Doniell Charie's Comics - Latest Blog Entries

Back in the Saddle

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:41:00 -0500

It's been an interesting 6 months since I've been able to regularly work on comics and post. I've been so inundated with school, that I've completely lost all free time. In addition, I've begun giving piano lessons to kids and adults on the Heidelberg and Mannheim posts ... so it's been tough to find time to think about new ideas and create.

However, I'm hoping things have settled down a bit. I'm still working with a humungous school load and a side business of lessons, but I'm making little bits of time when I can.

We recently went on an anniversary vacation to Berlin, and had some amazing experiences - of which I'm sure you'll see a few comics.

Don't forget to register as a user - all it takes is an email address. Though, you can add info to your profile if you desire. Make sure you're referring me to everyone you know, and use the forums and guestbook!

A New Year

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 05:32:00 -0600

Hello fans, friends and family! This year will be great as we have many things to look forward to! :)

I currently have around 15 new comics I have yet to upload, I just was having a few problems with time issues due to schoolwork and the holiday season. Expect to see the new comics up shortly!

Also, we are seriously looking into publishing and trying to find a reliable self-publisher. If anyone has any tips in this area, please feel free to discuss it in the forum - of course you STILL NEED TO REGISTER AS A USER ON THIS SITE in order to access all the goodies like the forums (where you can ask me ANYTHING and discuss ANYTHING) and my tips and hints for example.

I apologize if things have been incredibly slow, but I'm in the middle of some very serious upper level courses at my university and they take up a LOT of my time.

Oh, and don't forget Doniell Charie's Comics 1st anniversary is coming up! Make sure you register as a user for what's in store!

Holidays!

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:31:00 -0600

With the holidays quickly approaching, I've had numerous ideas and of course I'm constantly finding inspiration in the weirdest places. I take a notebook and pen with me everywhere and am always writing notes on post-its. Though, I apologize that I've been quite late with posting comics due to the fact that my schoolwork can be a bit much at times.

We're still looking into the options of starting a business selling items and such. IF you're interested in T-shirts, hats, stickers, decals, magnets, posters or anything conceivable, let me know. I'll see what I can do for you. The store is back up, but we currently don't have any items for sale as No one has requested the purchase of something. If you a favorite comic and want it on something like a T-shirt, holler and I'll get back to you on prices and shipping costs.

For now, tootles!

Back from Vacation

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:03:00 -0500

So we're back from vacation. Got a lot of great material, and should be putting up a load of new comics shortly. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

BTW, please don't be afraid to start using the forums. Go ahead and ask questions. If you don't understand a comic, or want to know what the story is behind it or perhaps what inspiried it - don't hesitate to ask me! I'm very happy to answer any questions.

On Leave

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:33:00 -0500

For those of you who do not know,my handsome husband and I will be going on a loooong vacation for 2 weeks. So there will be nothing new for some time. Sorry about that.

I'd like to encourage you all to subscribe, to invite your friends (or at least tell them about it, email them a link, etc) to visit my page. I need all the support I can get. When I retrun from vacation, I will be working on some marketing ploys and I'll need all the help I can get. Plus, I will start working on merchandise and self publication. That's right folks, we're going to look into printing my dumb humor.

If anyone has any suggestions, would like to help, or has feedback I'd love to hear it. Go to the forum and start up a convo. I'll hit it up as soon as I can.

In the meantime, prepare yourselves for an overload of comics upon my return. I always find humor when we're out and about in Europe - there's always something funny to express or draw. So look forward to laughing your butts off! Hopefully, we will not be disappointed in Austria and Italy - lots to laugh about with those folks!

So, Bon voyage until our return around the 21st of next month. Until then, I will be incredbily busy with school and vacation preparations. Until then folks! Bye, Auf Wiedersehen, Ciao and whatever it is Czech people say (I think it's Ahoj).

(Sigh) The Ease!

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 06:17:00 -0500

Hello friends, family, fans, and all!

I wanted to discuss in depth what registered users can now do.

Registering as a user allows this website to email you when blogs and foums are posted in, update you with changes, etc. These are automatic - I don't send these.

Registering as a user also entitles you to see and participate in aspects of Doniell Charie's Comcs that others cannot - like posting in the forums, or viewing pictures of Doniell Charie, etc.

Registering as a user also has the option of creating a personal profile! You can click on other people's highlighted and underlined names to read more about them, and they can do the same with you! So, log-in once you've registered and been aproved ... and at the top righthand area of the screen you'll see a link that says "Profile". Go there to edit, and share with me and others!

ALSO, Forums are now fully functional. You do have to register as a user to use the forums. Sorry about that. I tried to change it, but apparently I can't. So, register to chat!

Busy D!

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:57:00 -0500

So I am now in school full time. So, I'm sorry if things are slow because of this. I guess that's my official apology for the moment. However, I do have a few that will be uploaded shortly so be patient!

Also, I'm still taking requests to become an officer. Fill out a "Fan Club" form, and you'll get a comic and be able to apply at the end of the form.

Soon I will have T-shirt sales going ... and a prize contest too. So, register your email with us, join the fan club, and you could win a free T-shirt! Details will come soon and very soon.

Again ... sorry, but I have to educate myself!

How to Become an Officer

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 08:12:00 -0500

Some of you readers may have noticed I am looking to take on an officer or few. What does that mean?

That means you will be given access to a few administrative duties relating to the maintenance of the website, and my Comice Kingdom ... well, as we speak it's not quite that yet ...

Anyhow, some duties may involve:

Moderating the forums - this means answering questions (that you know the answers to), updating topical info, maintaining a respectful and curteous place to converse, deleting posts or topics as neccessary upon my approval, etc.
Checking the site for grammatical and spelling errors and fixing them.
Reasearching merchandising options, and perhaps running the online shop.
Running the fan club.
Posting newsletters.
Designing or collaborating new features, ideas, etc.

If you're at all interested in giving me a hand with my growing empire (LOL), please fill out the fan club form and check the box that says "yes" at the bottom that asks if you're interested in becoming an officer.

If you have questions, let me know. Running the site is fairly easy. Everything is straightforward, you don't have to know anything about web design or any of that jazz ... though it doesn't matter if you do either because that kind of thing could be helpful. As long as you can type and perform the requested or assigned duties ~ you're set!

Please note that I am the owner to all rights, so EVERYTHING about my comics and my webspace is maintained at my discretion and direction only. This means, you can't do whatever you want. Capisca?

Why I make fun of Rick Steves

Fri, 09 May 2008 05:57:00 -0500

You may have noticed several comics relating to Rick Steves. If you don't know who Rick is, I bet you know his products. Europe through the backdoor sound familiar? Money belt? A few of his trademarks. He's a travel guide and writes books, has a PBS TV show, and has several products for travelling on the market.

Well, let me just say that anyone would make fun of Rick. He's quirky and has annoying characteristics that are just fun to pick apart. Beyond that, he's a huge hypocrite, and we think (my husband and I) that he's secretly gay. He's overly opinionated, and somewhat retarded. He can't pronounce anything in any language, let alone English. And, he improperly tells people how to speak other languages, and to ask right of the bat (when in a foreign country, speaking to a native) if others speak English!

We've tried emailing him several times, but apparantly he's either too good to get back to us, or he thinks he is. We vote the latter. We urge you to watch his TV show before reading any of his books. You'll find that if you do, once you read his books, he says exactly the same things in his books and it's hilarious. If you don't get it, that's too bad. We feel sorry for you.

Rick does have some good travl tips and hints though, regardless of how dorky he is. But, remember to take what he says with a grain of salt because he's a hypocrite, and not everything he says or does is THAT great.

For more information about Rick, go to his website. http://www.ricksteves.com/

Ask Doniell!

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 06:18:00 -0500

Have a question about a comic? Want to know where I came up with the idea for something? Interested in what inspires me? Please ask all questions here, and I will happily respond!

About the Lemmings ...

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 09:02:00 -0600

Well ... it all started when my husband suggested I draw something about Lemmings. He was laughing and I could barely understand him. When he settled down, we talked about lemmings and what I could draw, when he decided to look Lemmings up. This led to the creation of my Lemming drawing, perpetuated by an incedibly inhumane story ... by none other than Walt Disney!

Misconceptions and myths about Lemmings may have been around for centuries. In the 1500's, a German astronomer in Strasbourg (which is now in France, but is a very German city because it is right on the border) theorized that Lemmings fell from the sky when it stormed out, then died when Spring came. This was dismantled by a natural historian who completed many dissections on the poor animals, and decided that they were rodents, similar to other vole-like creatures.

Many people have believed for years that Lemmings commit mass suicide by herding or throwing htemselves over cliffs into the ocean or bodies of water. Well, Lemmings do travel in huge herds. But, they have an innate need for water. It's some sort of biological drive or whatever. What you don't hear though, is that Lemmings can swim and usually, when they're plunging into the water, it's to get to the water itself, or swim across it. They do stop at the water too. What they stop for, I don't know. So they're not always looking to get in the water. Though, in the case of reaching the ocean, what usually happens is Lemmings swim until they exhaust themselves and drown, because they can't get back out of the water. Lemmings generally live in more northern regions like northern Canada, Greenland, and Scandinavia. So, when they go over an edge into the ocean, they're pretty much not going to be able to save themselves seeing as those regions tend to be rather cliff-y and rocky. What really happens though, is as more and more Lemmings arrive at the water, all the other Lemmings end up being pushed in (penguins do this a lot too).

The myth of the "suicide" of Lemmings comes from Disney though. Walt Disney, to be exact. In 1955 there was a comic drawn about Donald Duck, that was inspired by an article on Lemmings in National Geographic - which just happened to show a picture of Lemmings going over a cliff and into the sea. Conveniently, Disney decided he wanted to do was a documentary of wildlife in the arctic regions. Thus, White Wilderness in 1958 was created. What actually happend was Disney had to have those Lemmings jumping the cliffs in his film, so he purchased Lemmings that were pets of Inuit children, and then placed on a snow covered turntable, and hence forced to run, which resulted in them literally being thrown into the sea. All this to simply create a myth and to kill Lemmings to support it.

Information for this blog was taken from numerous sources ... one being IMDB.

About my Series ...

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 14:42:00 -0600

As some of you may have noticed, I have several series of comics within my strip. I'd like to tell you a bit about a few of them.

T-Shirts Series: t-shirts that say stupid things

Simon Says: characters doing whatever Simon Says

Happy Halloween: children who dress in strange costume

Causemopolitan's Top 10: a spoof on Cosmo's top 10

Stupid Questions: self explanitory

Calvin Klein's Scents: spoof on cologne and perfume names

Fortune Cookies: horrible things fortune writers forgot to put in the cookies

Career Day: kids telling the class what their parent does

Excuses: self-explanitory

If I have missed something, let me know.

Vote!

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:28:00 -0600

This is where you should vote for your favorite Doniell Charie comic. If this goes as well as I hope, I may begin making products with comics on them, and raffling them off, or perhaps even selling them.

Anywhoo ... VOTE!

P.S., you may change your vote at anytime!

Hello!

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 15:57:00 -0600

Hello Everybody!

My name is Doniell, and I draw a comic series entitled Doniell Charie's Comics. I use ideas from my extremely imaginative noggin, and produce them onto paper. Sometimes, my husband contributes to the ideas as well. Soon, I'll probably be taking suggestions from fans! I'd like to formally welcome everyone to this creative outlet I've produced. I'm happy to hear your feedback, and look forward to sharing my world with you!

About Doniell ...

Doniell was born and raised in a suburb of Seattle. She is classically trained in music, and has played passionately for almost 23 years now. Doniell began her intrest in the arts with her strict religious upbringing, and has loved music and art since she was at least 2 - becasue that's where it all started, on the organ. She even went to WSU to study music. Some of her favorite artists that have influenced her are Rembrandt, Van Eeyck, Caspar David Friedrich, Albrecht Dürer and Monet. Though - you won't be able to see any of that in her drawings.

Doniell is a pisces, and enjoys spending quality time with her husband, music in most all forms (i.e. composing, listening, playing), traveling, shopping, reading great books, planning, and playing with her puppy Pontiac and is of course currently working on the project comic strip "Doniell Charie's Comics". She is a member of Kappa Kappa Psi, a WSU alumnus and an avid fan of the TV show FRIENDS. She has been married since 2003, and has a rat terrier named Pontiac - and sadly Missy was killed a year ago, and her beloved 7yr. old lizard Azaria had to be sold when she moved to Europe. She loves Mexican food, hates the US healthcare system, and desires to become a frenzied teacher of the arts. But, she is currently happy to be a house wife, taking care of her busy soldier and expanding her mind with furthering her education.