DeerMe.net, Sharpclaw.com, and Snarkclaw.com should all now be snug and cozy in their new web hosting home.
If you run into issues while visiting any of the websites, then please let me know.
Deer Me Comics:
- Oct 06 - A Walk in The Woods - 4 of 4
A New House :-) Downsizing Begins :-(
After nearly five weeks of hurriedly packing up the contents of our too-large house and then six weeks of living in hotels with mostly just the items we could fit into a commuter car (with three pets), we found a rental house. The rental house has maybe one third the space of the house we just sold, but admittedly fits us better. However, we expanded into that too-large house over the past six years and do not have room for everything.
That probably sounds privileged, but I did not expect to be downsizing my possessions to fit in a small rental house in my late 40s.
I have moved often in my life, probably more than most people, so know to expect certain things. One thing is the heartache of having to pack and decide what can be lived without for an unknown period of time, and another is the joy of reuniting with those items lived without for weeks or months, depending upon the complexity and timeframe of the move. Another heartache is discovering some of those recovered items got damaged or even completely destroyed. With this move, I get to add two more heartaches: #1 deciding what I can live without for maybe another year or more by putting it into longterm, offsite storage and #2 deciding what I am willing to part with forever, by selling it or giving it away. Downsizing is not fun.
We and another couple got quite lucky with our timing: we needed to get rid of furniture while they needed furniture. We gave them some pieces that simply would not fit but they could use, so everyone won. They got free items they needed and we were spared the issues of trying to store items until we could find buyers or wind up having to give away or pay to toss the items.
We still have so much to go through. Just this past weekend, I managed to make the bathrooms useable, which now feels great. The kitchen remains daunting, though. Our last house had a magnificent kitchen -- it was why we bought the house -- and our rental home has a small kitchen maybe one quarter the size, with significantly less space in all categories, including pantry, counter, and even appliances. Our counters are not useable due to the clutter of things needing homes. The pantry is too crammed to readily find anything. We will eventually shrink into the size, but it shall take time and effort.
Deer Me Comics:
- Sep 14 - A Walk in The Woods - 1 of 4
- Sep 24 - A Walk in The Woods - 2 of 4
- Sep 26 - A Walk in The Woods - 3 of 4
Art:
1980s Music:
This is 1980s Nostalgia Autumn! Last month, I complained that expressions of worldly grievances never change by highlighting four songs originally released from the years 1988-1991 which still resonate today. This month, let us celebrate those years gone by.
Play "Identify That 1980s MTV Reference" with Bring Back The Time by New Kids on The Block, Rick Astley, Salt N Pepa, and En Vogue.
This video provides the answers.
Moving:
In move news, I have been living in a hotel for a month now. Not-fun fact: The standard rental agreement in Texas gives the landlord and representing agent(s) permission to literally break and enter the home without prior notice any time the resident is not home, as long as the intruder leaves a note. Also, refrigerators are not standard included appliances in rental units in Texas; that was a surprise.
Coding Question:
Is it possible to implement a website cookie with PHP, but get viewer permission first? Currently, I hide "mature" content on my website and require the viewer to consent to viewing such per image. I want to make it possible for the viewer to consent just once and use a cookie to remember that setting. The PHP setcookie() function must load prior to the webpage, so I cannot make it load based on a user action like I can with a JavaScript function. I could instead use JavaScript... except for the tiny problem that I do to know JavaScript at all... yet.
Sharpclaw Comics:
- Aug 02 - Sharpclaw 1.07.013
- Aug 09 - Sharpclaw 1.07.014
The Move Continues:
This move is proving more complicated and longer than originally expected. We managed, in our last move, to go from deciding to move to clearing out the house within two weeks. That included giving away most our furniture and getting some help in exchange. This move is taking much longer as we keep most of our furniture and have less assistance.
Meanwhile, my drawing tablet battery died and then my smartphone battery died, just for that extra slap in the face and on my wallet. Also, the weather decided to punch us in the gut with the worst heatwave we have seen since the year we moved here, followed by rain. Both conditions are less than ideal for the outdoor work of loading heavy items into moving pods. I originally thought that saying this move-induced creative hiatus would last through mid-September would give me some buffer time, but now I think I may have been optimistic about how quickly I would be creating and uploading again.
Have Some Music And Social Commentary:
- Billy Joel - We Didn't Start The Fire (1989)
- Levellers - The Riverflow (1991)
- Queensryche - Revolution Calling (1988)
- I included the release years because I wanted to highlight the fact that these are all over thirty years old, which emphasizes the message of the fourth song.
- Cinderella - The More Things Change (1990)
Sharpclaw Comics:
- Jul 05 - Sharpclaw 1.07.010
- Jul 12 - Sharpclaw 1.07.011
- Jul 26 - Sharpclaw 1.07.012
Art:
Lots of News!
Twitter And Deer Me Comic Reruns
With the shifting social media landscape and my absolute refusal to use Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, I am trying Twitter again for the rest of the year to see whether I like it. So I can focus on my user experience and not on making "what I had for breakfast" posts, I am rerunning the first 200 Deer Me comic strips, one comic per day. This both removes the question of "what to post" and gives me a fixed trial period of a little over half a year.
I have yo-yoed my Twitter usage for years. On the one hand, I think it is The Worst of The Internet Concentrated. On the other hand, it has given people access to those in power. Lies spread around the world in record time there, but some truths would never be revealed without it. It is a very mixed blessing.
Also, I know it was renamed to X, but who honestly calls it that?
Stoopid Artuhst
Gosh, I wonder why it takes me so long to draw comic pages? It could not be my insistence on having multiple panels featuring seven-almost-identical-but-not-quite characters, could it? Along with all the other characters, including one whose very design is a contradiction to my artistic comfort zone?
Maybe Moving
I may be making an interstate move again, paired with downsizing my possessions. This is currently speculation with no definitive schedule. If it happens, then it shall certainly interfere with comic and art updates in the coming months.
Sharpclaw Comics:
- Jun 14 - Sharpclaw 1.07.007
- Jun 21 - Sharpclaw 1.07.008
- Jun 28 - Sharpclaw 1.07.009
Art:
Seven Brothers Rumpelstiltskin
Writer Me: "I have a clever idea! Seven characters who look similar enough that any one could be mistaken for another when they are not together, but different enough to be distinguishable when side-by-side!"
Artist Me: [punches Writer Me]
Sharpclaw Comics:
- May 17 - Sharpclaw 1.07.005
- May 31 - Sharpclaw 1.07.006
Sharpclaw Smut Comics:
- May 01 - (ADULTS ONLY; FM Sex) Two of Hearts - 18
- May 08 - (ADULTS ONLY; FM Sex) Two of Hearts - 19
- May 15 - (ADULTS ONLY; FM Sex) Two of Hearts - 20
Finally! Back to Drawing!
I mentioned last month that I suddenly felt seized by a compulsion to code. I felt driven both to refine a few operations within the CMS and to finish the data files for my art dating all the way back to 1990. Yes, really, my art gallery genuinely has everything I have from the last 34 years; I did not cherry-pick and the only drawings missing are ones I simply do not have anymore. Some of those images were even started prior to 1990! My art gallery is not my portfolio; it is my handy reference tool.
Anyway, I finished the data files (for now) and made some code changes to the CMS that have been bothering me. I still have further plans for the CMS, but I figure that is going to be remain an ongoing project for as long as I find coding interesting. It shall never be "finished" as much as it shall be sufficiently functional and "I can live with it as-is right now."
This latest obsession to work on the website happened while I was trying to pencil a comic page. As soon as the website once again reached "I can live with it as-is right now," I resumed penciling that same page... three or four weeks later after originally starting and then abandoning the page.
Compulsions can be strange things.
Sharpclaw Comics:
- Apr 05 - Sharpclaw 1.07.003
- Apr 12 - Sharpclaw 1.07.004
Sharpclaw Smut Comics:
- Apr 03 - (ADULTS ONLY; FM Sex) Two of Hearts - 14
- Apr 10 - (ADULTS ONLY; FM Sex) Two of Hearts - 15
- Apr 17 - (ADULTS ONLY; FM Sex) Two of Hearts - 16
- Apr 24 - (ADULTS ONLY; FM Sex) Two of Hearts - 17
Art:
Happy Walpurgis Night And May Day
Abruptly around the start of April last year, my ability to work on my website CMS vanished. Just as abruptly around the start of April this year, the drive to work on my website CMS returned.
While it shall always be an ongoing project -- as my coding knowledge changes, as PHP itself changes, as my desires for my website changes -- I expect to finish the coding and data entry I have felt compelled to do this past month and return to focusing on the content side, the comics and illustrations.
Do you ever get hit by something like that? Bam! Do this now!
