The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy reference there in the title can only mean one thing. My time as gallery curator of Lulubell Toy Bodega has come to an end. Unlike the dolphins of Douglas Adams’ story, I am not leaving Earth. I’m not even leaving Tucson.

I have become a father for the first time and I’m going to become a work-at-home dad. So between raising a kid and doing my own illustration and graphic design work, I don’t have the time to give to Lulubell that Lulubell deserves. It would be unfair to Amy and Luke at Lulubell to even attempt to do it all.

The decision was made with absolutely no hard feelings on either side and I still remain friends with Amy and Luke. It was an amazing year filled with some mind-blowing art. I am appreciative of the opportunity that Luke and Amy gave me. They had such faith in my abilities right from the beginning, even when I questioned them myself. They handed their gallery over to me and my vision with no reservations and I will always be grateful.

I am also thankful to the artists community in Tucson as a whole. We put on some amazing shows together.

From here on out, Lulubell’s curatorship will be placed in the very capable hands of Dave Carender. As a member of the art collective Golden Mean, he produces some really great art and I’m excited to see where he takes the gallery in the future.

Amy, Dave and Luke have been generous enough to grant me one more guest curator spot for February 2011. I’m really excited about it and I think it’s going to be a huge show. I’ll post more about that as the show approaches.

For now, thank you Amy and Luke. You two have been amazing and I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to work with you, your gallery and so many hundreds of great artists over the last year.

Hey, did you know that the cyclops has just 1 eye? It’s true. Or… it’s as true as can be for a mythological creature.

A group of friends have been kind enough to work on an alphabet and letter set for my newly born son’s bedroom. I contributed the number 1.

Today, March 24th, is Ada Lovelace Day, a day when the online world celebrates women in science and technology. As many of you know, my wife is a molecular biologist at the University of Arizona who most definitely deserves celebrating. Why, here she is now with the entire Parker Lab:

In case it wasn’t obvious, she’s the one with the red circle around her face. And, yes, they’re dressed in white water rafting gear, which doesn’t have diddly squat to do with their science. It has everything to do with having fun, though.

She often says that the coolest part of her job is that she gets to “add new knowledge to the world.” I’d have to agree. Her work is on protein regulation, which is another way of saying that she’s trying to figure out how our cells decide which proteins to make and why. Here are a few images of her recent results.

Ooooh, pretty.  And no, I don’t know what it means, either.

Well, happy Ada Lovelace Day, everyone! What are you going to do today to celebrate? I’d suggest a party. Everyone enjoys a nice party.

Learn more about Ada Lovelace Day and Ada herself at http://findingada.com/

My wife is pregnant with our first child. To most people who read this, that won’t be news; we’ve already announced it on Facebook, Twitter, the Ten Ton Studios message boards and any other social network my wife and I are members of, on the internet and off.

“So what’s the news,” you ask.

We recently had an ultrasound with super heroic results. Apparently, I have fathered Ghost Rider. Below is the actual image* from our latest ultrasound, where our child (we’re not going to learn the sex) is looking full into the ultrasound wand. That skull is my kid’s!

*Yes, the image is from the ultrasound. Yes, I used photoshop to add flames to my child’s head. Why are you looking at me like that?