It’s been an interesting week for me. If I was a writer and my life was a script (both may be true but are unconfirmed) I would call this a chapter break. Yesterday three significant things happened.

  1. I was given my last script assignment on VeggieTales, after working on the show for three years and writing nonstop scripts the entire time. It’s so weird to think I won’t be doing that any more (also a bit of a relief)
  2. My step dad died.
  3. I had a big meeting at another company about a potential show I may get to work on next.

I don’t mean to undercut my stepfather’s death by mixing it in with career stuff, but in the context, it is a chapter break. It’s me entering a time when my parents are old enough that they are reaching their final years. My step dad was the least healthy of them all, and it’s weird to even use the word “dad” with him. He married my mom when I was in my 20’s and we never had much of a connection. He was overall not very nice to my mom and in the last few years downright rotten to her. It’s such a strange sensation when someone unpleasant dies. They weren’t a joy to be around, but they didn’t deserve to die. It’s not a good feeling. I guess the best way I can put it is “it is what it is”. Part of me is relieved my mom doesn’t have to deal with the guy any more, and another part is sad for her because she really is back to being alone, and my whole life I’ve wanted my mom to find a man who would take care of her the way she deserves. But, all that said, he did some good things for my mom and the family and I hope he’s in a better place. He was pretty miserable in his final years and maybe, just maybe he’s back in his recliner with his dog, Max watching FOX news and screaming at the TV eating home made meatloaf and building home made napalm. Who knows. For him, that would be heaven.

The end of VeggieTales is bittersweet. I have to admit that trying to spend hours and hours of my life, day in and day out trying to figure out how Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber can learn about God in a gentle, PC way has run its course and I’m thrilled at the prospect of finding a new job. But the flipside of that is heading into the no man’s land of being between jobs. Besides that, I have a lot of close friends on the show and it afforded me a lot of opportunities to see them.

But a big opportunity has arisen for me that isn’t by any means set in stone yet, but it’s got a lot of potential to become my next job if things work out. I’m sharing more details about it with my Patreon members, including some artwork.

Speaking of Patreon, I also started a new feature today for $5+/month members. I am now attaching a high resoltion PDF with words and a super high resolution JPG with no word balloons so you can look at the page as a whole without obstruction and really zoom in on the eyelashes and nose hairs.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Thanks for reading.
Ethan

 

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