I was reminded to do hourly comics day because, being on the West coast, those I follow from the East coast had already posted some hourly comics. I wasn’t sure I could do it, but it was my first shift working at the Ferndale Public Library, so it would have something interesting. I also had to work my other job as a receptionist and go to my mom’s for dinner. I did all but the last three day-of.

[EDIT: As Lucy Bellwood put it: “For those who aren’t familiar, HCD asks creators to draw a panel or two for every hour they’re awake on February 1st. Everyone has a different take, and I highly recommend just going to Instagram or Twitter and browsing the #hourlycomicday tag. There’s something for everyone.”]

I drew the first strip before I left the house. Then the next three strips were on my 15 minute break, during which I also eat breakfast. As you can see from 10–11, the library job is rather Sisyphean. By the time you have shelved the books, there is a whole new batch to shelve. 

Two days a week, Monday and Friday, I have only 1 hour between jobs, so I don’t have much time for lunch. I work at extreme ends, Ferndale is about 20 minutes north (on the freeway) and the law group I work for is about 15 minutes south (through downtown Bellingham in Fairhaven). When the weather is nice, and on days I don’t work at the library, I will likely bike to Fairhaven because it only takes an additional 5 minutes to bike versus drive.

I think I did all the comics on this and the previous page while Isaac, mom, and Abe were arguing politics. I hardly ever participate in political discussion because I find it futile. And yes, I am in my 30s, bringing my dirty laundry to wash at my moms. I am the oldest millennial. Get used to it. I once couldn’t figure out how to use a cordless phone.

The frustrating thing about playing things like Apples to Apples, and any other game that includes pop culture references, is that my mom, Jim, and Isaac have little to no pop culture knowledge. So I have to play those cards on Abe if they are ever going to be picked. Sometimes I can randomly play them if I have nothing better, I suppose. 

I’m also reading Darwin’s Backyard, which I grabbed from the library. It is very good! It is a biography of Darwin, but it is told through the lens of his experiments. So each chapter focuses on a phase of experiments of his, such as barnacles, or bees, or orchids. Or vines, which is where I’m at now. At one point, he wanted to see if algae could be carried on duck feathers between ponds, so he grabbed some ducks and dunked them in a tank of water full of algae. I drew him holding them by the feet, but now I can’t remember if that is what the text said he did or if that is how I imagined it. It would make more sense to dunk them the other way. Anyways, at the end of each chapter, the book also includes a set of experiments, all laid out with supplies and all your steps, that you can do at home. For adults! I love it. I will likely not do any. One is chopping up live barnacles (I mean, really, it is called dissection). Buying orchids to see how they propagate and dissecting those. It involves buying a lot of things and owning a lawn would often be helpful. But I love that this book is like the adult version of a children’s book on Darwin with “experiments you can do, too!”

P.S. I missed updating last week with this because I had that first shift at the public library and immediately got sick. Just a head cold. Not the measles, which is floating around south Washington. : But I need to wash my hands like a surgeon when I work there.