While I was out

Hello my Happysad friends,

Thanks again for all of you who’ve been leaving all these great comments in the past five weeks – it feels like you’re the ones keeping this site going at the moment :-)

As for the cartoons, I still haven’t made my mind up yet. It’s still a tricky question, you know… Let me put it this way: suppose that, hypothetically speaking, I would have met someone in the meanwhile who I really like. Certain experiences in the past may or may not have proven that in such an (imagined) situation, it can be unwise, counterproductive even, to start drawing revealing cartoons about that (entirely fictitious) person, as she is bound to find out about this (totally non-autobiographical) website sooner or later. In this (clearly theoretical) scenario, I wouldn’t want to jeopardize my chances, now would I?

Hypothetically speaking, of course.

Jeroen

36 thoughts on “While I was out

  1. I think you’d be hard pressed to convince anyone that it’s non-autobiographical. I don’t really see this site doing anything to help a new relationship. So more happy, less sad, I say. I think most of us who have laughed and cried with our protagonist would agree too!

  2. I guess the endding of this story turned out to be happy, hypothetically speaking ;)
    thak you for sharing.

    Posting a new story its up to you – and the world wide web will be here to apreciate it.

  3. If you’ve found the potential for happiness, grasp it with both hands.

    I’m sure that us, your avid fans, would hate it if you messed up by putting something on this site that spoiled your chances. We’d feel responsible and we’d be having to watch the result of it in your cartoons ever after.

    So no, *please* don’t let your online “responsibilities” get in the way. Stay true to yourself.

  4. Good Luck!

    I really find amusing your hypotethical situation. Mostly because few days before you published cartoon number 1001, I’ve met my special somebody. And then I found out your stories didn’t appealed to me as much, as they used earlier, when my life was very similar to your toons.

    Keep living your life, it’s much more important. Thanks for lots of entertainment and sad thoughts as well. Your cartoons were pretty good start of my each day, but now my days begin much better (thanks to her).

    Wish you the same.

    Tomasz from Poland

  5. You could try writing cartoon ideas, archiving them, and then a year later you could pick through them to see what’s worth safely posting.

    The question becomes “what to draw about until then?”

  6. This has to be the funniest update ive read in a long time. It actually made me laugh out loud.

    but hypothetically, you should go ahead and do what fred said… register happyhappy.com….that would be awesome.

  7. I wonder if it was a good idea to let a hypothetical GF stuble by chance on this web comic, and then try to explain things…
    Why not tell her about it? I mean, it’s not a porn site or misogynistic. Maybe she would even like it. AFAIR, there were some comments from female visitors as well…

  8. In that hypothetical scenario, she should be cool with you cartooning your experiences. Otherwise, she’s not the right one for you, because that’s who you are.

  9. hypothetically speaking of course, I think your cartoons show just what a wonderful person you are, and any hypothetical GF, hypothetically speaking of course would be pleased to find that you have such feelings.

  10. Hypothetically speaking, if one WERE to meet someone they really liked, one would have two choices: 1.) Go on sabbatical for a while and see where it leads and in that time, reveal things such as a wonderful cartoon to them. If person really is that awesome, person will love one’s work and encourage one to, although not necessarily do same work, continue one to be creative. 2.) Continue on with same work and share it as part of who you are with new someone from the beginning because whether it is semi-autobiographical or not, it is a part of who one is just in it’s creative, expressive elements.

    Please remember we love your work and that is why we are here. The fact that one would, hypothetically, need to think about choosing between a who and what one is wonderfully talented at, is sorrowful. Whatever your decision is, thank you for all the smiles and giggles. I hope for more in all honesty, but hope that perhaps, our limbless friend finds what he is looking for even more. And if he does, maybe we will one day get to see the story!

    Good Luck from the USA!!! :D

  11. If it was me I would be honored and amazed that you had pined away for me for so long and wished and wanted and wondered about me – and cared enough about meeting me that you spent your creative time drawing me and dreaming about me.

    And if she’s all that she will totally GET this side of you – and if she doesn’t she’s not *her* – she wouldn’t be worthy of happysad.

  12. You know what, I think we all have something in common here!!!! we all love happysad stories which has become a fabric of our lives…
    I believe if you dont love happysad more than us, cant love them less than us!!!!!!!! I think that special person wouldnt like to take that from your life! But hypothetically you should NEVER EVER let it slip!!! so I wish u good luck and I am sure once u found out if she is the one, happysad will go to a new stage…
    Take care

  13. Hmm… interesting hypothesis however hypothetical it is :) I would say that whether they’re autobiographical or not and whether they reflect your life now or not, I would argue that those comics were good when you made them and you were in the ‘HappySad’ mind for making them so for that time they are still valid. They may not be autobiographical but they might act as a biography for you as an online personality and comic-maker. It might sound weird but those comics may not be where you are now but they are where you were and that’s sorta your online legacy. I don’t think it’d be counter-productive if you explained it to this (hypothetical) person that they’re not your comics or whatever now. Best wishes for whatever really is happening with you then. :)

  14. I reckon you’ll be back posting cartoons before long (I’m really hoping!):)
    You would be right to be cautious about what you post and what a hypothetical girlfriend would see. If you can get the balance right and not post anything too personal you would have a happy gf and a very happy audience :)

  15. oh! i’m always late to the discussion!

    but nonetheless, this hypothetical situation got me excited for you! but assuming this hypothetical situation comes into action, i agree with susan. 100%. and i definitely agree about the whole reading the end of the story part. maybe it will be like an andre jordan type of happy ending (from the ‘a beautiful revolution’ blog). his was the best. :) best of luck to you, Jeroen!

  16. I think we are all hoping for a happy ending here… we all want the guy to get a girl worth all of the happysad moments in life. I think we would miss the cartoons, but I, for one, have come to think of your cartoons as friends, and I would want nothing more for my friend than to be happy, even if it meant not seeing him as often.

    Best Wishes

  17. If you were to, hypothetically, let this person know that you drew a cartoon in your free time about in events in your life, and asked this person if they would hypothetically mind being in it, then you could know if it would jeopardize your chances.

  18. What if you could hypothetically draw cartoons about your theoretical relationship with this fictional significant other of yours. I’m talking about funny things that happen in your imagination and such.

  19. I’ve read your cartoon most of the three years that you’ve been posting it… I wasn’t a daily reader, but I did pop back in to backtrack and reread everything. It’s a great read, and I will continue to come back… until it is finished, or until you start again.

    Cheers

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