Warning: Don’t look directly at this picture as it depicts the sun. The picture was taken from a moving vehicle as we travelled from Jinja to Kampala on Sunday.

I have entitled this short message ‘real life calls’. For some the internet is real life, but it isn’t for me. At the moment I need to be elsewhere. I think it is unlikely that daily blogging will continue. Please forgive me if I do not reply to all of your comments, tweets and emails.

Posted by Dave at 9:32 pm on March 5, 2013 and filed under Blogging.

9 Comments

Warning: technical post. Some may not find it of interest.

Yes, this is a picture of someone taking a picture of a cartoon. Don’t ask how many takes this took.

One of my aims in life (I haven’t set my sights that high) is to be able to post cartoons on this blog from anywhere. I am fortunate in having the technology that should enable such a feat to take place, but am continually blighted by technical problems and ineptitude. So any advice would be welcomed.

I have a mobile telephone and a tablet which can both ‘scan’ cartoons – ie take pictures and then turn them into reasonable black and white line drawings. The problem is getting the image onto this WordPress website. I use Flickr to store images, or I FTP them straight to the site, but have found the following problems:

• On an Android phone I can post to Flickr, but it isn’t as easy to edit the cartoon on the phone.
• On an iPad I can edit them scan very easily, but I can’t find any app that posts to Flickr and actually works. [Update: This might be a temporary problem - will try again soon.]
• No mobile apps seem to post to WordPress effectively.
• Ideally I want to have the image at 678 pixels, the width of my blog theme, but something like 640 is fine.

Can anyone think of a way that I can do this – perhaps a better method / app than I have been using.

Posted by Dave at 10:45 pm on February 5, 2013 and filed under Blogging, Technical.

7 Comments

Image: notebook drawing. I have, for some reason, called it ‘Wave’.

So, one month of daily blogging has taken place. I rarely achieve the targets I set, so am going to allow myself a brief moment of being pleased. There have been days when I’ve sat for quite a while trying to think of something, and some of it has been (let’s be honest) complete rubbish, but if you’re OK with that then I am too.

Of course, I blog because I want people to see my cartoons and (let’s be honest (again)) I want to be noticed. But a significant part of the motivation is that it helps me. A kind of therapy, more pleasant/achievable than the commonly recommended remedies – pills, or talking to someone. Forcing myself to create something opens the gates somehow, and stops me just consuming the internet without creating. Which is another way of saying that just sitting reading Twitter often makes me miserable.

Hopefully I can do another month, but I wouldn’t bet more than you can afford to lose. That said there are some quite interesting things lined up for February, so let’s hope for the best.

Update: the high resolution version of this cartoon is now available to licence holders here.

Posted by Dave at 8:57 pm on January 31, 2013 and filed under Blogging, Cartoons.

11 Comments

…about blogging.

I started this daily blogging lark on a whim, and after two weeks I am still going, so I might as well carry on. I enjoy doing it, daily creativity is good for me, and there are some faithful readers who have said kind things leading me to think that they at least enjoy it too.

So, I have bought a book on the subject. The motive behind this is that it will give me some ideas to keep things fresh and interesting. I have been blogging for ten years, but there are always things to learn and new approaches to try. Also I had some book tokens to spend. Unfortunately the graphic centre in London (I won’t tell you its name) where I bought it doesn’t accept book tokens as they are not a book shop (fair enough). But I bought it anyway.

Having read a small portion of the volume on the train I am starting to come up with a list of topics that I should include as part of my daily blogging:

• Cartoons – finished ones, added to one of my sites
• Rough sketches from notebooks
• Fascinating developments – new things I am doing or have made, etc
• Links to other things on the internet I find generally interesting
• I am pondering some sort of cartooning ‘How to’. Unfortunately I don’t really know ‘how to’, but I plan to appear as if I do.
• Video. Well, why not?
• Photographs (when all else fails)

The problem I have found thus far is that I do not do, create or notice one sufficiently interesting thing every day. So further ideas would be welcomed. Is there anything else you’d like me to write / draw / talk about on the blog? Please do say. Thank you.

Posted by Dave at 8:15 pm on January 16, 2013 and filed under Blogging.

13 Comments

Above: ‘They didn’t have your name’. My sister gave me this duck and it makes me smile. It lives in my office next to a stone, five rulers and a tin labelled ‘proper money’. It is the sort of thing I will be posting on this website from this point on as part of my ‘daily blogging*’ routine. The daily blogging is part of my recovery plan, chosen as an activity because I know I enjoy it. I’m not sure exactly what I’m recovering from, by the way. But let’s just say that a week or two the possibility of not cartooning any more was a very real one.

Anyway, if you’d like to see photos of other everyday objects in my office please do say. I have various uplifting slogans pinned up, for instance. Also several drinks mats, and some pencils.

*When I have time

Posted by Dave at 10:13 pm on May 3, 2012 and filed under Blogging.

6 Comments

Happy Incredibly Belated New Year everyone.

News:

1. I have been continuing with my activities.
2. I joined the Professional Cartoonists Association. I have a profile here. I intend to be more professional from now on.
3. A new website on its way. It will be for non-church-related cartoons.
4. An upgrade to this website is on its way. There will be some improvements.
5. A relaunch of my licence system is on its way. There will be some improvements.
6. I have been beset with problems (technical). Problem a: inability to make any printer / scanner work using my main computer (Mac). Problem b: I tried to make my mobile telephone take photographs in pure black and white (no grey like the one above) and failed. Problem c: My cascading style sheets are in a knot.
7. I still don’t really have anywhere to go and work during cartooning days (diagram above) but I have learnt to deal with this.
8. I was going to learn to make newspapers, but it didn’t happen.
9. New year’s resolution: to draw in notebook every day. There have been quite a few days when I have not failed at this.
10. It is dull when people say they intend to blog more, but I do. There may be some shorter updates with less academic depth, etc.

Posted by Dave at 7:08 pm on January 24, 2012 and filed under Blogging, CartoonChurch progress, Cartooning.

11 Comments

[Cartoon unrelated to content - for illustration purposes only]

Here are this week’s notices:

Thank you
Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed to my ideas post. There are many brilliant ideas that I will be able to use, along with some sent by e-mail. Please do continue though if you think of anything else. Now all I’ve got to do is a bit of drawing.

Interview
To read an interview with me in which I talk about this and that see the Big Bible site. The interview is mainly to do with this website. Big Bible is all to do with the Big Read, a campaign encouraging people to read the Bible during Lent 2011. My friend Bex runs the website. Whether the introduction of ‘Big Bibles’ is part of the plan I have no idea. These would be for those who like to share a Bible with several friends or who find smaller print irritating. I may well suggest it.

2011 Calendar about to sell out
I have it on good authority that stocks of next year’s calendar will run out very soon – over 90% of the stock has now been sold. Last year they were on sale after Christmas as they didn’t sell out, but the same won’t happen this year. Various shops may have stock – otherwise you can order via Canterbury Press here.

Book not about to sell out
As long as people are sensible about it and form an orderly queue there will be enough copies of The Exciting Word of Churchgoing to go around. Thanks to everyone who has been buying it – it has made the Church Times Top 10 for a third month which I’m very pleased about.

Essubi
Finally, if you’re looking for a small charity to support this Christmas may I recommend Esuubi, which works with children in Uganda providing education, medical care etc. My friend Kate set it up and I can vouch for the people involved. Some of my family may be getting some alternative gifts from there (please don’t tell them if you see them).

Posted by Dave at 5:40 pm on December 8, 2010 and filed under Blogging, Books, Cartooning.

3 Comments

Image: choir hats. For illustration purposes only.

I’m sorry not to have updated this blog for over ten days. I’ve been suffering from low morale and general loss of diagrammatical confidence and so didn’t have anything good enough to blog. I still don’t have anything good enough to blog, but have decided to remedy the situation by lowering the bar of quality considerably, so that any old rubbish will be fit to post.

This is a picture of the hats as worn by the choir members at my church. When I say ‘my church’ I mean the one that I go to on an occasional basis. Apparently hats of this kind are unusual in choral circles. I certainly think that these are some of the pointiest* hats that I have seen. The choir is also unusual in that there are four women and they all look identical**.

* It irritates me that my spellchecker doesn’t like the word ‘pointiest’.
** I’m just being silly now. Expect more of this kind of thing.

Posted by Dave at 12:15 am on November 1, 2010 and filed under Blogging, CartoonChurch progress.

21 Comments

It has been quite a weekend. First of all on Friday evening the Christian Blog (and other internet things) Awards, where I was awarded a ‘joint second best Christian blog’ certificate, with which I am very happy. I have to say that it was a rather impossible category to judge given the very different nature and purposes of the finalists’ blogs, all of which are good in their own ways. Congratulations to Jenny Baker of the Sophia Network who was the blogging winner.

Then yesterday to the internet conference, where I mingled with interesting people, gained inspiration of various kinds, chatted with friends and went to the pub. I’ll perhaps post some reflections about things I learnt through the mediums of rambling and diagrams at some future point.

Back to the awards: I’d like to say thank you to all readers for the 110% efforts that you have been putting in over the last six weeks. But now that we’re not trying to win an award I think it is time to declare an ‘era of slackness’, where the following are permitted:

• Ill thought out-comments, perhaps with occasional lapses in grammar and spelling
• The posting of comments whilst wearing gardening attire or a ratty old bathrobe (thanks Anne for the latter suggestion)
• Content that doesn’t really mention Christianity
• Whilst I, as blogger, pledge to continue to post regularly, occasional lapses in quality will be permitted. For instance, I may post shopping lists found in my supermarket trolley for collective analysis.

Shopping list found in my supermarket trolley
This has been posted for collective analysis.

Questions for study groups
What is ‘cross’
The apple puree. For a child, or pork?
The list writer. Male or female?

Yes, I do deliberately choose shopping trolleys that have other people’s shopping lists left in them.

Posted by Dave at 8:16 pm on October 17, 2010 and filed under Blogging, Utter nonsense, shopping lists.

26 Comments

Being as it’s Saturday and noone is reading I thought I’d publish some of the letters I get that, for one reason or another, don’t make it into the comments pages of this blog.

Althea:
Thankyou lots, I am obliged to announce that your blog is excellent!

Thank you Althea. I’m sure your blog is excellent too!

Hearst:
Hi There, I just spent a little time reading through your posts, which I found entirely by mistake whilst researching one of my projects. Please continue to write more because it’s unusual that someone has something interesting to say about this. Will be waiting for more!

Hearst – bless you! I’m glad that I was able to help you whilst you were looking for information for your archdeacon project. You’re right – the amount of really dull stuff out there on the subject of archdeacons is incredible. As soon as I write another interesting archdeacon post I’ll make sure you’re the first to hear about it.

Kerry:
The content on this publish is really a single of the very best material that We have ever are available across. I love your publish, I’ll occur back to verify for new posts.

Oh Kerry, you have quite a way with words. I’ll watch out for your reoccurrence the next time I make a publish.

Ezekiel Malinky:
Precisely saying thanks won’t just be enough, for your unparalleled lucidity in your own authoring.

Ezekiel – brilliant! I couldn’t have said it better.

Minerva:
When i was simply reasoning that there are a lot improperly stuff on that theme and yourself basically altered my personal attitude.

Minerva – I know! The improperly stuff on reversible knees irritates me too. But it is good to hear that my blogging has made such a difference in your life.

Toshiko:
Hello! Is it okay if I go a bit off topic? …

No.

Posted by Dave at 12:13 pm on October 9, 2010 and filed under Blogging, Mundane, Utter nonsense.

9 Comments

In order to prepare ourselves for the expected onslaught of Christian Blog Award judges there are a few things that need to be sorted out. The first is the forward and back buttons on this website, which are currently in a state of disarray.

Take as an example this page and scroll down to the very bottom. The links say:

« Previous Page — « Previous Entries Next Entries » — Next Page »

This would be all very well, except that previous page leads you to the next entries, previous entries takes you to the next page, next entries takes you to the previous page, and next page takes you to the previous entries. It is a well known fact that 50% of all visitors are getting lost 50% of the times they click a link, and 50% of those have no idea whether they are the lost 50% or the other 50%. There are people who arrived on this site back in March who are still going backwards and forwards with little hope of respite.

The Judges (let’s capitalise, why not?) are going to be noting this kind of thing down in their noting-things-down books. Something needs to be done.

Worst of all, my arch-blogging-nemesis, the Church Mousse, has been taunting me.

If you are an expert in WordPress end-of-page links please scroll down to my technical plea. Everyone else: here are some proposals for replacement end-of-page links when this sorry saga can be sorted out.

Technical plea
Any advice from WordPress experts welcomed. I tried editing a page that contained one set of these end-of-page links, but doing so broke the blog. The duplication happened when I upgraded once. I use my own theme which is very outdated, but I like it. Anyone who can tell me which page I should edit would be profusely thanked.

Posted by Dave at 10:17 pm on September 8, 2010 and filed under Blogging, Technical.

28 Comments

Some news: I have entered this blog into the Christian Blog Awards. I did it before if you remember in 2007.

In order to stand any chance I have decided that we need to ‘raise our game’ up to 110%, ie 10% greater than is possible. The graph above shows how we are going to do that.

This period of 110% effort applies to me, the blogger, but also to you, the readers and commenters. In fact I am going to ask the spammers to do their bit too. It is a team effort.

As they are the Christian Blog Awards we will need to focus our attention on two areas:

1) The Christian aspect
2) The Blog side of things

We must remember that from this point on the Judges will be watching us with quite literal eagle eyes. They won’t just be watching me, they will be watching you. If you see someone loitering by a lamppost it is likely to be a Judge from the Christian Blog Awards. Just carry on as normal, creating a good impression if doing so doesn’t inconvenience you too much.

Well, that’s about it for the motivational talk. Just do your best, plus 10%. Thank you.

Posted by Dave at 11:24 pm on September 7, 2010 and filed under Blogging, Cartoons.

41 Comments