Ryan Reid Illustration + Design

Fifty

August 16, 2025 | Miscellany

I turned fifty today! I spent the morning writing the first draft of a new comic while nursing a very tasty coffee, enjoying a simple breakfast (a bagel with butter and homemade blueberry jam, and some hash brown thingies with Sriracha ketchup), and listening to Iron Maiden a little louder than I should (which is the appropriate volume for Iron Maiden if you’re wondering).

Overall, it’s been a joyful and savoury morning.

Sketchbook and hand written first draft of new comic.
Scratch, scratch, sketch, sketch.

This year has been exhausting. The stress from the move combined with regular family events, dismal finances, the state of the world, work pressures, and the dark cloud of work force adjustment. Ugh. Some days it feels like a lot. Right? You know what I mean.

But today is excellent. And for my birthday, I wish for your day to be excellent, too.

The best place to be is here…and the best time to be is now.

Bill S. Preston Esq. and Ted “Theodore” Logan – Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey

Take care of each other. Later gators.

Oh, and for the art tool curious, the above photo shows a Tombow Mono Zero round eraser, KUM long point pencil sharpener, and a Blackwing 155 Bauhaus edition pencil. You don’t need any of these things to make your art, whatever is at hand will do just fine. It’s more important to just start.

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