17th October 2006

I got up at 6.55am. This is earlier than normal as I had to finish a drawing. I am a cartoonist – I draw every week for the Church Times (the world’s leading Anglican newspaper founded in 1863) as well as selling my cartoons via the internet and doing some freelance cartoon work.

During the day I worked at our home in south east Essex finishing the drawing, scanning it onto the computer and editing it using graphics software. I then e-mailed it to the recipient. I did various other internet-related tasks as well, including something relating to our church website, writing on my blog and some administrational tasks for another website I am involved with. This must sound quite uninteresting.

I had toast for my lunch with mackerel from a tin. Also a cup of mushroom soup. In the afternoon I packaged up some greetings cards to send to a customer. This didn’t take long, but I must admit find it difficult to account for the remainder of the afternoon. I work at home every day, which means I do not have to commute. I find though that it is often lonely.

Tuesday evening is the day I go to my art group in Leigh on Sea, so I have an early dinner at 5.30pm consisting of something put in the microwave. We do not have microwave dinners on the other days. I walked to the station with my oil painting materials and then went on the train to Leigh, where I walked up the hill overlooking the sea except that it is dark so you can only see the lights over in Kent and the vague outlines of boats. It usually smells of seafood in Leigh. People have been fishing from there for seafood for generations one imagines. I returned home on a late train. I prefer where possible to travel on the train, cycle or walk, though the people of our generation mostly prefer to drive their cars. Who knows whether we will still all be able to drive everywhere in the future. Secretly I am hoping that we all have to ride our bicycles everywhere as it would make the world a better place and it would mean I could cycle on the roads without fearing for my life.

Upon arriving home I talked to my wife, looked at the television and the internet, wrote this piece and then went to bed.

Submitted to the One Day in History project.