Oh yes, I have a blog here.

I have a blog everywhere! If there's one thing I did from 2002 to maybe 2012? Set up BLOGS.
I just assumed that I'd have limitless enthusiasm to frequently and rapidly update. And I did!

I had infinite energy that wasn't yet drained by omnipresent social media that I carried around in my pocket.

I'm 54 now, almost 55. I'm fitter than I was in my 40s. I sleep WAY better. I would say the biggest change of the last 10 years has been that I am less impulsive and spontaneous. I've got better follow-through on the things I choose to do.

In a very amateurish and haphazard way, I'm eyeing how people went from their late 30s to early 50s.
The Beastie Boys shut down their 'Grand Royal' brand. They did not have infinite time and energy any more.
A number of music outfits (they age faster than fruit!) went from hippest of hip to tribute bands.
And there's a ton of left over web sites, half forgotten projects and efforts. Some wrapped up, more not.

Not that one's obliged to ease into middle age easily or smoothly. It seems that for a lot of people, the mild toboggan incline of their thirties becomes a ski slope in their 40s, if they don't have good health habits. More commitments (that's good), less time and attention for art.

One 'data point' for me is how some artists (Kate Beaton, Mandy Ord) have moved on to proper 'book' comics. Our friends at SquishFace Studios? Long shut down now, attempting to get a drawing night back up.

Hitting me where I think and feel right now:

Jeff Levine did 'No Hope' Comics in the 1990s. He's had the same job since 1999, it turns out. (And now he's been laid off.)
Good design approach, use of color for Instagram. Has a web site as well.

https://www.instagram.com/jefflevinecomics/?hl=en

https://www.jefflevinecomics.com

Jeff_Levine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also Gabby Schulz. He was the 2006 Ignatz winner and 2007 Center for Cartoon Studies resident, now he's living in a van, in share houses and feeling it.

https://www.instagram.com/gabbyschulz/

(Instagram locked, but if you ask nicely you might see.)

Gabby_Schulz

 

 

 

"A Process of Drastically Reducing One's Expectations" is available via print-on-demand and Gumroad.

https://phase8publishing.gumroad.com/l/APODROE

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both are talking about their lives - daily details, anxieties, small victories. For both, a lot of thinking is 'so it's come to this'. Or, 'how did I end up this way'. Alternately, 'I've learned a few small things".  Both have impressionistic but clear styles.