First Game of the Season

We went to watch a game tonight

The first one of the year

We thought we’d have a lot of fun

We thought we’d scream and cheer

But then we got down to the field

About ten minutes late

The other team had zero, but

Our guys had twenty-eight!

We stayed to see the rest of it

Despite the humid air

And by the end they got six points

And our team didn’t care

They earned a whopping fifty-two

It wasn’t even close

And though we didn’t cheer that much

At least we’re not morose

Poet's Day

Come, my readers, come and hear

The story of a day held dear

By countless people round the world

Whose flag of rhythm flies unfurled

Their feet have meter, verse and rhyme

Their odes are young, their stress sublime

So on this August twenty-first

We’re celebrating those well-versed

In writing sonnets or haiku

A limerick or a trope or two

But now it’s your turn, don’t delay

Just write a poem for Poet’s Day

And if you ask me, sir or ma’am

Am I a poet? Yes, iamb!!

Back To School Night

Tonight we went back to school! While there, we got to hear the principal and various other administrators and group leaders present their programs and give us all sorts of useful information (that we've already heard for the last few years of attending these things). So I used the time to do what any good and diligent student would do in the same situation and started doodling. These are cellphone photos, so they're probably not as sharp as the scanned images I typically post, but the originals might have ended up in a couple of girls' lockers.

One daughter requested a red panda (hard to do when you only have a black pen)

The other requested a mushroom. The dragonfly was my idea.

National Aviation Day

As you might have guessed from the post title, it's National Aviation Day. However, I'm worn out after a long day of work (I love weeding in 95% humidity with no breeze!!) so all you get tonight is this very rough speed sketch.

Hey, I just realized something after adding the picture. Although it's not a foregone conclusion, there's a strong implication that he's about to hit the barn!

Purple Porpoise Poetry

Pertaining to the previous post...

I’ll paint a pretty picture of a playful purple porpoise

Then I’ll pen a piece of poetry precisely for the purpose

Of pointing out his parabolic pirouettes prolific

As he plunges his proboscis in the placid blue Pacific

(phew!)

Purple Porpoise

Today I received a request for a purple porpoise. If there are any other ideas you'd like me to try, add it to the comments or send me an email.

DC

Quick question - What do Batman, the nation's capital city and this post have in common?

Answer - Batman is a creation of DC comics, the capital is Washington, D.C., and DC is the Roman numeral for 600!

Happy 600th blog post!

Logic Fail

Today is both National Relaxation Day and National Failures Day.  Both of those holidays combined perfectly with actual events today, successfully resulting in this little poem. Drat.

Today is the day we’re supposed to relax

But I didn’t know that and that’s why my back’s

All achy and sore cause I strained it while mowing

I failed at relaxing but now that I’m knowing

Today there’s another obscure holiday

A day just for failures, which leads me to say

If I failed at relaxing by working outside

Should my failure be viewed as a small source of pride

Or should I be angry or feeling this tense

I succeeded at failing, which doesn’t make sense

Cause when I succeed it negates the day’s failing

I’ve then failed to fail - oh, it sets the mind wailing

Regardless, a winner or failure instead

My back’s still in pain, so I’m going to bed

Zen Brush

Today I got to take my mother-in-law to the eye doctor. While sitting in the waiting room, I started playing with a different drawing app than the one I normally use. This one is called Zen Brush and while it's not as full-featured as Sketchbook Pro, it does have some interesting pressure and brush effects. Here's my first zen doodle - everything except the signature was drawn with the same settings, so you can see the range of line thickness and darkness you can get from adjusting how hard you push with the stylus.

The Beast Revealed

I think I might still be suffering the aftereffects of last night's encounter with the cricket. I keep seeing visions of the monster every time I close my eyes. As a strategy for dealing with the horror, I have decided to try drawing the foul creature, hoping to free my mind from his evil grasp. Be warned, the following image may not be suitable for the very young or those of a sensitive demeanor. Behold, the Beast!!