Chapter Five: Pages 22A - 24

Last week, Alexandra was ruminating on the horrible sounds that owls make, shortly before hearing a similar horrible sound from her father. He had simply been watering their horse upstream. What could have happened? That's what we find out this week.

This instalment is a weird one, sorry about that. It was hard to know where to break it — it was either this or I include too much of the next sequence, which would eat into the buffer I've built up. As I might have mentioned, the current sequence — the one we just barely dip into with the last page above — has been slow going.

I've been stressing myself out by not getting as much done as quickly as I'd like. As mentioned last week, I am trying to finish colours for this chapter before Kiddo is out of preschool for the summer. I'll have less work time when he's out, and if the pages are all done I'll also have a freer conscience about, you know, doing all the fun summer things with him that I should be focusing on. So, as the joke goes, "I'm self-employed, and my boss is a real asshole," and he wants these pages done. I try to be kind to myself, but having an unfinished page at the end of the day makes me itch. Some people recommend leaving part of your day's work incomplete so you have an easy win the next morning. That's probably good advice for someone, but I hate it.

All this self-flagellation has got me thinking about Tonci Zonjic's "NOT/BUT" comics. For example…

You can see them all right here. I like them. If you're into making comics at all, you're likely to find at least one that speaks to you.

In other news, a real thing happened and I innocently posted it on ol' Bluesky.

He really did say that, and it seems to have really pleased a lot of people.

And you know what? I share his controversial opinions. Books aren't too bad.

More from this particular book — Practical Defence Against Piracy — soon soon soon, when we will find out exactly how well it goes when Sophia and her brother try to house half a village in Vignelli's mansion.

Until then,
I remain,
making myself useful, even if only by accident,

TC