Inktober 2019

It’s Time for That Disapproving Face:

(#inktober returns to try our followers’ patience)

I like to try to keep up with the drawing-a-day mandate of Inktober because the time pressure eventually pushes me into drawing something more interesting...at least that is the hope...

Meanwhile, I know it is not what the napkins followers are here to see, so once again, I apologize for the upcoming month of pretentious, attempts at drawings that will portray far fewer superheroes on absorbent paper products that we might like.

I usually try to pick a theme for Inktober, and I regret to report that it looks like this year’s series will be about my problems with sleep.

To recap quite briefly: I had a run-in with bad health back in 2016, and while I successfully stomped the symptoms down, since then “health and wellness” has remained a hobby...or maybe if you ask my family, more of a fixation.

When I got sick, it occurred rather belatedly to me that sleeping 4 or 5 hours a night for over a decade might not have been a good idea. I had always been of the “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” school of thought, but the advent of children in my life exponentially increased my opportunity for sleep deprivation. During those years where I was only in bed from 1 am to 6 am, I was a brilliant and efficient sleeper. 

Now that sleep seems increasingly essential to my ongoing health and ability to remember my childrens’ names and the day of the week, I am a remarkably terrible sleeper.

I have tried an appalling number of interventions and tactics to remedy this situation...some common sense, some ludicrous. 

For the first day of inktober, we have blue-blocking glasses. Because blue light tells your superchiasmatic nucleus that it is daylight and you should not make melatonin and go to sleep. And all of our electronic rectangles are full of blue light.

And because oversized red glasses (mine are large enough to fit over my regular glasses) are super attractive.