falseredstart:

When I started grad school last year there wasn’t a single hairy woodpecker on campus. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a pair showed up to breed that spring.

Those intrepid parents must have been successful, because I caught a year-old hairy this morning! He has a lovely mate and the two of them are currently on eggs.

I love all the things I’ve accidentally trained my dog to do, just by being a creature of habit, without any actual intent to teach her a specific behavior

when I stop on our walks and drop her leash to use both hands for camera/binocs/phone, she knows to stop and wait and not approach any people/animals who come along, and as soon as I pick the leash up again she knows it means ‘go’, without me having to say a word. at no point did I mean to teach her this, she just adapted her behavior to her weird birdwatching human all by herself.

tealin:

It’s Free Comic Book Day, which means it’s a year since I launched my Patreon.  I didn’t know what to expect, then, so it’s amazing to think we’re now within grasping distance of 100 patrons.  It would be doubly amazing to hit that for the anniversary, so I’ve thrown open the doors this weekend so that you, presumably a non-patron, can see what goes on over there and why you might want to join the party.

We’re only 14 patrons away from being 100-strong!  Here’s why you should be one of them:

  • New posts, on average, about twice a week!
  • Posts get emailed to you, so you won’t miss them!
  • The basic subscription level is $2/month – for less than the price of a coffee, you get a whole month of original artwork and all the facts about polar explorers that you can handle!
  • Higher subscription levels come with fun stuff like high-res downloads and livestreams!
  • Help to bring into the world a historically-accurate epic adventure with great characters who really existed and did those things!
  • I will pay it forward by re-investing 10% of my take-home Patreon dollars in other creators
  • By pledging now, you get nearly a whole month’s subscription before you have to pay anything

I’m continually astonished that enough people have got behind this project to just about pay my rent.  Thank you!!  One does not live on rent alone, though, and the more I have to juggle this very demanding project with the demands of animation freelance in order to eat etc., the longer it’s going to take.  Plus, this year I need to renew my visa, and make a trip to the RRS Discovery and the Thought Bubble comics festival.  I live very frugally in order to do this project, but these expenses are considerable!  Every patron is a double boon: you cast a vote of confidence in the project, and take a little financial weight off my mind.

So please check out my Patreon today and see if that’s something you might want in your life!