The Renegade Craft Fair in San Francisco is next weekend!

I’ll be there, slanging tees and onesies, and maybe even some wallet samples if we can get them made in time (I’ve been REALLY indecisive about what to put on them, to be honest).

Even if you don’t want to buy anything from me, which is totally fine, there will be loads of other great vendors there – homies like Kevin Tong, DKNG Studios, Cutesy But Not Cutesy, Fuzzy Ink, and of course, my ULTIMATE dudes from the craft circuit, TWO RABBITS STUDIOS.

I can’t wait; I haven’t seen ANY of these guys since that weekend in Los Angeles when all of my stuff got stolen. So stoked to see my people!

Hi guys!

So, the site is almost back together – I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel in terms of Kickstarter shipping, and am at the point where I can confidently divide inventory between “the relatively small amount of tees I have left to send” and “everything else.” Soon, I will make “everything else” available online available for purchase.

Yes, I’ve missed most of holiday shopping, but frankly, I’m just happy to be back in business again and do things right and resume building my company. I have a pretty decent day job now, and I’ve reached my goal of being able to support myself and just let SEIBEI money be SEIBEI money, rather than needing to pay myself any wage, so I can kind of approach things with a bit more of a level head, rather than “oh crap, unless I make $XXX by XX/XX I won’t be able to pay this bill or that bill.”

[Typing this suddenly reminded me that I forgot to pay my student loan bill on the 1st. Handled. Sorry about that.]

SO. Why are Intramural Zombie Hunting League tees not on the site anymore?

Frankly, I got a bit in over my head, and have a few shirts that I forgot to make in all of the craziness of Kickstarter and getting robbed and reorganizing everything, and I’ve upset too many awesome customers by not holding up my end of the bargain. Until I can fix this – basically I’m going to train a Zombie Hunting League assistant who just helps me make these once a week – I can’t have them for sale on the site in good conscience. I would rather upset you now by not having it for sale – something I should have done long ago – rather than upset you later when things inevitably get too busy or hectic.

Long story short: it’s only temporary. People like the Intramural Zombie Hunting League tees too much for me to give up doing them forever, and literally NO ONE ELSE makes anything like it (it requires some pricey equipment and a fair amount of printing/shirt decoration knowledge, and I think everyone else who has that kind of equipment and knowledge doesn’t want to spend the time it takes to make them).

Anyway, time for me to get back to shipping shirts and counting up inventory; the sooner I get this done, the sooner the site will reopen!

I’m FINALLY putting the site back together – once we get past a few technical issues and I get a solid inventory count, I should be ready to reopen. I’m hoping for this weekend or early the next, so we’ll see!

Sorry again for the lack of updates. I’ve been working a lot lately to get things done; I’ll have better things to write about soon!

This blog has been lifeless – absolutely dead – for months, and this website has basically been a ghost town. No new tees on here in months, and most products out of stock.

For those of you just joining us, in July all of my tees were stolen and my business was crippled.

In August, I began an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign to get my business back on its feet. It gave me the funds to print a ton of new tees and head out to New York Comic Con to sell a few.

Since then, I’ve been doggedly working to get all of the Kickstarter backer orders, and backorders that I failed to fill in between the chaos/depression of having all of my tees stolen, shipped out.

Soon, I will be reopening the SEIBEI website with a whole grip of new tees and onesies (mainly the Kickstarter stuff!) and other accessories like wallets, but first I have a lot of orders left to ship.

I’ve learned a lot this year. Mainly, that there are parts of the business I’m good at (selling and designing things and working with awesome artists), and parts of the business I’m terrible at (staying on top of shipping orders, first and foremost). Especially as one guy with a full time day job (which I’m currently on break at), it’s been tough to manage everything. So, I’m bringing in some help, or rather, giving my work to another company. Some friends of mine will be handling order fulfillment – the day-to-day shipping of orders – freeing up my time to design more shirts, make more products, and maybe, just maybe, see some of those friends who I keep blowing off because I’m working (just kidding – I’m going to use all of the time to play Dungeons & Dragons) (not really).

And maybe write a blog post or interview or two every now and then.

For those of you who’ve stuck with me in spite of my shortcomings this year, thank you so much. For those of you who I’ve lost for good, I’m sorry to see you go, but it’s totally understandable. Maybe you can give me another shot down the road, but I’m not counting on it. Either way, I’m changing a lot of things so it’s smoother sailing from here on out.

Also, if any of you know any babies who are down to model for some onesies, let me know.

Anyway, back to work.

Hey! So, I launched that Kickstarter project. Basically, it’s a huge preorder bonanza on a bunch of new tees and onesies by me, and I’m happy to report that it’s already succeeded. It’s ridiculous. Thanks to all of my customers and the people backing this project, SEIBEI will be back, and better than ever.

Now that we’ve reached 150% of the funding goal, with 23 days left, I feel like anything is possible. As my way of saying thanks for the amazing support, I’ll be adding more designs to the Kickstarter next week – I think I’ve got two new designs and two new colorways that I’ll be adding soon enough, and if people keep giving me more money, then I’ll probably keep adding more designs.

When I first announced this project, a few artist friends of mine reached out to me to design some new SEIBEI guest tees for the Kickstarter – I was amazed, and touched. While a good number of friends have hit me up, in the end it looks like there will be 3 exclusive guest tees for the Kickstarter. One of them, by my friend Ashley Davis, has been up since the Kickstarter launched, and a lot of people have hit me up to tell me that they want this one:

I can’t get over this radness. Ashley took my stupid pitch (“uhhh, a big cat dragon – like Falcor, but a cat”) and knocked it out of the park.

Two other guest tees will be added as the project progresses, and I can’t wait to show them to you guys. Two artists that I am very proud to work with, and who are both very well known in their circles. I’ll be able to say more soon!

Anyway, the project is up for 23 more days – in one week, we’ve already hit 150% of the funding goal, so who knows what’s going to happen now? I will just keep adding more designs and trying to offer more incentives for everyone who’s supported the project. I’m not even sure what to say anymore; everyone has just been so incredibly kind in backing the project and spreading the word. Thank you all so much!

One Greyhound bus ride, a ride from my boy Bob Motown of Two Rabbits Studios, and some impound/storage/towing fees later, and I have my van back.

I’m thankful that it still had wheels, and that it only took a jump start from the towing company to start it up – my biggest fear was that I would pay all this money to get it out of impound, only to have to tow it somewhere to even get him home.

The majority of the locks were torn off/dug out – it looks like the passenger’s side lock (the side facing away from the street) was torn out, then they jumped in the car and headed off.

Unfortunately, my optimistic hopes were no match for dudes with the proper tools. Virtually nothing was left inside. A few coffee mugs, my SEIBEI banner, and a few odds and ends – I had left them a wheeled dolly, and everything was boxed up, so the loadout was probably quite quick and easy.

I was tempted to drive around the area where the van had been found (an alley in Watts), but since I had found out about my van being found so late (it was found the same day I reported it stolen, but I didn’t find out about it until I was absentmindedly searching the LAPD impound yards on Wednesday), if my stuff was thrown away, it is no doubt resting in a landfill by now. Also, since my car now starts with a screwdriver, I can’t really leave it anywhere.

The worst part is that I was also carrying a box of shirts for my buddies in DKNG, which I’d offered to deliver to the show. Replacing that has to be my first priority.

The interior of the cab had been stripped of anything that looked remotely valuable – the dome light had even been torn out, presumably to see if I was hiding keys or money or anything up above. Fortunately, my factory AM/FM stereo was still intact – it would’ve made for a boring drive home if that had been stolen too.

The guy at the impound yard was nice enough to give me his screwdriver; I’d offered to buy it off of him after he showed me how to start the car with it (the ignition had been drilled out, so now you just have to wedge something in there and turn).

So, at least I have a van. Still trying to get everything in order and figure out what insurance will cover.

I left some shirts at home to cover outstanding orders – things have been such a mess, I haven’t had time to take care of them, and for that I’m sorry – so I have shut down the entirety of the store, and I’m going to just try to get caught up.

So, once I get all of these outstanding orders handled, I’ll be putting all of my remaining money towards replacing DKNG’s shirts, printing the most recent weekly tees, and just getting everything back in order.

IN THE MEAN TIME, I THINK IT’S TIME FOR A KICKSTARTER.

There are things that no one can steal from me, no matter where I park my van. I’ve got a bunch of new designs, new colorways, some great friends who have offered to contribute guest tees, and you.

Some very kind people have offered me money outright, or suggested taking contributions on my behalf. I’ve turned them down, because I think there’s a better way to do this, through Kickstarter. It’s a crowd funding website where people propose creative projects that end with a finished product, and people can fund it and receive rewards in return. The best part? It’s all managed by Amazon, and if the project doesn’t receive enough funding within the set amount of time (typically 30 days), no money changes hands. If it does receive enough funding, then all the money is charged at the project’s end, and the recipient gets cracking!

Here’s what I’m thinking:

I will put up a load of shirt designs. A few straight reprints of classics. A few new colorways. A bunch of new designs and unreleased products, including some exclusives that will ONLY be available through the Kickstarter – exclusive colorways and designs that will never be sold again, as a special way to thank supporters. All of the money will go towards new tees – I have a day job, and car insurance, and don’t expect you to handle stupid stuff like getting my van back in order, paying rent, and all that stuff – I’ll get that.

You’ll be able to get new shirts on the cheap, and other fun stuff will be available at certain donation levels – buttons, one of a kind sketch cards, and other special stuff (still trying to figure out some good rewards for higher tiers).

If it all works, you’ll get a bunch of tees at low prices, my business will be back on its feet in time with time to spare before New York Comic Con, with a load of new designs.

If it doesn’t work, well, I’ll keep working.

Either way, my project proposal has been approved by Kickstarter, so now I just have to polish the designs, get some guest tees together, and film a nice video to tie it all together.

STAY TUNED! I’ll need your help spreading the word about the Kickstarter in a week or two! Thanks again for all of the love and support. It’s been a tough time, and it really means a lot to me.

Our baby Beauford has been found in an alleyway. I’m going to LA tomorrow morning to pick him up.

Hopefully there are still things inside of him; the guy I talked to at the impound yard hadn’t seen it himself. Of course, I still have to pay the tow fee, storage fee, etc.

Thanks again for all of the well wishes; I’m honored by the flood of offers to help and support and just general love that I’ve received in the past week. Here’s hoping I will be back to business as usual when I roll my van back up tomorrow, but we’ll see.

Sorry I haven’t updated in a while – between the new day job at Forward Printing, getting caught up with the weekly tees, working on new products, and working Renegade Craft San Francisco and Los Angeles, things have been hectic.

Anyway, to keep a long story short, the morning before Renegade Craft Los Angeles (Saturday the 16th), our beautiful van, Beauford, was stolen, along with the bulk of my t-shirt stock, and all of my show equipment. Also, this was the van that Kate and I drove from New York to California when we moved out here, and we loved him so. It was locked, and parked on a street where I’ve parked dozens of times (near the corner of Los Angeles and Washington).

It’s a white cargo van in the city of Los Angeles – now I’m quite sad I hadn’t yet gotten the custom SEIBEI paint job I’d wanted for so long – so I don’t think it will ever be found. I have to wonder if the several hundred t-shirts and onesies in the back will ever get used, or if they got thrown away.

There’s nothing really else to say about it; someone stole weeks of work from me, presumably for no other reason than they decided that they needed a cargo van more than I did. I have insurance, and going to start looking into what I can get coverage for, but this was heartbreaking to say the least.

Everyone has been really nice about it so far, and all of your kind words and offers of help have been appreciated.

Also, sorry to my family members and friends that are finding out this news from this blog post rather than directly from me; the truth of the matter is that I don’t really have it in me to tell this story over and over again, at least while everything is still unresolved.

As for me, I’m trying to figure out the best way to get SEIBEI back on its feet if insurance doesn’t come through. My current plan is to start up a Kickstarter with about 20 designs – some current, some old, mostly new – basically an all-new SEIBEI lineup – with preorders on the cheap, and everything going to press as soon as the Kickstarter ends, if it’s funded. I think this would be a far better system than my weekly tee pre-orders, which I am still getting sorted.

Anyway, I’m kind of giving myself today off to be bummed about this, but I’ve got to start rebuilding.

One of the best parts about my SEIBEI gig is becoming friends with my fans, and also getting to meet and sometimes work with rad artists. Lacey Micallef, more famously known as LULINTERNET, has been a big supporter of my work for years, and I was way stoked to find out that she is also a rad digital artist and is completely hilarious. Lacey is the mastermind behind this week’s guest tee, SNACK ATTACK, is one of my favorite people to talk to on Twitter, and is just generally a rad person. TIME TO ASK THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS!

i have recently made the official switch from pizza to hamburgers regarding the food i focus on eating the most. important information.

when i was in high school i was desperately trying to be as much of a pretentious fuck about literature as time and the internet would allow me. As i was (and always have been) really into t-shirts, i needed everyone to know how serious i was about reading, so i went through a phase of only looking for, and buying t-shirts with literary references (authors, book covers, etc) i was looking for haruki murakami shirts and after having seen page after page of “kafka on the shore” promo shirts, i finally found a t-shirt blog that was talking about the 100% perfect sandwich shirt. fell. in. love.

as for how we “internet met” i found out you had a tumblr, started following it, then joined the world of twitter and started following that. THE REST IS HISTORY.

can “BIG THINGS” be an acceptable answer?

my favorite artists are michael deforge, luke ramsey, jonny negron, jon boam, ian andersen, jon vermilyea.. this list sort of carries on forever. i’ve never been much of an cartoonist or illustrator or doodler and i’m totally envious of people who make it look easy. if there was anything i wish i could do, it’s doodle and draw well.

for a number of reasons, i’ve been praying for the day when having a pizza slot in your front door is an acceptable addition to a house. I love pizza – more than any human should– and like any person who spends 14 hours a day in front of their computer screen, i hate wearing pants. there have been a number of times that i didn’t order izza, because i was too lazy to put pants on and “didn’t feel” like talking to the delivery driver (which, by the way, has become it’s own shameful, and sad ordeal. no one wants to face that same delivery drivers six times a week)

David, i made the mistake of reading through these questions for the first time while critically stoned. I chose to only answer this question and ended up spending an hour and half writing the show summary and 24 episode synopses to a fake sitcom starring me and a cartoon dog (it was originally a sassy mouse, but got switched to a rebellious teenage dog, modeled after my own, that notoriously wears sunglasses) that was acquired by the death of her uptight older sister, samantha. Here’s the most coherent:

“Lacey is relaxing and enjoying her quiet Sunday afternoon, when she realizes that things are a little too quiet. She sets down her book to investigate. After knocking on Tiffany’s door and not getting an answer, she finally opens it to discover Tiffany is missing! In a panic, she opens up Tiffany’s laptop and stumbles across an IM chat log where Tiffany assures her friends she will be meeting them at the quarry shortly for an afternoon of mischief and partying! Lacey is furious!”

Re: i was critically stoned.

can pizza eating dogs with sassy attitudes be D&D characters? (editor’s note: they can now!)

I wanna be designing (t-shirts, toys, anything), doing anything in TV, and even more “BIG THINGS”

http://lulinternet.com and for a “no apologies” TMI stream of consciousness, there’s always my twitter.

LACEY THANK YOU FOR BEING A FRIEND. SEE YOU AT NEW YORK COMIC CON HOMIE!

I am writing to you from what is essentially the ruins of my Vallejo headquarters. With the new job in Oakland with Forward Printing, there’s no point in my having an office here, and my landlord has graciously agreed to let me out of my lease here, and now I’m debating where to get an office to do SEIBEI work on the weekends and evenings (I’m looking around Alameda).

Yesterday, I donated my big ornate desk, and cut my 4′x8′ TO DO LIST into pieces and threw it away (it was a giant piece of melamine board, which dry erase markers work on). It was a bit of a bummer – they’re only pieces of furniture, but they’re pieces of this office that I’ve called home for the past six or seven months, and I’m sad to be leaving.

But on the other side of this move is a great future.

As some of you know, I have fallen quite behind. Between finding this new day job, running the weekly tees, moving out of this office, and being featured on MTV, things have been hectic, and I’ve been struggling. There are a number of orders that have slipped by me, and I am behind on getting out a few of the weekly tees. But over the course of the next week or two, I will be fixing everything. Everything! I’ll be getting in boatloads of tees – tees that people have been waiting so patiently for like THE POWER OF LOVE, THE ESSENTIALS, GHOST BRO, I LIKE TO SAY THINGS AND EAT STUFF, and more…and more and more will be coming.

Over the next week or two, I will be clearing up all outstanding orders (as items come in from the printer, I knock out batches of Zombie Hunter tees, and so on), and, moving forward, SEIBEI will be a much tighter operation. This is the end of a crappy era. I’m looking forward to not letting you all down, and I’m truly sorry for any inconveniences I may have caused. I’m looking forward to continuing forward with a clean slate.

Thanks so much for all of your support. Time for me to get back to work.