Just use coupon code BIRTHDAY through August 21st to get 26% off of your order!

I’m going to go ship some orders, work on some new designs, take some inventory, and maybe watch a little tv.

I’m still working off of a borrowed desktop, as my computer has been off getting repaired for over two weeks now. So, all of the new designs that I’m hoping to showcase at RENEGADE CHICAGO are still sitting in my sketchbooks, and hopefully once my computer is back I can hammer them out in time for the show…we should be running smoothly again soon!

There is so much to catch up on. My computer is currently off being repaired once again, so I’m working from a desktop that my buddy Taylor has graciously loaned to me, so I haven’t had a chance to upload any photos from San Francisco, Amsterdam, or Copenhagen.

Instead, here is a picture that makes me super happy:

(stolen from fancydee’s Flickr)

It was good seeing Dan of kozyndan wearing Give Us A Kiss the first time, but having a friend see him wearing it at a random beach party is double awesome. Hooray for one of the biggest inspirations to my “artistic career” liking my work!

Anyway, more later, lots of new designs and accessories are in the works, but I for now am gonna go back to feeling sick and maybe getting some Thai food, and then shipping out LOADS OF ORDERSSSSSSS.

I love San Francisco.

Sorry for the lack of pictures for now, but I’m writing from a FedEx Kinko’s near the airport, taking a break from hanging out in the airport before Kate and I are whisked away to Amsterdam.

Anyway, many thank yous are due: my friends Yvonne and Chris for helping out at the table, my friends Ryan and Tara for being great hosts Friday night, my friends Hellen and Calvin for being great hosts Saturday night, all my fellow crafters for making Renegade SF one of the best shows yet, and the people of San Francisco for being so awesome and so warmly receptive of SEIBEI and helping me sell out of tons of sizes. Thanks to everyone I met at the show who’s ordering off the website since I didn’t have their size at the show.

Also, thanks to the San Francisco Hilton, and In N Out Burger, for providing exceptional service and treating me well (particularly the latter, I must admit).

I got to meet a ton of rad people, but the only one whose name I remember off the top of my head is Karl from a little blog called Tcritic. Also, Hellen Jo and Calvin Wong, who are the COOLEST.

Unfortunately, due to my flight being delayed, which means most of my stock is staying in my parked car at JFK International, no orders will be shipped until I return.

Alright, it’s about time to head over to the bank and deposit some $$$, and then back to the airport to meet up with my lady. Maybe I will also get a haircut.

Renegade San Francisco is mere days away. I was hoping to have a couple of new designs ready, but all of the ones I’m nearly done with just aren’t quite there yet, and I’d rather release it a little later than release something I’m not completely stoked on. Here’s a sneak peek of a new guest piece that I am beyond stoked on..

That’s just a small piece of our latest release, “…OH SHIT, RUNAWAY!” by Hellen Jo. Everyone who comes to Renegade San Fran is getting the first crack at ‘em, and everyone else is gonna have to wait…I’ll have them online by the end of the month (since I’ll be in Europe for a week), and Hellen is probably going to have some to sell at the SF Zinefest and the San Diego Comic Con, and maybe some other appearances later this year.

This morning I shipped a few hundred shirts to my hotel room. Wow, I have my own hotel room - this is honestly a first. I know people all over, so I always end up crashing on someone’s couch or floor, but this time I figured I wouldn’t inconvenience any of my friends and actually stay somewhere nice. How about…the San Francisco Hilton? Anyway, I’m also cramming hundreds more (literally) into two big suitcases and whatever big carry-on I can reasonably carry onto a plane.

I AM SO STOKED, PEOPLE. It’s weird - being stoked about Renegade SF has held almost all of my stokeability (my computer says that’s not a real word, but whatever), so I haven’t even thought about the trip to Amsterdam and Copenhagen afterwards. MADNESS!

While I am away, I’m going to have my friend Phil take care of most orders, though made-to-order items like the Zombie Hunter will be on hold for a week. Alright, time to do some more work, and have another slice of oven pizza. Mmmmmm mmmm!

PS - I just looked at the weather report for SF this weekend - high of like 68, low of 55, 0% chance of precipitation. I am so stoked! I wish I had time to put some more hoodies together…I could stand for like a high of 74 or so, but why complain?

So, guess what?

Two weeks from today I am going to be getting off a red eye flight from San Francisco to New York, probably grabbing a terrible McDonald’s breakfast and a huge soda somewhere in the terminal, driving back up to Poughkeepsie as fast as I can…and then almost immediately after I get back, Kate and I will be taking more luggage, hopping in a friend’s car, and being taken back down to the airport to catch a flight to Amsterdam.

I’m still way behind on trip preparations. I’m so busy with SEIBEI stuff (more on that in a minute) that I haven’t even emailed my friend Jan, better known as Zeptonn, about it (he lives somewhere in those dang ol’ Netherlands), and I know Andy of Hide Your Arms has been there, but I’ve yet to e-mail him asking where a dude like myself might like to go.

We’re actually spending a few days in Amsterdam, and then a few days in Copenhagen. I’m probably going to have a friend handle shipping out basic orders, and hopefully I can find e-mail every so often…and I’m sure there will be plenty of time on planes and trains and floating buses to work on some new ideas in my sketchbook. Kate and I have been dating for more than two years, and still haven’t been on much in the way of trips together - a few visits out of state here and there, but nothing really. Plus, it’s been a few years since I’ve made it out of the country…it’s gonna be rad.

Anyway, preparations for Renegade San Francisco are going well. I’ve got my hotel room, my rented van, my plane ticket, and plenty of friends to see and stuff to be excited about (a friend reminded me of In-N-Out Burger, which I’ve never had, so I’ve been dreaming of some double-doubles Animal Style…mmmm mmmm!). As always, I’ve got a lot of stuff to print, and I’ve got some SERIOUS catching up to do on wholesale orders…we’ve been picked up in a few new countries, and need to fill some reorders for our beloved stores in the States, and I am way behind on it. Yeesh.

Alright, I have to place an order for some blank shirts so I can get ink all over ‘em later this wee, and then power down some cereal and head in to work…

I was recently contacted by a journalist doing an article on whether fellas in the indie craft scene feel at odds being in a lady-dominated scene. I guess the scene leans a bit more towards females, and the prominent figures that come to mind are probably the women of the Austin Craft Mafia (much love to them - I hope I get to see them again soon!), but I usually don’t give it much thought.

Anyway, I told the woman that it was never really an issue for me - honestly, everyone I’ve met has been so cool, and it’s all about all of us being in the same boat trying to hustle and make it, not dudes trying to make it vs. ladies trying to make it. Though, maybe that’s just me - maybe whenever I pack up and leave all the ladies yell THANK GOODNESS THAT JERK LEFT and break out the booze, like that old SNL skit where Eddie Murphy went undercover as a white person, and when the last black person got off the bus, the whole thing turned into a classy party?

But yeah, I never really worry about it, but every so often something will remind me of the ladies making up the majority of the scene in a lot of people’s eyes. I was reading the latest issue of BUST magazine, and the letter from the editor mentioned that they were about to head to the BUST Spring Fling Craftacular (where I had a table) and check out what the ladies of the craft scene were up to (I was looking for the mag in question for an exact quote, but my housemates just divided up some weed on the back of that issue, so who knows where it is now). Granted, it’s a lady oriented magazine, and usually I’m not a dick about these kinds of things, but when I noticed that, part of me was a little bitter. Give us dudes some credit too! Also, there was the brief period I was associated with the now-defunct Charlottesville Craft Mafia and would receive e-mails addressed “hey ladies!”. Eh, whatever. It’s not a big deal either way - it’s just something I think about every so often.

There’s so much to write about! I’ll spare you all the boring details (our hot water heater crapping out), not get too in-depth with the mushy stuff, and try to keep my thoughts organized so it all makes sense.

Kate and I had our two year anniversary last Friday.

It’s hard to pick out a good photo of us because one of us (usually me) is making a dumb face, so an old Halloween photo will have to do for now. I knew she was a keeper from the first date, ladies and gentlemen. Due to conflicting schedules, we’ve opted to celebrate our anniversary a little later on this summer, and just hung out and had some QT on the actual day. By QT, I mean that an impromptu barbecue had started at our house, and we had drinks in an inflatable swimming pool.

Renegade Craft Fair Brooklyn was pretty rad, even though it got rained out one day.

Don’t get me wrong, it was an awesome time as always, but it would’ve been rad if it hadn’t rained out Saturday at like 4 PM. Sunday was pretty clear and not too hot, at least.

Big ups to my friend Kim, who was a trooper throughout the whole thing, and kept me from losing my mind by staying cool. There was this very brief period where we had just loaded everything into the car, we were soaked, we were in danger of losing a lot of our stock (we didn’t), and I couldn’t reach the friend we were supposed to stay with (we reached him soon after), and I just was not feeling being soaking wet in Brooklyn with nowhere to go…fortunately, Kim was super cool and that helped me get myself back on track.

That night, we dried off somewhat at our friend Seth’s place, and then got some tasty Thai food…I had Duck Pad Thai for what may be the only time. So tasty, but so rich as to guarantee sleepiness right after consumption (which is sometimes awesome, and was a great end to a long day).

Here’s me holding the tent down so it wouldn’t fly away - this actually happened to a few people. Why are you still wearing sunglasses, you jerk?

Despite the rain, Renegade is my favorite group of shows, and it was awesome as always. I got to see lots of awesome people and make tons of new friends, which is the best part of the indie craft circuit. Seeing old friends from the circuit, connecting with new artists, and meeting the fans. Yes, I have those now! Ridiculous. A few people showed up wearing old SEIBEI gear they’d bought from me last year, which was pretty rad. I also got to see Sarah, my Number One Fan, who has been out to maybe every NYC appearance ever, and owns more SEIBEI gear than I do, including a Sandwich Dinosaur in maybe every color ever. Also, I had a guy and a gal come up to me and tell me they were big fans, and the gal bought a Give Us A Kiss and asked me to sign the shirt. Say what? While we were trying to figure out the best place to sign it, she asked where I usually sign shirts - if I’d had my wits about me, I might’ve said something corny like “IN MY DREAMS, DUDE”. We eventually decided on the inside, under the tag print. Sorry I got ink all over your nice new shirt…

I also tried out some new stuff for the show…

This hoodie print came out really well - it goes seamlessly over the pockets and off the bottom and is hell of soft. People seemed to like it, so expect to see this or something along these lines quite soon…

I’m gonna be in a book!

I don’t wanna spill any details that can’t be spilled, but I’m gonna be featured in a book. It won’t be out until next year, but I’m pretty excited about it. The tentative title for the book is Nice Shirt, Asshole: T-Shirts Made By Total Jerks. LOLZ J/K. Honestly, when I first started out, I picked up a copy of 200% Cotton and thought about how I was gonna be in one of the books about t-shirt designers someday…so hey, here we go!

RENEGADE SAN FRANCISCO!

I’ll post more about this later, but my next big show is going to be RENEGADE SAN FRANCISCO, July 12th and 13th at the Fort Mason’s Festival Pavilion, 11 - 7. RAD. San Francisco is SEIBEI COUNTRY, from what I’ve been told - I do a lot of sales around there, and one of my biggest retailers, Villains, is there…so it should be fun. It’s the first one ever, so hopefully there will be some good press coverage.

Anyway, there’s tons more to post about…I’ll probably just write separate entries.

So, I’m taking a quick break from WORKING ON NEW DESIGNS and CATCHING UP ON ORDERS and GETTING READY FOR STUFF to tell y’all about how I went to the MoCCA Art Fest on Saturday, made new friends, caught up with old ones, and had a COMPLETE BLAST and bought a BUTTLOAD OF COMIC BOOKS.

I just barely caught the train, running to the platform and jumping on the train moments before it rolled out of the New Hamburg station, and soon enough I was a few rows behind a BACHELORETTE PARTY on its way to NYC, and a couple who was MAKING OUT FURIOUSLY. AWESOME. Eventually, I got to the station, and caught a subway down to the Puck Building, where the Art Fest was going down.

I met up with my Brother From Another Mother (as he calls us) Ryan Sands, who is the dude behind SAME HAT and whose life oddly parallels my own (or mine his, I guess - I don’t know which of us is older. If we have the same birthday I’ll probably pee myself.). We both went from Econ/Japanese double majors to getting majors in Japanese. We both went to school at the same building at overlapping times in Kyoto (we were in different programs through Stanford - his was a summer program, mine was an academic year, so we were in the same building but never met). We both dabbled in screen printing (though I stuck with it obviously), and we both are into translation (which he stuck with - he’s behind the upcoming translation of Yusaku Hanakuma’s Tokyo Zombie, which I’ll talk more about once he scores me an advance copy). I think it’s kind of like Twins - same genetic material, he’s the successful one, and I’m all the crap that’s left over. Ha!

Ryan has a ton of pictures from the show - I didn’t take any there. Here are most of the books I scored, though:

Unlike last year, where I picked up a bunch of zines haphazardly, and some of them weren’t my speed at all, I was discriminating this year (yet ended up spending twice as much), but every book in that stack is awesome. Me, Ryan, our friend Anne, and later on, our friend Helene (of the awesome Toasty), all tooled around and met/caught up with tons of great artists - too many to really list here. I will mention that we got to meet Michel Gondry - yes, that Michel Gondry. He and his son make comics, it turns out, and everyone was too busy wetting their pants over webcomic dingdongs (not to say all webcomics are made by dingdongs - it’s a rather unfair generalization I guess, but fuck it) to form a big line for MICHEL GONDRY, so I bought one of his books, blabbered something about being a big fan, and got him to sign it:

Yes, he drew me in the book, and apparently I look like a mutant. Rad!

I briefly walked by Adrian Tomine, but considering he was on the floor looking at stuff, I didn’t wanna stammer at him (again - I went to a signing of his at last year’s MoCCA Art Fest and blabbed about being a huge fan etc etc). I also passed by R. Stevens of Diesel Sweeties in a hallway, who I’ve emailed back and forth with recently, and said “Hey Rich, how’s it going?”. He looked at me like a weird internet stalker and said “Not too bad, boss” and kept walking. DEEP BURN.

Later on, me, Ryan, and Helene went to get food at this awesome Moroccan place - yellowfin tuna ceviche with glass noodles and mango hits the SPOT on a muggy summer evening. We then went from bar, to bar, to bar…

Here’s Anne, Ryan, and Eunee, a friend of Helene’s who was visiting from Maryland. They CLAIM that her wearing her SEIBEI gear was unintentional, but I’m not so sure…Helene and I were on the other side of the table, and we were all knee deep in tasty beers and good times. Eventually, me, Anne, and Ryan met up with some cartoonists at Winnie’s in Chinatown for some SERIOUS karaoke action.

There are plenty of pictures of me singing “Two Princes” by the Spin Doctors, which is my favorite song to bust out at karaoke (though that was only the second time I’ve ever done it), but they’re all on Ryan’s camera…so maybe we’ll see those soon. Meanwhile, here’s Anne and Ryan busting out “Total Eclipse of the Heart” with maximum finesse:

To wrap it up, I eventually made my way to the last train of the night at 1:50 in the morning, ate a couple of hot dogs on the train, and was sober but hung over by the time I got home around 4. What a night, what a night.

Is anyone going to the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Art Festival in NYC this weekend? I’m probably going to be going on Saturday…

Looking over the exhibitor list, I’m pretty bummed that Kevin Scalzo, who rules, and was there last year, won’t be there this year, but there are still some rad names on the list.

Anyway, maybe I’ll see you there.