Illustrated Epistle: To be or Not to be a Tomboy

I should put a witty little snippet in here, but I have mental lethargy.

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I know a few at-risk people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 here in Lyttelton, New Zealand (it's a working port with international shipping). And the government has started to advertise about how we should look forward to the vaccine. But it's still ages away before that happens and they've opened up the borders with Australia. Now I love Australia and I quite like some Australians, but there is no way I'm getting on a plane to fly overseas until I've had my jabs.

Blimey, is it nearly the end of April already? You may not realise this, but I used to try and get these epistles out around the 18th of the month. I fell behind last month because of the big bike ride I did. And this month, well I don’t really have an excuse. I’ve become really lazy because of my imaginary endless NZ summer.

I missed much of the 19/20 summer in New Zealand because of building the studio and I decided that I would make the most of the 20/21 season by aiming for

This meant trying to swim, surf, paddle board, or find some other way to immerse myself in salt water for 100 days (not consecutively). I also tried to wear either a skirt or a dress, as I tend to wear jeans, trousers or shorts as they have lots of pockets. And I’m a tomboy. Apparently that isn’t a word we should use these days. But us tomboys ignore woke dictates like that. I cherish the word because it’s how I’ve thought of myself since I was about seven years old. My first professional cartooning job was a topical panel called Tomboy (my drawing style and the internet have changed somewhat in 20 years).

Do you think I’m allowed to own the word, tomboy, the way that black people own the word white people can never say? Hmmmn.

Anyway... I decided to make an effort for summer by wearing more skirts and dresses. Though their pockets are often feeble or non-existent, they are handy when you are changing in and out of swimming togs. Kiwis are prudish when it comes to nudity and you can’t do the Spanish thing and whip everything off and on to change at the beach. Instead it is awkward under-the-towel manoeuvering.

I completed my hundred days this month and now I’m in denial that summer is over. Technically NZ summer ended on 20th March, but the fine weather continued like summer without the wind. It has only been in the last week or so I’ve realised that I need to get a grip. It really isn’t summer any more and I have to knuckle down and get some work done. Maybe after I finish building the deck around the studio. Or after I’ve done my taxes. In any case, the deadlines of being a syndicated cartoonist are relentless so Arctic Circle is one thing I’ve still been working on. These are my favourite cartoons of the month:

I better get back to the drawing table, or to doing my taxes, or to building that deck.

Ta ta for now.

PS. Molly also loves the beach and has been missing it this week as she had her big operation last Thursday. After a day or two she didn’t see what all the fuss was about and resented being confined to barracks. She is full of beans and would love to go and run around with dogs, dig holes with kids and play at the water’s edge, but there will be none of that until the stitches come out (hopefully next week)..

PPS. If you think someone else might find this interesting, please pass it on.

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