Hello friends,

If these lines read faster to you than the ones in my previous newsletters, it might be because I’ve got fiber now. The internet kind, not the kind in my food. I think that’s how it works, but we’d better ask someone from IT to confirm.

At the end of this week’s issue, I’ll also share some thoughts about moving beyond daily comics and trying my hand at more involved storytelling.

But enough small talk. Let’s take a look at this week’s comics, shall we?

Monday

At the beginning of this week, we came back from our short trip to the North Sea. Shoutout to Anna who did all the driving!

Arriving back at my apartment, I greeted the cats (happy and content thanks to my cat sitter, despite the 30°C heat) and collapsed onto the couch. I’d somewhat mismanaged my social battery over the previous couple of days, and it showed. I’ve gotten better at that in recent years, but sometimes I still get it wrong, and then it feels like a one- or two-day hangover. As I wrote above: Oh, woe is me!

Tuesday

Deciding not to work out is a big deal for me. Once I start making excuses to skip my daily workout, I know how slippery that slope can become. Coming up with reasons that sound perfectly logical is one of my special talents. Over time, I’ve had to learn not to listen to them and simply push through. After all, I can’t remember the last time I regretted finishing a workout, especially one I didn’t want to do in the first place.

Wednesday

Poor old Linus. He’s such a good boy and only wanted to show that cat it wasn’t supposed to be on his property. His operation is on Thursday. I hope everything goes okay.

Thursday

I finally ordered fibre. I could have done it months ago, and it’s even €5 cheaper than my current DSL contract, but I just didn’t want to deal with the hassle. Figuring out whether to buy a new router or an external modem, and working out how to prepare my flat for the installation... all of that took about 15 minutes in the end, but sometimes things like that just block you.

🖌️
This is my favorite drawing from this week. I love how simple it is and how it tells a story without any words. The cat looks adorable, the movement feels dynamic, and the colors of the background are more muted than I’d normally choose, which helps keep the focus on the character.

Friday

Not pictured here: the complete chaos that ensued when the two technicians realised they needed access to a private basement compartment to install the fibre cable and run it up into my flat. They headed off for lunch, I figured out who the flat belonged to, and they came back later to finish the job. A close call!

I took the opportunity, while all my books were off that shelf, to sell the ones I no longer wanted to keep. There wasn’t enough room left for new books, so I got rid of ninety-three old ones. The verdict is still out, but the platform that buys used books estimated a return of €205. That would be nice.

Saturday

We had one of those wonderful weekends when everyone came to Hamburg to celebrate. I love weekends like that. People travelled in from Berlin, Luxembourg and the UK, and we had such a great time. The absolute highlight of the weekend was Werner’s 40th birthday.

Sunday

Two years ago, I had just moved back to Hamburg after some of the loneliest months of my life. I still can’t quite believe my luck when I find myself surrounded by friends. Knowing this is the life I consciously chose and worked towards makes it even sweeter.

That evening, we went to another escape room. It was themed around the Reeperbahn in the 80s, and appropriately raunchy. I just love escape rooms. Like... a lot. They’re pure fun. You get thrown into a different world, someone has designed an entire experience just for that one hour, and you get to enjoy one moment of success after another. What’s not to like?!

I can’t wait for the next one.

Beyond the Daily Comic

I’m slowly becoming mentally ready to take on projects beyond “just” the daily comics. They’ve become a real routine by now, and I can feel the urge to challenge myself again.

One thought has kept returning over the past few weeks: I’d like to try my hand at more involved storytelling.

Last week’s subscriber-only section of the newsletter crystallized that feeling for me. While writing about the summers of my youth, I began to suspect that those memories and descriptions might be helped along by something else. Art, perhaps.

The daily comics tell stories too, of course. But it’s also very easy to throw together a few panels showing what I did that day and call the job finished.

I think I want to do more.