Sadly I don't think I can continue using Twittex any more. I say sadly because it does bring in visitors to my site, but the place is descending into hell as Apartheid Clyde does does his best to promote white supremacy across the globe. I won't delete my account, just pin a post to say I don't monitor it, so nobody can grab my username.

Also sadly, due to family issues my comic updates might grind to a halt for a while. I'll probabaly be working on it even more to stay sane, but won't have any way to make finished pages.

Ironscarf wrote:
Sadly I don't think I can continue using Twittex any more. I say sadly because it does bring in visitors to my site, but the place is descending into hell as Apartheid Clyde does does his best to promote white supremacy across the globe. I won't delete my account, just pin a post to say I don't monitor it, so nobody can grab my username.

Also sadly, due to family issues my comic updates might grind to a halt for a while. I'll probabaly be working on it even more to stay sane, but won't have any way to make finished pages.

That's all very sad.
Who's Clyde? Or do I not want to know? XD

These days I find I'm a lot happier the less I know about the lame controversies on social media. I'm also very happy avoiding modern pop music and any crap generated by AI.

Why can't you finish pages? Computer issues? If I were you I''d invest in a tablet. I love my Samsung S9, but older models and i[ads with an ipencil are just as capable.
When you mainly work digitally those things increase the range of places you can work massively!

Ozoneocean wrote:

That's all very sad.
Who's Clyde? Or do I not want to know? XD

These days I find I'm a lot happier the less I know about the lame controversies on social media. I'm also very happy avoiding modern pop music and any crap generated by AI.

Apartheid Clyde is one of the many well deserved titles Elon Musk has earned for himself.
I agree about lame controversies, but when you're using your massive platform to try and destabilise foreign democracies it's a bit more serious. Thankfully the UK has no interest in the civil war he's hoping for.

Ozoneocean wrote:
Why can't you finish pages? Computer issues? If I were you I''d invest in a tablet. I love my Samsung S9, but older models and i[ads with an ipencil are just as capable.
When you mainly work digitally those things increase the range of places you can work massively!

My Mum is terminally ill so I'll be away from home and my art setup, on and off for I'm not sure how long. Samsung tablet would be the ideal solution, especially given the quality of work I've seen you produce with it, but I don't think I can stretch to that expense right now. Writing and drawing will be a great release, I just won't be able to post as much as I'd like. I'll use it as an opportunity to learn some new techniques and shortcuts, catch up on some Quackcasts, etc!

I honestly dropped Twitter even before Muskrat took over . . . that place has devolved into what Reddit used to be (and ironically, Reddit apparently has evolved into what Twitter used to be): nothing more than a playground for trolls to instigate flame wars over unpopular opinions they don't agree with (seriously, do not discuss animation on Twitter, they will dogpile on you if you don't say the absolute correct thing). The only reason I held out as long as I did was because my best friend since 2005 eventually found me on Twitter, and prior to that, we had lost contact for a few years, so I was ecstatic to hear from her again after so long (turns out her radio silence was due to suffering a severe head injury that resulted in some brain damage, which left her incapacitated for months, and she basically had to relearn everything from executive function, to simple motorvascular tasks). Then for no reason, she just started ghosting me, so with no reason to stay, I finally left Twitter and have hardly looked back.

I'm really sorry to hear about your mom, Ironscarf. Sometimes I still can't believe it's been almost three years since I lost my dad.

I've never joined Ex-Twitter and such, and reading this now I can finally stop pretending to feel silly about it…

@Ironscarf: I'm sorry you're going through such a difficult time. I wish I had the words to say anything comforting that doesn't sound off in some way. Take care! We'll be here when you're back.

Oh! Yeah, I knew he was a dickhead from the beginning. It took people longer to work it out. Back when he was still advertising Hyperloop I knew he was a fool.
He puts his money in some good places, but overall he's an egomaniac.

Ironscarf wrote

My Mum is terminally ill so I'll be away from home and my art setup, on and off for I'm not sure how long. Samsung tablet would be the ideal solution, especially given the quality of work I've seen you produce with it, but I don't think I can stretch to that expense right now. Writing and drawing will be a great release, I just won't be able to post as much as I'd like. I'll use it as an opportunity to learn some new techniques and shortcuts, catch up on some Quackcasts, etc!

Awwwww! That's sad to find out :(
My condolences man.

So sorry to hear about your Mother, Ironscarf. Thinking of you, sir, and wishing you well!

Take care Ironscarf. Can't say anything really helpful, but will always be around to listen.

Thanks for the kind words duckfriends, they are more helpful than you could imagine.

Bluesky seems like a pretty decent Twitter alternative if you're looking for one. Not sure what the comic scene is like there, but there are a lot of artists.

I'm over social media mostly… It's just the Duck and instagram for me LOL!

Ironscarf wrote:
Thanks for the kind words duckfriends, they are more helpful than you could imagine.

We love you man. And I can imagine what that's like with your mum.
It's not a subject I like to think about too closely because it's something we will all face… But you're definitely not alone.

Never heard of Bluesky. Threads seems to be Instagram's answer to Twitter; I recently finally got one when they finally introduced a desktop version, but so far, I really don't see what all the hype's about; nobody does anything there except complain about politics, and that's pretty much it.

I was told that in Athens, no one wakes before noon.
Dawn is tough on Greece.

I really feel for you Ironscarf and know precisely what you're going through. Lost my mother a few years ago and her birthday is coming up. We all get together and share memories.

I spent a few years preparing myself for the worst. I knew it was coming and I knew how hard it would be. I barely function as it is something like this I didn't want to shut down and not be there for the rest of my family.

Take care and be well, Ironscarf. I don't know if this helps, but on my family's front there's been good news. My sister and her husband has given birth to their second child. It's a girl. We're all gonna see her this Saturday at my parents house in the country.

Sorry to hear about your mom Ironscarf.

Lost my mom just about 20 years ago. Her birthday was on the 13th.

mishi_hime wrote:
Bluesky seems like a pretty decent Twitter alternative if you're looking for one. Not sure what the comic scene is like there, but there are a lot of artists.

There's actually a decent comics community growing on there. I haven't made any inroads but that'll be my fault for not using it more. I definitely prefer it to Threads, which feels like a desperate race for engagement.

—

Losing a parent is definitely one of those things that will bring you face to face with your own mortality. Thankfully we have humour to help us through even the most difficult of circumstances, so here's a mildly amusing thing that happened to me today:

On Tuesday night severe lower jaw pain kicked in, obviously down to an old filling that had cracked. By yesterday the pain was becoming unbearable and I knew I wouldn't be able to wait until I returned home, so I booked an emergency private appointment with the nearest local dentist (payment up front). I arrived bright and early this morning (minimum £60 charge for late arrival), signed the required disclaimers and made myself as comfortable as anyone can in the chair of doom.
The dentist approached with his little mirror and began to tap on my molars, with the occasional ‘hmmmm’ and ‘hrrrm’, before deciding some x-rays would be needed (x-rays cost x-tra). He studied the x-rays for a while, with more ‘hmmmms’, ‘hrrrms’ and finally an ‘ahum’, before turning to me and saying ‘Look at this x-ray Mr Sewell, there’s no sign of decay at all! Is it possible you've been experiencing any stress lately?'.

It was good to find out I won't be needing root canal surgery, but the discovery did not come cheap.

Ironscarf wrote:

My Mum is terminally ill so I'll be away from home and my art setup, on and off for I'm not sure how long. Samsung tablet would be the ideal solution, especially given the quality of work I've seen you produce with it, but I don't think I can stretch to that expense right now. Writing and drawing will be a great release, I just won't be able to post as much as I'd like. I'll use it as an opportunity to learn some new techniques and shortcuts, catch up on some Quackcasts, etc!

Having an understanding of caring for a terminally ill family member from pre-hospice to post-hospice in recent years, I am sending the reassurance that this is a decision made with the heart and it is in the right place. You are doing the good work, Ironscarf.

Comics that go on hiatus always have readers waiting when they return. Take the much needed time, as much as required, to care for yourself and your mum.

Ironscarf wrote:
He studied the x-rays for a while, with more ‘hmmmms’, ‘hrrrms’ and finally an ‘ahum’, before turning to me and saying ‘Look at this x-ray Mr Sewell, there’s no sign of decay at all! Is it possible you've been experiencing any stress lately?'.

The human body is such a shit design. At least the dentist was wise to the tricks the brain can play at bad moments. Sympathies.

I was up on bluesky but inactive. Will give it a decent try. I can already see a few locals who prefer it to twitter, because twitter has too many nationalists. Will probably post mostly in my native language, but at least I can promote some other ppls works from here as well to a new audience.

Ironscarf wrote: Is it possible you've been experiencing any stress lately?'.

It was good to find out I won't be needing root canal surgery, but the discovery did not come cheap.

Hahaha! OUCH!
Lucky XD

Yes, through our parents we come face to face with mortality -_-
It's hard. We see mortality in other things all the time, usually pets are the first, but it doesn't become as personal till it's parents.


Apparently in later life we don't age gradually… We age in bursts around 44, 62, and 75. I feel that! most people say I still look like I'm in my 30s (thin, no wrinkles full hair, hard to spot the grey, I dress well…), but I'm coming up fast on 50 and I get aches and pains all over hahaha! I fall asleep in the afternoons, I hate going out to parties, I can't be bothered with new pop-music or fashion fads- I can't cross my right leg over my left or my hip hurts for days. XD

Are we all just living in a dream bubble, A hangover from the 2001-2019 era? It feels like everything is going to be so different in only a few years. The world may be unrecognisable by 2030. I'm working on new stuff with more energy and focus than I've had in years but wondering why do it at all when The robots are going to take our jobs, put us in camps and then kill us.

lothar wrote:
Are we all just living in a dream bubble, A hangover from the 2001-2019 era? It feels like everything is going to be so different in only a few years. The world may be unrecognisable by 2030. I'm working on new stuff with more energy and focus than I've had in years but wondering why do it at all when The robots are going to take our jobs, put us in camps and then kill us.

Skynet has been active for years.
By the way 2024 is the date used in Harlan Ellison's A Boy and His Dog. A couple of years ago was Soylent Green so we're eating people and have talking dogs. The originalThunderbirds series
should be next year and we'll be encountering the Mysterons any minute now.

Been rewatching the old UFO series. That 1969 show took place in the 1980s. So a cool future has already passed us by and we're stuck in a dystopian downward spiral.

If the robots have programmed themselves for efficiency, they might just get themselves some nice, tasty WD40 in a Martini glass with a little paper umbrella, lean back on standby and watch in happy system error as we're doing their job of deposing of us all by ourselves. So nothing to worry about, right?

I'mma gettin' oooold! I have such a sore hip/back today.
I feel like a creaky old codger :(
Dammit!

Yeah,its like one of my friends said. “You don't get better as you get older, you only get to endure more”. I just read on my FB feed that NaNoWriMo is opening the flood gates for the use of AI on their site. I wasn't really participating in NaNoWriMo anyhow, haven't done so for like seven years or something and I've decided I'm not gonna participate there again.

After all it's not like you can't do these writing exercises outside their network.

Ever since I turned 30, I've felt about 20 years older with each passing year, and I'm 35 now . . . like so many old people say, everything starts hurting at this point.

On the other hand, since I've lost 86 pounds in the last two years, I do find that my energy isn't as depleted as it had gotten over time prior to my weightloss.

Approximately an entire year later after launching my RedBubble shop, and I've finally had a sale! Looks like I'll be getting an extra $15 this month.

Andreas_Helixfinger wrote:
Yeah,its like one of my friends said. “You don't get better as you get older, you only get to endure more”.

The main thing that happens when you age is that you experience more, so you take in a lot more culture, experiences, and knowledge as you go. The problem is retaining it and being able to make use of it when you need to.

Ageing is the body developing and then deteriorating while your brain is taking everything in and learning how to make sense of it and when it does it goes on autopilot when dealing with the things it's learned about.

-And THAT is why time passes faster when you age: It's because you're not experiencing every moment and second anymore. When you're older the brain isn't taking in as much external stimuli at ALL TIMES anymore because it doesn't need to; you've seen the cause and effect of situations so much that you don't need to even see, hear or smell things to know what is happening and will happen. So thinking turns inward and time “passes” much faster because internal thought processes are slower than those dealing with external stimuli.

This is also why kids get SOOOoooo bored: they NEED to be taking stuff in all the time and if they don't it hurts. And when you're taking everything in time moves at a crawl.

That makes sense, Ozone. That's probably why, after processing about 40 images today, I went to put them in the folder for them and they were already there. I must have done it sometime last month on auto-pilot.