I worked as a busboy at an Irish pub one summer when I was a teen. In the evening, a live band sang Irish songs and Neil Diamond covers. I still remember at my job interview telling the manager that I was interested in becoming a writer and saw working there as way to learn about people. One time, I was clearing tables and when I asked a middle-aged customer if I could take his plates, he said, “Would you like my uppers or lowers?”
Monday
I only have so much willpower. I suppose if I weren’t taking these pills, I’d be in big trouble. I am disappointed in myself for not resisting temptation better, but cookies are a perfectly designed food — edible without utensils and usually small enough not to feel significant. I used to listen to a podcast called You Are Not So Smart about cognitive biases. At the end of each episode, the host would review cookies baked with listener contributed recipes. Listening to someone else enjoying a cookie was too much for me to take.
Tuesday
Trying to make a comic every morning has pushed me to notice what I notice. I have been trying to think of a better design for a curtain rod that does not catch on the curtain. Probably you just have to pay more money. My irritation at opening and closing the curtains every day has not yet reached a sufficient level to actually solve the problem, just draw a comic about it.
Wednesday
Dragonball was just becoming significant back when I lived in Japan. Because it was written for kids, the kanji characters were easier to read, so I could practise my Japanese with the manga. I only got two channels on my TV and one of them showed Dragonball every Wednesday evening. It seems to have exploded in popularity since then. I only recently realized that the main character Son Goku, was inspired by Sun Wukong (The Monkey King) in Journey to the West, which I am reading now.
I don’t know if it’s because I am getting older myself, but a few people I know have passed away unexpectedly young. When I was a kid, someone in their sixties seemed old, but now that I am in my sixties, it seems kind of young to pass away. COVID seems to be capable of damaging many systems in the body, even when you don’t think you’re that sick. So it made me wonder about Toriyama sensei, as many people seem to have “moved on” from taking precautions.
Thursday
I have been paying attention to bird sounds more since acquiring the Merlin app and thinking about how their songs make as much sense as the apparently random string of numbers that make up pi. I think it’s funny to have calendar days celebrated for numerical reasons. Star Wars Day is May the 4th. Do you know of any others?
Friday
I was not really familiar with the work of Liana Finck, but I had heard of her. So when I came across the Let There Be Light graphic novel at the library, I borrowed it without really knowing what it was about. She seems to apply an artist’s mind set to God. I enjoyed the stories, even though I am only vaguely familiar with the original Biblical stories of Genesis. If you are more up on them, you might get even more out of it. I tried to copy her style for this comic. I hope she doesn't zap me with a lightning bolt.
Saturday
Ducks seem to be inherently funny — Daffy Duck, Donald Duck, Howard the Duck. And it seemed kind of funny to see some walking around our residential neighbourhood in the morning. Also, I had been listening to an episode about the Why-Did-the-Chicken-Cross-The -Road joke on a podcast called, Secretly Incredibly Fascinating.
Sunday
I bought the Amaryllis bulb last year for Christmas, although too late to get it to bloom on time. Then I was kind of slow to cut it down and let it develop into a regenerative state by keeping it in the dark for a few weeks. But lately it has been shooting up like gangbusters.
So that was my week. I hope you had a good one, with a better one to come.