Happy Sunday, everybody. In early May, when I reimagined whatever the heck this Substack is, I shared the quote below by designer and lettering artist Jessica Hische. Her words made me consider that the stuff I do when I’m wasting time might not be a waste of time but rather the seeds of something more meaningful.
With that in mind, here’s this week’s collection of things I was doing when I probably should’ve been doing other things.
I gave the iPad a rest this week. All the doodles (or whatever you wish to call them) are done either with pencil or pen on actual paper.
First up: a Self-portrait of the Doodlist as a considerably thinner man. See how supple and suave he is? And, of course, with his classy pocket protector and pens, he is ever at the ready should a Doodle idea emerge.
For reasons unbeknownst to me, when my mind is idle, I seem to like to draw people. Or something loosely resembling people. I don’t know why. And I have no idea who they are. But I’m sure they will tell me when the time is right.
How did I love this week? Let me count the days. At least the weekdays.
Mondays generally tend to get a bad rap. What would happen if we took them on as a challenge rather than a cause for complaint? To be fair, however, it should be said that I have, with very few exceptions, not had to work on Mondays for a very long time. If my circumstances were different, I might have a completely different attitude. But, as it stands, why not try to embrace Mondays?
What the hell are Tuesdays? And whose bright idea were they anyway? For most of my working life, Tuesdays have been my Mondays. Hence, the grumpy look on this guy’s face.
Wednesday is probably my favorite day if for no other reason than that I get to say, well, you know what I get to say. Go ahead, say it, or, better still, wait a few days until Wednesday and then say it. It will be fun, I promise.
Poor Thursday is the Rodney Dangerfield of weekdays. It gets no respect. Dated cultural reference aside, we usually look so hard for Friday that Thursday goes unnoticed. Well, Thursday finally had enough. It was time to speak up.
Here’s a reprise of one I did last Friday, which sparked the idea of doing the rest of the weekdays. The lightbulb documents the fact that I once had an actual idea.
Like most households, we have low-flow toilets. I think these are generally a great idea for water conservation. However, I would be considerably more excited if they actually worked with some consistency. I did not realize that our low-flow toilet had two-speed settings, maybe and maybe not, that operate, more or less, whimsically.
I like this Doodle, if only because it reflects an authentic experience. Of course, it needs a lot of work, but I will take it to my cartoon class and see if I can get some help with its composition. After that, I’ll give it another run (or 10) and see what I come up with.
Supervisor’s Corner
Augie wanted me to tell you that he’s been enjoying his weekday visits to see Mr. Ocean. We found a great vantage point with an unobstructed view of lifeguard station H-6. And while dogs are not allowed on the sand at our beach, Augie still hopes he’ll get to pee on H-6 someday.
Like pups everywhere, Snoopy is one of Augie’s great heroes. This Doodle, which features the Hound of Hueneme admiring (and perplexed by) the Blessed Beagle himself, is Augie’s pick of the week.
Augie says a resounding “no thank you” to sleeping on top of a doghouse. He prefers his comfy California King bed, which he shares (sometimes grudgingly) with his favorite hoomans.
Well, that’s enough silliness for this week.
And remember, there is no wasted time. It all counts.
Until we meet again, Doodle on!