Everyone has books, but not everyone has an award (or two) hanging in their study.

Of course, I am not a journalist. What’s funny is that, the closest I have come to studying journalism, is when I – along with the journalism students – once snuck into a journalism lecture.

In case you didn’t know, I somehow won my first (and second) award, last year, for political cartooning. In fact, my last award – for anything – was when I was about ten years old, For chess, I think.

So, you will have to excuse my little bit of vanity.

When I was asked to illustrate September’s cover of The Media, the wonderfully toddler-like work of Ann Gadd was thrown around. We decided that a loose parody was in order.

There is a funny backstory. While I was sketching the draft, my wife walked in and promptly told me how much she loves it. As is. I sent it to my editor and she agreed.

So, the draft ended up on the cover.

In case you’re wondering, the letters on the signboard spell “excellence”.

Firstly, before anyone thinks that there is some sort of rivalry between Hayibo and myself, there absolutely isn’t. Why would there be? They’re satirical troopers who work very hard at keeping us laughing, just like The Onion do. What’s not to like?

Their initial silent diplomacy, however, led me to Mbeki-esque conclusions. But then they made up for lost time.

Secondly, Hayibo‘s public apology to me, via their newsletter, is unnecessary but appreciated. I wasn’t offended by my cartoon’s usage; my skin is considerably thicker than some might believe. (Dealing with a death threat, for example, was a bit hairier.) My work pops up, regularly, across the internet, and that’s fine; there’s no point in policing it, particularly if it hasn’t been manipulated. But, when I receive emails from readers, highlighting its manipulated usage on a commercial operation like Hayibo, I have to admit that it seems strange and a bit too close to home. I doubt that my blog post was unreasonable.

Nevertheless, kudos to Tom and the team for being good sports about it which, in turn, has made me look like an arsehole. (Which pisses me off even more because I’m the one who’s supposed to make others look like arseholes.)

Thirdly, as I’ve said before, Hayibo are welcome to use my cartoons in their articles, so long as I’m credited (via my signature or otherwise).

Fourthly, refer to the first point.

Last week, myself and a few cartoonists discussed our work in front of some people. The evening was hosted by the South African Jewish Museum and Africartoons.

When introducing myself, I thanked the Jewish Museum for the invitation and proceeded to open with a Muhammad joke. I stopped halfway when I noticed the piercing silence and everyone starring back at me, wide-eyed.

As it turns out, stand-up comedy is not my strength.

In case you’ve ever wondered what some of us look like, in the following photo, from left to right, are Wilson Mgobhozi (The Star), Brandan Reynolds (Business Day), Themba Siwela (The Citizen), John Curtis (editor, Africartoons), and myself.

Don’t be fooled by shorty’s John’s smile. No one likes him.