A box of kittens

There’s an app called “Written?Kitten!” that rewards you with a picture of a cat after you’ve written 100 words.  Since I trust you’ve written at least 100 words today, here’s a box of kittens. Enjoy!

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the traveling geese

 

the traveling geese

check it out thoroughly..

sooty mat

— #Haiku by Kobayashi Issa, Tr. David G. Lanoue, ill. Old Pond Comics

My Haiku Canada Weekend 2016 Freebie

I spent Easter Sunday cutting, folding and sewing a small comic book.

I will be giving them away at the Haiku Canada Weekend, May 20-22, 2016, in Whitehorse, Yukon.

Every year, I was always waiting to the last minute to prepare my freebie, but this time I decided to prepare them early so I could focus on my presentations: I will be the keynote speaker and cartoonist-in-residence at the next Haiku Canada Weekend in May. I hope you can join us!

The life-changing magic of tidying up

A few months ago, after reading the book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo, I went through my bookshelves and, like the author prescribed, asked myself only one question: does this book make me happy? If not, it went in a suitcase.

At the end of the afternoon, the suitcase was full and there was lots of free space on my shelves for the stuff I really cared about. It was an amazing feeling.

* * *

Recently I was preparing for a trip so I grabbed a suitcase and was surprised to find it full of books. It seems I had neglected the last step of the tidying up process which is to get rid of the stuff right away.

This morning, I hauled the suitcase to my local second-hand bookstore.

As the clerk went through the books, I felt a bit naked. The books revealed a lot about me, my personality, my interests. I felt self-conscious.

Bu then I realized: “This is not who I am, it’s who I was.”

A lot of these books I was selling because I had moved on to other interests or hobbies. The books I cared about were at home. The real me was at home. On my shelf.

 puling an embroiderie thread

out of a book

I

let

go

 

Haigabun (a haibun accompanied by a haiga) is a technique started by Line Michaud. In here, I try my own version: a haibun followed by a comic.

on what day

on what day

will you pass my village?

geese flying north

— Haiku by Kobayashi Issa, Tr. David G. Lanoue, ill. Old Pond Comics

gradually the geese

gradually the geese

pass on…

rice field moon

— Haiku by Kobayashi Issa, Tr. David G. Lanoue, ill. Old Pond Comics

aiming their butts

aiming their butts

at the evening moon…

rice field geese

— Haiku by Kobayashi Issa, Tr. David G. Lanoue, ill. Old Pond Comics

the departing goose

the departing goose

stares the man

in the face

– #Haiku by Kobayashi Issa, translated by David G. Lanoue, illustrated by Jessica Tremblay (Old Pond Comics)

evening wind

evening wind–

the geese turn around

honking

— Haiku by Kobayashi Issa, Tr. David G. Lanoue, ill. Old Pond Comics

 

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