Thoughts:

1. The Olympia Comics Fest is one of my favorites. It’s small, but packed with great people as it draws from both Seattle and Portland – and Olympia itself, too. Chelsea Baker does a great, careful job of running this, and it always runs smoothly and enthusiastically. Seriously – everyone’s always so happy. The whole thing was put together and taken apart in just a half-hour, as the space was to be used for a couple other things that day. I’ve come to prefer comics fests that don’t charge admission – you get a better, wider crowd when you don’t charge $25 to come inside and buy things.*

2. I was too tired to stay around for anything afterward, so I basically vanished at 6:20. Yeah, well.

3. I sold some comics. It was good. I did an interview with a woman named Alison, and I found that, when asked what my advice would be for women who want to start doing comics, I would say the same thing to anyone of any gender interested in comics. Just do things, make things, draw constantly.** She’s going to compile her interviews into a zine. I’m looking forward to buying a copy.

4. This blog has an interesting roundup of the fest. I’m mentioned (well, pictured) here and here.

5. I need to make new business cards and handouts. Yes, yes I do.

6. I’m still tired. Just the state of things these days. I feel like I’m getting closer to starting my Next Thing, since I just have one issue left to complete for Furlough and since my brain is going to art and story things again for the first time in a while. I still don’t know what it’ll be. Maybe a big, found-fabric art sculpture that just functions as a cocoon for me to crawl into and hide. All hand-painted and hand-stitched. I think it’d be kind of nice. Hermit Nest, Breanne Boland, 2011. Roughly 400 square feet, made of mixed media and studio apartment.

*I get why those charges exist for some fests, but I still wish it wasn’t necessary.
**Ever have one of those weird moments where you realize you speak the truth, but know you’d benefit from taking your own advice? Yeah.

ComiCon was intense and educational. I’m already scouting out the next ones I can register for. I’m probably going to stick mostly to the west coast – and, yes, mostly to the Pacific Northwest – but I’m thinking of doing one East Coast one. Suggestions are welcome, especially for those I might have a fighting chance of getting into at this point.

I’m planning on starting Furlough Two next week. This week is dedicated to reading, eating properly, getting some exercise, and getting enough sleep. Time to let the field lie fallow for a little while.

A couple of fun things, though. One, check this out. And two, I added the cat zine and Furlough One to my Etsy store. I now have a Complete Works of Breanne Boland item up, which I find perhaps slightly funnier than I should.

The convention was a blast. I’ll write more about it later; I think I have a “Things I Learned At My Very First Convention Ever” post in me, because I took notes the whole time.

I was pretty well prepared, though – the only mad dash was when John ran out to get some book stands to save me from the sad fate of a completely flat table. For my first experience like this, I had a pretty damn cute table, if I do say so myself. Lookit:

I met some lovely people, made some sales, exchanged cards with fellow cartoonists (exciting), and had some really wonderful conversations. I forgot about the hothousing effect an environment like a con has – you know a certain number of things about the person across the table from you, so you can get to some really big ideas pretty quickly. I was absolutely exhausted, but I was so happy to spend myself in such a way. Shit, conventions are fun. I’ll post when I have my next one locked down.