Meet & Geek

Drawing up my 400th Ginger & Shadow comic strip last night, I started thinking about numbers.  I’ve been at this for 20 years. Including Embrace the Pun, Rafferty, Star Crossed and Ginger & Shadow I’ve drawn about 1450 cartoons. In that time I’ve published 5 Trade Paperback collections and 2 Comic Books.

I couldn’t stop there.

I played in Ice Hockey leagues since I was 20 and stopped at 48. Averaging just one game a week for 28 years I played about 1450 games. That makes me equal parts Hockey Player and Cartoonist. Nobody ever paid me a dime to play hockey so I guess I’m a Cartoonist. My time on the ice resulted in a few dust-ups, more than a couple of black eyes and 26 facial stitches. This may surprise some of you since I’m generally quiet and easy-going. I’m also Irish.

In my twenties I made 75 Parachute Jumps. Including jet flights, I’ve flown in 86 airplanes but only landed with 11.

I’ve been married for 26 years and self-employed for 30. I’ve owned 13 automobiles, had 2 brothers, attended 2 colleges, only worked for 2 corporations, purchased 2 homes, raised 2 great kids, and co-habitated with 2 cats (nobody “owns” a cat according to Ginger).

I’ve written 12 Short Stories and published 3. This is Blog Post number 442. I’m running 3 Cartooning Websites and posting to 6 Social Media sites. I have sent 380 Panel Cartoons to The New Yorker and they have published zero, zippo, nada, scratch, not a single solitary one.

What does it all mean? Not a damned thing.

I was just thinking about numbers.