It’s been a while since Gerald was semi-autobiographical. So, here he is, being semi-autobiographical.

My wife and I opened the Big Book o’ Marriage Visas yesterday, and although I know there is very little to worry about, I couldn’t help but remember the stress the original visa attempt brought about.

However, after reading the relevant chapters, it seems pretty likely that I will be getting my cupcake.

Here is a photo I found on flickr:

Here is a photo I took about 4 years ago:

Notice any similarities?

How do I know which one was taken first? In the colour photo, underneath the north window (the one on the left) is a framed picture. That picture is the black and white one above.

I should point out that I am not annoyed by the copied photo – just surprised.

I thought I would wait until the Geralds had finished before I posted a review of 2008. So, now they have finished. I can review the past year.

Personally, 2008 has been quite an emotional rollercoaster. On January 2nd 2008 I flew out to be with my, then, fiance. It was a little last minute – I booked the tickets on December 31st. On February 14th, we got notice that the fiance visa (required to marry an American in America if you are not American yourself – or something like that) had been approved. However, in April, we found out it would not be granted in time for our wedding (May 30th), and anyway, since we were planning on coming back to England for a couple of years afterwards, it was needless anyway. So, back in London, I went to the American Embassy to ask for an extension to my tourist visa, and was told I couldn’t. So, I spent a large part of April in a country I didn’t want to be in, trying to find a way of getting to my destination so that I may legally marry without anyone getting suspicious. Canada proved to be the solution, and on April 21st I crossed the land border (completely legally) into the US, and was able to get married on May 30th.

Since then, I have moved back to England, and now live in Cambridgeshire attempting to get permanent work with the University.

In August, the phony libel case against Dave Walker came up, and I, rather unexpectedly got caught up in it. When I say “I”, I really mean my semi-autobiographical cartoon sheep, Gerald. Once confined to family birthday cards, and the one-off present for someone, Gerald soon became known to people I had never met. A fan page was set up on Facebook, and spikes of visitor numbers appeared on my site every time I posted a new cartoon. To see a cartoon being posted on a site other than my own is quite a nice feeling, and gives me a certain amount of motivation to keep drawing them.

In other news, one of my YouTube videos continues to be surprisingly popular, and not a little controversial. A particularly bad rendition of the Super Mario Bros. Theme that I performed at the end of a family service in my local church receives many visitors every day. It was also featured on Norwegian national radio, and subsequently a Norwegian podcast. I receive at least 2 comments a day on the video – ranging from those that think it is a terrible thing to do in a church, to those who complain that I don’t play the theme precisely as the SNES did, to those that think it is quite funny (I prefer the latter comments).

So, what will 2009 bring? I hope it will bring a permanent job. I hope it will bring a certain amount of relaxation. I hope it will bring something new. And, of course, I hope it brings something for the sheep to do.

Happy New Year. Out with the old, and in with the new.

Some people have spare rooms in their house. Most people have a spare tyre in their car. I have a spare website.

Paktocon.com is my longest running website. I have owned it for over 5 years now, and it’s never really found its feet. It used to be a photoblog, and then it was a cartoon blog, before becoming a portal into my life. However, now bengallagher.com is here, and I don’t know what to do with paktocon.

I don’t want to get rid of it – I just want it to have a purpose. I’ve thought about it being the base for Gerald, but there’s no logic between the name and the content (the name, incidentally, stands for Press Any Key To Continue). I think Gerald would need to have a larger following before he could live at an illogical location (not that there’s any logic in placing him at bengallagher.com).

Perhaps the purpose of paktocon.com is to have no purpose.

In other news, I am working on a post-christmas Gerald special that should keep fans happy well into the new year.