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The Seventh Annual Content of Whatever
Yes, folks, it’s that time of year again. Time for Evil Squirrel’s Annual Contest of Whatever!
This year the talented folks at DraliDoodlesTM have got a little pen to draw on their Surface Pro, and unfortunately they’re not afraid to use it. So they’ve used it exclusively.
No complicated rules like “it has to include two possums, a priest, a dinosaur and the Titanic” this year. The theme is simply “Murphy’s Law” (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong).
Buster Must Die!
This is my contribution for Evil Squirrel’s Third Annual Contest of Whatever.
Despite the fact that I can’t draw, I’ve entered a story in pictures! The only rule this year is that we must include Buster, and Buster Must Die! You can’t tell from my pictures, but Buster is a possum, who dies on a regular basis so this is nothing new for the poor chap. In fact, having to keep him alive would have been a bigger challenge.
If you’d like to see what Buster really looks like by someone who can draw, click here.
Home, James
I was reading today how driverless cars are cleared to be on the roads of the UK next year. Yeeks!
The article spoke about the possibility of having a car with no controls, or a car with controls so that the driver can jump in if there’s an emergency. Surely if you’re constantly watching out for problems you might as well be driving?
It also mentioned lorry convoys, where the driver in the first lorry drives and the other lorries follow along behind. Again, these other lorries would have drivers “in case of emergency”, but the article suggested that in the mean time they could perhaps read a book or have lunch.
If they’re reading a book over a nice bit of lunch, how can they take control in an emergency? Many drivers don’t manage to avoid trouble when they’re concentrating, let alone having a nap.
A Choice of Dark or Light
Approach-approach conflict is the psychological conflict that results when a choice must be made between two desirable alternatives.
I thought I’d do a DraliDoodle for this week’s PftP, brought to us by the marvellous Queen Creative!
The Light Side allows you to help out and makes you feel good! The Dark Side gives you the power to help yourself which sounds great in theory, but let’s be honest, it’s a bit “evil”.
Why is there not a Grey Side?
Unfortunately, by the end of the doodle I’m none the wiser. That’s me in a nutshell. I can’t make decisions.
Thanks to Lucasfilm.
Draliman Through the Ages Part 4 – Sir Drali of Dralishire
For part 4 of our epic journey through time, we catch up with one of Draliman’s most famous ancestors – Sir Drali of Dralishire. Let’s see what he’s up to!
We can learn three important lessons from this:
- An awesome reputation is all very well, but you may need to back it up one day!
- Arrogance and over-confidence can be your downfall
- Out of all the things I can’t draw, horses have moved up near the top of the list!
Catch up with previous episodes here:
Part 1 – Dralamoeba
Part 2 – Dralisaurus
Part 3 – Dralug the CaveDrali
Draliman Through the Ages Part 3 – Dralug the CaveDrali
For the third part of our series tracing the ancestry of Draliman, we move forward from prehistoric times to an age when man first walked the Earth!
We join Dralug, a member of the CaveDrali tribe, on an auspicious day, a day which changes the tribe forever.
Catch up with “Draliman Through the Ages”!
Part 1 – Dralamoeba
Part 2 – Dralisaurus
Thanks go to Arthur C. Clarke for the loan of his monolith.
Ritual and Routine
Ritual and routine. Watchwords for my life.
When I say “ritual” I’m talking about the personal things we do, rather than anything connected to religion. Little things like knocking on wood before performing a certain task, maybe. Things that don’t really mean anything, but make us feel better.
Routine – the things we do every day, the things we have to do, like checking all the windows are closed before we go to work.
I love my routine. I do the same things every workday morning, in the same order. Get out of bed, make lunch, shave, shower, brush teeth. That’s all fine. Next I check the kitchen plugs are off, check the water to the washing machine is off, check the washing machine and microwave are unplugged, check the side window’s closed, check the amplifier is off at the wall, check the amplifier base unit is off at the wall, check the bathroom fan master switch is off and leave the house.
There’s more, but you get the idea.
Here’s the kicker – I already know most of the stuff is fine. I use the washing machine on a Monday evening. It can’t magically plug itself back in, but I need to check every morning. If I don’t check I feel uneasy. That’s when routine becomes ritual. It serves no useful purpose but I need to do it to make myself feel better. If I do something out of order it feels very wrong.
Then there’s the stuff which my brain expects to happen. The other day I walked into a door at work. I flung my right arm at the door handle and missed. I tried with my left hand and missed. However, my brain expected the door to be open by now, so my legs just kept on going. Ouch!
Here’s what I imagine was going on in my head at the time, starting in the “Department for Hands and Arms”.
Once I’ve locked a door, I check it’s locked – that’s good common sense. If I wait around in the proximity of the door for more than a few seconds I have to check it again. That’s just mad! I know it’s locked.
Does anyone else have a routine which has morphed into a ritual?
Draliman Through the Ages Part 2 – Dralisaurus
For the second part of our series “Draliman Through the Ages” we visit a time when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, and one dinosaur in particular – the fearsome killer Dralisaurus!
Catch up with “Draliman Through the Ages”!
Part 1 – Dralamoeba
The team at DraliDoodlesTM have raided their piggy banks and bought a cheapo graphics tablet. They still can’t draw, but now they can’t draw more professionally. Enjoy!
Draliman Through the Ages Part 1 – Dralamoeba
Today sees the start of our series “Draliman Through the Ages”, which charts “the Draliman” from long, long ago up to the present day.
For Part 1, we travel back (through the magic of DraliDoodlesTM) many millions of years to meet Draliman’s ultimate ancestor – Dralamoeba.
I have spoken to the DraliDoodles team and they are considering buying a ruler in time for the next episode (budget permitting).
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