A Hiatus…

An update. The shortish-hiatus is now a regular sized hiatus. I have been knocked for a loop recently with what I’m guessing was a spider bite. Without going into too much detail, there was leg-swelling, pain, some nausea and dizziness, and a lot sleeping more than I have per day in about… well, I can’t honestly remember when I slept this much. It made for less than productive time.

Right now, I’m still recovering. Pain is gone, and swelling is down… ish. All other symptoms are gone, too, praise God and His Infinite Mercy.

I am trying to get things back up and running. Thanks for your patience.

- Billy

Yeah, and I’ve got some swamp land I’d like to sell you, too…

No doubt, you noticed I didn’t get a strip up last Thursday.

Things are not going to get any better this week. Real world commitments have hit, and hit hard. I’ve got work, meetings at work, and I’m training someone this week as well. In short, I’m stretched to the breaking point this week, and I know I’m not going to get the strip up.

We will be back next Tuesday, though. I won’t let it go any longer than that.

Not Just Yet…

The strip should be back up and running on Thursday. Sorry about the delay, folks!

Well, that didn’t work.

My plans for an alternate means of posting didn’t quite work out. So, we’ll try again next week, okay?

Boy, this whole webcomics thing would sure be easier if I didn’t need computers!

In the meantime, I want to wish you all a very blessed Resurrection Sunday (AKA, Easter). I hope we all take time to remember God’s ultimate gift to us – the gift of His Son, who died to reunite us with our Creator.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16

God bless, and I’ll see you next week.

A Slight Delay

Howdy, folks!

Okay, this is just a quick heads up. This past weekend, the main computer at home finally and completely gave up the ghost. You’ll remember that it “died” back in December, but we got it revived enough to allow internet access… and not much else.

Since getting the strip started up again, you’ll also remember that I’ve been working on the strip on my laptop and posting it via the almost dead computer. Yes, it is a complicated two computer set up, but I’ve been happy just protecting my laptop from the scourge of virus attacks that are around every corner on the interweb.

Problem is… my ramp onto the information superhighway is now gone. This next weekend, I’m going out and buying a new desktop computer (yes… my second computer purchase since the beginning of the year… I hear with six you get eggrolls)… but that does little for today, right?

Well, I’m trying to work that out. Right now, I’m posting this on a borrowed computer, but it doesn’t really have any way to access a data drive or disk where I can save my strip and post. Yeah, I know… what kind of computer doesn’t have those things? But, far be it from me to complain since it is one up on the computers I have, because it does at least have access to the ‘net.

I will be looking for somewhere to post in my weird off hours as a worker of midnights. I think I’ll have today’s strip up on Wednesday, and the next strip on Thursday or Friday, depending on what I manage to get done.

Thanks again for your patience with what is becoming the least reliable webcomic in existence!

- Billy

A Bit of a Heart to Heart…

Well, folks, you’ve probably noticed that the last few weeks have been rough, what with the late and missed strips.

There have been several factors, but the two biggest are an increased amount of artistic work in other areas, and a little personal questioning of what I’m wanting from this strip.

Let me address the first factor – I am thankful and in awe of how God has allowed me the opportunity to use my limited artistic abilities in a lot of new and neat ways. Did I expect to be kept as busy as I have been? No, but I’m thrilled about it. The only unfortunate thing is the position it puts me in – that is, the “something’s gotta give” position. It has led to a time of hard decisions I will have to make in the coming months.

Which has led to the second factor – personally wondering what I’m looking for from this comic strip. I had very few expectations when I first started the strip. Essentially, it was just for me, to prove I could do it, to follow through with it. With over 75 strips completed, coming back to the strip even after a major setback, I feel comfortable counting those as “goals achieved.”

Now, though, I’m stuck with wondering what is next. My attempts to increase readership has, for the most part, met with less than stellar success… and they weren’t that great to begin with.

That is now an issue. See, I’ve done what I wanted to with the strip, and I’ve shown myself that I can do it… so, if I’m not doing it just for myself anymore, I kinda need to be doing it for others.

For my faithful readers, you have my greatest appreciation, and don’t worry – despite the downer tone of the previous statement, I’m not stopping the strip.

But, there will be changes.

The biggest is that, for the time being, the strip will be posting every Tuesday and Thursday instead of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That’s right – twice a week instead of three times. For many of you who only stop by once a week to read the strips (and, my stats tell me this is many of you), you probably won’t notice any major difference other than the 1/3 drop in strips. For those of you that check in each day, I ask your pardon in the switch.

What am I hoping to accomplish with the twice a week posting? Well, I can’t ignore the fact that I’m getting more work away from the strip right now, and I’m choosing to cultivate that more. But, I’d also really like to make some improvement in my skills, and hopefully integrate those into the strip. Hopefully, the reduced workload will payoff in that.

Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you tomorrow.

- Billy

Nothing to see here…

… just move on.

…We’ll Be Right Back.

Kind of a rerun, folks, for people that used to read my daily blog. Originally posted March 21, 2008:

Generally speaking, my father was not what I would call a brave man.

My father suffered from several phobias. He was afraid of heights, which dictated that after I turned 12, everything to be done on a ladder would be handled by me with him nervously looking on.

I’ll never forget when “we” painted the house when I was 17. “We” sure spent a lot of time by myself. Oh, and my favorite part was when it was time to paint an area of the house unreachable by the ladder, and my father tied a piece of clothesline around me (to – HA! – catch me, just in case) as I went out on the roof. It was only better when, after I finished, I came in the window to find my father had left the room and TIED THE CLOTHESLINE TO A DOORKNOB.

I’m sure that the clothesline was strong enough to catch me from falling two stories, and that doorknob would’ve held. Yep.

Where was I?

Oh, yeah. My father was also afraid of bees and hornets. Actually, with good reason, since he was allergic to bees. The hornets? Well, hornets are just mean, you know? Still, it is something to see a grown man run into his home, and LOCK THE DOORS (because, you know, the bees – they can work the doorknobs), abandoning his family (’cuz the doors are locked, you know) to deal with the angry insects on the outside.

And, there was also the claustrophobia. Closed in spaces drove my father into near fits of madness. One time, my father went through a huge mall in less than 15 minutes on the day after Thanksgiving, just plowing through until he got out the other side. But, that was nothing compared to our trip to the Smithsonian and the National Zoo… in one day.

No, I never really considered my father to be brave… until sometime in the last couple of weeks.

I was thinking about some things, and I realized that my father, at the age of 47, after avoiding it for 30 years, surrendered to God’s call to the ministry. And, then, being unable to be ordained in his home church (as a divorced man that remarried), he had to seek out a different denomination, and, with no connections or support (other than God and his family), he entered the ministry.

Looking back on it… wow. That took guts. That was overcoming fear. That was stepping out in faith.

It was brave.

I can only hope that somewhere in me I have that. I need that.

The strip will be back up on Monday, folks. See you then, and have a good weekend.

After These Messages…

First off, thanks to everyone for their graciousness with this brief pause in the strip. I feel like I’m getting on top of a few things and feeling better each day.

It is funny. Sometimes you go about doing things, things that are good, things you enjoy, and then, all of a sudden, they turn and culminate in a near perfect storm of emotional and spiritual attack.

That’s kinda what I’m going through. There are things I know I need to be doing, things that I feel God wants me to do with my life, and I have been lax in it. Lately, I’ve had several tasks that have been closely related to those things that God has called me to do.

Close… but not exactly. Which, one might think, would be pretty good… but, in fact, makes you feel worse.

Because it only emphasizes the shortcoming when it comes to doing what God wants you to do.

Let me relate it to an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (because, well, you know… I can). There was a character who was a trained botanist, but there wasn’t much for her to do on the space station. Her husband, in all good intention, suggested she start a garden. Now, there isn’t anything technically wrong with that… except she took it badly, as if all her hard work at earning a degree was being reduced to nothing more than a hobby.

Well, with me, I’m the once suggesting the low level, hobby-esque things… and God is looking at me and say, “No, not good enough. Not what I have been preparing you for.”

That’s what I’m going through right now, among other major things that you probably aren’t interested in, either!

So, we’ll finish out the week, and then be back up and running come Monday. I’ll see you all Friday!

I Blew It.

Okay, folks, I messed up. As a result, I’ve decided to delay the strips for this week, and put them up starting Monday. Without going into excessive details, this has been a rough week for me, and personal issues have sidelined me a bit. After this week, I’ll be fine, but I would request prayer from all of you as I deal with life this week.

I’m still going to post a blog entry on Wednesday and Friday, so you’ll at least be privy to my thoughts for two days. Thanks for understanding, and I apologize for this small break.

See you on Wednesday.