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While Michael was taking apart grocery bags to create pads of drawing paper in Three Rivers, Michigan; I was exploring the basement of my family home in Muskego, Wisconsin. Alongside the usual storage boxes and laundry equipment, there were enormous round cardboard storage barrels, chest-high and filled with all kinds of equipment for yard work and sports. Others were filled with old clothes.  The basement was as irresistible to me as a closet is to a cat. I spent many hot muggy summer afternoons in the cool basement digging through boxes and storage barrels. Fortunately for me, my mother was a pack rat. There was a lot for a nine-year-old to explore. Among the many papers, letters, and receipts; I found a cancelled check made out to Misericordia Hospital in Milwaukee for labor and delivery services. Some of the most intense experiences of my childhood occurred down there. My older sister, Cathy, took in an unusually plump stray cat and offered it shelter in the basement. After several weeks, it gave birth to a litter of kittens, just a few yards away from the washer and dryer. A few weeks after giving birth, Mom Cat decided she had too many kittens and tried to euthanize one by dropping it into one of the enormous cardboard storage barrels. We followed the faint mews, fished the runt out of the barrel, and hand fed him for the next few weeks. During many Octobers, I dug through those old storage barrels, and put together several oddball pieces of clothing to create my Halloween costume. Some of the most terrifying experiences of my life occurred in that basement, sitting down there in dim light as a tornado raged over our heads. Three tornadoes in two years, each time, our house was spared. Others were not. But the real treasure in the basement was the most deeply hidden. Poking out from behind those dozen or so storage barrels was a black metal trunk with a hinged lid and leather straps and handles. Plastered with train station stickers from Milwaukee, Fargo, Chicago…this was evidence of the far flung and exciting travels of my mother’s youth.  Inside that trunk, I found a typewriter. Not an electric one, but a manual typewriter. When Mark Twain advised aspiring writers to cease submitting longhand manuscripts and switch to the new typewriting machines, he was probably sitting at a typewriter identical to the one I had discovered in the basement. It was a severe-looking black metal box. The keys were round and sepia-toned with stern black letters printed on each one. When I struck a key, I could see the cold metal arm rise up out of the bowels of the typewriter and hit the paper on the roll. If I did not hit the key with a lot of force, the letter would be very faint. I assumed that secretaries must have strong hands. I had to work so hard at hitting the key that my fingers often slipped down between the keys. I repeatedly yanked my fingers up out of the keyboard and tried again. While another nine-year-old would have grabbed a baseball bat or fishing poll from one of the cardboard barrels; I was fascinated by the typewriter. I was discovering that I wanted to write. Pushing words out of myself and getting them out into the world was a visceral need, like going outdoors for sunlight and fresh air. I wanted to be a writer. I was determined to create my own books. I started writing poetry and created book covers out of construction paper. Each cover was unique, the title and cover illustration done with crayon. Between the covers were several pages of plain white typing paper, some with poems typed and others hand written when I became frustrated with the cranky old typewriter. The “book” binding was a series of staples.  Since then, writing has been the straight line running through decades of my life. Jobs, relationships, a college degree, and various adventures and misadventures have zigzagged across that line. As a contributing writer for Bay Area Business Woman, I wrote approximately fifty feature or cover stories. I also wrote and edited copy for websites, brochures, newsletters, and other advertising pieces for micro-businesses in the Bay Area. I wrote and self-published two books, Chocolate and Cabernet, a novel; and Tales of the Living Room Warrior, an eight-part fable. Michael did the cover design and page layout for both books and illustrated Tales. It was due to his talent at computer graphics that I was able to see both books published. While I was writing and earning part of my income at it, I also worked at the San Francisco offices of two nonprofits, sold symphony and theater tickets on commission, and took on assignments as a companion to elderly people like Gladys. I also cleaned houses, lots of houses. I learned how to juggle several different spheres of activity and balance multiple obligations and responsibilities while carving out time for my ongoing need to write. When I met Michael, we shared a passion for stories - telling stories, reading them, and watching them on screen. Michael introduced me to the pleasures of reading comics, graphic novels, and several forms of genre fiction. I began to realize that fantasy, science fiction, and other genre leant themselves to rich world-building and could unleash the power of the writer’s imagination.  This website and ongoing blog comes from the intersection of our lives and talents. If our lives had unfolded the way we meant them to, Michael would have continued teaching web design at Silicon Valley College until his retirement. He would have finished several more stories and a lot of artwork. And he would’ve continued noodling around with fonts and graphics to create unusual title lines and lettering effects. No doubt, he would have come up with a home page for this website featuring his own handcrafted fonts with drop shadows, eye-popping color combos and animation moving those letters and shadows in surprising ways.
But our lives zigzagged in ways neither of us could’ve anticipated. The BratCat website and blog will maintain its focus on storytelling, art, writing, and the creative process. But it will now also include cancer, hope, grief - and love.
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 Welcome. Thank you for visiting my website. As I mulled over the the theme of this blog post - what you can expect from this website - my mind did a sharp U turn. It sped back through decades of memories. Suddenly, in my mind’s eye, it was 1990, and I was standing on Gladys Curry’s front porch and ringing her doorbell.
A survivor of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, Gladys was then 93 years old. She was living alone in the house she had been living in for approximately 70 years. I was employed by an agency to visit her several times a week. Her house was filled with lace doilies, bone china teacups, and delicate glass things. My subconscious had surprised me. Gladys is not who I was expecting to think of, especially not when writing for a website. I am pretty sure she never touched a computer. Indeed, since she quit her office job and became a full time homemaker upon her marriage in, oh, say, 1920 or 1925, she had probably never even touched an electric typewriter. On one of our medical visits, a doctor asked her, “Who is the President of the United States?" Gladys’s voice rang out with confidence. “Warren G. Harding.” The doctor shrugged and seemed unsurprised. True to her upbringing, Gladys was the consummate hostess. Whenever she opened the door, her eyes sparkled. Gladys was delighted to receive a visitor; it was like a Christmas present to her. She always offered me a cup of tea. As soon as we had settled into her Queen Anne chairs with our teacups, Gladys would ask me a question. It was always the same question. “What do you know that’s new and different?” Or the occasional variation, “What have you done that’s new and different?” It was not just throat clearing. It was her way of approaching life. Gladys’s life had become restricted in many ways. She had outlived her family members and all of her friends. Due to the infirmities of aging, she could no longer take the bus to downtown San Francisco to shop. All of the ladies from her neighborhood who had gathered at the bus stop in neatly pressed dresses, hats, and white gloves for the weekly shopping excursion into The City - all were gone. But as she aged and her daily life became increasingly restricted, Gladys approached each day as an adventure. No longer able to peruse vases and silverware at Gump’s or have lunch under the leaded glass dome of the City of Paris department store, she became intimately acquainted with her backyard. She knew when the figs on her tree would ripen and take me outside to pluck and eat them. When I took her on excursions to the Oakland Rose Garden and the gardens at Lake Merritt, she would call my attention to the differences in the color and shading of the flowers and how the heads of some drooped down, bent from the weight of their large blossoms. As I mull over what I want this website to give you, I am remembering what Gladys gave me - a reminder to slow down, stop multitasking, be totally in the moment, and realize that if I am open to it - each day has something to offer me that is worth seeing, hearing, or reading. Gladys’s continuous search for the new and different is a good approach to both life and websites. When I was doing the final review of this website, I realized that this entire website overhaul had become an open love letter to Michael. I thought what better day to go live than Valentine's Day?
If I were to sum up the essence of Michael in one word, it would be an easy choice - openhearted. That word can mean so many things: kindness, a willingness to love and be loved. An ability to experience joy and awe. Resilience. Approaching life, work, relationships, and adversity with an open heart - that was Michael. Openheartedness did not mean that he was perpetually happy. He expressed lots of anger and frustration during our 32 years together. He allowed himself to really feel an emotion and express it, then allowed it to pass, and returned to to a place of optimism and savoring life. After experiencing some serious medical crises, he had to undergo dialysis. One late afternoon in early spring, I went to pick him up. I was a few minutes early. So I took a walk on the trail beside the clinic. The trailside was exploding with the first wildflowers of spring. All of them were purple, Michael's favorite color. When he emerged from the clinic, I told him about it and how it was every shade of purple you could imagine. When I asked, "Do you want to go on a purple walk with me?" his face lit up. During the last few months of his life, he wanted to get me gifts. But our financial constraints did not allow for dining out, flowers, and chocolates. So Michael put his creativity to work. He went online and searched for love poems. When I came home from work, he would recite for me a poem that he had memorized. This blog is intended to be an expression of openheartedness - a quality I had been losing before I met Michael. When we creatives do our best work, there is some quality of openheartedness in the process. In 2018 (after writing two novels, many freelance business pieces, and a few dozen newspaper articles), I had been going through a period of writer's block. By mid-March, I had pushed my way through that block. I was writing again. Descriptions, scenes, ideas, and character bits flowed from my pen. Words tumbled out of me so fast that my hand flew across notebook pages, chasing after them. This prompted me to imagine a new story, potentially a new novel. After a long creative drought, this was exhilarating. Within a few days, Michael and I found ourselves in the emergency room. A doctor's voice said, "It looks like cancer." Words fell away. My sense of wonder and the desire to explore new story ideas vanished. The word, cancer, came down like a meat cleaver, striking my notebook page. There was my life of writing and creating before that word was spoken. And then there was life after that word was spoken. As a writer, I entered a long, profound silence. This blog is part of my attempt as a writer to emerge from that silence. Have You Done Anything Heroic Today?Jim Cravens Jr. and Catherine Benefeld deDood, the owners of Heroes and Villains Comics in Pleasanton are giving you the opportunity to be a hero and help a hero. On September 6, 2014, they will host a book-signing, raffle, and benefit for the Hero Initiative, a nonprofit organization helping comic creators in need.
If you have ever been captivated by Spider-Man, Batman, Superman, or Iron Man; you have people like Chris Ivy, Chris Wozniak, Steve Gerber, Josh Medors and Gene Colan to thank. These artists, writers, and inkers created the stories that have given us so much pleasure. As freelancers, they have no safety net. When disaster strikes–in the form of cancer, pulmonary fibrosis, herniated discs, or a tornado destroying both home and studio–these creators of heroes are in need of a hero. Since its inception in 2001, the Hero Initiative has granted over $500,000 to over 50 comic book veterans who needed emergency medical aid, financial support for living expenses, and an avenue back into paying work. Who? Michael Rhodes, author of Manga Studio 5 Beginner’s Guide (Packt Publishing Ltd.; Birmingham, UK) will be signing his book, answering questions, and demonstrating Manga Studio 5 on his computer. Before Manga Studio, comic creators had to spend $500 on Photoshop and spend hours struggling with the program, because it was not designed for comic creation. Manga Studio was the first software program designed from the ground up for comic creation. Mike refers to Manga Studio as “my Star Wars. It changed everything….I could see the entire story…on the computer!” What? If you want to be a hero, you can buy a book or buy a raffle ticket. Tickets are $3 each, two for $5. The grand prize is a copy of Mike’s book, a downloadable copy of Manga Studio 5 software from Smith Micro, Brushes by Frenden, and five hours of one-on-one tutorials with Mike in how to use Manga Studio to create comics. You can also just drop by the store to say hi, and drop a dollar in the donation jar labeled Hero Initiative. When? September 6, from noon to 5 pm. The drawing will be held at 5 pm. Where? Heroes and Villains Comics; 264 Main Street in Pleasanton Why? To create your own web comic, become the hero of your own story, or just to help a hero. Perhaps Robin summed it up best in “Never Scratch a Cat,” Batman#355–“We are responsible for each other. That’s part of being human– isn’t it?” About The Hero Initiative The Hero Initiative is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book artists and craftsmen in need. Hero Initiative creates a financial safety net for yesterday’s creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. It’s a chance for all of us to give back something to the people who have given us so much enjoyment. Since its inception, The Hero Initiative has had the good fortune to grant over $700,000 to the comics veterans who have paved the way for those in the industry today. For more information, visit www.HeroInitiative.org or call 626-676-6354. About Heroes and Villians Comics: Heroes and Villains Comics is not a typical comic book store. Owned and operated by Pleasanton residents and comic book fans with over 25 years of comic retail experience. We are a bright and welcoming specialty boutique comic book store that caters to all things comic and pop culture. Our knowledgeable staff will make your shopping experience like no other by providing superior customer service and a friendly atmosphere. About Smith Micro Software, Inc.: Smith Micro Software provides solutions that simplify, secure and enhance the mobile experience. Our portfolio includes a wide range of applications that manage broadband connectivity, data traffic, devices, voice and video communications over wireless networks. With more than 30 years of experience developing world-class client and server software, Smith Micro helps the leading mobile network operators, device manufacturers and enterprises increase efficiency and capitalize on the growth of mobile-connected consumers and workforces. For more information, visit smithmicro.com. (NASDAQ: SMSI) About Ray Frenden: Ray is a mercenary drawing arm for folks like Nickelodeon, Nike and Burton. He also makes and reviews digital art tools. For more information about his work and to purchase his brush sets for Photoshop and Manga Studio visit www.frenden.com. He’s active on Twitter @FRENDEN.  After about a year, Mike’s finished with the Manga Studio for Beginners. It’s written for Manga Studio 5 (or Clip Studio Paint 1) and is aimed not only for the total beginner, but also for experienced pros who want to learn more about Manga Studio and how it fits into their work flow.
Go to http://bit.ly/1mKM36h to look at the cover and to buy a copy today! In the coming week or so, there’s going to be a website for the book, so watch this space. Just look for that cover, if you search for it on Amazon. |
Janet RhodesAuthor and Editor at BratCat Productions Archives
April 2025
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