From now on, I will try to update blog section here, and will use it as an opportunity to discuss the status of the comic, announcements, and other issues, all while keeping an upbeat attitude. I know people don’t come here to listen to my problems, and I want filteredfuzz to be as pleasant of an experience as possible.

At the moment, I am seriously considering keeping the three day a week schedule, at least through October.

As always, I would love to hear any and all suggestions for the comic. If you think something is working or not working, I would love to hear from you. Also, suggestions for expansion of the website would also be very helpful.

I plan on devoting time in the coming weeks to add new site content but I’m a little stumped as what to focus on and where to even start. Any suggestions will be welcome.

Tomorrow marks the upload comic number thirty. It’s been over three months since the launch of filteredfuzz and I’d say I’m still going strong. I’m still working on a large buffer (at least of pencils and inks) and I will continue this habit of working ahead. The last thing I want to happen is to miss an update. And I know that after I graduate, I will have much more on my plate than this webcomic. I just want to be consistent.

Speaking of consistencies, before the year is over, I would like to open up my site for advertising through Project Wonderful and other ad-services. I was reluctant to do this as I understand that it is wise to wait a year or at least until I have a larger audience (and more page views) but I don’t want people to be surprised when they do see advertising on my site.

I am now finished with my undergraduate studies at SCAD and I am still as dedicated as ever to this Web-comic. I will try my hardest to update on schedule and keep everything solid and as professional as possible, while still having fun.

In the next few weeks, I will be doing some minor updates to the site. The cast page, for one, needs an update. As for future plans, I plan on working more with promotion of the website. Hopefully, by convention season this year, I will have printed some fliers to had out, at least at Heroescon if I am able to attend. It’s still a bit early to get the word out as much as I’d like. I still want to build up a little more of an archive before I market the site in a big way. Though any word of mouth you (as readers) may give is very much appreciated.

And this coming week will mark the posting of comic 50! I don’t plan on any major celebrations of any kind, but it is a nice goal to commemorate. At this rate, it won’t be long until comic 100 is up!

I will update the cast page soon. Hopefully before the year is out.

Also, I’m plaing to make a sort of encyclopedia of comic related terms which should be helpful to new readers and old readers who are unsure of some of the stranger words and concepts. Either way, I hope it will be useful.

I feel like I’m in a sort of transitional phase in my life and I’ve been contimplating how I should go on with the comic. To make a long story short, I plan on going back to the Monday and Thursday updates starting at the beignning of the year.

I’ve become attached to updating three times a week, and you can believe me when I say I want to continue doing so. That being said, I don’t want to miss updates and I want to keep the comic as professional as possible. I hope that I will be able to update more when I am able.

So, starting Mondayy, January 5th, Filtered Fuzz will be updating on Mondays and Thursdays.

I updated the cast page today. WordPress gave me a problem, but I basically solved it in a roundabout way.

Looking at the cast page I realize this comic has an overwhelming female to male ratio, Jared being the only male. Though I suppose I draw him enough to make up for the gender gap. It’s a little strange. Usually my male characters vastly outnumber my female characters. And I may have a skewed opinion since I am so close to the comic, but I don’t really think it comes off as being too girly or something that boys wouldn’t like because “There are too many girls! Cooties!”

What do you think?

The more I think about it, the more going back to the two days a week updates really doesn’t appeal to me. In fact, I think I’d really regret it if I did that at this point. That being said, I am not going to stop the Saturday updates now. I’m trying to increase my productivity and keep things running as professionally as possible. And I’d like to get the word out about the comic and really start promoting Filtered Fuzz. It would really be several steps back to limit myself to two days a week updates at this point.

However, I will be taking off around the week of the 19th. Don’t worry though. There will hopefully be some sort of new, interesting content up.

Sometimes in life, things happen. Sad things. Let it be known that I am not here to be depressing. Far from it, I want this Web-comic, blog,  and entire experience to be a celebration, even if times are rough. Freckles, my first cat and best friend for fifteen years passed on yesterday. Here’s a picture of her from last year when I was experimenting with FilteredFuzz (Then called Two For the Show) in a comic strip format. I think she was nearly blind by that time, but she looked like she enjoyed it! If there’s one thing I could ask you to take away from this blog post, it would be this:

Life is short. But that’s no reason it can’t be great.

I was blessed to have Freckles for so many wonderful years. And I believe that yesterday, an angel just recieved the best cat ever.

I am a fan of family entertainment. I don’t think it’s possible that I’ll ever “outgrow” it. I grew up with the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon back in the days they actually showed interesting cartoons and programs. I’m not saying everything is bad on TV today, but everything seems to be pushing kids to grow up faster and faster. There really isn’t much of anything between the preschool shows that really talk down to kids and the live action shows directed at young teenagers. What happened to Peter Pan and Neverland and growing up being the furthest thing from kids’ minds? Is it a sign of the different times we live in? Is being a kid and truly enjoying it a thing of the past? Being a kid no longer seems to have that appeal that it used to. Now kids seem to be focused on growing up and being as “mature” as they can be. To any kids that may be reading this: Don’t fall for it. Being a kid is a time for amazing opportunity and fun. And you shouldn’t let anyone, the twelve year olds wearing makeup on TV or your friends force you to grow up. Take your time and take it all in. You only live once, and you will have plenty of time later to worry about joining “the real world”.

I’ve been reflecting on recent animated movies and upcoming movies that have interested me. I must say, Wall-E was truly the best film I had seen in 2008. I adore the minimal dialogue. Sometimes, less really is more. Wall-E and Eve are both appealing characters and really connected real human emotion without being depicted as cartoony robots. The nod to classic musicals, namely Hello Dolly! was amazingly done, I believe. All to often, animated movies tend to throw in random classic rock or older music to appeal to the parents in the audience without any significant relevance to the plot.  This was not the case for Wall-E. Believe it or not, I actually had chills running down my spine to see the images of space coupled with Put On Your Sunday Clothes. I don’t consider myself a fan of romance, but that was the heart of this movie and it was incredibly done. Wall-E is indeed one of those rare movies that I could literally watch over and over, but it’s also something that needs to be seen to be appreciated. Just reading a review about it doesn’t give it justice. So if you haven’t seen Wall-E, I recommend it.

The other animated movie I saw this year was Bolt. I admit, I still have hard feelings over the fact that Chris Sanders (writer/director of Lilo and Stitch) was taken off this project and I wish I could see the movie he had planned. Bolt wasn’t a bad movie, and I wound up liking the characters more than I thought I would. (Rhino, the hamster and his fanboy ways irked me from the commercial.) But there were some snarky elements that really took me out of the film. I wanted to enjoy it, and for the most part, I did… But the way the agent acted and how the mom put up with it throughout most of the film, I just wanted to yell at the screen! I’m not a mother, but if that were my child, I would have stuck up for the kid from page one! But she just sort of… stood there. Anyway, it was a sweet little movie and I do recommend it. But not with the same enthusiasm as I recommend Wall-E.

Currently, I am really looking forward to seeing Pixar’s Up and Disney’s latest traditionally animated film, The Princess and the Frog.