So… I got some coloring done this morning. Tomorrow’s installment of Schlock Mercenary will be pretty. I think I mentioned, though, that I was starting to hurt, so I took some ibuprofen and had a nap.

Well, following the nap and some lunch, I got started coloring the first week of Book V (Title To Be Announced On July 23rd), and I got achy again three rows in. I called chalain and both he and chaliren came by at around 3:00pm to take me shopping. See, the Taylers needed a grocery trip, and I’m unfit to either a) watch children, or b) drive. So the Chalaineys and I went to Wal-Mart and Costco for a few essentials, and I got to play passenger.

Since reflexes, response times, and general alertness were no longer critical to my participation in the endeavor, I took 350mg of Carisoprodol (generic Soma, a muscle relaxant). It’s supposed to relax me (duh), and will also make me drowsy. With my arm back in the sling, though, I figured it would be good to go whole-hog and let it loosen up some.

Chalain tells me I behaved uncharacteristically at the store. I figured as much. All I remember about the trip is that it was very crowded and I had a hard time keeping track of my friends. Also, the three things on my shopping list (milk, eggs, cottage cheese) kept falling out of my brain, and I had to keep checking the list to put them back in.

Most of that has worn off now. I finished coloring the first week of Book V and took another Lortab. At one point I thought I might try to do some pencilling or inking today, but I’m going to give that a wide, drug-induced miss, and while away my evening with the new Harry Potter book and some pills instead.

Thanks for all the well-wishing. In spite of the fact that I needed to get back on the pharmaceutical bandwagon today, I’m pretty sure we’re out of the woods here. I will be able to draw everything that needs to be drawn, but it may be Tuesday or Wednesday before I can really get a running start at it.

–Howard

I had a very energetic, almost-drug-free morning. The only thing I took was some Diet Dr. Thunder (Walmart’s generic Dr. Pepper analog). I spent an hour, though, making breakfast for the family instead of cartooning because Sandra needed the extra sleep. Then I got the requisite painting, cropping, and resizing done, and our internet connection went down.

All this was done with very little pain in my shoulder, but I did end up with a dull ache in my arm, probably from wearing the ice-pack for two hours straight. I also got kind of loopy-drowsy… I’m not sure why. Maybe it was natural pain-response endorphins. Regardless, I decided that was my cue to quit, so I popped 400mg of ibuprofen and took a nap for an hour.

I woke up and came downstairs to pizza, courtesy of my sister Alyson. She learned about my shoulder from the website, just like everybody else, and figured we needed a meal brought in. Hey, it can’t hurt, right? I had two slices of pizza, a little more medicinal caffeine, and here I am in front of the computer again, complete with an internet connection.

I’m taking it easy, doc. Honest. This is what “easy” looks like.

–Howard

Mind over matter, everybody. Mind over matter…

Sunday’s strips are colored, but haven’t been “painted” yet. They need to be. I’m confident that I could spend all day tomorrow doing the work left-handed, but I’ve decided not to.

Tomorrow, I’m going to awaken refreshed, with my shoulder continuing to heal nicely, and I’m going to get some work done.

It’s not about getting the comic out on time for you people. I mean, it is, but if I were desperate, I’d send the files to someone else. No, this is about not being bored out of my skull all day. Convalescence is for people who can stand to watch television. So… I’ll paint the four-row Sunday, I’ll crop, webbify, and upload a week of strips, and then I’ll see how I feel. I’ll probably flood-fill the first week of Book V, script the third week of it, and then take some time off for lunch.

I will NOT be taking two Lortabs. I probably won’t take ONE of the stupid things. If I need painkillers, I’ll lead off with 400mg of ibuprofen, which should leave me plenty of nice, tasty pain to chew on. As a bonus, it’ll let me know if I’m doing anything stupid with my arm.

Yes, I’ll be careful. Yes, I know that if I overdo it, the shoulder will take forever to heal. If I feel any more of the wrong kind of pain, I’ll mouse left-handed or upload a flood-fill Sunday. But I will NOT spend the day bored and/or intoxicated, thankyouverymuch.

In other news, “Freudiana” will forever remind me of being on drugs. How fitting. It’s nice to have albums conjure up memories, and I certainly wouldn’t want to forget my days of substance abuse.

–Howard

(Note: I’m thankful for drugs. I’m concerned, however, that the side-effects of my 15mg dose of hydrocodone included symptoms that are listed in the “symptoms of overdose” column. I’m taking this crap one pill at a time now.)

I wrote that last journal entry just before my pair of Lortabs kicked in, and I’ve been next to worthless ever since.

“Kicked in” is the right word choice. A team of metabolism commandos kicked the door down, and then kicked in my skull. I shall now describe the symptoms of onset as clinically as I can.

0 seconds: “hmmm… my tummy feels funny. I think I’m going to barf.”
10 seconds: “nope, not going to barf. Is it hot in here?”
20 seconds: “why am I pouring sweat?”
22 seconds: I call out to Sandra, but she can’t hear me.
25 seconds: I hit “Submit” and send off my Live Journal Entry
30 seconds: I stagger away from the computer, and Sandra hears me.
60 seconds: I’m back in my bed.
120 seconds: I’m asleep.

Over the last 6 hours we’ve discovered that every hour or so I’ll wake up and get maybe 10 minutes of euphoria mixed with “I need to be doing something.” I’ll come down to the computer, read stuff, and then the cold sweat starts in earnest, and I end up getting escorted back to my bed.

There are two pieces of good news.
1) I assure you, there is no danger whatsoever of me getting addicted to Lortab. I get a better endorphin rush off of capsaicin.
2) I can lift my arm forward now. The episode where I could not lift it was last night. Something healed up a bit while I slept last night and this morning.

Ooooh. I think my 10 minutes are up. More later.

–BRAAAIIIIINS