Thank you

I wanted to say thank you for all the kind words, the condolences, the beautiful stories so many of you wrote and shared in your own blogs and websites. They can't dull the pain, but they make it more bearable. I never met many of you, and I wish we met under better circumstances, but still. Thank you.

We drove up to Napa for the funeral service on Friday. It was beautiful, lots of people came to say goodbye. Many heart warming words were said. We laughed just as much as we cried, and we did a lot of both.
And then we went in a big group of friends to celebrate Justin's life over dinner and drinks, and while we were clearly one person short, while one chair was painfully empty - it felt great. To be surrounded by friends, to be happy together. It was something to be very very thankful for.

It's quite incredible how many lives Justin has touched in his short life. And very inspiring. He makes me want to be a better person. It makes me want to do more with my life, make more of it. Grab life by its horns, so to speak. His death makes me want to appreciate the people in my life more, mend bridges, restore old friendships.
It even makes me want to draw more, funny as it might sound.

Lesson learned, Justin.
Life's too damn short.
And we're so damn thankful for every minute.

Justin 1981-2008

We've just found out that our good friend Justin Wright passed away today. He had a heart attack at the age of twenty seven. We're still in shock. It's very hard to believe he's gone. It's unreal.

We were classmates and roommates back at CalArts and were department PA in the together. He was a professional, passionate, hard working, reliable, funny, supportive, creative person. Since we graduated he moved back up north to work at Pixar, where he always wanted to work. He was a storyboard artist, and he was darn good at it too.

And we've been just looking at our wedding photos this week, and found him there, with his goofy smile, celebrating with us. It's hard to look at them now. It's just so... crazy.

If you are a believer, please say a pryer for him, he was one. And please send a comforting thought to his parents and sister.

Justin, it's hard to imagine we'll never see you again, talk about video games, argue about movies, plot our creative careers, our young lives together. It's so hard to talk about you in past tense. You might be gone, but not forgotten. You'll always live in our hearts.

We miss you.
Your friends.



More from friends and co-workers on Cartoon Brew, and from Amanda.

Out of my cave

Well, hello there dear readers!
Yeah, this blog has been hibernating for a bit (is it really March already? Sheesh!), but it's pretty much spring here in the So of Cal and it's time to have some fun. And so I'm back! Did you miss me?

Quite a lot happened since my last update. We moved to our new apartment (the move was a nightmare, as they tend to be, but we love our new place so much it's almost a shame we're just renting it), settled in (after spending six hours and two value packs of Mr. Clean Extra Strength Erasers on cleaning the bathtub and shower walls), moved around a bit at work (for the better), went to see Eddie Izzard live, discovered how cool our new neighborhood is, started new projects, finished old projects, got hooked on Teeccino and started a little "garden" of herbs and vegetables on our back door stairs.
I'll catch up with the details little by little, but here are some photos to entertain you in the meantime.
Enjoy!


Le Kitchen. No, the cat didn't come with the apartment
What you're not seeing is the mess the cats made outside their litter box (to the left) and the giant pile of dishes in the sink (to the right)
The little coffee/tea corner and our new spice rack

Mr. Emmet snoozing in the sun in the den, before we set it up
This is my desk now, all clean and ready to work (Ant's desk... not so much)
Looking from the den into the living room. Ant's just finished vacuuming. And you can't see the new coffee table, but there is one

I got me a few vintage Pyrex dishes. I'm a pattern addict, what can I say?
I made some veggy (broth) soup and "locksh" for us one night when we were sick-y


A new knitting project
Knitting is always better with a cat

Suki, the bathroom cleanliness inspector (I hope we pass)
Suki, the kitty food inspector "I'm not sure about the quality issue... I need to re-inspect. Fill the bowl again, please!"Suki, the sunshine inspector. Yeah... I think she's pleased with it
Suki, the food inspector. Not sure this nectarine is up to par