Moving Is The Worst!
Hello there!
I’m writing to you from an air conditioned apartment in the smokey, yet cooler than usual, city of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
I know you’re probably here for the comic, so let’s hop into that and then I’ll get back to the “wordy” business when you’re finished reading it.
Comic
I started drawing that comic back in 2022 after we just sold our house. I was sitting in class, listening to some professor drone on about no one was participating in the class the way he wanted us to. Rather than give in to his little tantrum, I just sat there off screen with my notebook, doodling the page above.
I found that paper last week, and I decided to redo the whole thing digitally, so here you go. All my frustration summed up in one page.
I’ve been working my new job for about three months now, so we got ourselves pre-approved for a mortgage, which is slightly lower than what I was hoping for. I’m told that might change when I’m off probation at my job, if I get a raise and if the interest rates go down. I hate house hunting. Hate it. The only thing I hate more than house hunting is house selling, which is why I’m glad we live in an apartment right now. When we find the right place, we just have to give two months notice. No months of cosmetic repairs and painting. No wasting money on landscaping to increase the “curb appeal.” No leaving your house at all hours of the night so strangers can walk in for five minutes and say “It’s just not for me.”
Just a letter to the landlord that says: “We’re outta here in two months!” Then all you need to do is pack up and hire the movers.
Don’t get me wrong, I like living in an apartment. It’s much nicer than I remember it being in my twenties. No yard to look after. If I want to leave town for a few days, I don’t need someone checking on my place everyday. I only pay electricity, so I can use as much water as I want without worrying about the water bill. I really enjoy not having to worry about hiring someone if the washer and dryer stop working, because our landlord is really good about fixing stuff when we call in.
Still, we have to move. Why?
The Big News
We’re having a baby boy! This means we have simply outgrown this apartment. We looked at getting a three bedroom apartment in the same neighbourhood, but we have come to the realization that we need something bigger than a three bedroom apartment.
My wife works from home full-time. I work from home every other week. I also own a business that I run out of our home, so home offices are pretty high on the list of things we need. Currently her home office is in our bedroom (real fun bumping into that every morning,) and mine is taking up most of the “foyer” area of our apartment. We’ve talked about maybe investing in a townhouse/condo deal as a compromise. It’s the best of both worlds. You get the room a house offers, but if something needs to be fixed, like the roof, everyone has already paid into those repairs. Plus, no yard work!
We talked about possibly buying a farm just outside of town, but I’m too much of a city boy to live that lifestyle full-time.
Crowdfunding
Comics from the Kitchen is about halfway through its crowdfunding campaign over on Zoop. It looks like we still need about $4000 to bring make this a reality, so if you like comics and cookbooks, this will be the book for you!
Since will be my first published work, I really hope this sees the light of day.
Reading
Last week I picked up Daredevil #12 and I cannot believe I have been missing out on this run by
(Look at that! He’s even got his own Substack!)Everything about this issue was beautiful: the writing, the art, the colours and even the lettering. If the rest of the run was like this issue, then I’m going to have to pre-order that omnibus, because I want to sit down and read the whole thing in one sitting.
I should also note that I picked up Fantastic Four #8. I have been out of the loop on this series for way too long. I know that The Thing and Alecia got married during Dan Slott’s run on the title, but I have no clue what happened to their kids or why they’re all living on a farm now. The story itself was enjoyable, but I probably shouldn’t have jumped on board during a two part story. Now I have to wait a month to see if I really do like this story. Still, this is another one that I may have to pick up as a collection.
There is a part of me that wants to just buy all the back issues digitally, but I have stopped buying digital. Reading physical comics is much more enjoyable, and seems to lead to less eyestrain. Also, going to the comic shop as a family has become an enjoyable event. My wife, daughter and I buy what we want, then go home and read our comics together in silence.
Watching
The only thing I’m really going out of my way to watch this week was Dark Side of the Ring. I don’t really watch wrestling as much as I did when I was younger, but I find these stories about the lives these men and women lived on the road just fascinating.
I’ve decided I should start watching Drunk History and Curb Your Enthusiasm, so they have been added to my “watch list.” Beyond that, I’m just waiting for the remaining episodes of Doom Patrol and Titans to hit my streaming services, and then I’m pretty much done with whatever is currently on the air.
That It?
I started taking SkillShare classes.
I really want to get better at painting with watercolours, and there are a lot of classes on painting and making art, so I now have a list of classes to watch that will likely take me a couple of weeks to get to, but this is exactly what I want. Also, I recently started a job in marketing that involves a lot of social media, so I signed up for some classes about Instagram for business to help me in my professional life.
Also, I found that I start to feel really stupid if I’m not constantly learning something new. I have already considered going back to college just to learn woodworking, but I don’t know when I’ll find the time to do that. Also, SkillShare is so much cheaper than the $8000 - $14000 college tuition costs.
Is THAT It?
Yeah, I think that’s all for this week.
I’ll be back with more next week.
Until then, I will leave you with a dragon fly.
You are so right about Chip Zdarsky, just genius. A really good piece as ever and a dragonfly picture, what’s not to like😁