Yes, today's strip makes it clear: Archery occupies quite a large portion of my mind. Not because of the strip per se, but because the bow you see there is an actual copy of my bow. I drew it based on some photographs from the shooting range. I could have used one of the bows I use for the ninjas, but it wouldn't have been fair for my Sirius (yes, my bow has a name).

Regardless, and still on the subject, last Saturday I participated in an Archery tournament (the 2010 ETAR Open) and I was lucky enough to end up 2nd (out of 80 archers). I earned an order for a dozen wooden arrows (which I was really needing, to be honest), so I'm very happy. Not just for the prize itself, but because it had been a long time since I competed in a tournament; at least, in one which would demand attention and concentration from me, the previous one I participated in was rather a social meeting than a competition.

Without going into detail, the tournament was like this: each archer shot one arrow at a time, and it only took a miss to be out of the game. Add to that the fact that each face was at a different distance from the previous one, so you had to be very careful so as not to miss. In a regular tournament, you may have to shoot 60 arrows, so a miss can be compensated with the other 59 arrows. Here, one miss meant you were out. You can only imagine the pressure that the archer feels on the shooting line, even on the easiest shots. Fortunately, I was able to hold it and make it to the final round.


Anyway, I'll be seeing you.