Happy Friday, my Daily Comicslings! (Patreon)

As promised, here's a belated polyamory-related comic:

It's hard for me to summarize my feelings about this into six little panels. In fact, the original is covered in correction tape and I re-wrote it three times, so it's not in the store, because it'd be too much work to frankenstein it together into something worth selling.

The center two panels are gendered because this kind of closeness isn't as side-eyed when it's between two women. I can fly to see a female-bodied friend of mine for a week, stay in her bed, we can pee with the door open and talk to each other while one's taking a shower, share long hugs and tell each other "I love you so much," and none of it would be considered weird.

Luckily, I think the reservations we're taught to have between opposite genders get easier to loosen the older we get. There are a lot of "I love you"s in my life between friends these days.

Here's something not remotely related to polyamory:

(Which is to say, when it rains for days and I don't let him outdoors. It's suuuuper rare that Ollie bites anyone!)

All five of my cats have been easy to flip over and give manicures to. The trick is to gently pick 'em up during their afternoon naps when they're especially groggy. ;)

Here's the original for this one! (Scroll down to find your 50% off coupon!)

Last month at TCAF, I fucked up and left a box of books in my car, parked an hour away from the convention. But it made for a nice excuse to have coffee with a GWS reader...

I can't believe that trip was ten years ago. I ended GWS, left my phone at home, hiked to Harper's Ferry, and took a train to live in Toronto for a month. I didn't have a clear reason for all of this, it just felt like the right thing to do at the time. I needed to be off the internet and out of the country.

I've wanted to write about my "unplugged" Toronto trip for years, so I'm going to start drawing little anecdotes about it here in my dailies from time to time. (Here's the original for this comic, before I go on!)

More about the payphone thing...

Where I would rather be outdoors on a warm day without my phone, Rich (Stevens, of Diesel Sweeties fame) would rather be in a cold basement with no windows, surrounded by computer monitors. Despite our differences, we've been good friends for years, and used to do a podcast called Coffee and Cider. We were usually talking about work and creativity and webcomics, but it didn't really have a specific direction.

(Here's the original for this daily!)

Yesterday I met up with my friend Jamie Noguchi and brought along a tote bag full of relics from my 2015 trip: film photos, notepads, the little book of phone numbers that I carried with me everywhere. There aren't a lot of working payphones in Toronto now, but fortunately I took a photo of one from that trip:

Back to the present: I did a crazy thing the other day.

There's a little bump beginning to form on one eyelid, but so far my actual eyeball is okay! Maybe my eyeball isn't allergic to it. Anyway, WISH ME LUCK. Here's the original art!

Apparently my brain goes straight to bananaland when I'm sleeping. I shouldn't be surprised by this, considering how unhinged my dreams tend to be. (Ally Boothroyd is very good at what she does, please trust Luke and Lucy instead of me and my bizarre dreamland version of her.)

And for you lovers of nidra, or dreamers of weird shit, here's the original art! Type in DAILYSMILE50 at checkout for your 50% off discount!

If you get my email newsletter you already know this, but I'll be in TWO gallery shows this weekend in Shepherdstown! If you're in the area tonight...

Our Studio Tour will have a show opening at Evolve tonight (Friday) from 5-8. I'll be there, selling daily comics & figure drawing collections, along with my tourmates, who will be selling everything from baskets to jewelry to paintings to ironwork, glasswork, woodwork, and fiberwork.

Skull City Studio will have an opening reception Saturday from 3-6 for Art in Bloom, which pairs 12 pieces of art with 12 floral artists. I have a colorful watercolor figure study in there and I have NO IDEA what the floral arrangement will look like?!? I'm excited! I'll be there for the reception, so come check out this new gallery and hang out with us!

And my friend Michael Davis (my partner in figure drawing crime) will be debuting his new piece Madame XY at his gallery, Badgerhound, all weekend as well. Go check it out and inquire about the piece, it's really cool. :)

That's it! I'll stop taking up your whole Friday now. WAIT JUST KIDDING, here's a garden status update:

The sunflowers against the wall are finally as tall as me!

Those kale plants are exactly as large as they look. I can't eat it all, and if you know me, a Voracious Kale Eater, that's saying something.

These zinnias are literally called ZOWIE and y'know what? They were right to name them that.

I've finally learned to hide my basil from the sun. All four plants taste as good as they look!

Alright, NOW I'm done. Catch you next Friday, or if you're local, maybe I'll catch you this weekend in town at a gallery! Have a good Saturday-Sunday, my dears!