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there has been a reason
So, my interview with the Aspen people was today. Well... it ended up not being so much of an interview as a nice chat. XD My mom drove me down there, and their building was really small and inconspicuous... like I'd thought it'd be. XD (It was kinda creepy.. their address is 1004, which is my birth month and birthday, and the last four digits of their phone number is 1987--my birth year. AHH??) Later, they explained that their exterior looked so boring and unassuming because at their last place on the Promenade, crazy fans kept on barging in and interrupting their work. ROFL. Also as I had thought. (They're actually right down the street from Hi-De-Ho's, which is... quite sad for oblivious fans. XD)
I met with three people--Mark, Vince, (yes, Vince), and... dammit. XD Can't remember the last guy's name, but they were all really nice, like Phil, (the guy who looked at my portfolio in the first place). Total geeks. ROFL. As if I expected any different? The office they were in looked like my room--papers and electronics strewn everywhere but strangely organized shelves. My mom came too, and she was actually really good with everything. Anyway... they asked me what kind of student I am, what kind of experience I have with computers and such... They were extremely pleased to hear that I work on a mac, since they mainly use macs there, apparently. >D I think they were mostly wowed by the breadth of my abilities than my actual technical skill: The fact that I pencil, ink, color, plot, write, Photoshop, and that I've been driven and motivated enough to try developing my skills in all of those areas. ...ROFL, did I just sound COCKY? Wtf is wrong with me?
Anyway, they actually seemed pretty sure they wanted to hire me before they even looked at my stuff, which they actually did at the very end. Rofl. Seems like they trust the first guy's judgment pretty securely. XD Anyway, seems they wanna pay me. Woo! Minimum wage, but I'd probably work over there for free anyway, so. XD They said I can probably start as early as Monday, and they're really close by, so I can take the bus from school after fifth and get over there around three and then work 'till six, when my dad can pick me up on his way home from work. (If I work Monday through Thursday, tentatively, that comes out to about 81 dollars a week. Not bad at all! :D) They were pretty honest that I'd be doing really mundane things--cleaning up rough drafts, fixing stuff, maybe doing some quasi-inking (?). In any case, they said it still required an artistic eye, and I'd still be working on a real life comic book page that would end up getting published and that wows me to no fucking end.
I'm sort of excited beyond being excited...? If that makes sense. I really hope I get a lot out of this, and that I'm able to pull my weight around there. XD They said that once I got used to it and if I ended up getting through more pages during my hours there, they could start paying me per page instead of per hour to increase my wages. They seemed really honest, and I hope I didn't misjudge them. (They reminded me of me more than anything else.) ROFL. We all joked around about how high school is so retarded and about how they all did more work while avoiding high school work than they've done anywhere else. On one of my pages, the forgotten-name dude, (who actually seemed the most like me), was like: "Now, you didn't do this in class, did you?" and I was like "Of course I did!" and then in the next page I was like "I did that one in math."
A life of endless geekiness seemed to pay off throughout the whole duration of the interview; as no-name guy was talking to my mom, my eyes wandered around and I saw a Spike and Vicious Ballad of Fallen Angels wallscroll that even my mom, (she's seen the whole series), thought was awesome when she saw it on her way out. XDDDD So, like, when Mark was going through my portfolio, he got to the two Bebop comic pages and was like OMG BEBOP and I was like OMG YES and he was like, THAT'S MY WALLSCROLL OVER THERE :D and I was like O RLY? ....It was sweet. XD Apparently, he's the one I'm gonna be working with mostly. ROCKIN'.
Just... wow. I know it's gonna be a hell of a lot of work, but it's also gonna be a hell of a lot of reward.
And a final message to Ms. Bouse, even though she won't ever read it:
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. <3
I met with three people--Mark, Vince, (yes, Vince), and... dammit. XD Can't remember the last guy's name, but they were all really nice, like Phil, (the guy who looked at my portfolio in the first place). Total geeks. ROFL. As if I expected any different? The office they were in looked like my room--papers and electronics strewn everywhere but strangely organized shelves. My mom came too, and she was actually really good with everything. Anyway... they asked me what kind of student I am, what kind of experience I have with computers and such... They were extremely pleased to hear that I work on a mac, since they mainly use macs there, apparently. >D I think they were mostly wowed by the breadth of my abilities than my actual technical skill: The fact that I pencil, ink, color, plot, write, Photoshop, and that I've been driven and motivated enough to try developing my skills in all of those areas. ...ROFL, did I just sound COCKY? Wtf is wrong with me?
Anyway, they actually seemed pretty sure they wanted to hire me before they even looked at my stuff, which they actually did at the very end. Rofl. Seems like they trust the first guy's judgment pretty securely. XD Anyway, seems they wanna pay me. Woo! Minimum wage, but I'd probably work over there for free anyway, so. XD They said I can probably start as early as Monday, and they're really close by, so I can take the bus from school after fifth and get over there around three and then work 'till six, when my dad can pick me up on his way home from work. (If I work Monday through Thursday, tentatively, that comes out to about 81 dollars a week. Not bad at all! :D) They were pretty honest that I'd be doing really mundane things--cleaning up rough drafts, fixing stuff, maybe doing some quasi-inking (?). In any case, they said it still required an artistic eye, and I'd still be working on a real life comic book page that would end up getting published and that wows me to no fucking end.
I'm sort of excited beyond being excited...? If that makes sense. I really hope I get a lot out of this, and that I'm able to pull my weight around there. XD They said that once I got used to it and if I ended up getting through more pages during my hours there, they could start paying me per page instead of per hour to increase my wages. They seemed really honest, and I hope I didn't misjudge them. (They reminded me of me more than anything else.) ROFL. We all joked around about how high school is so retarded and about how they all did more work while avoiding high school work than they've done anywhere else. On one of my pages, the forgotten-name dude, (who actually seemed the most like me), was like: "Now, you didn't do this in class, did you?" and I was like "Of course I did!" and then in the next page I was like "I did that one in math."
A life of endless geekiness seemed to pay off throughout the whole duration of the interview; as no-name guy was talking to my mom, my eyes wandered around and I saw a Spike and Vicious Ballad of Fallen Angels wallscroll that even my mom, (she's seen the whole series), thought was awesome when she saw it on her way out. XDDDD So, like, when Mark was going through my portfolio, he got to the two Bebop comic pages and was like OMG BEBOP and I was like OMG YES and he was like, THAT'S MY WALLSCROLL OVER THERE :D and I was like O RLY? ....It was sweet. XD Apparently, he's the one I'm gonna be working with mostly. ROCKIN'.
Just... wow. I know it's gonna be a hell of a lot of work, but it's also gonna be a hell of a lot of reward.
And a final message to Ms. Bouse, even though she won't ever read it:
Thank you from the bottom of my heart. <3
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Frickin' awesome, though. Erin wins at life.
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I could also do a two-hour one day and three-hours the other day thing? Or maybe certain days of the week? I dunno; we'll see once I've gotten the hang of the job.
........JOB IT'S GONNA BE A JOB. THEY'RE GONNA PAY ME TO DO SHITWORK ON AN ACTUAL COMIC BOOK. LIFE IS FUCKING GOOD. :DDDDDDDDDD [/delayed reaction]
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See? You're like, working. This makes me feel sort of inconsequential and useless, but I'm more proud of you than anything else. Here I am worrying about your SCHOOLWORK when you're getting $81 a week.
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...And you're doing fucking community service, man. XD At a hospital. You aren't being lazy. Plus, you're gonna get into an actual university and have a stable career in the end, so the inconsequentiality's on me. XD XD
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Oh right, community service. To put on an app. Where all I do is pointless paperwork. I'm really contributing. And I'm only doing it because my parents told me I should.
A stable career? Says who? I have no idea what's going to happen once school is over with.
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I have no doubt you'll be successful at whatever you do. <3 You're too passionate and too much of a hard worker not to be. :3
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Oh yeah, don't worry, you will. :O As my mom said, you're much more mature in terms of dealing with bureacratic shit and getting your way in the world in general, which is why she didn't think it was so bad if you moved away from home.
And whether or not you enjoy yourself, you'll always have daydreaming about Midvalley's Swollen Cock™ to keep you occupied.
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Bureaucratic shit? What do you mean, exactly?
Yeah. Even if I'm living on the streets (or working in a cubicle), that shall always be with me. Midvalley is such a handy guy.
Also, thought you might wanna see this.
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Comics and work like this come and go - you do need something to fall back on. If you honestly think you have what it takes to make your own story someday [which is where the real financial security is in comics] then feel free to shuck schoolwork- but going to college to make comics and relying solely on that education alone is just setting yourself up for a fall. Comics, in this country, as a business, is evolving massively right now, and soon the old school way of comikers [you pencil, he inks, he tones] is giving way to the manga sort of industry where it takes two or usually one to make the sale and get the story out there.
I know I sound like a real bitch right now, but I'm not going to shoot herbal scented douche on the notion that school should take a back seat to a 'touch-up and learn' gig at any studio. Try to hang in there with school. You want to know what sort of degrees the people who are successful in comics have? For the most part, business or managerial BA's. Honestly.
-Gynocrat
Still happy as hell for you!! XDD
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Still, my grades at school aren't stellar as is. XD At this point, I've already exhausted my options unless I go to community college, which is something I can always do even if this whole unrealistic "artiste" thing crashes and burns.
And thanks! XDD! I know you're saying this to help me, not hurt me. <3 I appreciate it.
On a totally unrelated note, (well, not really), a Min-Woo Hyung concept art book is gonna be released/has been released(?) by TokyoPop. I needs it so baaaad...
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^+__+^
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And you should tell Ms. Bouse that in person.
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And thank you. <3 :D I hope I don't screw this up or anything. ^^;!
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Erin, that's...AMAZING!
*so proud*
♥
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WTF IS WRONG WITH ME???
...Anyway. :D; Thank you! <3 ^^! It still needs that final lock and seal for me to truly breathe well, though. XD
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Meeh. I guess that later in life I can...um...represent you in lawsuits? XD
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Yea, the bay area just sucks. There are some cool things in SF, but for the most part its all yuppie stuff... and even the cool places to work dont really like high school students. ::shrug:: Oh well, I already liked southern california better anyway, this is just one more reason on the list. XDDDD
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I know... I was assuming that I'd be their official slave, but I DUNNO. I'm not complaining. >>; Although I'll feel doubly worse if I totally screw them over. XD XD
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I know that interns are official slaves, but at least you will be an official slave who is getting PAID.
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So again...congrats. <3
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