Cruisin, aka: Where have I Been and Where I’m I About to Go?

Wow it really has been a minute since I made a solemn 2024 “New Years Day Pledge” that I would be keeping, at the very least, this blog up to date. But life got in the way more than anticipated, or at least busy enough to sit down and write about it.

As I type this out in the wee small hours of Easter Monday, my phone is still charging on its wireless cradle, I’m embarking on my 4th week doing/trying the Carnivore diet, and I’m killing time until I jump on the red-eye train to Sydney Domestic airport for the first part of my first international cruise.

Along with a bunch of other interesting and positive developments in my life that deserve honourable mentions: I was able to break my dating dry spell, became an uncle for the 3rd time, I returned (if a little haphazardly) to the world of live streaming and content creation, and I visited Costco for the first time.

For the next 2 and a bit weeks I’ll be travelling by sea across the Pacific Ocean to the Land of the Rising Sun, which is technically New Zealand but there was a change of plans, so I’m going to Japan.

But back to the Carnivore diet for just a moment.

I had dabbled in this lifestyle before, but I had no idea how deep the rabbit-hole actually went (or how delicious the rabbit would be once it was caught, killed and pan fried) but the results and the various theories and testimonies speak for themselves. And the subsequent community around this way of eating and living has become almost like a second (or third) online family, right behind the Australian Cartoonists Association and the group of friends I occasionally play video games with on discord.

This time however I am more committed to staying on the wagon as my fitness goals have evolved from, to quote comedian Kevin James : “I just don’t want my stomach to jiggle when I brush my teeth” to “abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym” so far I’m pleasantly surprised by the weight loss results.

The cruise ship buffet will mark a for an interesting side quest when it comes to my carnie street cred. Either way life is about to take a very cool and amazing turn, so much so that I updated my cartoon avatar.

Until next time 🙂

Cartoonist Challenge 2024

As I was perusing my copy of last year’s ACA yearbook (which I was incredibly fortunate to be a part of given how busy 2023 was) and I missed my entry in the single panel gag cartoon, along with some other categories I normally feature my work in. So to ameliorate this oversight I’ve decided to go all out and “finish the unfinished” which is the current title of my live stream.

https://www.twitch.tv/ed_dyer

I’m REALLY Enjoying This Live Stream:

Well it’s official, to my followers out there I am back and live streaming with a new time from 9:00pm AEST (usually till around midnight) and a somewhat more professional setup. Obviously this is subject to change given my schedule as a freelance cartoonist, but for now check me out on Twitch! I’m also simulcasting to YouTube and X.

https://www.twitch.tv/ed_dyer

2023: A Year in Review

Well it’s been one amazing year, meeting long lost family members for the first time (well technically IRL rather than via video call) conquering lingering tasks and tearing off bandaids. So here’s a Top 10 round up of the things, in no particular order, of the things I achieved/discovered and thankfully crossed off the bucket list in 2023.

Number 10: Making it to 40 years old. Yes, I am what’s considered an “older millennial” (or an X-Lennial) aka someone who reached majority at the beginning of the 2000’s. It’s one of those milestones that now makes me re-evaluate what the definition of old means, but also the list of “Normal Grown-up Achievements” does appear in more stark focus now more than ever. Particularly random people telling me how “good I looked for being 40” which was conclusive proof that people did just look way older back in the day… either that or I’m just lucky.

Number 9: Moving to my first bachelor pad, which is a fancy way of saying I spent 6 months of the early part of the year being mildly ripped-off for the rental of the downstairs living area of a much bigger (and significantly older) house. But this was something I promised myself before turning 40, kind of a rite of passage. Though living out of home was nothing new to me, a previous foray with a long term relationship in my 20’s, couch surfing and sleeping off the previous night’s partying and of course hotel stays while doing conventions basically prepped me for the sublime solitude of actually living by myself.

Number 8: Scoring my first merchandise contract. As mentioned in a previous post I began working with Geekdom Tees, an Australian based pop culture apparel company. There’s more on the way.

Number 7: Taking a hiatus from, but eventually returning to live streaming. I had initially dabbled with the platform known as Twitch during the tail end of the pandemic

Number 6: Being flown out to cover for another artist based in North Queensland.

Number 5: My First “viral” YouTube video. Well technically my second viral video, I had been trying to figure out the elusive “YouTube Algorithm” when I simply posted a random observation about the 2001 Planet of the Apes movie by Tim Burton that had been bugging me since I first saw it in theatres.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/OQzeQCMOPXE

Number 4: Clearing out my storage locker.

Number 3: Returning to Perth Western Australia after the better part of a decade, and by extension completing the full Oz Comic Con Convention Tour (despite having missed Brisbane again)

Number 2: Finishing up my invisalign braces. My days of having an overbite that partially resembled the end result of smoking an exploding gag cigar (which looks extremely dangerous even in the old cartoons)

Number 1: Reconnecting with my family after so much time and such great distance. Proving once again, to quote Ian Malcolm as played by the legendary Jeff Goldblum in Jurassic Park “If there is one thing the history of evolution has taught us, that life will not be contained. LIFE BREAKS FREE…” which is more or less what I plan to do in 2024.

Thanks for coming to my ED talk.

Just Because you add the word “Cyber” to it, doesn’t make Monday any better. X’D

Well another “Black Friday” has come and gone, and it’s equally as perplexing follow up day of “deals” Cyber Monday is firmly in the rear view for another year. And, like many Australians, seeing this post Thanksgiving American shopping tradition unquestioningly adopted by retail stores here, I have to say “Yeah, nah, I still don’t get it” now it could be the F.O.M.O has long since become muted in me since seeing my tax bill as a small business owner, or the fact I’ve never been much for shopping sprees, but I might have missed my chance to get all my Christmas shopping done in one fell swoop, while battling queues of other panic buying shoppers…

Oh well, I guess I’ll just order everything online.