never going to be an interview at the end of the course that I took in June. Typical false promises as always.
I did actually get an interview though - not with TK Maxx, but with Greggs the Bakers, for a job as a team member in my local store. Trouble is, it was also a managerial position, and of course I have no managerial experience - they as good as told me that at the inteview. I think you can guess how that ended.

The weather's been warm though, much warmer than June, and I've been making the most of it, going out for walks and heading to the beach at Tynemouth. I prefer it when there's a breeze to counter the sweltering heat though, that's not to say I don't enjoy the sunshine. Summer is my favourite time of year for a good reason.
This month brought back memories of last July, when I was over in the US for my longest trip abroad to date - you can read about how that went right here and here. 
While I wasn't abroad this summer, I did get to go to this year's Sunderland Airshow - it was my fourth time there, the first three being in 2005, 2006 and 2012. The getting to and from the airshow was a nightmare, because of all the crowds, chock-full trains and buses not turning up, however, the airshow itself was as brilliant as it always is. I saw quite a few aircraft, some I'd seen before and others that I hadn't - my personal highlights of the airshow were the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster); the Breitling Wingwalkers; and of course, the star attraction of the airshow, the Red Arrows display team. 

You can watch my videos of the airshow at the links below:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4


Again, I wasn't abroad this summer, but my brother Chris was, he spent a week in Prague in the Czech Republic, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn't mind having the house to myself, although you know how it is when one of your family goes away on holiday, you're soon wishing for them to come back. Chris has set foot in Holland, Germany and now the Czech Republic - I have yet to set foot in any European country outside of the UK, so there's a bit of sibling envy going on there!

As always, I'll leave you with some artwork - and considering it's summer, it's only right that it's something summer themed.

Summer in the States

Well, to say that this last month has been a break from the norm is putting it very lightly - as I type this, I've been in the US for over a month, and quite a lot has happened, which I won't be able to cover in huge detail here, so I'll try and give you the basics.
It's been great spending time with Nicole of course, and even though she's been at work most days we've still made the most of the free time that we've had with each other, and even though it probably won't hit me until the day I fly home, I'm gonna miss her being around. I think I'll keep the mushy stuff between me and her though, I'll spare you that.

 Me and Nicole

Been to quite a few places during this trip, some that I visited on my last trip in 2011, some that I hadn't been to before - Branford Point (mine and Nicole's favourite spot to hang out), Newport in Rhode Island with its beautiful beaches and coastline and an enjoyable cruise around the bay; Stony Creek - one of my favourite places from the last visit, still as picturesque as before, even more so as we got to take a cruise around the Thimble Islands there; the distinctive Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Casinos; saw a terrific fireworks display at the Sailfest in New London; the bustling Boston; the sprawling Long Island with its scenic towns and beautiful coastline, including the Montauk Point Lighthouse; not one but two aquariums, both with a great range of sealife on display, in Norwalk and Riverhead on Long Island; and also not one but two separate trips into New York City, which was still as hectic as it was adventurous just as it was 2 years ago.

 Montauk Point Lighthouse

 Stony Creek

 Thimble Islands

 Easton's Beach, Newport, Rhode Island

I also met up with a few friends, some I'd met on my last visit, others I hadn't - those I previously met included most of Nicole's friends, her parents, plus Shane and Paula (PierreAndAndre and youlittlemonkey from deviantART respectively), and Shane's family; those I didn't meet last time were Ryan, Dawnsy, Victor and Paul (friends of Nicole), Ben (a fellow Brit who is also friends with Shane) and another deviantART friend, Rich (FAC-AgentC) - it was great getting to meet them all.

 L to r: Nicole, Shane, Paula, Ben

Back (l to r): Alicia, Paul, Michael, Crystal

Front (l to r): Ryan, Dee, Kristin, Nicole, me

I also have to mention how the weather's been - I was definitely not prepared for the humidity, much higher temperatures than what I'm used to back in the UK, though it made for some good walking days out to Branford Point, although I nearly overdid it one day. However I got the opposite as well, I was able to witness a thunderstorm approaching on Long Island, it was actually very cool to see.
This trip is not over yet - myself and Nicole will be taking a trip to Massachusetts on the last weekend before I leave, and before that I'll be getting to experience my first ever baseball game, and before that we're going somewhere special, which I'm not going to reveal until it's been and gone, but we'll be celebrating our 10-month anniversary while we're at that place.
I honestly don't know where the last month has gone, I feel like I've been in the US much longer than I actually have, and I'm really not looking forward to the day I have to fly back home (August 5) - but I'll have the memories.

I managed to do some artwork during this trip, so I'll leave you with this pic of Bob & Flyer, but not as you know them:

"Stoopid Bugs" - my entry for Granitoons' "Super-Stoopid Art Jam" on deviantART