FC 90 - Nom Nom Nom

You've heard me go on and on about my beloved Paint Shop Pro 5.0. I love it because it is simple and easy. Sure it can't do fading just right and trying to fill a path that has been outlined with anti-aliased lines can be a huge chore, but still, I love it. Well, I've got this new computer that runs linux which means it doesn't run windows programs. I haven't missed anything except my beloved Paint Shop Pro. The replacement, called GIMP, is extremely inadequate, at least for my purposes. All this is to say that when I fully make the switch over to my new computer, the high quality drawings* that you are used to in the Friday Comic series might slip while I learn a new program (or somehow figure out how to get PSP5 to work under WINE). Consider yourself duly warned. But this comic was from the old tried and true prop-it-up-on-a-stack-of-CDs-so-it-doesn't-overheat-in-two-seconds computer. So if the quality on it is lacking, well, I've got no excuse for that.

Thursday November 19 2009

File under: comic

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on Fri 20th Nov, 2009 03:41 am PST Saxtor said: Are those Tie-Fighters from Star Wars on his shirt? ************************ on Fri 20th Nov, 2009 10:07 am PST Strangely said: That is so my dad! ************************

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High Winds Make for an Exciting Night Aboard

I slept on a boat last night*. I was in Bellingham for Vaudevillingham and was starting a housesitting gig the next day so didn't want to go home only to come back. Amiel was good enough to let me crash on his boat. Not only did this up a lagging stat on my Sleeping Around calendar, it turned out to be quite an experience. The winds throughout the night were ripping. Data from the nearest weather station (as so awesomely visualized here) showed sustained winds of around 35 units per unit* with gusts well into the 60s. This made for lots of rocking and, to a greater degree, noise. A couple of times, Amiel came sprinting through the cabin to make sure we hadn't had the mast ripped down or been dragged out to sea. On a walk through the marina in the morning, this only damage we saw was a boat knocked off it's trailer. From the apocalyptic sounds from the night before, I was expecting to see the little boats impaled on the big boats masts. Too bad. That would have made a good blog post.

Monday November 16 2009

File under: misc

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on Mon 16th Nov, 2009 10:05 pm PST Version 1.0 said: "Take a good, hard look at the mother effin' boat!" ************************ on Thu 19th Nov, 2009 10:27 pm PST maggie said: i'm feeling queasy just imagining the rocking! ************************

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Slow Days Turned Crafty Days

A while back, I did a post called Crafts Camp about how crafting can be, for lack of a better word, good*. Well, things have been slow recently for me (no housesitting, adventures, etc.) so I've used a little of my time for semi-artistic endeavors once again. As with last time, making stuff feels good, even if it isn't going to win any awards. And when it comes to stuff, I'd much rather have a lumpy handmade bowl or less than perfect sweater made by myself or someone I know than something that you might see in a museum or fashion show. Yesterday, I worked on 3 different genres of crafts. I fashioned the above spoon from the cherry tree I removed from our front yard. I've started curing the wood for a second, hopefully better one. Then I did some stained glass. Neither picture turned out great but here they are anyway: a geometric sun(?) and a juggling club. Lastly, I finished up a hat I started knitting last year. All this crafting and I still managed to fit in more hours of t.v. than I care to admit. At least I can feel like I accomplished something (even if it is just creating a sliver delivery device).

Saturday November 14 2009

File under: misc

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FC 89 - Dedication

I drew this comic almost a year ago, just before I went down to Grenada. I filed it away to have for when I was traveling or otherwise busy but wanted to keep Friday Comics going. Well, since I realized it is somewhat time sensitive, that plan might not work so great. Instead, I'll just post it this week and take the comic that I drew for this week and file it away for my backup comic. A special thanks to Andrew for helping me work out a decent caption for this one. My first stab* left me unsatisfied and my second stab I wasn't so sure of either. Andrew allayed my fears and we settled on one. This is all basically to say that if you like or hate this week's comic, don't blame me. Another interesting note: this week's comic represents the 10th in a row that I've drawn, which is by far a record. When I started this series over 2 years ago, my plan was to write the gags and then farm out all the artwork. Now I'm the artist on more than half the comics and getting more settled every week. Anyway 10 is a round number that I thought deserved mention. That is all. Sorry for the late post. I've been having a hard time keeping track of what day it is recently. Thanks to KK for the reminder.

Friday November 13 2009

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on Tue 17th Nov, 2009 05:26 pm PST Andrew said: Hilarious! ************************ on Mon 11th Jan, 2010 07:04 am PST rus said: I sired a funny guy. ************************

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Headlamp Croquet

Have you ever played headlamp croquet? I didn't think so because before this weekend, the sport didn't exist. I was involved in the inaugural game and it couldn't have gone better*. This weekend, I went over to the Olympic Pennisula (Sequim specifically) for a little adventure. I was thinking hang out with friends, eat some good food, play some frisbee, etc. In addition to all that, I got to participate in the beginning of a movement. Keep an eye out for headlamp croquet coming soon to your neighborhood. While it could probably go without saying, here's how you play:   1. find some night. The darker the better.   2. Set up a croquet set.   3. Put on headlamps.   4. Play.   (5. Laugh.)

Tuesday November 10 2009

File under: misc

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FC 88 - Mo Problems

Does anyone you know actually sleep with a sleeping cap on? I mean, I see the advantages esp. if you sleep in a place with no heat (like some people I know), but still it seems to be a fad long gone. Well, I put a sleeping cap on this poor poor fellow because I just wasn't up to drawing hair. And that's your 'in the "artist's" mind' thought for this week. Speaking of artisticness, I was thinking today that a good comic would involve having a pumpkin carving itself a la an M.C. Escher drawing or something but I just couldn't really envision how it would go. And even if I envisioned it, actually drawing it would be another story. So instead, I settled on this little gem. Maybe I can sell my pumpkin carving itself idea to a real artist/comic maker. It would be kind of like how after the first few albums, rock stars no longer write their own songs and instead buy them from the no-name little people. I'm a no-name little person. So Dan Piraro*, fork over the dough.

Thursday November 5 2009

File under: comic

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on Fri 06th Nov, 2009 03:28 pm PST Root Mama said: Being a really poor speller means that I hardly ever get to correct anybody but I think that should be 'wreaked'. ************************ on Fri 06th Nov, 2009 04:31 pm PST Wren said: Thank you Root Mama. I knew something didn't smell write about that spelling but didn't follow up on it. It is great having some many editors at large. ************************ on Fri 06th Nov, 2009 05:53 pm PST Root Mama said: I dunno about being great that you have editors - numbers of us are pretty picky. ************************ on Mon 09th Nov, 2009 11:47 am PST steve said: Maggie,Jule and Wren-I had the best Goat Rote ever at a place called The Hot Shop on the Carenage TODAY.Best rote ever. ************************

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Costumed Frisbee

This past weekend, I made the trek* over to eastern Washington for a frisbee tournament. Well, if you want to get technical, it is called an ultimate tournament because "frisbee" is a trademarked name. Still, I call it frisbee. Anyway, a couple things of note about this tournament: 1. Teams were supposed to play in costume. Our team took inspiration from The Princess Bride. We had a Humperdink, Buttercup, 2 Fezziks, Inigo Montoya, the "Boo Boo" rag lady, an RoUS, the Grandpa from the beginning, and 2 Dread Pirate Westleys. (I was one of the Westleys but was sorely outdone costume-wise. Alas.) Many aspects of the costumes, however, got shed throughout the day due to weather and hindrance of play concerns. (I tried to take pictures but my camera ran out of batteries. Hopefully someone from the team will post some pictures which I will intern re-post here.) 2. Speaking of weather, since when do we get 70 degree sunny days in Washington in November. Maybe I've been living on the wrong side of the mountains all these years. On Saturday, however, there was a wicked wind to contend with. We got our fair share of zone offense practice. 3. Traveling for sports in a non-academic environment is kind of fun. This was my first multi-day tournament that I went with a team (instead of meeting them there, picking up with a random team, or just commuting from home) and I really enjoyed it. Seeing new scenery, getting to spend time with good people, etc. etc. Yeehaw.

Tuesday November 3 2009

File under: games, travel

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on Fri 06th Nov, 2009 03:48 pm PST steve said: We used to do costumed bocce - near a well traveled highway - watching the traffic watch us was a hoot ************************

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FC 87 - This Is To That As

I hear from a very reliable source that the SATs are no longer doing analogies. I hope that doesn't make this comic inaccessible for younger readers. But since a reminder would probably be good for us all, the old SAT analogy section used the format X:Y::Z:A, which read "X is to Y as Z is to A". Will knowing that make the comic funnier? Probably not. But at least now you know my thought process. So another word about this comic: it is recycled (everybody's gotta do their part). I took the image I made for a birthday card for a friend and modified it to work for this week's comic. I hope that fact doesn't lessen the value of the effort in either the birthday card case or the Friday Comic case. Anyhoo, I hope you like this comic more than everyone* liked last week's. Hit and miss...that's how it goes. If it was a hit everytime, I'd be syndicated and sleeping on large piles of money with lots of beautiful women, just like Gary Larson does.

Thursday October 29 2009

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on Fri 30th Oct, 2009 12:38 am PDT Horge said: That's a hit! And for the record, last week's was good, too. Durn mobile tellyphones... ************************ on Fri 30th Oct, 2009 12:24 pm PDT Deneva said: Did spiderman pee his pants? ************************ on Fri 30th Oct, 2009 12:29 pm PDT Wren said: What would you do if you were 5 years old and a zombie was coming at you looking for a hug? ************************ on Thu 05th Nov, 2009 07:07 pm PST Sean said: Everybody cool pees their pants ************************

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Off-season Biking

As we all know, I'm a huge fan of biking as a mode of transportation. In places that lend themselves to biking* during nice weather, it is a no-brainer. I bike places instead of driving because it is enjoyable as well as being good for the environment, etc. Well, when you take away the good weather and the bikability of a place, then what? I'm currently housesitting in Bellingham, which, in itself is a pretty bike friendly town. I'm about 3.5 miles from downtown, so a quick jaunt is not as quick as in, say Anacortes, but there are bike lanes and off-road paths, so it's not so bad. Headed away from downtown, however, is a different matter. I've been riding out to Alger recently (10.5 miles one way) which is all on back [shoulderless] roads. It's a beautiful ride, though, and not much traffic. But no matter where I ride, chances are that the weather is going to be against me. Rain and wind are autumn* trademarks of the northwest. A rider has got to be prepared to get wet, which, whether I was prepared for it or not, has happened a good number of times in the past 2 weeks. All this is to say that even despite the less than ideal conditions, I'm still loving my chosen form of transportation. I feel good about what I'm doing for the environment* and about what I am doing for my body*. I share all this in hopes of conveying that whatever the obstacles to you not riding are, they can be overcome.

Tuesday October 27 2009

File under: transportation, environment

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on Tue 27th Oct, 2009 04:20 pm PDT soreyes said: More than half my inclement weather related bike rain gear comes from value village. Hit the jacket and warmup pants rack for some real deals on hardly used waterproof breathable shells. ************************ on Tue 27th Oct, 2009 05:59 pm PDT Ryan said: That is a GREAT photo! If you come to Pueblo, I'll teach you the double pump, if you teach me the leg behind trick. ************************ on Tue 27th Oct, 2009 06:55 pm PDT Root Mama said: and where is your helmet?? ************************ on Tue 27th Oct, 2009 09:48 pm PDT Mom said: Thank you, Root Mama! I owe ya! That Doo Rag just doesn't cut it for the mamas. ************************ on Wed 28th Oct, 2009 07:00 am PDT Kat said: GET A HELMET! (THAT'S WHAT I WOULD YELL AT YOU WHEN I PASSED YOU ON MY RODE BIKE) ************************ on Thu 29th Oct, 2009 01:04 am PDT Horge said: I think everyone's making too big a fuss about this. Obviously Wren's beard would cushion any fall... ************************ on Thu 29th Oct, 2009 07:58 am PDT Saxtor said: I'm sure I've brought it up in person before, too, but I've gotta jump on the "WTF, no helmet?!" bandwagon. Nothing like a good ol' fashioned blog call-out. ************************ on Thu 29th Oct, 2009 10:25 am PDT Wren said: Thank you all for the gentle chiding re: wearing a helmet. It is something I try to do, but obviously not hard enough. Encouraging by everyone's, well, encouragement, I plan to make it my habit to wear a helmet from now on. Habits are funny things; they take a large effort to start but once they are in place, one barely thinks twice about them. I'm consciously starting a helmet wearing habit. What positive habit would you like to adopt? ************************ on Thu 29th Oct, 2009 12:31 pm PDT steve said: how about 2 new titanium knees as an obstacle?can we overcome that or i keep using my feet and maxi taxis. ************************ on Thu 29th Oct, 2009 12:32 pm PDT Wren said: Titanium knees might be the best excuse I've heard yet. You're off the hook. ************************ on Fri 30th Oct, 2009 12:42 am PDT Horge said: Is this helmet-wearing-habit limited to only while riding a bike? Cause if not, that's the habit I'd vote for. ************************ on Fri 30th Oct, 2009 08:18 pm PDT Sarah said: i am so happy to see the helmet comments! i do beleive i have commented on this before, wren, after some picture of you snowboarding sans helmet! protect the brain. it sucks to have a head injury. ************************ on Mon 02nd Nov, 2009 08:05 am PST cardboard said: I dont think its a matter of being ignorant to the possibility of major head injury, its a choice to not wear a "brain bucket", if you dont feel like you need one then people should be okay with that. After all this is America, peddle on old boy. I got a couple things to say about your riding footwear tho, those clodhoppers look sketchy. ************************

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350

This past Saturday was the International Day of Climate Action sponsored by 350.org. People around the world gathered together to bring awareness to climate change issues and, in many case, discuss what can be done. My feelings regarding climate change's place on politicians' and media's agendas vis-a-vis* less narrow topics aside, these events spread some good information and energized a lot of people to act, which is what we need. I attended the Anacortes event, where there were brainstorming sessions, bitch sessions, a couple of presentations, and a wonderful spread of donated food. Seeing people gathering together to talk about taking action filled me with hope. Hearing someone suggest we turn off the lights and use the natural light of the space filled me with happiness. Knowing that at least one person will walk away from the gathering with the motivation to make some of the changes that we all need to made also make me happy. But the real reason for this post* is to encourage any and all to take a moment to assess your environmental impact and entertain ways in which you can lessen it: turn down the heat, finally get around to organizing a carpool, if it's yellow let it mellow, etc. After all, everyone needs friendly reminders once and a while. Consider this that.

Sunday October 25 2009

File under: environment

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on Sun 25th Oct, 2009 11:17 pm PDT Andrew said: You'll have to speak up. I can't hear you over the collective noise of my heater and A/C. I find it hard to sleep without the gentle hum of my electrical appliances. They sound like angels. ************************ on Thu 29th Oct, 2009 12:36 pm PDT steve said: we on starshine are off the grid except 60 gallons of fuel.I hear those wind generatorsas I write. ************************

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