I’ve mentioned it a few times recently, and now it has come: it’s my birthday today. And what a day! I’ve never mentioned my age here so I believe that most Happysad fans have no clue how old I actually am. Well, count them:
That’s right, I’m 40! Or at least, I will be tomorrow, because as I’m writing this, it is still yesterday (for you) but I will schedule this post to be published tomorrow (for me), meaning today for you. You see how things get less complicated as you get older?
Forty… sounds pretty special, doesn’t it? Friends and colleagues have been teasing me with it in recent days, but to be honest, I really don’t mind. Actually, I believe 40 is an age that suits me well.
So hell yeah man, I’m ready for it 
Jeroen
Let’s celebrate some more rejection with this cartoon. Translated for your convenience this time!
It’s pretty topical here in Belgium – it’s past half of May, and it’s still a miserly 12 degrees (C) here, cold, grey and rainy. It’s supposed to be a sunny 20 by now! But it could be worse. In the evening news, I saw it was snowing in Portugal and Spain. What the hell?
I hope the weather predictions are wrong and the real spring will return later this week. Got a big birthday coming up on Thursday… 
Don’t get overexcited, this is NOT a new Happysad cartoon!
On the contrary, this is an old one dating back to 2007. The reason I’m picking it up again is this cool anecdote: some time ago, I was contacted by a New York philosophy professor who came to ask permission to use this cartoon in a book he’s writing on quantum mechanics in popular culture. How cool is that? I love knowing my cartoons will end up in some academic publication on another continent. I love it even more when people have the decency to at least request permission, instead of just stealing it like most people tend to do. By the coolest thing was that in his e-mail, he actually addressed me in Dutch! Turns out he studied in my home town some thirty years ago. Nice touch
Hey everybody,
dropping by to say hi and let you know things are fine. I was talking with Yonderland girl recently (yes, we’re still in touch very frequently), and at one point I was reminded of my plans to change things in my life. Funny, I almost forgot about those – but not in a bad way. Not in the sense that I had given up on them, but in the sense that self-improvement is becoming more of a habit, and less of something I need to remind myself of every day.
And things are going quite well. My cartoon customers have finally ended their hibernation, and I’m getting interesting assignments again. I’ve picked up running again, and I’m very pleased that the sun is out more often. Of course, I can’t rest on my laurels just yet – I still have a long way to go. But I’ve decided to just go along and enjoy the ride. That might also have something to do with a BIG birthday coming up next month…
I’ll write some more about that later. Meanwhile, not to leave you entirely empty-handed, here’s a bunny saying woof:
For lack of new cartoons (yes, still) I thought I’d show you a few other things I’ve been trying out earlier. Mostly because people came with a request for them, so not because I was dragging myself out of my comfort zone… but sometimes it’s nice if other people can do that for you
The first is a card announcing the birth of the son of a friend of mine, who is a house painter – hence the theme. Some people may also recognise the logo I used. I wasn’t sure what people were going to think about my fairly ‘non-traditional’ approach, but I hear people really liked it, so Yeay
And speaking of logos, I was also asked to design a logo, another thing I have virtually no experience in. But again, my clients were very pleased with in, so Double Yeay. (Never mind what D-A-D means. No relation with the previous assignment either.)
So there. What do you think?
Jeroen
