Make Beliefs Comix
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Make Beliefs Comix

May26
by Stretch Longfellow on May 26, 2023
Chapter:

Here’s a bit of a change from random road sketches. For my final class for my Chem Ed masters (almost done!), I am taking a course on tech tools for the classroom. Part of our assignment for today was to use one of the tools provided* to make a comic strip. I used Make Beliefs Comix. Of course I had to make reference to Spoofy Randomness. (And yes, as a high school chemistry teacher I am WELL aware that OTHER things can be spelled…)

One aspect of trying new tech is that some is a hit (definitely using a site from a different part of this assignment in A&P!) and some…isn’t. This falls very much under the latter. I was not too impressed by the options in this comic generator; it has very specific use and doesn’t allow much creativity in the characters themselves as most characters have only one to three poses. Plus, as a long-time cartoonist, the word bubbles…EUGH (that’s more me just being picky than a legit complaint like the former).

I went to link to one of the oldest Spoofy Randomness art out there, the logo used way back on the old ComicGenesis site in 2012. Apparently it never made it into the sketchbook after the move! So I had to add it.

EDIT: Removed an extra nitrogen from panel 2, as apparently I forgot to factor in the “n” from manganese.

*I was actually allowed to use my usual design program, but I figured I’d try this instead since mine isn’t exactly student accessible (and it would take too long to make a proper comic).

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2023 Updates

May04
by Stretch Longfellow on May 4, 2023
Posted In: News

Well, it’s been over a year since I’ve given a news update. Whoops. Here are a few items of note from the past year:

I have a daughter now! Scout* is almost 5 months old. Needless to say, computer time is limited.

SR: Baloney is dead for now. Don’t expect updates.

There will be some road geek sketchbook updates for at least the next three Fridays. These are very much personal pet projects that only those who are familiar with northwest Lincoln, NE, will understand. I don’t care if you don’t get it; it’s just for fun.

Once summer hits, Scout will still be at daycare (or we lose our spot) and I have taken a step back from my camp commitments to spend more time at home, so I will have a bit more time to myself. The majority of this time will be spent working on my lavender business and finishing my second Masters (I graduate in August!), but I do want to spend a bit of time on Spoofy Randomness. My first goal is to make a new edition of A (Not So) Brief History of Road Signs in Lincoln. This version will be published in some sort of digital book form that will be able to be purchased (fairly cheaply). Following that, I want to convert my other works to digital book form. SR: Baloney will be the easiest, and I would probably throw in a bonus story or two. SR: On the Origin of Santa Claus would be split into four volumes, and SR: Not on a Camel would be split into two.

Oh, and I got rid of my Twitter once gasoline got thrown on that dumpster fire. I don’t really miss it, other than interactions with other cartoonists and a few friends that aren’t on Facebook.

*named after the character from To Kill A Mockingbird, not because of my Scouting background. My wife really did have to convince me that it was a good idea to name her that! Her name has really grown on me now.

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Oh Hi There!

Jan09
by Stretch Longfellow on January 9, 2022
Posted In: News

As you probably saw from my recent sketchbook post, I’m still around! Sort of.

I did have plans to complete Year 1 of Baloney when last I posted in June. Technically, I still have said plans, I just can’t really call it “Year 1”. June kinda threw me for a loop. My wife and I had planned on moving in early summer, so I planned to work a full week of camp in late June to minimize interference, while still giving over a week’s buffer to prep for our belated wedding reception. We also planned on getting our lavender farm in the ground in mid-spring. You can probably guess what happened. Within a couple weeks, we had to get the lavender in the ground, I took off for camp, got whacked by a storm that flooded said camp and laid me out with a cold, and had to move within a couple days of returning. Then I had my grandmother’s memorial service and wedding reception right after that! Oh, and throw in my summer class kicking my butt a lot harder than expected (but that’s a different rant). It was A LOT. “No problem!” I say to myself. “I’ll just catch up in August, make a funny letter to my editor that doesn’t exist about the delay, etc.” HA! Had several family health issues hit at the start of August as I was starting my new teaching post, and things just kept snowballing. Plus I’ve found post-COVID and post-wedding that I just don’t want to sit at my home computer as much any more. Most weeks I might only sit down at it once, if that. I’m trying to do a bit more (got some mapping projects I’ve started in addition to Spoofy Randomness), but we’ll see.

So, long story short (too late), Spoofy Randomness ain’t dead, but not gonna be posting as regularly for the time being.

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Project Complete!

Jan28
by Stretch Longfellow on January 28, 2021
Posted In: News, Roads

I’m done.

Holy crap, I’M DONE!

Outside of the comic, I have been working on an OpenStreetMaps project for three and a half years, mapping every county road in Nebraska. So much TIGER data that was imported in as placeholders and just left there for years because rural NE wasn’t seen as a priority. Monitoring all the bridges destroyed in the flood and making sure roads in flood areas were labeled for emergency services. And on and on.

I can’t name another project I’ve worked on since my Eagle Scout that has taken this much time and passion. In reality, I’ve been working on this since 2012. It started when my first batch of seniors graduated at J-B, and I couldn’t find their graduation parties because the county roads weren’t labeled on almost any digital map, and I wanted to fix that. I learned how to use Google Map Maker and used that for 16,000 edits until they kicked everyone out. But I wasn’t nearly as methodical then, nor did I have the goal of EVERY county until almost four years ago after I transitioned to OpenStreetMaps. I now have 5,848 uploads to OSM. It doesn’t track individual edits, but I know I upload around 100 edits at a time on average, so that puts me around the half-million mark. (By the way, that’s the first time I ever calculated that. HOLY CRAP that’s huge!)

I won’t be done with mapping, not by a long shot. Next project is making sure all of the Game and Parks land is properly tagged (wildlife management areas tend to be particularly neglected), and I wouldn’t mind reviewing the railroads and rivers. But nothing on this scale.

It is satisfying to know my work is out there for people to use and benefit from. Every once in a while, I come across maps where I can recognize my work in unexpected places, from the interactive displays in Schramm Education Center to the decorative art of Lincoln that I got for Christmas. I’ve found my work yoinked by other map programs like Apple and Google. And yes, I even found my edits on Pokémon GO (although it’s been over three years since they’ve updated their maps…).

I’m sure there are still errors out there, and there’s virtually infinite edits I could make still, but I challenge you to find any Nebraska map that is better than what OSM has right now.

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