CSotD: Monday Miscellany

Timing is everything, and I’m in firm agreement with the woman in Christopher Weyant’s cartoon, because the pollen right now is kicking my ass, and maybe putting the mask back on would be a good idea, even though I’ve had both my shots.

 

Our governor has canceled the mandate, a little prematurely I think, but since most of my interactions are outdoors, it hardly matters.

But most stores are still requiring it, so this Steve Kelley (Creators) cartoon strikes home. It’s some tribute to my subconscious mind that I don’t think much about it when I go to the grocery store, but it still feels funny masking up to go into the liquor store.

 

On a more righteous note, here’s a reminder from Francis (AMS) that we’re in the middle of Ramadan. The dawn-to-dusk fast always makes me think of a friend who inadvertently scheduled a vacation in Morocco during Ramadan and so felt very guilty that her guides had to squire her around in 100+ temperatures without even being able to drink water.

I’m told, however, that the dinners in the evening are joyous, and particularly at Eid, when the time ends.

In any case, Brother Leo offers a wink to an old Sufi story of the beggar who stopped to smell a street vendor’s stew. The vendor grabbed him and began demanding payment, but the wise Mullah Nasreddin happened along and promised to judge the matter.

The vendor argued that his talent and materials had produced the good smells and that he deserved compensation. Nasreddin agreed with him, then took out his purse and shook it, paying for the smell of food with the sound of money.

 

If you like that sort of thing, by the way, I strongly recommend these books of Sufi cartoons.

 

And as long as we’re contemplating the wisdom of the past, this Anne and God not only made me smile but brought up a bit of fashion history.

Though first it brought up the fact that, while I didn’t save twist ties, I did used to take the rubber band off the newspaper and put it on the doorknob. Given that we got four papers a day — the Colorado Springs Sun, the Gazette-Telegraph, the Rocky Mountain News and the Denver Post — this collection of rubber bands grew quickly.

I wouldn’t know where to find one now.

But speaking of MacGyvering things with bread ties, that was the reason — or, at least, a use — for the fringe on the leather jackets of Mountain Men.

Trappers often needed a quick repair on something, and, since their bread didn’t come in plastic wrappers, they had fringe instead.

 

The Anne of Anne & God is Anne Morse-Hambrock, who produces The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee (KFS), in partnership with her husband, John, and I happen to know they have two dogs, which makes this cartoon a bit of a puzzler.

I certainly identified with the mystery of the disappearing sandwich, but I’ve never met a dog whose appetite wasn’t infinitely expandable.

In fact, I’ve just gone from a 95-pound dog to a 20-pound dog, and so I have to relearn how many treats to give a dog in the course of a day, not because she’ll turn down her dinner but because she won’t.

 

Pooch Cafe (AMS) takes a different view of dogs and their appetites. This strip vacillates between absurd anthropomorphism and pure doggy logic, this being an example of the latter.

I had one dog I referred to as “Snuffles,” because, like the dog in the Quick Draw McGraw cartoons, he would do anything for a doggy cookie.

 

This Pros and Cons (KFS) made me laugh, and it fits in the context of the current discussion, because there are far too many of us who would do anything for the equivalent of a doggy cookie.

I’ve said before that one mark of a good cartoon is that a particular gag can only work with a particular character. Samuel, the lawyer, is just the right person for this one, because Stan, the cop, isn’t that contemplative, while Lyndon, the shrink, likes his job and his life.

When I dropped out of school, my grandfather agreed with my decision to stop and rethink things, telling me of a fellow he knew in the army during WWI who had made it all the way through law school and hung out his shingle before realizing he didn’t want to be a lawyer.

He joined the army not out of patriotism but as an escape route.

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that, but I do think you should stop and look around before you find yourself hemmed in by a picket fence, a minivan and an expensive mortgage.

If, at that point, you walk away from the law career, you’ll also get to assess the quality of your marriage.

If ditching the rat race is the right choice, the right spouse will welcome it.

 

Which brings us to this Bill Bramhall cartoon, and he’s not the only person who is celebrating the return of quiet, competent leadership.

As noted before, we mustn’t ignore the festering remains of the last administration. I see that one of the employees of Dominion Voting Systems has withdrawn his lawsuit against Newsmax for their lies about the election, and I’d love to know how many zeroes are in that undisclosed compensation.

But some three-quarters of Republicans still believe the election was stolen, and, while three-quarters of a diminishing group is far from a majority, they aren’t insignificant, nor will they likely be convinced by an apology and retraction, even assuming they see it.

However, getting back to choosing your spouse wisely, Biden’s lack of bluster has given his enemies little to criticize, and so, in the “I kid you not” category, this DoucheMax commentator went ballistic over what was, for normal, decent folks, an “Ahhh” moment between Joe and Jill …

 

There’s little to add except that he thinks a dandelion gone to seed is one that hasn’t blossomed yet.

Rather than despising his appetite for hatemongering, perhaps we should pity his sad, crabbed childhood.

Imagine not understanding dandelions.

Or love.