#009 Eight good things that happened

Lost phone conundrum / Climate cartoon

Hello Diagram Club,

Welcome to episode (I’ve been listening to too many podcasts) #009 of this newsletter. Last of the single digits. I hope you’re well, and have been having a good week. Without further ado, let’s get on with the diagrams:

Household problem of the week

As always I’d like to hear your Household Problems - you can reply to this email, or stop me in the street. You can find Household Problems on HouseholdProblems.com and @HouseholdProblems on Instagram.

It’s a fickle world we live in, and so features on this newsletter will come, and features will go. But for this week at least, something new:

Eight good things that happened this week

• Last week’s newsletter, Issue 008, was read out at the Cafe, and produced much laughter, which was lovely.

• Something that made me really happy, and OK, maybe slightly last week’s news. I went to a comprehensive school in South Wales which, (while I have no complaints on this front at all), I think it’s fair to say wasn’t particularly known for producing artists. But I discovered that someone from from my year, with whom I’ve had no contact for [quite a lot of] years, is a brilliant illustrator, in London. You can see Kathryn’s work here: Kathryn Boyt on Instagram

• I attended, physically or otherwise, three meetings, and they were all fine. Topics included being given an unexpectedly posh bicycle (Billericay Cycling Campaign), and plans for ‘Crackers and carols’ (Fishermen’s Chapel steering group).

• I bought some shorts on Vinted. Yes, at precisely the time it’s no longer shorts weather, but who will be laughing come next June? Me, that’s who. They are ‘as described’, which is the holy grail of secondhand online purchases.

• The Inpost Locker is always so very pleased with me when I successfully collect a parcel - ‘Nailed it!’, it texts me. It has particularly low expectations when it comes to my ability to achieve basic tasks, and I can see its point of view.

  

• It’s the start of Taskmaster series 18 this week, last night in fact.

• On a related note, I’ve been enjoying the new podcast by Max Rushden & David O' Doherty, called What Did You Do Yesterday?, in which guests say what they did yesterday. Episode 3 features Alex Horne, which is how it’s related.

• There were some nice clouds last night.

Cartoon of the week

A climate cartoon this week.

You’ll find this, and plenty more of my drawings, in the Diagram Library. Diagram Club Paid members can reuse them in non-profit ways.

Some niche questions follow. Who knows, an expert might be reading.

Six questions I have about Substack, in particular about categories

1. Why are there so few Substacks in the ‘Comics’ category? Like, 50 or 60.

2. You can choose two categories. Does it matter which category is first of the two?

3. Not that I’m checking all the time, but how are the leaderboards decided?
   I have managed, without trying, to rank in the top 40 for ‘Comics’, but not in the list at all (400+) for ‘Art and illustration’. Maybe that’s way more popular.

4. Should I pick ‘Humor’ rather than one of the above, perhaps?

5. Is it possible to find out which category / categories someone else’s Substack is in?

6. Is it OK to swap categories on a whim, or does this upset the algorithm? Is there an algorithm? (Question 6a)

Annotated photograph of the week

We’re back in Leigh-on-Sea this week, this week standing on the Belton overpass at 7.02pm on my way to a 7pm meeting (sorry). The car colours being assembled in such a way were, I ‘d say, fortuitous - I mean, a yellow and a green? I hope you like the annotated photos, by the way. They are the bit of this newsletter I most enjoy making.

---

Advertisement feature

Are you looking for a reasonably-priced venue for an event, group, team-building day, or something else, that’s easily reachable on the train or other means from London, and has the sea, fish and chips, cafes, pubs and more, immediately accessible. It’s warm, and there’s the use of a kitchen, PA equipment, classic church folding tables, and all sorts. If so: You might like to consider the Fishermen’s Chapel in Leigh-on-Sea. For details reply to this email, or find out more here. Hiring the Fishermen’s Chapel.

---

Letters to the editor

Rachel asks: “I think we’re due a run down of your drink(s) of choice, please. Is it an americano every time, or do you occasionally dabble with a chai latte or similar?”

Well, Rachel. I’m afraid to say I am pretty dull when it comes to coffee, but following your question I did ask staff members at The Cafe to run me through my options. The problem is that I don’t want too much milk (sorry, lattes), and I like a bit of heft to a drink (so not really espressos, etc). But I will have a cappuccino when in Wales.

A comment from Helena (and others) on my Household Problem from issue #008: “Maybe get an actual cheese slicer next time instead of a peeler!”

Yes, I hear you Helena (and others). But cheese slicers have the tendency to break the end off your cheddar, which is, I think we can all agree, incredibly annoying. I accept that it could be a sharpness issue, but how do you sharpen a cheese slicer? If there are door-to-door cheese-slicer sharpeners then they are not common in South Essex.

Admin announcements / Matters arising

• Thanks so much for all the messages and comments. I am way behind in answering everyone, once again, but it is my aim to do so.

• If anyone is really interested in knowing what I said for approx seven minutes at the Greenbelt festival you can buy the recording here. You’ll hear what the other people said too. But I’d suggest only doing so if you’re interested in cycle campaigning, and even then I’d proceed with extreme caution.

• I’ve been getting a bit more into using the Bluesky app, as Twitter is so appalling (though I’m continuing there, for misc reasons). I’m here if you’re on Bluesky: davewalker.bsky.social.

Studio Playlist update

This is where I post a sample of what’s playing while I’m drawing, and you probably ignore it. This week’s theme is more or less copied and pasted from last week, succinctly titled: Music, that isn’t Oasis, but that nevertheless might, depending upon your perspective, be loosely associated with the 1990s era.

So, with no explanation whatsoever:

Blur - Ong Ong 
R.E.M. - Nightswimming 
Spiritualized - Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space

Yes, the Blur track isn’t remotely a 90s song, but the beauty of making the rules is that you can disregard them, and fear little more than a strongly-worded letter.

The playlist is here: The playlist

Colour of the week (filler)
Red (have we had that?)

Final remarks
Thanks for reading everyone. Planning to be back in your inbox very soon with issue #010. In the meantime content for paying subscribers continues below. This week, it’s a time lapse showing the creation of one of my diagrams. Will it work? I wouldn’t have thought so.

See you soon,
Dave
—

[Can we insert a big orange sharing button here please]

—