A peek from the latest page of Patrick Farley’s Dicebox Aside, “Don’t Look Back.” (permalink) I predict punches real soon.

There was also a two page update last week that I neglected to mention here due to my current reason and excuse for most things these days: Taran. I am getting the hang of her (and her me), and a rhythm is emerging. Even so, I get frustrated at not being even remotely on top of things. Hell, a good day is when I manage to do all the dishes if nothing else. But I have very few if any regrets in having her; it does help that she is pretty darn cute:

This photo shows another reason I’m grateful for Patrick’s epic page count for this guest story (up to 23 pages and still going!). That’s me holding her and the hand brace on my right hand—a.k.a. the drawing hand—is due to the carpal tunnel injury I’ve had for seven weeks now. Apparently this is a common side effect of pregnancy and delivery, even more so with a c-section, though it ought to have gone away by now. So it’s off to the hand specialist I go.

I went about 5 weeks without drawing a damn thing, then gradually began sketching again as I couldn’t stand it anymore. It’s a bit clumsy and slow going yet, with frequent breaks, but getting better. I even managed my first bit of cartooning yesterday (and did all the dishes to boot!). As with everything else these days, it involves the Kid: