McDonalds Retirement

I heard a newscaster talking about staying with stocks in their 401K for the long haul, even though the value took a beating this month. The other news person said many people are investing in gold and other non-stock opportunities. So, I wondered what things could provide long-term stable values? Well, I chose Happy Meal toys, not because they are a viable means of support, but because I could make a couple of jokes with them.

Page Program Ends

Actually, I knew almost nothing about the program when I decided to write today's comic strip. I chose this when I saw a headline that read "House To End 180-year-old 'Teen' Page Program." Once I looked it up, though, I was reminded of the various scandals involving Representatives molesting pages in the 80's and in '06. I considered commenting about them having to find new places to pick up teens now, but decided I didn't want to take the cartoon in that direction. Once I thought about a 180-year-old, and who might appear that old today, I picked Hefner to anchor panel four.

Happy Anniversary

Can you imagine being married to me for so many years? Neither can I. So, when I started thinking about a comic strip celebrating how lucky I was, that concept stuck with me. I decided to have the joke center around my wife's apparent lack of good judgment.

Work Wife Leaving

One of my friends is going to a new job today. She sits in the cubicle beside me, and she had been leaving her pill box on my desk each week. She said I needed to be her work husband and remind her to take her pills each day with lunch or she would forget. At a goodbye lunch yesterday, her husband thanked me and said she would need to find a new work husband at the new job because she really does forget to take her pills.

I knew I wanted the comic strip to end with a comment about no sex, but I couldn't figure how to tie it in. I decided to ask the question about how a work wife is different than a real wife and make it into a joke.

T-T-Y-L-8-R

This idea has been in my idea log for months. I saw it this morning and thought it could be clever. So, I started writing the comic and realized why it had stayed in the log for so long. I had never found a good way to end it. So, I wrote the first three panels and started trying to find a clever ending. I decided to have the straight man actually say something in text and not even understand what he said.

Don't Go in the Garage

The last two mornings, I have had some great ideas for comic strips, but by the time I get to work and boot up my computer, I forget the idea. So, I've had to scramble to generate a cartoon. I really thought the ideas were good, too.

Today's idea came from Gordon Ramsey's hyper-foul mouth, and the cooks he chooses for his show seem equally bad-mouthed. And they show that stuff even on the commercials. TV is definitely getting looser on its censorship. Still, I've heard the same funny idea from A Christmas Story and The Simpsons.

Home Sick

Yes, I was home sick yesterday. When I started thinking about what cartoon to write this morning, I thought of the home, sick vs homesick misunderstanding. I wrote the first two panels, then kept thinking of other phrases to write and kept having to move the word bubbles around to make all the statements fit in four panels. The only one (for me) that doesn't fit exactly is the mayor/mare segment.