doodle diary 3/30

I'm very swamped right now and so I don't know how much actual tooning I've got time for this week. Please check back later.

shit my dad says 3/28

More Twitter crankiness from this guy.

weird screen names 002

HEIDI HATES ME

Why? What on earth did you do to her? This odd screen name asks more questions than it answers. I found it in a casino room where people generally act like idiots anyway.

copyright infringement friday

I just barely remember watching reruns of "Kukla, Fran and Ollie" when I was maybe 4 or 5 years old. It was creepy and corny at the same time. And what's up with Ollie and that single tooth sticking out of his upper gums?? Freaky.

The artwork is my attempt at some digital mixed media. Think I'll probably stick with plain old toons from now on.

winnie 3/25

captchas 3/24

Every time I have use word verification to leave blog comments, I scribble down the nonsense word on a post-it because some of the words sound like they could almost be real. The program for this spam preventative is called "Captcha" (I love that word too). After I gathered enough of them I tried to turn them into little illustrations with a somewhat technical styling. If any of these are real words, please don't tell me!

doodle diary 3/23

overheard in new york 3/22

Find more curious questions and quotes at the official Overheard in New York website.

armless farm boy 3/21

first day of spring

It's March 21st and it looks like December outside. I really really hate living in the midwest!!!

copyright infringement friday

My parents -who never went to movies- actually went and saw E.T. back when it first came out. Afterward, my dad said "I've buried better things than that." I was so disappointed in him.

visitor

happy saint patrick's day

weird screen names 001

ICE CREAM FOR CROWS

I've been collecting strange screen names for years. Sometimes I scribble them down and turn them into little sketches. I was really intrigued when I first saw "icecreamforcrows" and the surreal images that brings to mind until I found out it's also the name of a Captain Beefheart song. Crap. I probably shouldn't have even mentioned that.

way to go!

bed bread

I think this is the very first toon I've ever drawn that was inspired by a typo. Last week I was writing something for work and typed "bedbread" instead of "bedspread". People always ask artists and writers where they get their ideas -- well, here's one answer.

the new dog

Meet Winnie. Yes, there's already a new dog in the house. She's a one year old chihuahua mix from Animal Haven, which is a 'no kill' shelter a few miles from my house. They'd had my name and info for over a year from when I'd asked them to keep an eye out for any Yorkies they might come across. Winnie is not a Yorkie, but they thought I'd like her because she's sweet-natured and most definitely a "cuddler". I'm not the kind of person who thinks you can just replace one dog with another...there will never be another Bebe. But she has sure gone a long way to lift the gloom and sadness that's lingered around here over the last few weeks. And she needed a home.

Her best feature is her very pronounced underbite that makes me laugh every time she looks up at me. She's recovering from kennel cough -- which almost all shelter dogs contract. She's energetic and friendly and scary smart. Her favorite places to sleep are right next to a human or on top of this weird stuffed animal the spouse gave me for Valentine's Day. I've turned her into a cartoon character, so you'll be seeing her again.

copyright infringement friday

thursday guilt

doodle diary 3/10

Nosebleed Girl eating cotton candy

the olive loaf has gone bad

TFLN 3/7

Yeah, I thought it was high time for a cheerful Text From Last Night.

c minus horses

*update*

To avoid more confusion, I'll try and explain this one. It's like 'C' as in 'sea' in 'sea'horses/'C'horses.... Make sense yet? So a C minus horse would be a slightly dumber sea(C)horse. I thought briefly about calling it 'medicated seahorses' or 'stoned seahorses'. Dammit. I knew this was weak when I posted it, but I didn't have anything else ready to go.

copyright infringement friday

little dog lost

I made this artwork about a week ago when I was feeling really tired and depressed about my little Yorkie's failing health and reluctance to eat.  She's gone now.

She took a real turn for the worse on Tuesday, stayed at the vet's and never came home. She was warm and safe and went very peacefully.  I'm glad she finally got her happy ending after suffering for the past two weeks with my stupid fingers trying to get vital medication down her little throat in hopes of buying her some relief and some time.  She was tired of that. She lived a comfortable thirteen years before being diagnosed with a severely enlarged heart 18 months ago.  She wasn't expected to last six months after that, but we were very vigilant about medication and diet in hopes that she would somehow make a miracle recovery. She didn't. 

I miss her, but I'm so relieved that her suffering has stopped.  I wish it could have gone differently there at the end, but death is never easy or convenient for anybody. That's how death works. It's messy.

Regular toon stuff will resume shortly.

sketchbook page 3/3

dogs, doodle diary 3/1

I'm dealing with all kinds of dog drama right now, and haven't felt very funny or 'toony' lately. My little Yorkie with a severe heart condition still isn't eating and I really thought today was the day the spouse and I would take her in to be euthanized. She's wasting away and obviously suffering, but my partner cannot let her go yet. He still has "hope" despite evidence that there's no hope left. The dopey doctor sent us home with a pricey food meant for anorexic dogs that we now have to wipe across the roof of her tiny mouth by hand. She hates it. I hate it. It sucks for all of us. I was vetoed and she'll live on another day. I sometimes think I'm a little too practical and coldhearted for situations like this; I grew up on a farm and animal mortality is a very real and hard fact that I learned early on. Maybe I'm not the right person to make these decisions anyway.

So be forewarned that there may be more doodles and sketchbook pages here for a few days. I can only be funny enough for my job and there's not much to spare at the moment.