Greetings from Quarantine

With the quarantine still going on, you’d think I would be more up to date with these postings on the website. Well, you thought wrong.

Back in April I was working from home for several weeks, then out of the blue, furloughed with half the employees at the company I work at. It was pretty upsetting for me, and I proceeded to be quite stressed and anxious. I had to sign up for unemployment with the rest of California, and that added more stress because there was a lot of waiting to see if I qualified, and then more waiting to actually be certified. Once I was approved, money was waiting in the account they set-up for me, but I still had no debit card. That came a week later. I’ve been okay financially, but imagine if I was not. I know a lot of people are unfortunately in the second position, living paycheck-to-paycheck, and it sucks when even the stimulus checks are held up because some jackass manbaby wants to put his name on it, duping his followers that the money is coming from him personally.

I decided to start drawing a comic based on my Coronavirus experience so far and being furloughed from my work. I’m not one for illustrating my own graphic memoir, but it’s definitely been therapeutic, even if I’m not the best illustrator. I’ve written and illustrated 3-pages so far, and I’m thinking I’ll include the story in the first issue of Clusterfux Comix whenever it’s scheduled to debut. I’ve had a few people express interest so far in contributing (which is mind-blowing to me), but it’s all still in the very early stages of development. I need to brush-up on my Adobe InDesign before I start scanning and planning. But if you are interested in contributing a page or two, reach out and let’s talk compensation!

The Patch is still coming along, but it took a few weeks for me to get in the mental headspace to write again. I felt this sense of dread about what’s been happening in the world, and felt so relieved when I heard Rick Remender mention on the 11 O’Clock Comics podcast that he too was having a hard time creating. That made me feel a lot better, knowing the creative types out there aren’t taking every moment of this quarantine to write 13 different books or scripts, and that they’ve been mentally bogged-down by it all as well. You’d have to be a masochist not to feel affected by what everyone is currently going through. Slowly but surely, I started writing again and submitting already finished pieces to different publications. I even got a rejection letter back from Funny Times which made my entire month! They mentioned they found my submission humorous, and that means the world to me since I worship their newspaper.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading (I’ve finished 10 different books so far, and numerous comics), working out daily (almost have a 6-pack for the first time in my life), and have been learning French on Duolingo (“Paul mange un croissant a la gare”). Oh, and I just celebrated my 33rd birthday! Amanda and I were supposed to be taking our 2-week honeymoon in Scotland this month, but instead we brought Scotland to us with a birthday meal consisting of Scotch eggs and tatties & neeps (mashed potatoes), with a cranachan for dessert. The evening ended with a Scotch whisky tasting from my own collection. We filmed the entire day, and will possibly make a video of it at some point. It was a lovely birthday, and Amanda took great care to make it a special one under the circumstances.

One of the many gifts she bestowed upon me was the title of Laird of Glencoe. I'm officially a Laird, and she's officially a Lady. We have official documents to prove it. Look it up! Also, you are to refer to me as "Laird Cameron" from now on.

I hope you, dear reader, are staying safe. It disheartens me to see an army of idiots flocking to beaches, restaurants, and public places without masks thinking the danger is over and that we’re safe again. We are not. Amanda and I were planning on going down to Coronado for a weekend to relax, but ultimately decided against it because we didn’t want to possibly risk catching it or giving it to my newborn niece Violet. We've been very careful this entire quarantine, and didn't want to risk it all on something so uncertain. It sucks, but this is a sacrifice that millions of us are making for the greater good, despite what the MAGAmericans are trying to accomplish. You’re not martyrs, you’re morons.

Here’s Dinah as a palate cleanser, as per usual. Until next time!