I’ve been on a kick lately – I’ve been drawing creepy creatures and masked figures.
Thanks/shout out to Chloe Rose and Alex Peterson for the feedback.
Net Neutrality Ain’t Dead Yet
FULL DISCLOSURE: Net Neutrality – the concept that all online data be treated equally and not having certain specific websites favored over others – is how I’ve been able to grow my business making comics and art for a living. This is important to me, considering I was laid off from my day job back in February and the only means I had to pay bills was to make comics and post them online for readers to see. I already wrote a post about why this issue matters to me, because it directly affects my business as well as my ability to connect with readers, friends, and family. So take your “stop making everything political” comments elsewhere. I am in no mood to entertain you.
Alright, I need y’all to quit quoting Eminem and planning your exit strategies from social media for a hot minute, because Net Neutrality Ain’t Dead Yet.
For those of you who don’t keep up with how these executive decisions work, here’s what went down:
The Federal Communications Commission had a vote within their organization in regards to net neutrality, the concept that all data be treated equally online. They voted to get rid of net neutrality as a handout to corporations – which makes sense because the Chairman, Ajit Pai, is a massively immature tool.
(No, Pai, you can’t claim you did that video “ironically.” We all know you hate everyone’s right to criticize you and want to censor anybody who disagrees with you.)
Anyway, this vote the FCC had is now pending approval from Congress.
Not only that, but 20 of the 50 United States – including Washington, New York, and Hawai’i – are preparing a lawsuit against the FCC to fight to keep net neutrality in place.
So now there’s a lot going on. How does this affect you?
Well, the FCC vote is not law yet. Congress still has 60 legislative days to look over everything and decide if this decision is legit or not.
YOU STILL HAVE THE CHANCE TO BE HEARD.
It’s one thing to go to protests, sign petitions, or make social media posts (yes, this includes blog posts). It’s another thing to do the most effective thing to be heard by Congress – calling your elected officials on the phone.
Surprisingly, this is easy to do, and takes only five minutes at most (unless you’re the ranting type). So here’s how you do it:
- Dial 1-202-224-3121 to connect to the DC Switchboard. They will ask you for your zip code, and whether you want to contact your Representative in the House of Representatives, or one of your two Senators.
- Call EACH of your elected officials.
- If you get connected to an aide, state your name and that you would like to leave a message. If it’s voicemail, go straight to your message.
- Say something like this: “Hello, my name is (NAME) and I’m a constituent from (TOWN, ZIP CODE). I’m calling to urge (REP/SENATOR) to use the Congressional Review Act and overturn the FCC’s decision on net neutrality rules.”
- If you feel it’s helpful, add a reason why net neutrality matters to you. Just keep it brief. (Also keep in mind – If your officials are Republican, use words like “censorship,” “Big Brother,” and “freedom of speech.” If your official is Democrat, use words like “small business growth,” “connecting,” and “freedom of speech.” If your legislator is Independent, rare as that is, talk to them like a normal person without coded language.)
- If you’re calling your Representative, urge them to also support a bill called HR 4585. It’s LITERALLY called The Save Net Neutrality Act.
- Thank the person for their time and end the message.
You can also go to battleforthenet.com and they’ll help you make calls and send messages to your officials.
So if you can, ABSOLUTELY call your elected officials about this. It’s within your power and, with enough people calling about it, Congress can overturn this decision.
And if you think your calls don’t matter – Susan Collins, a Republican, urged Pai to drop his plans because of her constituents calling her and voicing outrage. If she can do it, ANYONE can do it.
Another thing you can do, if you have the means to do this – make a donation to Fight for the Future. They’re an organization dedicated to standing up for our freedom online, and are one of the organizations spearheading battleforthenet.com.
To that end, I’m doing a special giveaway!
If you make a donation to Fight for the Future of any amount, email a copy of your receipt to kelcidcrawford@gmail.com, along with your mailing address, and I will mail you a copy of Suit Up! A Dragonball Z Fan Zine.
So add your voice however you can. Together we can reverse this.
Thank you so much for your support.
You. Are. Awesome.
Genghis Con 2017
Genghis Con happened last Sunday, November 26th in Lakewood, a suburb of Cleveland.
This was actually my first time in Cleveland, and I had no idea that the city was so FREAKING HUGE.
Genghis Con happened in a building that was once a former warehouse – as such, the elevator the exhibitors used was a cargo elevator.
At least attendees could take the stairs if they were able. I didn’t see a people elevator when I was there.
Anyway! I originally requested only a half table, and I was set to be seated next to my buddy Carlos Rivera, who runs Youngstown Indie Creator Expo (he was going to promote Yo-ICE at Genghis Con). However, he had to cancel at the last minute because of bronchitis. Carlos, if you’re reading this, for the love of Pete, take it easy and take care of yourself.
So yeah, I ended up having a full table.
I have this layout down to a SCIENCE.
I would like to tweak the table layout again, though: there are so many small things that it takes a long-ass time to set up, AND a long-ass time to break down everything.
That’s partially why I have a sale going on Storenvy. More on that in a minute.
In terms of sales (and trades – I’m always up for trading books with peeps), the show went well! It wasn’t as successful as the YWCA Mini-Con, but it was more of a success than RathaCon. Still, people got to discover my work and sign up for the email newsletter. Plus I got some cool stuff.
To top it all off, I came across my old caricature buddy, Clarence, from my days drawing caricatures at Cedar Point back in 2012. He invited me over to another caricature buddy’s house for Burger Fest – an annual-ish tradition where caricature buddies get together and eat burgers.
To which I was like “HECK YEAH.”
There’s something to be said about saying “Yes,” to the right things. Don’t say yes to everything (otherwise you’d have some weird experiences, if Yes Man is any indication). It also helps to know what your focus, or as Neil Gaiman put it once, “your mountain,” is. Anything that pulls you away from your mountain does not deserve a Yes.
To me, being in one place with people I hadn’t seen in years just after a good indie comic convention was a good reason to say Yes.
Thank you for reading.
You. Are. Awesome.
P.S. Yes, I’m running a sale on Storenvy – from now until December 18th, you can check out the new Clearance section, where things like mini-prints, mini-comics, and posters are anywhere between 20-50% off. Once these are gone, they’re GONE. So be sure to get them before December 18th.
Black Friday Warm-Up Sketch
It’s Black Friday, but I have no special announcements to make. So instead here’s a warm-up sketch I did this morning.
She doesn’t have a name yet. Feel free to suggest one in the comments.
Witches: The Sketchbook Looking for KickStarter Funding
“Hold on a second,” you might be thinking. “You just had a KickStarter campaign, and you’re running another one so soon?”
Yes – the previous KickStarter was to get funding for Validation buttons, to have something for sale at conventions. That KickStarter ran in June for a week and raised just a little over $800 (holy banana pants!). Since that campaign was so short, the rewards were not super hard to fulfill. In fact, all the rewards for the backers are taken care of for that campaign.
I like to make sure loose ends are tied up before moving to the next KickStarter, thank you.
So, with previous campaigns taken care of, I’ve launched a new one: Witches: The Sketchbook is looking for $500 to get its first print-run going.
Witches: The Sketchbook is a compilation of sketches I made during Inktober, featuring nothing but witches. Why? Well, in promotional posts on KickStarter I say “because I love witches” and leave it at that. But there’s a little more to it than that.
The reason I drew witches is not just out of a fascination for them, but because as a Pagan person, I like seeing witches of all stripes and backgrounds. There’s not much representation of witches, Wiccas, neo-pagans, or the other branches of Paganism in art unless they’re super-sexy or the Macbeth variety of wrinkled cautionary witches.
I wanted to see something different – witches rooted in the old Gaelic traditions, witches of African descent, witches that could spring from old lore, modern-day witches, and witches of other backgrounds. And my method is usually, “Huh. I can’t seem to find anything like that. Time to draw it myself!”
There was also the desire to have a book of character designs and concept art, because I love those types of books and wanted to make one of my own. And a book of witch concepts is a good place to start, I think.
The KickStarter is still running – in fact, it has 11 days left in the campaign and ends on November 21st. Check it out and see what you would like. (Also there’s a ton of original sketches left to claim and they’re priced reasonably well, so be sure to get those before they run out).
If you can pledge, that’s fantastic! If you’re broke, please share the link with your friends. Every bit helps.
That’s all for now. Thank you for reading!
You. Are. Awesome.