I missed much of the 19/20 summer in New Zealand because of building the studio and I decided that I would make the most of the 20/21 season by aiming for
This meant trying to swim, surf, paddle board, or find some other way to immerse myself in salt water for 100 days (not consecutively). I also tried to wear either a skirt or a dress, as I tend to wear jeans, trousers or shorts as they have lots of pockets. And I’m a tomboy. Apparently that isn’t a word we should use these days. But us tomboys ignore woke dictates like that. I cherish the word because it’s how I’ve thought of myself since I was about seven years old. My first professional cartooning job was a topical panel called Tomboy (my drawing style and the internet have changed somewhat in 20 years).
Do you think I’m allowed to own the word, tomboy, the way that black people own the word white people can never say? Hmmmn.
Anyway... I decided to make an effort for summer by wearing more skirts and dresses. Though their pockets are often feeble or non-existent, they are handy when you are changing in and out of swimming togs. Kiwis are prudish when it comes to nudity and you can’t do the Spanish thing and whip everything off and on to change at the beach. Instead it is awkward under-the-towel manoeuvering.
I completed my hundred days this month and now I’m in denial that summer is over. Technically NZ summer ended on 20th March, but the fine weather continued like summer without the wind. It has only been in the last week or so I’ve realised that I need to get a grip. It really isn’t summer any more and I have to knuckle down and get some work done. Maybe after I finish building the deck around the studio. Or after I’ve done my taxes…
This is an extract of my Illustrated Epistle, which goes out once a month-ish. It is a behind-the-scenes look at the life of a cartoonist (specifically, mine). I'd love it if you signed up at the bottom of this page, or here:
http://eepurl.com/cCOOeD
Or head to the archive to read more here.