Busy Summer

This has been a pretty darn eventful summer so far... and it's only mid-July. It's been pretty good, though. If I get the manuscript finished on time, it might just be the best summer ever.





Credit to Monkey McMiro for the headline in the second cartoon; it wasn't actually in the Times Picayune, but I thought it was appropriate since Monkey was born in the Big Easy.

Cartoons

The past few Sunday mornings I've sat listening to sermons that I've wanted to comment on... it's difficult to sit still when people are spouting factual errors (e.g., "He climbed up a tree where the bear couldn't get him," as if bears weren't better tree-climbers than people)... but I think it's better to pray for patience.

At least I'm not drawing cartoons during the service.






FYI: the cartoon at the bottom is about Matt and Michelle Z., not Jeff and Tonda.

Not Grandmaster Flash... or Sly.

Just a cartoon today.
Or two.

Monkey McMiro

So, I finally got to see the fan art, and spend some time with the fan-artist. I've had a good time here in Virginia, but it never lasts long enough. However, it will also be good to head back home.

I think Monkey's version is actually better than mine.

Ink

I am enjoying my new inks, and Mai's hair is finally coming into its true glory.

Funny how doing things with one's own two hands (rather than digitally) can be so satisfying (if a bit messy).

Deadlines

I have an essay due tomorrow, and a conference which starts this afternoon. Which pretty much means I need to finish the essay... well, now. And yet somehow I can't quite get started.

The conference should be good, but of course what I really want to be doing is writing my book.

Or visiting the Portland International Rose Test Garden. (More photos here; read about gardens in Portland here, which includes links to some other favorites of mine which I've linked in the past.)

Or really, anything but finish this essay.

And now it seems to be time for lunch.

Chameleon

The friend who inspired this cartoon came over for dinner last night... it's nice to have friends that don't think all my cartoons are funny. Particularly if they don't mind me drawing more cartoons about them.
She also doesn't read blogs, but she does
enjoy good Indian food (not to be confused with "Indiana food," which, as a Hoosier, she probably also enjoys, but which I don't cook).

Completely unrelated: If you hear Herbie Hancock's Head Hunters and Miles Davis' On the Corner rumbling out of a Quaker-grey car somewhere in the Midwest (and possibly coming to a town near you!), that's probably me.
I realize that, musically, I'm behind the times, but what else is new?

Summer is here (almost)

Always your source for good advice!

Follow up

I was going to write about the Ents coming to my house, but I'm too tired to write anything particularly amusing.

However: here is the cartoon I promised.
When I get Monkey's version, I'll post that too, but it probably won't be until sometime in June.

It Runs in the Family

I wrote a post a few weeks ago called "Copyright Infringement," and yesterday I found that MonkeyMcMiro has appropriated an as-yet unpublished cartoon for a project on recycling (seriously: no rim-shot required).
I will post it as soon as I am able to find the original and scan it; hopefully I will also be able to post Monkey's version.

Until then, you'll have to settle for a Biblically-themed cartoon.
(I find it quite amusing that spell-check wants to replace "biblically" with "barbarically").

Friday

It's the last Friday (or as we Quakers call it, "Frigga's Day," after the Norse goddess most closely related to Venus [Friday: OE. frgedæg, corr. to MLG., MDu. vrdach (Du. vrijdag), OHG. fratag (G. freitag); i.e. DAY of Frg = ON. Frigg name of the wife of Odin, prop. sb. use of fem. of Gmc. *frjaz noble, FREE; WGmc. tr. of late L. Veneris dies day of Venus, from The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology]).
Hopefully not the very last Friday, but the last Friday of this semseter. I've gotten almost all of my work done, and I'm not terribly motivated to get going on the last little bit (although I suppose I should at least check my deadlines).
So I guess I'll sit and enjoy a cup of tea this afternoon. Remember: don't let it brew too long!

Kant's "stocking-suspenders"

From Thomas de Quincey, "The Last Days of Immanuel Kant":

"...for fear of obstructing the circulation of the blood, he never would wear garters; yet, as he found it difficult to keep up his stockings without them, he had invented for himself a most elaborate substitute, which I will describe. In a little pocket, somewhat smaller than a watch-pocket, but occupying pretty nearly the same situation as a watch pocket on each thigh, there was placed a small box, something like a watch-case, but smaller; into this box was introduced a watch-spring in a wheel, round about which wheel was wound an elastic cord, for regulating the force of which there was a separate contrivance. To the two ends of this cord were attached hooks, which hooks were carried through a small apeture in the pockets, and so, passing down the inner and outer side of the thigh, caught hold of two loops which were fixed on the off side and the near side of each stocking."

If I wore socks, I would have to have something like this!

And, a belated Happy May Day!

Halle Berry, I wanna be with you

Tuesday's gig was pretty good: I had fun, and I think the audience did as well.
The comments over the past few days have been odd, however.

One fellow came up to me and asked, "So, you have a dog named Biscuit?"
Um, yeah.

The other comment came from a friend who was working in the kitchen during the performance. Yesterday she asked me about my "Halle Berry song." I wasn't really sure what to say; I don't have a song about Halle Berry. She sang a bit--quoted in the title of this post--and I figured out that she meant "Hey Blue Fairy."


"Good! I didn't think you were the kind of person who would write a song about a Hollywood star... and quite frankly, I was a little offended."

Let me say that I think Halle Berry is an attractive woman, and if I were to write a song about a Hollywood actress it might well be about her. (Or Sandra Bullock. Or Julianne Moore. I'll stop now.) If I were to write such a song, however, my friend would certainly be offended (along with many other people), because it would probably come out something like Mojo Nixon's Stuffin' Martha's Muffin.
But I have no plans to write such a song. In fact, I'm working on several songs at the moment, none of which are Halle-related, but they're not coming along quickly.
I find that either they come to me all at once--"Chicken," "The Biscuit Song," and "Don't Call Me"--or else I labor over them and the results are fairly mediocre ("The Swirly Song").
So we'll see what kind of summer it is: walking seems to help, and I just got a new pair of shoes. I'll let you know how they are next week... and who knows? Perhaps I'll post some cartoons as well.

Copyright infringement

So, I spent quite a bit of time working on the t-shirt design only to realize that Cafe Press has this stupid clause in which you have to agree not to use other people's artwork, or some such thing. The back isn't quite as impressive: it just reads,

"I'm Not Bitter!"

I'm hoping that Blogger doesn't have a similar copyright infringement clause, although it would be surprising if they didn't. Or, for that matter, that no one from the school see it and becomes irate. (* It took nine months, but it finally happened: hence the missing logo.)
On the other hand, I suspect that anyone who gets too mad deserves their own copy of the shirt.

Swan Song

→ n.
a person's final public performance or professional activity before retirement: he has decided to make this tour his swan song.
- ORIGIN early 19th cent.: suggested by German Schwanengesang, a song like that fabled to be sung by a dying swan
(from The New Oxford American Dictionary)


I was hoping to offer a t-shirt through Cafe Press indicating both status as alumni of our fair school, and a reassurance that the wearer is not bitter. (Something subtle, such as, "I'm not bitter!") I suspect I'd sell at least one shirt; but I don't have time to monkey around with them today.


On the street where you live: I was on the street where I used to live last week, and noticed something that I had forgotten and not missed: naked jogging man.
Well, he's not naked, just wearing very few clothes. But it's almost enough to make you curse the good weather.


And one last plug for tonight's show: be there or be square! (Of course, some people like that sort of thing.)

Quote of the Day: "There's only so much lint in one's navel."
Said by a woman who has never seen my navel.

Koolaid & Candle Jam

Come hear some old songs and a one tomorrow night!
And as a special bonus treat, I'll wear my beret (if I can find it).

Back in the News

Mr Miro, who has featured prisoners in past shows, said he wanted to draw attention to the migrants' plight.

At least half of almost 30,000 illegal arrivals in Spain's Canary Islands, off West Africa, in 2006 were Senegalese.

Mr Miro defended his initiative, saying that he wanted to show solidarity toward immigrants.

He said some of the eight immigrants used in the catwalk show had started the process of obtaining Spanish work permits, while the others were in the country illegally.

"It's a way of giving them a tiny bit of me," Mr Miro said, adding that they were paid a small fee.

Another rainy day

Driving back from teaching a Critical Thinking class, I was listening to Bob Dylan:

"You say you're lookin' for someone
Never weak but always strong,
To protect you an' defend you
Whether you are right or wrong...

But it ain't me, babe,
No, no, no, it ain't me, babe,
It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe"

Amen.

Campus Mail

I got a fabulous thing in the campus mail today: I've been nominated to be considered for the 2006-2007 Student Choice Award! To quote the letter, "This is one of the highest awards to be given to a faculty member on our campus and it is truly an honor to be nominated."

All I have to do is submit the enclosed form by... April 2. Dang.

Campus mail sucks.

Cold Front

I think this is really cool. It doesn't look like much: you have to listen to the samples to get a sense of what this thing is. For the first few, the "dry" part starts the sound clip, and then the processed version of the same lick follows.
If you have $450 you're not using, please send it to me. (On the other hand, if I got one of these things, my book probably wouldn't get written.)