Hello again from behind the basement bar!
This week I voted (by mail) in the Canadian Federal Election, which was pleasant experience. For once, I didn’t have to spend 15-20 minutes standing quietly in a line, outside a church or community centre in volatile weather. I just opened an envelope, wrote down the name of the candidate I wanted to vote for, put that into envelope A, then put envelope A into envelope B, and finally put envelope B into envelope C before dropping envelope C into the mailbox down the block. The most complicated part of this was finding out the name of the candidates in my area, and Elections Canada made that incredibly easy. I don’t think I’ll go back to waiting in line. I don’t know why this ISN’T the default way to vote.
COMICS
I wanted to see if I could make a comic with watercolour pencils on watercolour paper. I had just finished reading Mister Miracle by Tom King. I was so amused and delighted by the repetition of the phrase “Darkseid Is…” that I decided to use it to make this comic. It was fun, but used up an awful lot of my time. If it wasn’t such a slow work day, I probably would never have finished it.




WRITING
The CBC Poetry Prize is open now. I honestly cannot remember if I entered this contest before. I know I entered a submission for the short story prize a few years ago, but failed to even make the long list.
One of my professors at the University of Winnipeg encouraged all of us to submit to the CBC Poetry, Short Story and Nonfiction Prizes. He won first place one year. He mentioned it was a very rewarding experience, so I’m encouraging you to enter one (or more) of these contests this year.
IN THE NEWS
It’s been one hell of a week for the news, but here are the top stories that caught my attention.
Some billionaires cosplayed as astronauts and spent ten minutes feeling weightless. I once smoked some pot that had the exact same effect. Unlike this Amazon rocket, it didn’t cost me a cent or impact the environment. God I hate billionaires.😒
I feel the Artemis mission will be a little more inspirational to young girls with a keen interest in STEM.
At long last, scientists may have discovered a deterrent that will lead to a proper tick repellant. I look forward to losing another excuse to not go camping in the woods.
The current governor of California is now begging Canadians to visit California. This message feels incredibly tone deaf, as there have already been Canadians held by ICE. As much as I’d like to take my family to Disney Land one day, it sure as hell will not be during these times. Especially if the ICE agents read my social media.😬
Scientists are saying they have found a planet that might actually have life on it. Sure, it might just be algae, but K2-18 is now, likely, distracting Elon, so maybe he can be another planet’s problem for a little while?
Anyway, that’s all for this week. Happy Easter (if that’s your thing) and I will talk to you again next week!