**PLEASE PARDON THE CONSTRUCTION DUST. My website is in the process of being completely revamped, and my brand new site will be unveiled later in 2021! Stay tuned! **
Every once in a while, Debbie shares new art, writing and resources; subscribe below. Browse the archives here.
If you're a kidlit/YA writer or illustrator, see Inkygirl. To find out more about me, my books and comics, various collab blogs, online portfolio and press, other miscellanea, browse the navigation links beneath the header banner. And thanks for visiting! -- Debbie Ridpath Ohi
I created the image above in honor of my friend Errol's birthday because of his obsession with Studio Ghibli :-)
Some of you may have heard me talking about my friend Errol, who is my creative doppelgänger as well as being one of the most positive, sweetest people I know. He and his daughter helped create the I'M BORED book trailer music video for me.
Anyway, The Toronto Film Festival (TIFF) is holding a Studio Ghibli Contest to find the biggest Studio Ghibli fan; reward: tickets to see 10 Studio Ghibli films at the TIFF Lightbox. Errol and some of his friends put together a fantastic graphic compilation of Why Errol Elumir Is The Biggest Studio Ghibli Fan Ever so people could vote, but the TIFF interface was such that the graphic ended waaaay too tiny for people to read. :-(
Errol gave me permission to post his comic below. If my friend's Studio Ghibli Fan obsession amuses, delights or horrifies you, I urge you to go over the to Errol's Studio Ghibli Contest TIFF page and vote for him. You can see the other entries as well -- all admirable, of course! But not nearly as Studio Ghibli-crazed as Errol's, in my opinion. :-)
Though familiar with his online presence (not surprising, since Errol is EVERYWHERE online!), I didn't actually meet Errol Elumir until FilKONtario. We hit it off right away, and I had fun collaborating with Errol on comics for NaNoWriMo last year. Both our schedules tend to be über-busy, but we try to get together once a month. Group gatherings are always fun, but I've always found one-on-one conversations more satisfying (and for me, essential) for a deeper level of friendship.
Here are just a few of the things I love about Errol:
He's one of the most POSITIVE people I know. I'm not saying he's happy all the time (though maybe he is; you'd have to ask his wife Keren), but he's definitely a glass-half-full type of guy. You can tell from talking with him. You can tell from his Facebook, Twitter and blog posts. His focus is on what's good about the people and things around him, not what's wrong or missing or bad.
He doesn't just talk about doing stuff. He goes ahead and DOES it. So many people (including me) have a tendency to talk about the great plans they have for such-and-such project but then they get distracted ("ooo shiny") and the project never goes beyond discussion phase. Errol actually follows through.
He's creative. Heck, he has a whole blog about creativity. But he doesn't just talk about creativity. Creativity is woven through everything he does. He writes books. He writes songs. He draws. He makes videos.
He's a board gamer. Below: photo of Errol with our recent visitors from Belgium (Cédrick & Murielle) at Toronto board game cafe, Snakes & Lattes. On the table: a prototype of 7 Wonders: Leaders (expansion of one of my favorite board games ever, 7 Wonders). Here's his board game list on BoardGameGeek.
He's a filker. Below: Errol accepting a songwriting prize at FilKONtario:
His benevolence. He's just so gosh-darned NICE. After spending any time with Errol, I always feel inspired to be a better person.
He's a Photoshop wizard.
He's nerdy. He's not one of those who jumped on the nerd bandwagon when the whole "nerd" thing became cool. From what I can tell, he's always been a nerdboy. :-)
He adores his wife and kids. He wrote an entire ALBUM of Geek Love Songs for Keren as a birthday present. Also, his wife and his kids adore him right back.
Plus he and his family (with the help of Andrea D'Silva Photography) put together one of the coolest family portraits ever:
I could go on much longer about things I love about my friend Errol, but am going to stop here because it would be more fun for you all to go check out his projects yourselves. Here are just a few of the places online where you can find out more about him:
Errol Elumir and Deborah Linden are working on a CD (yay!) and are fan-funding the project. Do consider supporting them! Or if money is tight, you can still enter their CD Song Contest, in which Debs and Errol are soliciting song ideas for the CD:
It’s Debs!
Errol and I are in the process of choosing songs for our upcoming CD! We have our favourites, but we would like to write a few new ones too. Personally, I’m thinking very seriously about a soulful ode to a neti pot.[1] We don’t want to make all the creative decisions though. Since the CD is fan-funded[2] (and fan requested!), we want you have a say on what goes on it. Our diabolical plan is as follows:
Comment here, and give us your random, funny, geeky song titles or ideas by May 21st, 2011![3] We will choose our 10 favourite and then let you vote. Whichever one wins (and this is completely up to you), we will write that song and it’ll appear on the CD this August. Errol’s nervous.[4] I think this is made of win.[5]
Errol: And what does the winner get? Why, OUR CD! HUZZAH!
I get so tired of Facebook and Twitter status updates that are consistently nasty, whiny, judgemental and otherwise NEGATIVE. Yes, everyone is entitled to some whinetime now and again but longterm, I'd rather focus on the positive.
One of the reasons I like my friend Errol so much is because he's so darned ENTHUSIASTIC and BENEVOLENT. Anyway, Errol has started up a Twitter feed called My Life Rocks which focuses on stuff that makes him happy. If you're on Twitter and are as tired of negativity as I am, I recommend you follow him. And use the hashtag #MLR to highlight what rocks in YOUR life!
As some of you may know, my friend Errol Elumir and I have been collaborating on comics for the NaNoWriMo website as well as for the Toronto NaNoWriMo website this month. It's the first time Errol and I have worked together on anything, and I had a huge amount of fun. He and I are already planning our next creative project together.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013 at 9:17AM 
I created the image above in honor of my friend Errol's birthday because of his obsession with Studio Ghibli :-)
