Avoiding Monday

Stretching Sunday Without Breaking It

Life was filled with unplanned emergencies this weekend, and while I was able to still work on comics during the chaos I didn’t get to do all of the wonderful things I had planned. But that’s what emergencies do. They wait until you have something planned and then they spring into action. My goal during an emergency is to also do something that the emergency doesn’t want me to do, like read. So if I’m visiting you in the hospital and you hear about me speed reading a chapter of a book in the elevator up to your room, you know that I’m fighting this emergency to the best of my ability.

Did you see what I did in the first sentence above? I used the phrase “unplanned emergencies”. I’m going to keep it there as an example of ridiculousness. I’m not the first to use this phrase and I won’t be the last, but I will always make fun whoever says it even if it’s me. “You had an unplanned emergency? That’s your problem, right there. With a little planning, emergencies aren’t an inconvenience at all!” Whew, I feel better now.

Drawing a comic during an emergency really reminds me that I’m a weirdo. I’ve drawn comics in hospital rooms, cars, and other unexotic locations. This is all thanks to modern equipment that allows me to draw on a portable screen. Before that I was dipping a brush into a bottle of ink in a hospital room. I kind of miss that version of weirdness. It made me feel like Monet spontaneously painting a stack of hay. Now I’m just another goober with an iPad.

Deadlines never care about dignity.

The answer to this, mentioned by many readers who don’t like to read the comments of the others before them, is a pizza cutter. But I loved the engagement this strip produced, despite the fact that fifty percent of it was “pizza cutter”. It did really well and I had fun writing it. I just wish I had remembered it correctly.

This comic was inspired by an actual conversation. I complained about something sharp and pointy in my shoe. The person I was talking to said that you don’t have to use sharp and pointy together. I only needed to say pointy. Pointy is sharp. I messed up her observation for the strip, but since people liked it I’m ok with it.

The fact that I was in pain from something digging into my foot while debating my use of adjectives did not make it into the strip.

I love water bottles and have one with me at all times. Unfortunately, water bottles are now bigger than the average baby. Mine also tend to fall over more frequently than babies because I have the coordination of an inexperienced drunk. I really need a cart like Tabby’s.

I think I made pretty good comics in January because I made an concerted effort to watch every episode of the Dick Van Dyke Show. “What?” I hear you asking. Yes, the Dick Van Dyke Show. Well, Dick Van Dyke turned one hundred years old and it made me want to watch it. It’s always been named as one of the best shows in the history of television and one of the few that never jumped the shark. Carl Reiner wrote most of the episodes that first season by himself, which is jaw dropping, and the writing was perfect.

Anyway, I watched them all as I worked. Go big or go home, right? I think it made me write better. I need something else of equal value to watch so I don’t lose that edge.

I’m jealous of people who can save money better than me, which is everybody.

I go back to the very first time Tabby met Berle with this strip. She kissed him. Tabby was new and I needed something big to establish her character. That wasn’t it. But it was big and I liked writing this callback.

I just wanted to draw Tabby’s cat-themed house again, but this is also me. Fitting in the amount of sleep I need to get is unusual. The problem is always that I need to get up before I’m done sleeping. If there’s an obvious flaw in my logic, it hasn’t resolved the problem.

Talk about a callback. Long before this comic’s focus was on retail, Penny’s character worked at the store bakery. Her coworker was Kyle. I should do something with Kyle. He doesn’t want to come back to the store, which is the correct mindset for an employee.

I like the signs here. One of the rewarding things about helping a line of people is informing someone that they cut in front of the person you were getting ready to help. That’s just one of the rewarding things. I’ll let you know if I think of another.

I’ve been someone who called in sick a lot, and I’m here to report that if I truly do not like my job that I can make myself a magnet for viruses and germs. It’s one of my natural talents. In fact, getting sick a lot is a good sign that I need to work elsewhere.

I drew this lady’s face and immediately decided that she’s applying for a job. I loved it. Just look at her. You’ve been helped by her. We’ve all been helped by her.