Namowal

Dopey emails drive me batty, especially the PARANOID RANTS IN ALL CAPS. Have you seen Weird Al's tribute? Stop forwarding that crap to me. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

A cartoon of some of 'Twardo's old stories would be fabulous! There are some really good ones in the "Scary Stories From the Old Days" thread in the History and Trivia forum. Note: If you go looking, DO NOT open the DB Cooper thread. It would be fun to make cartoons out of other people's stories (if they were cool with it, of course). Thanks again to everyone for supporting my cartoons and my AFF efforts. You made my day. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Wow, thanks everyone. I knew some people liked my 'toons but I didn't expect so much positive feedback! You guys (and gals) rock!

It's funny, after my first few jumps I was so overwhelmed that I didn't want anything to do with skydiving immediately afterward. It'd think This is crazy stuff! I'm obviously not skydiving material! Then a I'd slowly start wanting to do it again as the days went by... ...now I'm trying to jump at least once a week. Hoping to get the nerve to do more than one jump per day eventually... I think of line twists like bratty kids- annoying but manageable. Not looking forward to my first "real" malfunction (that is, a cutaway situation) but if I handle it properly I'll (probably!) live to have fun with the drawing. And thanks Marinus, Wildcard451, Baksteen, guineapiggie101 and Trigirl. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Thanks, SouthernMan , mrubin and Trigirl! Good point, obelixtim . I'm already planning some workarounds to keep the hair out of the way for the next jump. John Rich: That's it. I was wondering if anyone would notice.

I've been posting cartoons about my tandem and beginning AFF jumps in the "Introductions" forum, but it's been suggested I post them here, even though I'm far from a liscenced skydiver. So if you haven't seen them, and want to follow my misadventures (I'm a natural chicken so this doesn't come easy for me) here they are. SkyDiving Duck: Chicken of the Sky SkyDiving Duck III: Parachuting School (Chicken of the Sky, AFF version) Skydiving Duck IV: Shakes on a Plane (AFF Level 2) Skydiving Duck V: Altitude! Altitude! Altitude! (AFF 3, attempt 1)) Skydiving Duck IV: AFF 3: Take two, with a Twist My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

More skydiving duck antics. AFF 3, Take two, with a twist. Still nervous and klutzy, but making progress. p.s. Maybe this should be posted in the Bonfire forum? I've been adding new entries here fore continuity, but this is technically an "introduction" area so I don't want to be hogging the spotlight. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Glad you like them. Thanks! :) My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Thanks, Wolfriverjoe and Riggerrob! More cartoons are on the way... :) My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Ten tries? That's persistence. And I'm not being sarcastic. :) If it weren't for some tunnel training, I would have probably had to repeat it many times myself. I was a train wreck in my early tunnel minutes. I remember thinking You're all over the place! Flopping around like a fish! And you want to jump out of a plane?! My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Were u able to get an AFF or 2 jump in this weekend? Yes, but it was "only" a repeat of level 3 (which I botched last week- you can see the cartoon I made about it here if you're curious.) This time around I did okay.

Hi there. I'm in noob territory myself just passed AFF level 3 (on my second attempt) yesterday. I can identify with so much of this. Same here. Ha! I know that nervousness well! My first tandem was from a Cessna at a small drop zone and that's pretty much how it went for me too. What had I gotten myself into? I'm no natural risk taker either. My idea of a good time is drawing pictures, listening to opera, watching cartoons or making cookies. While it's true the sport attracts and appeals to the daredevil crowd, I suspect there's plenty of "wimps" like me who think, Gee, this scares me, but it's %#@ awesome too! I wondered about that too. I was worried I'd panic or kick, but I did neither. The fact that I had a list of things to do (the dive plan) gave me something to focus on so there was no time to for "Oh noes! I'm falling really fast" thoughts. Lastly I'm sure more experienced skydivers will answer your questions better than I could, but I wanted you to know that you're not alone.

You guys were right- seeing myself in freefall is eye opening. A lot of "I did that? I didn't know I was doing that!" revelations. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Thanks, obelixtim! I agree it wasn't a complete loss. I actually learned a bit more about flaring the canopy properly, and made my first non PLF landing. Another good sign is I'm looking forward to my next jump, instead of thinking uh oh, what have I gotten myself into!!?? (This may change as the time gets closer but I'll enjoy it while it lasts!) My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Here's a cartoon about my first attempt at AFF level three. I botched it, but it was still a good learning experience Skydiving Duck: Altitude! Altitude! Altitude And yes, I'm trying again. Heck, I could use the practice. :) My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Yikes. I have a humble AFF lesson scheduled there that weekend. Anything I should be aware of, other then there will be a zillion people? I don't want to get into the way! :) My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

[reply 2. Run EVERYTHING past a real life honest to goodness living breathing instructor Oh yes. Any tips, suggestions or advice from any context (here, books, skydiving acquaintances etc..) are run by my instructors. More than once they (the instructors) reply, "Instead of doing [that], do [this]." Then I do what I'm told. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Heh heh. I don't think any of 'em are aware that I'm cartooning the jumps one by one. Mua ha ha! Actually they've all been verypatient with me, so they're safe. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Yes, that would be great! I had to replace my phone recently and considered splurging on an iPhone, but the money I was blowing on learning a certain sport made it out of the question... My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

I'm a new jumper who got into this sport rather late (I'm in my 40s). It never occurred to be earlier that I'd be doing this. If, years earlier, a skydiving pal had cajoled or nagged me to try it, I can see myself saying "no thanks!" and getting annoyed if they kept it up. I might have even told him where he could pack his #$!! parachute. The only person who could convince me to try it was, well, me. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

They remind you of Carl Barks? That's a true compliment. Thanks! You made my day.

I started taking AFF recently. A few acquaintances thought I was stupid, and told me so, with the smug I'm-better-than-you-because-I-have-the-sense-not-to-do-that vibe. I soon learned whom not to bring it up in front of. I try to cool it in front of others too. Maybe mention I had another lesson but not rolling out details unless they ask questions. (Well, I do blog about it but nobody's forcing them to read that.) As for your buddies, my guess is that your non-diving pals felt alienated that part of the "gang" was bonding over an experience that they themselves didn't have. For example, I'm a female who never had kids. When my fellow friends started having them, conversations often steered into trading experiences about pregnancy, babies, feeding, preschool, blah blah blah. They had something in common. I was the outsider. Maybe your "why do you do that!?" friends feel the same way. Not that that excuses their attitudes, of course. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

It would be great to have a collection of links to sky diving blogs, as I'm sure there's plenty of them. My blog (don't say you didn't see this coming) has some skydiving posts and cartoons, but I'm a beginner. (I've linked to it on the Introductions category earlier, so it may be old news to you.) Tail o' the Rat My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.

Thanks for all the encouragement, bclark I really appreciate it!

Glad you like it. Thanks for telling me. My blog with the skydiving duck cartoons.