Anyhow, Karen and I start the drive up to the northern Virginia area as of next week, and we’ll be slutting-it-up in the Artist Alley at Anime USA this November 16 to 18th in Arlington, VA. So be sure to drop by to chat, drop by to buy, and drop by even if it’s just to say hi! =D Hope to see some of ya’ guys there!

Oh, and here’s some randome Sticky Floors sketch-ness, for ya’ to enjoy. Hope ya’ dig! =D

The last couple business trips I’ve made to Houston… Well, the combo of family-and-friendly drama has managed to sucker-punch me square in-the-kisser every time – and the conventions themselves (IkkiCon and Anime Matsuri) weren’t even all that profitable! =O Suffice to say, I was steeling myself for the worst this trip.

…And was pleasantly surprised. =)

Okay, so Oni-Con wasn’t totally devoid of dramatics. We were flying in morning-of Day One, and neither Karen nor I had gotten much sleep. After playing Tetris to get all the merch packed up, I at least got two hours while Karen did more important things – like style her hair and paint her nails. =P We were uber exhausted, but Starlet was super-awesome enough to come a-a-a-all the way out to Bush Intercontinental to pick us up at eight-in-the-mother-effing-morning. XP OMG, sleepy! After grabbing a nice IHOP breakfast, we hit up the George R. Brown once again...

(As a side note: Houston, seriously. What the fuck’s up with premiering ALL your anime cons at the GRB now? Three anime cons debuted there in ’07 – Matsuri, Atsui, and Yami… And Oni is there, too! GRB is too big for you young upstarts. Go to a hotel. =P)

…Upon our arrival, Hightower was swarmed by a gaggle of girls and artists – apparently we had 42 tables and 55 artists. No bueno. We took our crappy corner post and set up shop, greeting our fellow Texas regulars as they straggled into the con. Amelie appeared sans puppy, and Aaron was the lone gunman representing for Squirrel Works this year, as Chris was amiss due to a family emergency. Sales were abysmal, but as luck would have it: on the other side of Hightower’s tables was a child molester! =D

That was, in fact, a good thing. ;) He was recognized by a con-goer who called the police on ‘im. Good times! We watched him get cuffed right in front of our table. =) We pounced upon the primo real-estate he left behind, and the rest of the con went swimmingly.

Karen and I ditched the table for awhile – and pilfered some badges from H-Tower – to hit up the Dealers’ Room. We met up with our friend Blain en route – and perused Dealers’ with much disappointment. Just wasn’t much there. =/ The rest of the day was spent trying – and failing – to reach Jonathan and Erika via phone… So we ended up with a hotel room all to ourselves. XP After some late night Freebirds (burritos), we hit the sack for some much needed rest at last.

Day Two was a significant improvement from a slow-but-steady Friday, the day punctuated mostly from various family visits to the table – my dad, cousin Andrew, and Karen’s cousin Avery. Our buddy Zak was also around more regularly. I dropped by Danimation’s table to pick up copies of his Iron and the Maiden serial – and watched a drug-bust right in front of his table. XP We ran some Captain Planet trivia at the table, giving away free Sticky Floors sketches to anyone that could guess the name of the Asian Planeteer (Gi) and Mati’s monkey (Suchi). Good stuff. Karen, Blain and I hit up the late night rave/dance hosted by Greg, and hung out there ‘till it closed on down. We retired to our hotel afterward.

We got to the con a little bit later on Sunday – but by then, everyone was starting to pack it in, anyway. We bid our farewells to all our friends, dropped by Karen’s aunt-‘n’-uncle’s for some dinner, and got back to our hotel and went for a swim. We left Houston about mid-afternoon Monday after breakfast with my side o’ the family.

So Oni-Con has come and gone – and, ya’ know, I’m thinking I may not do quite as many Texas cons in 2008 as I have. Having now done three years at every returning con in the Lone Star State, I’m feeling rather over-exposed. I’ll definitely be returning to A-Kon next year – and maybe Oni-Con, given the sentimental attachment. (It’s where my girlfriend Karen and I first met, two years ago.) But beyond that, I’m thinking I’ll stick to whichever cons I hit up with Snafu.

On another note, last I saw the infamous Oni-Con cock – which was last in possession of the aforementioned child-molester – was across the hall in our hotel. Godspeed, Oni-Cock… Wherever your travels take you.. =P

PS: Quick shout-out to Andy, Sticky Floors’ biggest fan! =D Good meetin’ ya, Andy!

Heya peeps. How ya’ been? I know, I know – it’s been friggin’ ages since I last updated the news-‘n’-notes portion of Sticky Floors… Or, hell, since I’ve updated Sticky Floors at all, for that matter! =O

Ri-i-i-ight, so… About that. If you’ll please direct your attention to the top of this window, please… Right. Where it says “Updated every Wednesday.” Yeah, that. Sticky Floors is being rescheduled, somewhat – to a singular update per week. That’s right – only one comic. But hey – that’s one comic more than what it has been updating with, of late. ^_^;; So please drop by every Wednesday for brand new content.

And speaking of brand new – or, well, at least news that I just hadn’t posted about yet… You may have also noticed that most new strips feature a new byline. Ladies and gents and undecideds, give a warm welcome to our newest guest writer Karen Emch! This marks the first time since Jesse Barksdale wrote the original ten-strip story-arc way-back-when in 2004 that Sticky Floors has been under the creative penmanship of someone else other than me – and damn am I happy about it. XP (Hey, writing this stuff is harder than it looks, y’ know.) So give her a good howdy-doody and let her know how she’s doin’ at kmemch@gmail.com.

I just got back from Oni-Con last week, and my next (and last) convention of the year will be Anime USA in Arlington, Virginia, from November 16 to 18th. Hope to see ya’ guys there! We’ll be giving away free Sticky Floors sketches! (With every purchase… So, uh… Not quite free.) Hope to see ya’ there!

Oni-Con report will be below, tomorrow. Hope ya’ dig!