Energy efficiency

I'm listening to some people talking on the radio about the new mandates for more fuel efficient cars by 2020. I don't see why it's taken this long for people to take action; we were talking about improving efficiency in houses and cars at least as far back as Jimmy Carter's presidency. The argument that more fuel efficient cars will "cost" more ignores the fact that we're paying more for gas now than we would be if cars had been more efficient decades ago, as demand would be much lower than it is. Thus, the long-term result is that more efficient cars cost less, because the cost of fuel is ultimately lower.

Now, if there'd been a higher gas tax long ago, to make saving fuel more appealing to the masses, we'd have seen better vehicles long ago. (Now we're in a recession and even I question the viability of raising the gas tax(es) at this time.) But weren't you more concerned about saving fuel when gas was $4 a gallon? And the thing people seem to forget is, we're dumping our mistakes on our children and grandchildren. Even so, I think there are more and more people recognizing that we need to make big changes in how we use fuel.

On another note, I like T. Boone Pickens's idea that we should fuel commercial trucks with natural gas. It's produced in the US, and I believe it's cleaner than gas.

Now, in QlownTown. everything is powered by gas or hot air, but what types I won't say.

Inauguratioon

Everyone seems to be weighing in on the upcoming inauguration. The country, and perhaps the world, seem to be largely of one mind on two things: that we're glad to see George Bush and his cronies go, and that we're excited about the possibilities with an Obama administration. This doesn't mean there aren't detractors, skeptics and naysayers, but I'm getting emails from staunchly anti-Obama voters who still are keeping an open mind to see what is to come, and wishing the new president well. While there may (will) be disappointments, there's an air of optimism that does us good in these troubled economic times. Somtimes a figurehead is good for us, regardless of our leanings. The best thing Ronald Reagan ever did for the US was, I believe, make us feel good about ourselves. While the massive debts he ran up were a burden on taxpayers-to-come ---they always seem to forget that deficits are repaid by our children, not us---that sense of self-worth was encouraging. I'm glad to be feeling hopeful again. Whatever else happens, a period of well-being, however tainted with worry as well, does a soul, and country, good.

By the way, read the Adams biography if you haven't already. It'll give you a new sense of pride and amazement at what a job our founding fathers did in a generally selfless way to establish a better form of government.

It's a new year, innit?

Well, the holidays came and went and still the site isn't up. I decided to hold off on ordering the calendars, because how many would I be likely to sell without a comic strip to relate them to? And now that it's January, I may not be able to sell many because everyone's bought their calendars! We'll see how that goes in the first few weeks the site is up.

All I can do now is draw cartoons and wait for other people to get their part together so the site can be launched. If it isn't online this month, it will have been a year that I've been at it with no site to show for it.

On another front, I've been sketching house plans. One set will ultimately be for our house when we move in the next year or so. Others will be for sale at the website. Yes, I'll eventually be offering house plans! I used to be a contractor and restorer and won an award for a house I built in Maine. While house designer and cartoonist may not seem to go together, both involve fitting elements into a space so they look good and serve a function. And they're two things I love.

I went to the car show in Boston last month. I was especially taken with the Nissan Cube, which looks like, basically, a Cube. Some might find it ugly. It's definitely funny looking, but very practical. It seems a logical followup to my Beetle, which is really a cartoon on wheels. My wife, however, has informed me that it's her turn to choose our next car, so what I think may not matter much anyway. There are no immediate plans to buy a new car anyway, so who knows what will be available when we buy? She likes the Honda Accord, natural gas engine version. You install your own pumping station in your garage: no stops at the gas station! This appeals to me too: natural gas is domestic, oil is mostly foreign. One more way to work towards energy independence. If anyone out there has one of these Accords, let me know. We already have a Prius, and a friend suggested we get a license plate that says SMUG. But I'm afraid some bitter Hummer driver would ram us the next time gas goes up--and it will go up.

It's December 11th and the site is in the works! I guess we're going to miss launching the site for the holiday gift-giving season, but you can still buy stuff at www.cafepress.com/qlowntown for gifts...or wait till the site is up and running, when you'll be able to buy every cartoon on various forms of merchandise. A QlownTown clock makes a great gift, as do clothes or a mug. The 2009 calendar is also in the works, to be printed by the end of December.

I just decorated our Christmas tree. I decided, if the site is delayed, might as well take some time during the day to trim the shrub. I tend to work late into the day anyway, so I'll probably make up for it running up to suppertime.

Lat me know what you think: what you like, what you want to see, and, I guess, what you don't like (athough I'm always happier with no negative comments; but hey, hissy fits happen).

I'm really excited about the new Honda Insight. I guess the Prius must have about the ideal shape for aerodynamics, because the Insight is shaped similarly, but Honda has adapted that form so the back looks nicer than the Prius. (I have a Prius, and, much as I love it, the back deserves to be called the "butt end".) Anyway, the nicest news about the Insight is that it will supposedly be a couple thou less than the Prius. We'll see if this comes true.

On a similar note, check out the movie, Who Killed the Electric Car?. It's compelling, entertaining, funny and sad, and will make you a better person. I saw one on-line reviewer babbling about it being a "sissy movie for whiny girly men", and thought, here's a guy who's unable to step into the 21st century. Wake up, fella. A guy who suggests that concern about the environment has to do with masculinity should wake up and smell the wilting roses. Real men leave the world a better place for their children. Guys like that bore me.

Finally!

After many months of development and learning, I have hired a web design group. This means that we should have the site up and running by early December at the latest. At that point, daily strips will appear and I'll begin the second phase of the QT Plan, which is to begin approaching newspapers with the intent of syndicating the strip.

In the meantime, I am going to be appearing in the local paper with a bread recipe I submitted. How this can possibly help my comic strip is unclear. However, any exposure can be good if the right people see you.

One of the nicest parts of getting the site online will be clearing my desk off! I have had several versions of every page spread out in piles as I attempted to completely illustrate the look of the site for a designer who couldn't even give me an estimate until I showed him everything I wanted. This was where the term web "designer" seemed a bit of a misnomer.

November

There's a new startup target for the website: November 2008. That will make it a nine-month gestation period for a funny-looking new baby. Costs are spiraling out of control and delays are rampant! But I want to get it right, and I hope the end result will justify the development period.

At least the pieces are falling into place. The website will be established online today, albeit with no real content. The cafepress/qlowntown store is already functioning, with an upgrade coming in the near future. And in a couple of months, I anticipate being in the happy position of drawing my little cartoons, corresponding with what I hope will be fans about the strip, and signing and sending out reprints.

Once the site is up and running full tilt, these blogs will be about more than just the strip: whatever catches my eye or ear will be fair game. For example, the outright lies that I'm seeing in the presidential campaign are upsetting. An election should be decided on the issues, and distorting your opponent's positions is just self-serving and cowardly. I won't say who's said what, because it's the voters' duty to search out the truth and make an informed decision. Remember too that you need to choose a candidate whose thinking processes satisfy you: you want a president who will decide things sensibly, whatever comes up. Whoever gets in next year will probably do a better job than the guy who's in there now, but then so could one of my cartoon characters. Try to elect someone you can believe in. I will say that this year, I don't see either candidate as a horrible choice, and there have been many times when I couldn't say that--at least not with a straight face.

Enough about politics! Autumn has come to New England, in terms of cooler weather if not calendar dates. This weekend may call for the first fire in the fireplace, accompanied by apple pie and ice cream. Wherever you are, enjoy your climate in whatever way you can.