Iced Coffee Season (Again)

Well, it's iced coffee season again, but with the price of gasoline, car washes, eggs in China, etc., it's difficult to justify the $3.50+ Dunkin Donuts insists we play them for a large version of such a delicious beverage. So here's my gift to you fine folks - a winning recipe for homemade instant iced coffee:

1. Grab a large glass or mug - around 20 ounces is best.
2. Add three teaspoons of instant coffee. Yes, I said instant. And don't skimp and buy a crap brand. For the price of 2 DD iced coffees you can get enough instant coffee to make over 40 (seriously, 40!) on your own.
3. Add enough water to fill roughly 3/4 of your glass, cup, or mug.
4. Stir and/or shake it like the dickens.
5. Stir and/or shake it some more, unless you'd like the crunch of undesolved instant coffee crystals (and trust me - you won't).
6. If desired, add cream or milk to taste. Cream tastes better, but milk (especially skim) is healthier, so go with the cream.
7. Add sweetener to taste. Equal or Splenda works just fine. Sugar for you badasses out there.
8. Stir and/or shake it some more.
9. Fill the remaining available space with ice.
10. Stir and/or shake it one final time.
12. Let it cool down a bit.
13. Sip and enjoy!
14. Rinse (your glass) and repeat.

Play around with the amount of instant coffee you add until you reach a strength you like. Same with the cream and sweetener. Once you get a combination that works for you, stick with it so you can enjoy this tasty, refreshing, and inexpensive treat all summer long.

You're welcome.

My New Favorite Song

Decent new songs seem to be few and far between. The Whigs - "Right Hand On My Heart" - definitely makes the cut.

Catching Up

Hey peeps. Figured I should finally update my blog - mostly because traffic on my web site has increased like 1000% due to an animation piece I just completed for Sports Radio 66 WFAN. WFAN is the finest sports radio station in NY, which makes it the finest sports radio station on the planet. Seriously, it's no contest.

Click here to check out the WFAN piece.

The baby Jake, Dubya, and I have been doing very well. 'Lil dude is almost nine months old. Advanced? Of course he is. He's on the verge of walking - just needs a little more balance. I have him doing three hours of Karate Kid drills every day, so it's only a matter of time. I often tell him that his karate's a joke, which really isn't true - I'm just trying to toughen him up in the brain pan. Here's a recent photo of my main man sitting on the lap of a giant rabbit. You should have seen him, all smiles and giggles, while other kids two, three, even four times his age were crying like b*tches. I swear he's the Fonz reincarnated.



My Martin & Louis e-card for Regards.com was a big hit, so we have an M&L birthday card in the works. There's also a possible deal with Sony's Minisode Network. I'll share more info on that as it comes in.

I'm still blogging for the (Albany, NY) Times Union's Point of Viewing page, so drop by to catch my comments on everything our televisions have to offer. I highly recommend the John Adams series on HBO. have you seen it? You really should.

Martin & Louis

Please say "hey" to Martin & Louis:


You: "Hey, Martin. Hey, Louis."

Martin & Louis will be making their interweb debut in a few weeks on a soon to be revealed web site. Comedy. Drama. Action. Comdraction... It'll all be there in high fidelity flash animation and low fidelity audio. Stay tuned for more updates as I choose to post them.

Merry Christmas

A day late, but the sentiment is still there. Hope you all had a great holiday. I'm positive I'm not alone in that I've been wicked busy lately - finishing work projects, freelance projects, and holiday projects. I created my usual batch of corporate holiday ecards and evites for my fine freelance friends across the country/across the border (the northern border - Canada: "America's hat" as a popular t-shirt reminds us.) Canada's great! Seriously, I love it up there! You all have to stop listening to t-shirts already. Believe me, Frankie no longer care whether or not you relax. Back to the point, here's my favorite illustration/animation project of the season: an interactive e-vite for the Absolute Spa Group out of Vancouver, BC. I dig the wigglin' toes.

OK. Back to work. Have a great 2008, folks.

G

Happy Halloween

Dubya, Jake and I set up our zombie pumpkin display last night. Here are some spooky pics:







I'll post some pics of Jake in his costume tomorrow.

Later, peeps. Have a great Halloween.

G

Welcome Back

I'm back with big news, blog readers - Dubya and I had a baby. Yay for us! Jake Gregory James Matusic was born on July 24th (2007 - I haven't been away THAT long) at 4:01am. He weighed in at 8 pounds 13 ounces, and measured 21 inches long/tall. He'll be three months old tomorrow, and he's been nothing but a joy. He smiles, he laughes, he coos, he does all sorts of other adorable baby stuff that makes us go "d'awww...". Of course he cries, but never without a decent reason. I suppose if my pants were wet, I'd cry too. And I already cry when I'm hungry, so I totally understand where he's coming from. Here's a semi-recent photo:



See? He's frigging adorable. Prepare your eyes for many more pics on a semi-regular basis.

Obviously, Dubya and I are busy as hell, but we're doing well. We were able to alter our work hours so we don't have to rely on daycare providers. I've been coming in to the office at 5am and I'm back home by 12:30pm. Wendi's on the work-from-home clock at noon and goes until 8:00pm. Makes for a long day of course, but how many dads get to spend all day with their kid? OK, how many EMPLOYED dads get to spend all day with their kid? Not many I bet. Again, we're very fortunate that our respective employers are allowing us to do this.

I've been working on some freelance projects in the very few spare moments I have. Check out regards.com for my latest ecard creations. I'm psyched to be working for these guys, as they're one of the top two or three ecard sites on the web. I also have a couple fo web sites currently in development, as well as updates to the Therapy Rocks site and its line of t-shirt designs. And as usual, the pile of comic strip, cartoon and children's book ideas continues to grow. I actually wrote, designed, and printed a book for Dubya's birthday. I'll post it on my site as soon as time allows. A redesign of my site is also in the works, if only to provide an easier way to browse through my illustration files.

In lesser big news - Even though I've been deglecting this blog for a while, I've been somewhat active on another blog - the Albany (NY) Times Union's "Point of Viewing" TV blog. Here's the description from the blog itself: "The Sopranos" might be over, but there's still good TV to be found. We'll highlight our favorites and try to warn you away from the junk. Comedies, dramas, reality TV, kids shows, news and talk shows, it's all fair game here. And feel free to tell us when you think we're wrong. After all, one man's "Seinfeld" is another man's "According to Jim." It's kind of cool to be a part of a relatively high-traffic public blog, and apparently people actually read it since the comment board is often in use. Check it out when you get a chance.

Here's the final character design for that computer services company. The "C" on the belt stands for "Chip":



I gotta go, but I'll catch up with you all real soon.

G