KYLE’S B&B: Latest News & Random Thoughts

If you’re looking for the Kyle’s B&B blog, yes, it’s true… we’ve moved on to a, (hopefully!), better locale! I’d been hinting about it for a while now, and I’ve finally made the move. You can access the new blog by CLICKING HERE. Or, if you want to copy & paste, here’s the address:
http://kylesbnb.blogspot.com

And let me say a big THANK YOU to blogsome for hosting the Kyle’s B&B blog these past couple of years. It’s been nice, but it appears the blog space at blogger might be a little easier to use & to customize, (yeah, I’ll miss the vegetable header here, but I think it’s time for a change!). Excelsior!

Oh, wait…that’s my cat, Ginger! Yes, there she is, outside checking out the newest snowfall, (and we thought Winter was over?). We got hit with a pretty major snowstorm here in Northport over the weekend, although it didn’t amount to too much snow accumulation. It did, however, coat everything with ice, and even though the snow is not too deep, it’s pretty slippery! Ginger, of course, is quite psyched, as the only time of year that she gets to go outside and run around is when there’s snow on the ground. But, with daytime temps above freezing for the rest of the week, and the first day of Spring on Tuesday, this snow covering looks to be short-lived. (Sorry, Ginger!).

Who says St. Patrick’s Day has to last for only one day? When you’re Irish, it’s really a month-long celebration. In honor of that, I’m posting pics of the 3 Irish Kyle’s B&B characters…Breyer, Sean, and Kyle. OK, well, Breyer’s only half-Irish, (and half-Jewish …and 100 percent Canadian!) …. Sean’s 100 percent Irish, but hasn’t been around the B&B in a while….and Kyle’s 3/4 Irish. Put them all together and that’s, like, 2 and 1/4 Irish guys. Or something like that. Hell, they’re Irish, let’s leave it at that. I’m sure I speak for all of them when I wish you a Happy St. Patrick’s month …. which, by the way, does not have to involve celebrating with alcohol. And you don’t have to be Irish at all, actually. Just get out there and enjoy the cool first days of Spring, wear your green, and smile!

In regards to my previous post….about winter being a thing of the past, (for this year, at least?). I was WRONG! As I write this, the temperature has plunged to an arctic 9 degrees F here in Northport, (that’s -13 degrees C). And some snow is on the way tomorrow, (though it sounds like it’s going to be light). In any case, in the pic above, you can see Midnight is wisely staying indoors to avoid the frigid temps, and soaking in the sun before the snow clouds arrive. Where’s Ginger? Fast asleep, snuggled up on her favorite quilt, dreaming of the snow to come, which she assumes I’ll let her out to run in. We’ll see about that!

Could it be that we’ve seen the last snow of the winter here in Northport? Seems possible. In the pic above, Ginger is outside tentatively checking out the receding snowfall. A rainfall yesterday washed even more of it away. With daily temps in the 40s, sure feels like Spring! And Ginger’s thick winter coat is shedding in clumps …another sure sign that winter is on the wane! (By the way, a note to all cat-lovers reading this… no, neither of my cats are outdoor cats. But I do let Ginger outside occasionally in the Winter, when there’s snow on the ground, for short, supervised excursions. She’s a true snow-cat, loves to run her lynx paws across it. Here’s another pic….isn’t she sweet? Almost looks like she’s flying into the clouds!).

Jazzed as I am to be getting so many complimentary e-mails about the latest episode, # 198, where (SPOILER ALERT) Brad & Matt “do it”…I’m a bit confounded, and mainly amused, by how many folks are writing to say, essentially, “oh, I didn’t realize Brad was a bottom!”. In fact, many readers are quite happy about it. Which is all news to me, as, (I thought), I deliberately left it vague about just who was being the bottom and/or top in the panel in question. One of my friends even wrote back to assure me that, no, the evidence absolutely points to Brad being the bottom in this situation. I’m still not convinced. Let’s go to the scene in question, shall we?

I dunno’, it still looks inconclusive to me. I mean, first of all, Brad is on top. Of course, he could be “riding” Matt, which means, so far…. inconclusive. What do you think? Click on “comments” below, and share your thoughts!

Don’t be fooled by the sunny weather and greenery in the background of this picture, (taken today, by the way)…it’s 21 degrees F in Northport and dropping! Well, Ginger seems to like the cold weather, and I’m sure dressed for it. It’s only supposed to go down to 17 degrees F tonight, which is somewhat of a heatwave compared to recent nights. But there’s snow coming on Tuesday! Some things to report:

*Folks seem pretty thrilled about the possibility of a Brad & Matt romance, judging from the flood of e-mails I’ve been getting. OK, do we call it “Bratt” at this point? I don’t think so, at least…not yet, anyway. Technically, according to “Kyle’s time”, they’re still on their first date! Let’s see how the date works out before we go assigning a celebrity combined-names tag to them.

*I’m considering switching this blog over to Blogger, (Blogspot). Seems a little easier to navigate, and a little quicker on the page uploads. Not to mention, I can manipulate the imagery there without a degree in html, (do they give out degrees in html?). If anyone has any thoughts on Blogger, pro or con, please let me know in the “Comments” field.

*Valentine’s Day. Yes, I know it’s coming up this week. Yes, I know a lot of people dread it. If you’re not in a romance, it may seem kind of cold. And if you are in a romance, the pressure is on to deliver, in some way. Yeesh! For me, for some reason, I’ve always found the holiday kind of sweet, whether I am in or out of a romance. (And, statistically speaking, I’ve been out of a romance more often on Valentine’s Day than in one). Maybe I’m fond of it because I was born almost exactly 9 months to the day after Valentine’s Day. Which, yeah, I would guess makes me a Valentine’s Day conception. (I have never discussed this with my mother, and she’d probably be horrified I’m writing about this, but hey… I don’t think it’s anything to be embarrassed about). In fact, this makes me very grateful for Valentine’s Day! Perhaps I should treat Valentine’s Day like Thanksgiving. Turkey, anyone? (Oh, that’s right, I don’t eat meat…).

Yes, really! I know there have been a few false starts so far this year, but as I am writing this, it is now 8 degrees F and falling, ( that’s -13 degrees C, if you happen to use that system). Not much snow to go along with it, although there were snow showers all throughout the day today; it just didn’t amount to much. Which is OK; saves the trouble of shoveling, not to mention, makes the roads much safer. But these temperatures, combined with some high winds, (the winds of Thor?), make for a pretty Jack London-esque experience. So, maybe my cat Ginger predicted the weather accurately after all, with her fur-forecast, (see entry below for January 7, 2007, for info about that). In any case, you can be sure the boys at Kyle’s B&B are huddling around the fireplace, wrapping themselves in quilts, and feasting on Kyle’s gingerbread cookies right about now! Wherever you happen to be…..stay warm!

I just felt the need to say that.

This is a topic I’ve been toying around with for several years, now…. the idea of producing the comic strip in full color, as opposed to the current black & white format. Actually, when the strip first premiered in late 1998, it was in color. I hadn’t planned it, but when Genre magazine offered to run the first few episodes as a showcase of the strip, they asked if I could provide it in color. I was glad to oblige, though conflicted. As I said, I hadn’t planned for the strip to be in color, and I wasn’t sure how those “made to be black & white” episodes would translate into color. They ended up looking fine, but there was something about the black & white I preferred. Perhaps it was the gloriously-produced romance comic strips of old, which made an artform of black & white, that I was shooting for with the comic strip, that I didn’t want to let go of. Or maybe the fact that all of my comic strip work up to that point, (Manic Music, Angel’s Story, and all of my high school & college comic strips), had been done in black & white, and it was a format I was used to. (My comic book work, though, was mainly in color). More recently, certain fans of the strip have made me pledge to always do it in black & white, as they feel it is the hallmark of the strip, and to go to color would take away from the overall look, feel, and moodiness of the strip, much as the glamour of many 1930s & 40s films is enhanced by their black & white beauty. So, reader, what do you think? How about leaving a comment here, (click on the comments link below), and share your input on this? I’d love to hear what you think!