Homeschool routine

Back to school, but I'm determined to keep up with my monthlies! I notice beverages play a central role in many of my stories. Hmm... 

Minecraft Conversations: You know what that means.

Today's bonus cartoon is another episode of: Minecraft Conversations.

Mine Eyes Have Seen Thy Salvation - St. Simeon

We love the extra-biblical backstory of St. Simeon, and I love the colors in this one. 

As a Bird She Escaped - St. Barbara

This month's Fool [ahem] Daily tells briefly the life of St. Barbara. Her story, and the miracles and legends associated with her, are pretty fantastic, so I focused on those and left out the more sordid details of her martyrdom. I have some thoughts about how this turned out and how it could be better, but I'm remembering being told that I shouldn't immediately point my audience to all the things I don't like - so I'll let it stand on its own. If anything, these comics are fun for me and perhaps I won't worry about being too critical now. An icon of St. Barbara is included below. 

Keep Going

Lent is over, bright week is passed, summer break is almost here, and I'm beginning to catch my breath. I want to get these going again, but I think want to maintain better quality than my last few comics. So I'm giving myself a generous time frame - I'm thinking a monthly comic. Stay tuned for something new by the end of May!

Rethinking

Alas, I'm not able to keep up with the daily comic, and do it well, at this point. I think close to 60 comics in a little over 2 months was a good effort, and I feel good about that. I'm rethinking how I'll proceed, and I'll be back soon!

But the Hardest Part

If you can resist the oreos, maybe you can resist that guy who's got it coming.

Tempation is everywhere

...even in Oreos.

The hard part of Orthodox Lent

...its not over yet.

To Celebrate... or Not

Its all in the timing.

Pascha

The consequences of existing in the world...

Why you should give up Facebook for Lent

Rumors > Sources

Pagan Bunnies

Nothing like throwing out the baby and keeping the bathwater...

The Easter Bunny

Its that time of year...

(Okay, you caught me back dating this post! I took off for clean week, and then this week was Spring Break, and it was Wednesday before I realized I was behind. Oops!)

Forgiveness Sunday

Orthodox Lent begins this Sunday! We're a little late this year. :) I may take clean week off from the comic, I haven't decided yet.

Three Legged Stool

More lenten preparations. I drew this little doodle to teach my kiddos about balancing the three components of our Lenten effort, and thought it would be fun to make an animated gif.

All it takes...

So, not much success this week. 

Drawing a Blank

I don't think it counts as cheating since I didn't color it until 10 PM tonight, right? Working on some other fun projects during the day, and hope to share them soon!

I'm late today, but not because I forgot to draw - because I couldn't stop drawing other things. 

Almost

Gearing up for Lent and feeling both excitement and dread!

Lady Meatfare

Today is one of those days I've been running crazy trying to accomplish all the things, and I didn't realize I had forgotten my cartoon until 10:00! I was working on some Lenten education materials, so I turned one of those doodles into todays comic.

For my non-Orthodox/non-Greek readers, Kyra Sarakosti (literally Lady Lent, or Lady Forty Days) is a personification of Great Lent. She has 7 legs for the 7 weeks of Lent, her arms folded in prayer, and no mouth to represent the fasting. We're in the 3 weeks of preparation before Lent now, so today's comic features Kyra Sarakosti's lesser known sister, Kyra Meatfare.

Almost time! A blessed fast to those of you celebrating.

More Minecraft Conversations

And now its time for another episode of Minecraft Conversations.

Super Tuesday

Happy Leap Day!

And now I have to make fudge...

Cheerful Giver

Taking Charge

I'm not sure there's anything actually funny about today's comic, but I think this was the first time I wasn't asked to deal with the bug, and I was pretty happy about that. 

Just Keep Going

A Little Grace

Sisters

It's Monday. Thank God for sisters who send surprises. :)

Minecraft Conversations

I had food poisoning yesterday, which meant the kids got unlimited app time, and I had plenty of time to reflect on the absurd things they had to say. Catching up on my comic today!

Fishing

I ran out of planned material, so I'm a little late today, and maybe fishing a little for ideas. 

Attention Span

It takes 8 minutes to boil pasta, y'all.

When I want more...

I bang my hand on the table with a smile. This is another of last week's figure drawings, colored with some photoshop brushes. 

The One Storey Universe

This is a series of theological cartoons (not my regular daily comic, I suppose) based on the writing of Fr. Stephen Freeman about Christianity in a One-Storey Universe.

I grew up, happily, in a fundamentalist Christian denomination until about a decade ago when I experienced a crisis of faith. Fr. Stephen's writing has played a crucial role in my conversion and continued faith in God, by holding my hand through a major paradigm shift. His writing about the comparison of a two-storey universe and the one-storey universe most clearly explain this paradigm shift, and I return to re-read these articles frequently. This is about a faith that is not abstract or at odds with the natural world, but the reality that God is with us and fully integrated into our life and world.

Since I first began reading about this metaphor I have pictured it in little cartoons, but I only sat down to draw them this last week. Forgive me, I can't promise they illustrate the concept perfectly, and they have a little humor infused (at least, I think they do). Most of these cartoons come out of the writing at the link above, but he has written many more articles to expand this topic; see also these discussions on the church and unbelief.

A House Blessing

Orthodox bless their homes each year between Theophany and the beginning of Lent. Our house blessing was yesterday, and so today's comic reflects on the sacredness of all things. "Nothing is profane except that which you profane." 

Feelin' Groovy

I really am groovy like Paul Simon, guys. 

I rushed through this comic a bit because I just got a new Wacom tablet (!) and I'm trying to figure out how to use it. So I figure its okay if things get a little worse for a few days, because soon they'll get better, right? Let's find out!