It's that time of year again! Special thanks to everyone who participated in the poll to decide what color Ray's shirt would be.
Usually, I have to put a lot of thought into what the new panel will feature. Years can have such complex emotions tied to them (especially recently), and I've had a hard time keeping these strips light and humorous while also acknowledging that times have been rough. This time, though, I knew EXACTLY what had to happen in the last panel, because nothing has been more special to me in 2021 than being able to hug my friends again.
Life continues to be challenging, and the past year has been scary in a lot of ways. As always, however, I choose to use this strip to reflect on the good things that have happened to me. Here are just a few:
Rock on, guys, and never stop drawing.
Usually, I have to put a lot of thought into what the new panel will feature. Years can have such complex emotions tied to them (especially recently), and I've had a hard time keeping these strips light and humorous while also acknowledging that times have been rough. This time, though, I knew EXACTLY what had to happen in the last panel, because nothing has been more special to me in 2021 than being able to hug my friends again.
Life continues to be challenging, and the past year has been scary in a lot of ways. As always, however, I choose to use this strip to reflect on the good things that have happened to me. Here are just a few:
- Less Than Secret was successfully funded and printed, and CanonWrite Productions was started. This anthology is far and away one of the best projects I've had the pleasure of working on, and we're already starting the next one. More details on that in the coming days.
- I started shopping CosPain to publishers. This past fall, I submitted proposals to comic publishers to get a CosPain collection printed and distributed nationally. It's going to be an ongoing process, but hopefully that will pay off before the end of 2022.
- I started writing the third Letters book. The first draft of the script is still only 60% done, but setting pen to paper is the hardest step. Hopefully, the script will be completed sometime during January 2022, after which work can begin in earnest.
- I began regularly livestreaming on Twitch. My Tuesday night livestreams have become an important part of my regular routine. Gaming became a much bigger part of my life over the last few years, and having the opportunity to share that with anyone that cares to watch has been invigorating. It has also helped me learn to improve my skills as a performer and presenter.
- I got vaccinated. My apologies if this is controversial to you, but this was very important to me. I have family and friends that are immunocompromised, and getting vaccinated meant that I could freely interact with them without putting their health at nearly as much of a risk as I would have otherwise.
- I substantially improved my cooking skills. I started baking with sourdough starter in 2020, which showed me the value of working from inexpensive staples. As a result, much of 2021 was spent learning how to cook from scratch and with what I had rather than buying expensive ingredients for every meal. I also started using HelloFresh to get meal boxes once a month that got me to experiment with recipes outside of my usual comfort zone. That comic cookbook is coming someday, guys, just give me time.
Rock on, guys, and never stop drawing.
