Katabasis.

Hey! Do you have any cardboard boxes you don't need? If so, and if you live in my part of the world, I would love to come and get them from you. I need them to pack up a lot of my stuff so I can make room for Mr. and Mrs. Chainsaw.

In other news, yesterday I crawled around under my house and removed all the fiberglass insulation on the heating ducts. And by "on the ducts" I mean mostly just sort of suggestively draped over the ducts, with occasional duct tape decorations for variety. (Remember, kids: duct tape is not effective for long-term heating duct use!)

I was sort of hoping there would be more room to maneuver under there, but no, it is really really tight, even for someone as small as I am. If I had the slightest smidgen of claustrophobia, I couldn't have done it. Even so, it was hard to think clearly when my dust mask fogged up my goggles and glasses; I had to manually override the instinct that said, "Oh, well, must be time to crawl back out now."

The thing that made it all much worse is knowing that I have to get back under there again in order to install the new insulation.

The thing that made it all much better was Scuppers, who helped with extracting and bagging the insulation, stood by for reassurance while I wormed my way under the joists, and dragged me out to enjoy the sunshine when the job was done. This is what we in the industry call a Really Good Friend.

So today is the day I buy supplies and talk to experts (fortunately one of the experts is also a Really Good Friend, and had Excellent Advice and also Discounts to share). It is also the day I groan about having bruises and sore muscles and a scratchy throat from fiberglass dust.

And tomorrow is the day I get back under the house and start taping things to other things. In the process, I hope to permanently seal up any mousey access points, so that my ducts will never again smell of rodent intruders. And that will be such a happy thing.

And as an added bonus, my high efficiency furnace will actually operate at high efficiency! Wooo! It's gonna be so great!

I can't wait until it's over.

Up in the Rig.

This evening (I love how late the sun goes down now!) I set out to rescue my dogwood tree from several years' growth of ivy. I worked my way up through the gnarled branches, tearing out vines as I went, and I thought about how it was trees that taught me how to climb, how to test a foot- or handhold and how to distribute my weight safely. All the instincts I brought to rocks and rigging came from that. And I thought about the cherry tree in my parents' back yard where I used to sit and pretend I was the captain of a pirate ship. Yes, I was the captain, but I still hung out aloft, because that was obviously the coolest place to be. Occasionally there'd be a little wind, just a little, and that made it easier to imagine I was a-rollin' on the main.

The dogwood is not nearly so sturdy, and required a lot more strategic maneuvering. It also kept trying to poke me in the eye. I couldn't decide if it was annoyed by my ruthless twig-breaking, or thought it was being helpful. I did have an awful lot of crud in my eyes (and nose, and hair, and clothing) by the time I was done. I found a bird's nest, as I'd feared, and found it was impossible to remove the ivy without destroying it, as I'd also feared. But it was unoccupied. Whew!

The difference between climbing a tree and going aloft on a tall ship, I decided, is that in a tree you feel safer than you are, and aloft you are safer than you feel. Then I hoisted myself up into the crown and decided I didn't feel all that safe anymore. Being a small person is often very useful; fifteen more pounds, and I would have broken one of those brittle upper branches. But I got the topmost parts of the ivy, and a rare view of a sunset that reminded me of Half Moon Bay.

SPEAKING OF TALL SHIPS... the Hawaiian Chieftain and Lady Washington are scheduled to arrive in Vancouver, WA on the 21st 22nd! They will be there until the 28th, and then in Portland until June 6. If you live here, and if you can swing it, I highly recommend signing up for a battle sail; that's the thing where the two ships sail around and fire cannons at each other, and yes, it is incredibly cool. Act fast, though, because they'll sell out soon. There will also be dockside tours almost every day (free, but remember to bring a little cash for a donation). More info here.

Yes, I'm excited. And no, this is not going to help my getting-lots-of-things-done schedule at all.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the original point of this post, which was to tell you that my departure date is Jroon 10th. Wooo! (and Eeep!)

Three on the Third: Semi-Monthly Update.

Do you kinda wish Three on the Third happened more often, just so you could read more comics drawn by friends and friends-of-friends? Well, I do. Lucky for me, not one, but two talented Three on the Third participants are embarking on more-than-once-a-month comic endeavors. recoveringmale has revived and re-invented The Mighty Bu, and is now updating twice a week, while upsidedown cat is going to do three journal comics every other day for two weeks! (I might be skeptical about this if she did not already have a track record of completing all kinds of incredibly ambitious projects.)

In other news, I am accumulating ideas for a 3 on the 3rd overview and FAQ. patchwork just asked exactly the kind of question I'm looking for:

Q: I was wondering, are the 3 on the 3rds supposed to always be about things that happened to you? Like, always journal comics? I know there aren't concrete 'rules' to it or anything, but I was just wondering if there are guidelines. It's still in the beginning phases too, so we're all sort of helping define what it's all about!

A: I'm gonna say that if you are not making comics about things that happened to you on the 3rd day of the month, then technically what you are doing is not Three on the Third.*

From the beginning, the intent of Three on the Third has been to tell tiny true stories. Journal comics encourage us to
a) hone our anecdotal delivery skills,
b) pay attention to the small interesting things that happen in our daily lives,
c) make interesting things happen so we'll have something to write about, and
d) record the mundane details of the present for a time when they will no longer be mundane, but remarkable. (Imagine if your grandfather had scribbled out some journal comics when he was your age! Even if they were lousy, they'd still be an absolutely amazing record of life in the past. Now imagine finding your own journal comics, 25 years from now: won't that be awesome?)

Having said that, I am not going to be your Non-Fiction Police Officer. So you throw something in there that didn't happen? Whoop-de-doo. And if you want to harness the momentum of our collective energy to create three totally fictional comics on the 3rd of the month, that is awesome, go for it! I will read and enjoy them, maybe even link to them. Honestly, though? I'd rather read comics about you.

Ultimately, like NaNoWriMo or Hourly Comics, Three on the Third is a self-monitoring project: you do what you want to do, share as much of it as you feel like, and decide for yourself if you're a winner. At some point I hope to set up a way (a "better than Blogger comments" way) for people to submit their own works every month, so that I'm not the gatekeeper.

But if you want a guideline, here it is: Three on the Third = journal comics = stuff that happened to you.

*Note that we've had some great examples of comics about things that should have happened. Of course, dreams, daydreams, wishful thinking, and the like still fall squarely under the category of Journal Comics.

State of the Lindsey.

I know that lately all my posts have been about a) bizarre micro-events or b) COMICS COMICS WOO!!! This is because the rest of my life has been in a state of vagueness: plans still in flux, nothing concluded or settled or accomplished. If it weren't for Three on the Third, my posting record of late would be very very sparse.

But things are starting to move toward resolution, and I'm feeling better about it all at the moment. So here is an update on the more prosaic aspects of my life:

1) My roommate moved out. It was an amicable parting, but it did leave me hunting frantically for someone trustworthy to live in my house and give me money before I leave town in June. This was more stressful than I expected. However, I am happy to report that I will soon be renting most of my house to Mr. and Mrs. Chainsaw. Yes: they are Webcomic Artists. They are moving to Portland from Georgia, partly because they want to go to my church. (This is significant to me. I quit my secure long-term job partly so I could go to my church. My church is pretty amazing.) Also, they have a Good Rental History. Cue giant sigh of relief.

2) I've been temping a couple days a week at a school for painters and drywall tapers. I'm assisting with clerical duties in the admin office. My supervisor is great, and the work isn't bad for temping: lots of data entry, filing, paper-shredding. Nothing all that exciting, but nothing painful either.

2.5) I am disappointed that I didn't earn more money during my time in Portland, though. I've got to get better at this.

3) However, I'm glad I'm not working full-time this month, because I've got a lot of preparations to make for my departure. This evening's project is Filing. I finally got a hanging folder insert for my cheap filing cabinet. This makes all the difference in the world. It is no longer a Huge Pain to file things; it's actually almost kind of fun. I am not going to admit to you how many years' worth of documents are now getting filed, shredded, or recycled, but I will have a lot more space in my room when I'm done.

4) And then I can pack up a lot of my stuff from downstairs and move it into my room.

5) Also: My yard is a jungle and it's eating my house. So I'm working on that.

6) Also: remember the heating duct project? Yeah, there's still that too.

7) So you could say I've got my work cut out for me.

8) However, because of the Chainsaws' arrival date, I will probably not leave right at the beginning of June, which was the original plan. Probably more like a week into June. I should probably get those tickets pretty soon, yeah?

9) Tickets... to Maui! I'm going to Maui! I'm going to work on a boat with my superhero cousins! I'm going to learn to clean fish and drive standard. For real! I feel like it's dead week right now, and I am all wrapped up in papers and tests and sort of can't believe it will ever end, but I have to keep reminding myself that just on the other side of the deadlines is Summer Vacation.

10) And now: back to Filing.

Everyone's a Comedian.

Last night I spent far too much of my dreaming time trying, and utterly failing, to tell a joke I'd made up. I would get it all set in my head and then look for opportunities to tell it, and then hesitate -- how did that go again? -- and miss my chance. Finally I cornered my mom and said, "What do you call a... uh... um, hang on...."

I never did make it all the way to the punch line, which was "A Göring boring Alice." I didn't even realize until I woke up that it's a riff on a family inside joke, so even if it were funny it would only work for a limited audience. But thanks to the tenacity of my brain in clinging to the punch line, I am now able to record this incident for posterity.

The Third Three on the Third!

So check it out! I actually got my comics done on the Third this time. For that, I win a special prize. The prize is not being expected to draw any comics today.

Here are the ones I drew yesterday:

#1 * #2 * #3

And here are everyone else's so far:

recoveringmale * evannichols * sanguinity * patchwork * alissa & upsidedown cat * ah * grrlpup

As usual, this post will be updated until everyone has posted their comics. So give 'em all a gander, and remember: everybody likes comments!

I think this might be my new favorite holiday.

This Post Is Pretty Much About Comics.

Hello! I hope your May Day was spring-y, or fair to laborers, or at least didn't involve any sinking vessels. Unless they were your enemy's.

Now that it's the First (and probably the Second by the time you read this), you know that the Third can't be far behind. And you know what we do on the Third, right?

We draw three comics. About things that happen to us, or things that we make happen, or things that we observe happening, on the Third.

Okay, then. As long as we have that straight. Fortuitously, this month the Third happens to fall on Free Comic Book Day. That should give you something to write about. On Free Comic Book Day, you can walk into any comic book store on Saturday and get a free comic book -- or, in many cases, multiple free comic books. (Note that it does not mean you can walk out with any comic book for free. There will be lots of free ones to choose from, though.) If you live anywhere near me, I highly recommend stopping by Guapo Comics and/or Cosmic Monkey. They both have a good representation of independent and non-superhero comics, and will not act surprised/confused when an ACTUAL GIRL walks in the door.

And while I'm going on about comics, ohmygosh Stumptown!!!!!! If you were designing an event specifically to make Lindsey happy, it just might involve a whole lot of quirky, non-mainstream comic artists under one roof, all eager to talk about and show you their work and give you free samples. I met a bunch of cool people, listened to some fun speakers/interviews, and came home with a giant bag of loot. Most of the loot (business cards, postcards, and minicomics) points toward a body of web-based work as well. So I have a ton of fun things to look at, if I can find the time.

What I would really like to do is highlight some of my favorite finds in some upcoming blog posts. However, the arrival of May also means I have a month left before leaving for Hawaii, and holy cow do I have a lot to get done in that time. So no guarantees.

All I can guarantee is that Saturday is the Third, and therefore a very good day to draw comics.