We shipped the kids off to their grandparents for three days, and Erin took the week off from work.

We had grand ideas of sleeping in, going out for a leisurely breakfast, taking in a host of movies, having a jaunt or two about town, and just enjoying an all-around relaxing and rejuvenating time.

And it started off well. Monday night, we went out to dinner at the Highland Park Punch Pizza (where we had what was technically our third first date way back in 2003), and then we took in the very entertaining Toy Story 3.

And the next day, I woke up with a cold. Nothing serious, but enough to hamper my enjoyment of a quiet day. Erin was off with friends, so I spent most of my time, cooling it in front of the computer desperately trying to finish Dragon Age, so I was no longer distracted by it. I managed to enjoy a meal out at Doolittle’s in Eagan, one of our more reliably enjoyable places to eat out every couple of months.

But when Wednesday came, it brought with it a debilitating surge of illness that left me completely drained of energy.

I managed to participate in one of our planned outings, a nice breakfast out at the Edina Grill (most of our eagerly anticipated activities focused on going out to eat, I guess). But afterwards, I was so fatigued, that I was incapable of doing anything other than lie in bed, watch movies and read comics (love that iPad!).

Thursday, the day the kids returned from their exile, I felt like I may have been on my way to a speedy recovery, participating in the construction of a new sandbox by holding boards as they were drilled and lugging 16 50lb. bags of sand into and out of the Camry’s trunk.

But Friday announced its arrival by placing sandpaper in my lungs, and making it difficult for me to breathe. This didn’t stop our planned picnic trip to Como Zoo which was fun and hot and hot again, but, boy, I paid for my brazenness by continuing to suffer on Saturday (which is the day I’m writing this post).

All in all, I got the rest that I needed, or at least the time away from chasing childrens. And the truth is, I got to do nearly everything that was on my list of desired activities. I really only missed out on going to downtown St. Paul to get some saltwater taffy from Candyland and a beer ‘n burger from Great Waters.

I may have been ambitious enough to post some zoo trip pics on my Facebook page, but who knows?

I was kicked out of my house for most of last week due to more home improvement projects, and I was out of town for the entire weekend, hence no comics OR bloggings last week.

And while it was kind of refreshing to be away from home and it’s nice to have a freshly repaired kitchen ceiling and repainted dining room, this output drought…it’s getting a bit ridiculous.

The fact is that since I’ve come to rely more and more on the weekends to finish art and to write scripts and blog posts, and since summer weekends get quickly and densely booked with family events and other obligations (and maybe some fun stuff, too…maybe), I might not be able to keep up a steady pace.

My plan is to decrease publication to one Winchcombe page a week for the summer, and see if I can maintain that.

So, no comics this week. They still sit half-finished on my computer, but I’m planning to get back on the horse this week.

Nothing can stand in for a good night’s sleep. Today we’re not going to show you how to scrape by with less sleep; instead, we’re going to help you reboot your sleeping habits so you get the sleep you need (and deserve).

Links

How to Reboot Your Sleep Cycle and Get the Rest You Deserve

Yeah, I know it was a long weekend, but it was also a long weekend that included the 3rd birthday of my daughter, who had also been sick. Which meant that everyone else more or less got sick, or at least really damn tired.

Complaint Department

Here’s where I complain a bit and feel sorry for myself while making excuses about the whole thing:

I have been touching the next two strips every day. I have lettering and pencils done for the first, and nearly done for the second. However, each scene takes place on the patio in front of The Winchcombe and feature some relatively in-depth backgrounds and some crowd shots. When there are lots of backgrounds and lots of people to draw, things take longer.

To make matters worse, I suffered an ill-timed bout of insomnia on Monday night, and it caused my motivation and creativity to disappear, leaving only a desire to simply sit on the couch, yell at kids, and sometimes whack them with a stick or throw a shoe when they came within range.

I chose to take a shower during one naptime, which while earning the appreciation of family, also served to keep me from drawing for a few minutes on Wednesday.

But the biggest detriment to my output this week was that I chose to sleep in a few days this week (still have trouble accepting that 6:30 is considered sleeping in) rather than get in a morning session at the desk.

A peace offering

So to keep you coming back, here’s something funny but potentially not safe for work (a captioned photo that DOES feature the “F” word prominently). It made me laugh.

F you, flowers!

Links

The Big Caption

But here:

in exchange, I’m offering this vid of a barbershop quartet singing the Ewok Victory Song from the end of Jedi.

Its about how to tell if you’re being boring.

And read this list, too. It’s a list of topics to avoid if you’re interested in not being boring:

1. A dream.
2. The recent changes in your child’s nap schedule.
3. The route you took to get here.
4. An excellent meal you once had at a restaurant.
5. The latest additions to your wine cellar.
6. An account your last golf game.
7. The plot of a movie, play, or movie—in particular, the funny parts.

Yes, you. Pay attention to this stuff. The people who have to listen to you will thank you.

Links

Eight Tips to Know If You’re Being Boring

Seven topics to avoid if you don’t want to risk being a bore.

via BoingBoing

The Longest Way 1.0 – one year walk/beard grow time lapse from Christoph Rehage on Vimeo.

And as impressive as it is, I’m convinced I could do the hair growth in about a week and a half.

Yesterday, Andrew Sullivan put up a post about an extremely brutal hate-crime attack on an openly gay man. The 2-minute news report he embeds is depressing, but there was something to laugh about at the end. The studio interviewed one of the attackers’ friends, who proudly displayed this tattoo:

It’s a tattoo reading “[Thou] shall not lie with a male as one does with a woman. It is an abomination. Leviticus 18:22″. Who else sees the problem here?

Leviticus also forbids tattooing. In the very next chapter.

“Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:28″

If logic played into these sorts of disagreements, pointing out glaring inconsistencies like this one, should undercut just about every bible-based argument against homosexuals.

But it won’t. And it’s not just the wacky religious who fall prey to cherrypicking. It seems to be human nature to only hear what you want to hear.

Links

Cherrypicking Illustrated | The Friendly Atheist

Why God Backs Beating The Crap Out Of You | The Atlantic

Just one scant month after switching from Quicken to Mint for my financial management, the poopheads sell to Intuit (the largly loathed makers of Quicken).

Links

The next generation bends over | 37signals blog

I’m convinced that it’s something that more people should try.