Y’know, every time I post a youtube video here, I feel a little guilty, because It’s just a copy and paste kind of thing. Thus, I feel obligated to write a few words about why that video is there. Today I bring you Amanda Palmer. I’m sorry I diodn’t say that right.

I’m talking about Amanda Fucking Palmer.

There, that’s better. Amanda Palmer is a great musician and the fact that she’s female doesn’t need to be mentioned because it’s pretty obvious. I don’t know of many music fans that differentiate between male musicians that they like and female musicians that they like. She has an eclectic body of songs and the ones that are very heartfelt really come across that way. There’s still a joy in even the darkest of songs that she performs.

So here comes the reason that I like her music so much, and it’s because she’s not the stereotypical female musician in any sense. She’s still feminine, yet she’s not childish. She’s got a famous boyfriend, but still stands completely on her own. There’s a confidence that’s missing from so many women. Whenever I see it in one, I want to hear that woman talk, because they’re inevitably intelligent and compelling. I’ll also tell you something, that’s more attractive to me than anything we usually consider “sexy.”

Along those lines, here’s one written by her boyfriend. You may have heard of him, or read some of the stuff he’s written. This is here for reasons obvious only to me.

What I’m trying to get across in Jet-Pack Jenny is that type of person and I’m hoping that noone gets the wrong idea when I introduce her boyfriend. Jenny is still the same character, still strong and confident and in control. The boyfriend is there only because Jenny wants him there, not because she needs him there. There’s an anthology story in the works that will illustrate this. I am aware that people may think that I’m writing the character I want to be, putting myself into the story, and I am most definitely not doing that. I write Jet-Pack Jenny as the person I want her to be, if she were to be a real person with that job. I’m writing her boyfriend to be the type of person that person would be attracted to, namely, someone not intimidated by Jenny’s lifestyle and occupation, but can be there for those times when Jenny feels like her life has gone to hell.

Back to Amanda Palmer, this is for those of you that prefer actual music videos….

I’ll also recommend “Blake Says”, which is probably one of my favorite so far.

I thought about not posting this, but I decided a few months ago to live my life online, so here we are. If you follow me on Facebook, you’ve already seen most of this, so just indulge me while I update everyone else.

I’m living in Orlando, working a part-time job at a little above minimum wage, which does not pay the bills. I am looking for full time employment, sending off at least one resume a day, and aiming to send off three a day. Friends are working to help me get a full-time gig as well, but the final decision isn’t up to them. I have a deadline of MegaCon to find a job that can pay the bills, and if I don’t, then it’s on the road again, back north to the old stomping grounds in North Carolina.

Please understand that I love Orlando. I don’t want to leave, as I’ve good friends here and it’s incredibly diverse. The creative comics community here is unorganized, but in a state where several people are trying to remedy that. For the first time in years, I’m not only making comics, but selling comics in a small comic shop. I’ve met skeptics, and I’ve met fans of comics as an art form. This is one the best towns I’ve ever lived in, and if I was making enough to pay my bills, I’d be very, very happy.

Those of you in North Carolina, don’t feel offended, but I never got that sense back where I came from. I love my family,and I appreciate the finer points of North Carolina culture, but diversity has never been an issue of importance there, and the creative community has never been able to make up its mind where it wants to go. Comic wise, the great shops get really focused once or twice a year, and don’t acknowledge local artists until their working on a big Marvel or DC book.

So, I’m trying my best to stay here. Everything else except the webcomic is on hold until then.