Ouch. It seems I’ve been MIA for a week and a half! My parents just got on the ship for a two-week Alaskan cruise, so my usual late-night internet time has been overtaken by sleep, and comic drawing has been partially replaced by Scrabble.

Liz has been off the ship for almost three weeks, which is hard to believe. I miss her like she just left. She’ll be back on the ship in June, in time for the very end of my contract. We’re still in touch every day, but the messages are getting shorter. I guess that’s a good sign; it means we’re both actually existing in our respective time zones, instead of being glued to the computer.

So far, the parents and I have had three days at sea and one day in Seattle, where they checked out the Underground Tour. I went to Pike Place Market, dropped some minis off at Zanadu Comics, and caught up with two old friends. Now we’ve reached Sitka, Alaska, and found a coffeeshop for my mom to catch up on work-related emails.

I couldn’t remember which cafe my musician-friend recommended for internet (Highliner Coffee), but this Backdoor Cafe is awfully cute. It’s in the back of a small bookstore, and the air is thick with paper, coffee and baked goods. The walls are a friendly clutter of small quilts, potted plants, paintings and bumper stickers, and mismatched lamps and paper lanterns provide a cozy glow. The background music has been half-Beatles, half-Vivaldi. I don’t want to move. But ouch, if you’re in Sitka, don’t come here for internet.