Cleaning My Trumpet!

So the other day I had to clean my trumpet, and I mean REALLY clean it. Normally before I put away my instrument, I just have to empty the spit valve. This is really easy, because all I have to do is press that little button on the valve, and blow through the mouthpiece (the woodwinds in my family are kinda resentful about this since they have to clean their instruments piece by piece each time they put theirs away). Still every month or so I have to take the whole thing apart, run water through it, and scrub out the inside with these trumpet cleaning tools.20161205_172845

Then you lay it out on a towel to dry. 20161205_172934

Now if you ever need to clean trumpet, you can!

The Shelf

So today I finished a brand new shelf!20161122_082723

Now all Stephen’s retro Lego can sit on top of it. And Nicholas, Stephen, Jonathan, and I can all store two of our favorite hats on it (the two I put up are on the left end). As cool as it may look though it’s not as if I came up with it. Dad designed the shelf I just built it. But now we have more room to store hats and Lego. Because who doesn’t need more room for Lego.

Announcements, Announcements, I Have Announcements!

Today is the start of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).  To celebrate the month Nathaniel and Anne are writing novels for their schoolwork!  When they are done with their great works of literature we are going to start posting their novels on the blog in serialized form!

I know it’s a little unconventional to post two separate stories on the same blog along with all the other family post, but I never claimed to be typical, or us a typical family.  I considered starting another blog especially for the serials, but we already have three blogs and four blogs seemed a little excessive for one family (even a family our size).

So while I don’t claim any of us to be the next Alexander Dumas, I do hope you will all check back in a few weeks to see my siblings work!

Hat-Mobile Model

Remember the orthographic drawing of the Hat-Mobile I uploaded a few days back?  I drew that for school with the intention (and requirement) of modeling the car in a 3D program. Well I was going to show it to you today, but I’m not going to anymore.

I’m sorry, but I planned to be done with my model last night.  Unfortunately that did not happen instead I had a very frustrating night because my modeling software crashed three times.  This was a problem, but it wasn’t half as bad as the fifteen- that’s right fifteen! – bad saves.  Every file I saved last night was corrupted when I reloaded it. So I gave up.

Don’t get me wrong I will finish a model of this stinkin’ car, but I’m just gonna start fresh.  I don’t care if it’s less efficient.  so I hope to present you all with a GOOD model of this car in a couple of weeks.  If not, know that I am wailing and gnashing my teeth at my 3D modeling software, Maya (free for students).

Announcements! Announcements! I Have Announcements!

That’s what my Mom says whenever she has something to say to all of the children, good, bad, or indifferent.  Actually, she kind of sings it.

For that reason, if for no other, this seemed like the perfect title for today’s post.  Yes, I have news (and I promise I’ll get to it just as soon as I’m done with the preamble…or you can just skip to the next paragraph).  Some of it’s good, I hope none of it’s bad, and I’m certainly not indifferent.  I’m exited.

First things first, the webcomic will no longer be posted on this blog.  Instead it will have it’s own blog and will be available on our site under the webcomic tab.  I will be posting a comic everyday starting with number one.  I do apologize to anyone who has been following the series as they will be ahead of new blog for about a month, but I re-lettered all the comics for ease of reading and I would like all the comics in one place.  Please check out the new blog anyways if you enjoy the comic, as I will be posting a new comic, “Hat and Tie,” every Sunday.

Furthermore if you would like to see the comics on the full note page (along with all my notes) I will be posting the un-cropped versions on my tumblr blog Longbow Comics.  The comics will also be on my Pinterest and Instagram page.

I am really excited about my new webcomic blogs.  I think they will be neater and easier to read.  I hope you all like this new format better too.

 

Please check out the comics and feel free to let me know what you think of the changes!

Opossum VS. Possum

The answer to the question I never knew existed.

 

Have you ever seen a small rodent like animal playing dead and wondered “is that a possum or an opossum?” Neither have I, quite frankly I didn’t even know that there was such a thing as an opossum until we made our fourth comic book. Turns out those funny rodents that play dead are  opossums and the differences don’t end there.

 

Opossums Possums
Habitat in colder climates like North America Habitat in subtropics primarily Australia
Omnivorous Mostly herbivorous, rarely omnivorous
Hairless tail functions as a

fifth hand

Bushy tail helps to balance

possum

Thumb-like toes on all feet Thumb-like toes on back

feet only

Play dead Don’t play dead
Long faces with elongated snout Flat, round faces
Lifespan of 2 to 4 years Lifespan of 6 years
Gray or white fur Tan to brown fur

 

 

This whole confusing situation started when a gentleman named Sir Joseph Banks saw the possum in Australia and assumed it was in the same immediate family as the opossum. Little did he know that the two species’ only similarity is that they’re both small rodent like marsupials.