Make a joyful noise

This is almost verbatim from our meeting last week. Almost.

Holiday fashion

Food, glorious food!

Of course, this was back in the day when they actually served meals on domestic flights...

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Let a spirit of thanksgiving guide and bless your days and nights."
- Gordon B. Hinckley

Thanksgiving Eve

Before Tivo

I actually had someone tell me this.

Monday sketchbook: family assembly?

I like having the little button stuck in the body so the good doctor could tell when it was ready.

Full service

It's an old one, but I still like it. Ben helped color it.

Rivalry weekend

Yep, it's the weekend of the big rivalry game between the Lord's University and that Lamanite school situated in the land northward. The game has conference championship and bowl game implications all over it. It seems only appropriate to run this particular cartoon today.

One thing that had a lot of people worked up about the University Avenue project was that we had the main entrance to campus blocked off when school started. The funny thing about that was that one of the project designers actually was an alumnus of the University of Utah.

There's more than one reason to take a vacation

I'm taking next week off from work. But I love my co-workers!

All I need is this lamp...

Know anybody who overpacks for everything?

An old family secret

Actually, my grandma was a great cook. I just drew this one to bug her.

Free range turkey

I thought of having him head north to Canada, but with the Canadian Thanksgiving being in October, he would have already been eaten.

Monday sketchbook: Mime Time

We live in the heart of Christmas tree country, and it's harvest time. We drove by one field on the way to church yesterday that was covered with freshly-cut trees. It made me thankful that trees don't run around the way that poultry does.

...and counting!

So last night I went out with the guys to see the new James Bond movie. Of course there were a lot of chases and a lot of explosions...which made me think of this cartoon. Maybe after this kid's mission he can be a secret agent! Of course, that may not be too far fetched. I have a few former mission buddies who work for the CIA. Hmm.

The date strikes back

Each December in Salem all the high schools join together for a giant preference dance called Snoball. It's coming up Dec. 6 this year. I always wonder how true this cartoon really is.

Engage!

My eldest broke the news yesterday that he is engaged to a nice girl from Tahiti! More news as events warrant.

Mush alert!

Today is my wife's birthday (29th). In her honor, I'm running an illustration from a story I illustrated for her. It's the tale of a princess who didn't know she was a princess...until she came upon a magic mirror that showed her who she really was. This illustration is of the transformation that took place when she picked up the mirror for the first time.

Happy birthday, sweetie! You're the best!

Travel plans

We plan on having a full house for Thanksgiving -- if they're all able to find their way home!

Turkey time!

I wish I had something for Veteran's Day. Maybe next year. In the meantime, here's one for the Thanksgiving season.

Monday sketchbook: Vet's Day

Yeah, it's a little dumb, which is why it never got past the sketchbook phase.

Close encounters in Primary

Primary, for those who may not know, is the LDS Church's organization for children. Once each year the children present a program, and today is our ward's day.

In most Christian churches, you can count on a good crowd at Easter and Christmas. In the LDS Church, you can add the Primary program to that list.

One popular Primary song is "I Hope They Call Me On A Mission," which has the line, "I hope they call me on a mission/When I have grown a foot or two." Which, of course, got me thinking...

Pre-holiday diet

Some folks had a hard time understanding this one. See, the diet worked so well that...well, never mind.

It also happens that my son's teacher assigned her students to keep track of their caloric intake over the weekend. He was surprised to see how much his Halloween candy affected his score!

I thought this would be a good time to run this...before Thanksgiving dinner and the subsequent holiday baking.

Party animals

I did this for or department newsletter one fall. About a year later, Gary Larson drew a similar one for The Far Side. Great minds think alike, I guess.

More post-election

More in-depth analysis from the media.

OK, the election's over...now what?

OK, so this one is a little dated...I thought about updating it to say Mitt Romney, but Mondale just sounds better.

I have to say that both candidates gave impressive speeches last night; I was particularly impressed with Sen. McCain's concession speech. He sounded more like a statesman than a losing candidate. I particularly liked how he wished godspeed to the man who will be "my president." President-elect Obama also avoided partisan rhetoric, speaking highly of Sen. McCain and calling for unity: "So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other." It made me wonder how different things would be in our political world had the previous candidates taken a similar approach.

Ain't it the truth!

The best thing is that starting tomorrow, there won't be any more election ads.

Monday sketchbook: characters from literature

I think this one makes a nice transition from Halloween to Thanksgiving. Nice being a relative term, of course...

AYPWIP?*

I wonder this myself, at least every four years or so.

*AYPWIP is from Pinky and the Brain, and old favorite cartoon of our family. In every episode, Brain asks Pinky, "Are you pondering what I'm pondering?" Google it, and you'll find some interesting answers to that question. Here are a few of my favorites:

• I think so, Brain, but if they called them sad meals, kids wouldn't buy them.
• I think so, Brain, but me and Pippi Longstocking... I mean, what would the children look like?
• Uh, I think so, Brain, but balancing a family and a career ... oooh, it's all too much for me.

Rock or hard place?

This is a little out of sequence of how the originals actually ran, but it works better this way.