We all have our favorite Pokemon team. Mine? Charizard, Pikachu, Scyther, Mew, Magikarp and Snorlax. Those were the real Pokemon, I mean, how a Tepig can compete with a Squirtle? If you're (old enough) the type of person who likes things the way it was before the yellow version of the greatest game of all time, this article is for you. If you're not, well, we still love you and this article is also for you. Go read'em all!

-What are your name, surname and nickame? And why did you choose this nickname?
-My name is Monica Ekabutr and I think I'm spelling that right. My username for my artsier sites is eelhips. I came up with it by looking up old 1950's sayings like "the bee's knees" and I came across "eel hips"  and it made me laugh. Most usernames I pick were decided because they make me laugh. I mean, I'm not sure if it was used to describe a good thing or an insult. Either way, I think I have to go by a surname and eelhips is way easier to pronounce than my last name.

-How old are you?
-I'm 23.

-Where do you live?
-I'm currently a desert dwelling native of Arizona but I'll soon be in Valencia, California for school at CalArts.

-What's your job?
-My job is to work on my various art projects and do something that contributes to my main goals everyday. Which could also be known as being straight up unemployed. 

-What's your journey?
-My journey's route has changed slightly over the past few years--all relating to the end goal of being paid for art. I've always had a passion for drawing and knew that making art is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I've always loved to tell stories through my art and there was a point in my life where I wanted to be a comic creator. I read a lot of comics growing up and in high school I became a huge fan of comedians. So I kinda loved every definition of the word "comic". Later when I entered college and I finally had a choice to learn about more topics and I allowed myself to explore my other interests such as fictional and script writing, improv and stand up comedy. I would eventually come back to my love of drawing and discovered that I could combine my new-found talents to fit into one occupation--and that was animation. It all seemed to click from there and I animated a short to make sure that I could handle the grueling redundancy of drawing frame by frame. Turns out I kinda enjoy it. My main goal through all of this is to be good enough to animate my idea to pitch it and ultimately be the creator and director of my own 2-D animated show.

-What are your inspirations?
-I'm really inspired by fantastical imagery with whimsical subjects and odd, bright color choices like those seen in comics. I was really into the whole anime/manga scene growing up. Sailor Moon inspired me to draw and create magical girl stories of my own. I dug how the Japanese pushed the definition of the mediums and told whimsical or mature stories I wasn't getting from anywhere else. A current inspiration is Pendleton Ward's Adventure Time. It's exactly what I think a kid's cartoon should be. I'm also pretty inspired by video games and the feeling I got as a kid while playing them. 

-Do you read webcomics? If so, which ones?
-Perry Bible Fellowship is a classic. Not only is the humor there but I like the perspectives he choose to write from as well as the different art styles he experimented with. Currently I follow Kate Beaton's work along with Madeleine Flores' and Adam Muto's Tall Penguin. I've also been reading Hitmen for Destiny recommended by Pendleton Ward at some panel for Adventure Time I saw on youtube. It all seems nonsensical at first but I got completely sucked in. If you can get past the art style (I grew to kinda love it) it's the most fun and unique webcomic I've ever read.

-Tell me more about your website and the creations you're selling?
-I created my Tumblr site because it's 2012 and who will know of my existence without one? Tumblr's actually a great tool for emerging artists. I get almost instant feedback when I post something and one of my comics got 16k+ notes on there. So I've gotten a lot of love from the Tumblr community. As far as my creations on Etsy goes, it's mostly a challenge to me--a challenge to see if complete strangers think the stuff I doodle up is worth them giving their money to me. In retrospect, it does sound like a crazy thing to want. But people have given me positive feedback by writing nice things on my Facebook artist page and purchasing my prints on Etsy. Illustrating is just another outlet to share my stories. Honestly, I'd love to be able to be some sort of illustrator on the side and sell prints of my work and I would love to contribute to a gallery like Gallery 1988 (which does a lot of pop culture related group shows) because just sitting down and making a drawing still feels good to me.

-Why did you choose this FML story?
-I choose this FML story because I respect this fella for reppin' the originals. The 151 are the eelhips, man.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATED FML

Monica's webcomic : http://flavors.me/ekabutr

If you want to be the next published artist, send an email to alice [at] fmylife.com including a link to your website/blog/DA. But DON'T send your illustration right away! You need first to get in touch with me, and I'll tell you what you have to do! 

Hey everyone, we have a little bit of a surprise for you. As you may or may not know, there's a French version of FMyLife that's been on the Internet for a while, and like everyone else, Europeans also have F'd lives. We've decided to share some of their stories with you now and again by posting on the home page some translated versions of the best ones that were published in Europe.

Today, after my shift at the police station, I went on a date with a girl I recently met. We had a great date, that is until I opened the car door for her, and out of habit, pushed down on her head as she got in. FML

Today, I decided to shave my nuts. Once I'd finished, I start to hoover the floor, and then decide to use it to remove the few hairs remaining on my body. Very bad idea. FML

Today, a friend told me over MSN that his father had just died. To show some compassion, I tried to send him the "tears" animation. Unfortunately, I got it wrong and sent him the "dancing pig" one instead. FML

So, as you can see, there are no cultural or national boundaries when it comes to everyday annoyances and mishaps. All this is coming soon as a selection of bonus stories on the home page. Enjoy!

Try as you might, it's very difficult to talk to your crush when you're under his or her spell. Try talking about the weather, or The Expendables II, something nice and harmless that will bring you two together. But don't EVER try to compliment the secret object of your attention. Ever.

-What are your name, surname and nickname ? Why did you choose this nickname?
-I'm John Kleckner! On the Internet I go by Hejibits, which is a portmanteau of two old usernames I used to use. 

-How old are you?
-I'm 21 years old.

-Where do you live?
-San José, California

-What's your job?
-I'm technically unemployed due to how time-consuming my major is, but I make some money off site ads and T-shirt sales, as well as occasional commission work.

-What's your journey?
-I started my webcomic in my freshman year of college, as a way to vent my frustrations caused by my annoying roommate. I naturally shifted towards comic subjects that I'm more passionate about, video games and puns. I hope to someday land a job in the movie/game industry, because I'm not too keen on self-employment.

-What are your inspirations?
-Ahah, are you trying to trapped me Alice? I don't really take direct inspiration from many artists/cartoonists, but one that has definitely influenced me is Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes. My favorite strips were usually the wordless ones, as I feel humor is best conveyed through action, and not blocks of text (unless absolutely necessary). The late Edd Gould was also an inspiration to never stop the puns. Whether your readers like it or not.

-Do you read webcomics? If so, which ones?
-I read a lot, but some of my favorites are Boxer Hockey, Buttersafe, Cucumber Quest, Nedroid, Octopuns and Three Word Phrase.

-Tell me more about your website and the creations you're selling?
-As mentioned earlier, my website was initially a platform for me to vent about my bad roommate. Once that idea well ran dry, I started venting about video games, too! I do non-frustration-fueled comics too, sometimes. Sometimes. I also occasionally do pun comics, which are my favorite (and are probably the cause of any/all of my traffic drops). As far as selling creations go, the only available thing I have is my Mean Look T-shirt, which is based on my Scuba Entei comic from 2010.

-Why did you choose this FML story?
-Little did I know that a large chunk of FML's are sex-related, which is a topic I'd rather not do comics about. I eventually stumbled upon this one, and thought it was cute. I also decided to add a few little twists of my own, which I think made it a bit funnier.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATED FML

John's webcomic : http://www.hejibits.com/

If you want to be the next published artist, send an email to alice [at] fmylife.com including a link to your website/blog/DA. But DON'T send your illustration right away! You need first to get in touch with me, and I'll tell you what you have to do! 

Hi gang! Sorry, I’ve just woken up. I was reading a magazine and then all of a sudden, I fell asleep. What? My hat? Nah, I was scratching my head, I don’t know what you’re talking about.

This week it’s with great pleasure that we’re welcoming a lovely young lady who is 21 and a half (this amount of precision is apparently very important) who is called Nini and whose blog is called Nini Wanted. She’s very lucky because at the moment she’s on holiday for six months in Japan! “I draw for myself, for my blog, which is something I didn’t have time to do when I was a student.”

Even if Nini likes to find simple and effective ideas that she can work on all the way to the end in a frantic and accomplished manner, she’s definitely missing something: a working computer. It appears that the Windows blue screen of death is her good friend. In fact, on Facebook, “it’s complicated.”

So, what’s your story dear Nini? “In high school I did arts history and applied arts (but I hated literary subjects) then I went to university and got to third year applied arts, because I was too stressed out to pass any exams or interviews. After that, I wanted to take a break, so I worked for 9 months flipping burgers (very creative) to be able to live in Japan for a few months!”

Your projects? “In a few months, I’ll be back in France in Toulouse. I’ll send my work to art school to see if I can get in, or I’ll try to start a Masters 1 at university.” OK then!

Right, that’s the end of that bit. Here’s the next bit.

Cats or dogs?
You have to take a dog outside, pick its poo up, it barks, doesn’t smell so good, so I’ll say a cat, it’s cute, it makes nice cuddles, it rubs up against you, it covers your house in hair, it’s cool too! But I’m allergic to animals.

What are the last things you enjoyed in cinema, music, books and comics?
At the moment, I really like the Japanese instrumental rock band TOE and the post-hardcore (and lots of other genres) Underoath, from Florida. In books, the latest is from the “The southern community” collection from which the TV series “True Blood” is adapted, a vampire thing, naked people and all that! And as for comics, I think it’s “L’effet kiss pas cool” by Leslie Plée, which made me, laugh due to its angst!

Who are the main artists you like and whose blogs you visit regularly?
The angsty Lesly Plée, the couple aAlex and Delfine’s blog, who live in Japan, and Luchie.

Tell us what you like to do, your passions, pastimes, vices and little everyday pleasures.
I like putting sauce everywhere. Watching a whole season of a TV show in a day. Riding bicycles around Japanese streets with someone.

Tell us a crap joke. Or tell us an FML of your own.
Today, I called my mother to give her some good news and she replied: “Are you pregnant? Because I was going to buy a duck, but if you have a baby, that’s better!” FML

Do you have a phobia?
The monster hiding under the bed, I’m not joking.

To finish up, ask yourself a question you’d have liked to have been asked, then answer it if you want.
What do you do the most in Japan? I stand in front of the drink machines wondering what to buy.

To check out this week’s illustrated FML, click here!

That’s it for this week’s Japanese excursion. Let’s say goodbye for now with two videos. First of all, let me show you one of my favourite videos of all time in the world ever. I’ll let you enjoy it. And what better what to say goodbye than with this video of the famous dog Mishka saying “bye bye.” Bye Bye! Woof!

If you want to be the next published artist, send an email to alice [at] fmylife.com including a link to your website/blog/DA. But DON'T send your illustration right away! You need first to get in touch with me, and I'll tell you what you have to do!

Good morning everyone! No, today we're not welcoming talking chairs or pregnant women but don't worry, the illustration we're providing you with is as good as last week's. Plus, there's cars and misogyny, and what's not to like about that? Buckle up and be brave, because today's artist is from that big old weird country where spiders are bigger than your head. Australia, here we come!

-What are your name, surname and nickname?
-Gavin Aung Than. Everyone just calls me Gav, it's boring I know.  

-How old are you?
-I'm 29 years old. 

-Where do you live?
-Melbourne, Australia. 

-What's your job?
-Cartoonist/blogger.

-What's your journey?
-I was working as a graphic designer in a big corporate company but quit because it was unfulfilling. I left 6 months ago and decided to try and pursue my real love, which is cartooning and illustration. I've had some comics published in newspapers previously but I knew if I really wanted to succeed I had to devote ALL of my time to it. I've also created a couple of webcomics in the past but they were only updating once a week so they didn't do very well. So since I left my job I'm totally focused on cartooning and have used all of my past experience to develop and launch a new comic blog called Zen Pencils. 

-What are your inspirations?
-My favourite comic strip ever is Calvin and Hobbes, which is a huge influence along with Tintin and all of Studio Ghibli's animated films. Comic books are a big influence too - some of my favourite artists are Eduardo Risso, Mike Mignola, Erik Larsen, Guy Davis, Bruce Timm, Jeff Smith and Frank Cho.  

-Do you read webcomics? If so, which ones?
-I'm embarrassed to say I don't really keep up with many webcomics these days. The Perry Bible Fellowship was always my favourite but that's stopped unfortunately. The Oatmeal is leading the way these days and I always get a laugh out of Matthew Inman's stuff. 

-Tell us more about your website!
My website is a cartoon blog that adapts famous and inspirational quotes into comic strips. I love learning about interesting and inspiring historic figures so I decided to turn their powerful words into comic stories. The website is perfect for me because it combines my love of cartooning, design and history into something that not many people have seen before. The cool part is not only do I get to share my heroes with others but readers can share their favourite quotes and people with me and I get to learn new things. It's win-win!

-Why did you choose this FML story?
-I thought it was a good one to use comedy timing on and because a lot of people (especially guys) can relate to it. Most dudes are probably only thinking about one thing when they take their girlfriend for a weekend getaway!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ILLUSTRATED FML