End o' week musings

Today I'm unveiling the first installment of my comic. It originally ran in Factor X magazine about 10 years ago-- much to my surprise! I wrote a column called Mickie's Zoo where I interviewed people behind the scenes in entertainment, as well as artists and anyone else I found interesting. At the time I was also fronting the hard rock, heavy metal band Morpheus. One day I opened the magazine to discover the comic strip, Naughty Mickie, next to my column. My friend, Byron Spearman, had decided to join the magazine's staff and offer a strip with me (sort of) as the main character. It's not all true, but it's fun and worth sharing. Byron has also promised to ink some more comics so you can enjoy a new one every week. I'd love to hear your thoughts and if you have any storyline suggestions I'll be happy to share your ideas with Byron.

I've had a busy week! Lots of dancing and a little yoga and not quite enough music. Last weekend was a wash because I ended up fighting a cold. I went to yoga class, then the grocery store and then home and made myself a veggie stew in my crock pot. I also took a nice nap. By Sunday evening I was feeling much better.

On Monday I went to the Huntington Library, Art Galleries and Botanical Gardens in San Marino to learn about their upcoming exhibit, "Pressed in Time: American Prints 1905-1950." It's going to be something you can visit with your entire family or just enjoy a nice afternoon alone. The images and work are amazing!

Tuesday I interview Tom Batiuk, the artist who creates the Funky Winkbean and Crankshaft comics. If you follow Funky, then you know that the character Lisa is going to die soon from her cancer. I asked him about his decision to cover such heady topics, how he began drawing and more.

Last night (Thursday), I was in a parade and belly danced on stage at the Los Angeles County Fair. The parade was fun - so many smiling faces - and they must like us because we were in front of, not behind, the donkeys! Our 30-minute show on the big stage went well. The majority of the audience stayed for the entire show-- which is tough when there are so many things going on at the Fair. They got the humor, oooed and ahhhed at the sword work and applauded quite often. After we finished several people came up to ask us where we will be next and had lots of compliments. They had a good time and so did we!

Tonight I'm heading out to see Joe Walla Band perform at The Hub in Colton-- it's bike night, yay! Sunday is full with yoga, an Esoteric Crime Bus Tour, The Subs at Dockside Grill in West Covina and finally Aluminum Marshmallow at Rude Dog's in Covina. Would you believe that I have nothing planned for Sunday??!? Next week more exciting interviews and dance practice for our Halloween show.

Enjoy the fun photos, including one of me in the Spider Pavilion at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County taken by James Carbone during our press day visit.

In rotation this week: Tribe of Gypsies, Wicked Tinkers, Nirvana, Dengue Fever, Cradle of Filth, The Wildhearts, Tiger Army and an assortment of other bits and pieces.

This week I'm looking to fire up my creativity, so I encourage you to do the same. This doesn't mean you have to write or play music or even dance, you can be creative in many ways, including sports, computers and housework. Just find something that gets you sparked and puts extra life into whatever you do. Make the best of every moment!

Keep on rockin'

Mickie