Gather up the pots and the old tin can
The mash, the corn, the barley and the bran
Run like the devil from the excise man
Keep the smoke from rising Barney

Keep your eyes well peeled today
The big, tall men are on their way
Searching for the mountain tay
In the hills of Connemara

Mountain breezes as they blow
Hear their echo in the glen below
The gombeen men are on the go
In the hills of Connemara

A gallon for the butcher, a quart for Tom
A bottle for poor old Father John
To help his prayers and hymns along
In the hills of Connemara

Stand your ground boys, it’s too late
The excise men are at the gate
Glory be to God, but they’re drinking it straight
In the hills of Connemara

Swing to the left and swing to the right
The excise men will dance all night
Drinking up the tay till the broad daylight
In the hills of Connemara

Captain Picard: “Seize the time, Meribor. Live now. Make now always the most precious time. Now will never come again. ”

This quote from one of my favorite episodes “The Inner Light” is something I have made a personal rule. I used to have far more “safe” approach to things I did (maybe 2-3 years ago) but circumstances and sitatuations have taught me, once again, captain Picard is correct. Everyday, every minute or second we have chances to do things, to fulfill part of our dreams, to make ourselves or someone else happy.

The chances we get now might dissapear forever if we wait too long, and really is it worth playing life so safe that we ignore the chances we are given? Step away from the computer, the work desk, the TV whatever, go somewhere with your friends, create something, read a book, watch something you’ve always wanted to see (heck watch something awful just for fun). Regardless, do something that will make you happy, fullfill you, make you feel like you learned something. One of the worst things we can do with our time is to sit and become stagnant or lazy. Whatever it is you love in life, go do it and don’t regret it. If others complain or ridicule you, try to remember their own lives are probably very sad and empty if all they have to do is sit around and whine about what you with your time.

Just for fun.
Emily began as a character in an old, old Megaman fan comic I drew back in, probably the mid to late 1990’s. X found Emily in a wrecked city (she had been transported there from some sort of energy portal) and decided to take care of her. Emily had a different haircut, some sort of pony tail, and a kimono. She was taller and wasn’t supposed to be as young as she acts now. Emily went through major changes when I started drawing “Bass Rebirth of Amp” another Megaman fan comic. The original comic was never uploaded online, too old and too ugly lol. Eventually I would like to scan some of that story (it’s drawn on a newsprint pad in ball point pens). Emily is the oldest of my creations who is still in use, all of the other characters I made up from this time period are kind of dead. Even the characters from Bass Rebirth of Amp haven’t seen the light of day for some years, (perhaps except in sketchbook doodles). I was very happy when some readers recognized Emi when I first introduced her to this series. The other characters, Miranda, Astral, Anthony, machine Prophet, Gallaxious, are relatively new compared to Emily. Astral was created in 2004, and is probably the second oldest character still used in my comics.

Influences: Emily is a mix of many different characters, but the ones that influenced me the most in creating her when I was a teenager were: Emerelda from Xenogears, Lain from Serial Experiments Lain and Cardcaptor Sakura. Eventually she took on her own personality and gradually lost the characteristics of these other characters. (perhaps except Emerelda, Emily still reminds me a lot of her)

Emily’s favorite color is green, it’s decided.

Captain Picard: “The only person you’re truly competing against, Wesley, is yourself.”
Wesley Crusher: “Then you’re not disappointed?”
Captain Picard: “Wesley – you have to measure your successes and your failures within, not by anything that I or anyone else might think. But, erm… if it helps you to know this… *I* failed the first time, and you may not tell anyone!”

Failure affects all of us, however I believe, as the captain has so elegantly put it, what we do with the results of our shortcomings is more important than a failure itself. When I was younger (before art school) I used to think of my life as a long stairway up, with many of the steps being failures and a few success steps in between. I always thought the failures were worth getting through, or perhaps even to be looked forward to, because it meant one step closer to something good happening. When I went to art school this attitude was lost and replaced with a very defeatist attitude. I am currently attempting (with the help of my girlfriend) to build an attitude of progress over this annoying fatalism I seem to enjoy so much. So if you do comics, art, illustration, heck ANYTHING; you could be a car mechanic and have these feelings; do as the captain says, don’t compare yourself to others and see your “failures” more as learning experiences. Good luck.

Tim.