...and a follow-up

Yesterday we went from freezing fog on the way to seminary to sunny and (relatively) warm in the afternoon. It's nuts!

Enough is enough!

One of my coworkers told me about his mom in Wisconsin going out to shovel snow in 10 degree weather; another mentioned her mom in Arkansas being iced in without electricity for who knows how long. We had a few snowflakes fall here the other day. I think this sentiment rings true for a lot of people about now!

Snow crossing zone

Making a splash

I must be in an editorial frame of mind. I stumbled across this old cartoon from back in my college days, and the first thing I thought of was the whole Gaza situation between Israel and Hamas. You know, the whole "eye for an eye" thing.

The second thing I thought of was that today Zach is getting his wisdom teeth extracted, his second round of oral surgery before heading off on the mission. Lucky guy!

It's the economy, stupid!

Pres. Obama spent the weekend huddled up with his experts working on the stimulus package to bolster the economy. Then I remembered this cartoon, which describes our economic problem quite succinctly.

Monday sketchbook: That's using your head

Once again proving that sometimes the ideas are better inside my brain than they are on paper. You should see the ones that don't make it this far!

It's all about the service

I thought this was kind of cute, the Beehives wanting to do a service project like this. But then I got to thinking what would happen if I reversed it and had the Young Men washing, say, Jessica Alba's socks? That might just be a little creepy. Of course, the whole idea of having the Scouts do laundry is scary enough in itself...we'll just leave that one alone!

Nirvana. It'll blow you away.

Every time I clean the garage, I find new boxes with little cartoon gems hidden inside. This was a precursor to the Not Quite Zen drawings. You could say that (ahem!) it's a prehistoric version... Or not.

Around and around

All the kids are out of school today because it's a grading day, but the semester doesn't end until Jan. 30 to make up for the time they had to take off because of the storms...so finals are a week after grading day! Hmm.

Drips

I've had this happen to me.

All the news that's fit

I've been fascinated with newspapers ever since I was a little kid, back in the day when my dad would run out in his underwear to grab the Salt Lake Tribune first thing in the morning. That's an image I can't (but would like to) forget! I still have a little blue spiral binder full of comics that I cut out of the paper way back then. I think that's when I first got the cartooning bug, back in the day when I spent hours tracing Peanuts and all those other strips that I loved.

A little while back we took the Cub Scouts down to the Statesman Journal to take a tour with Dick Hughes, the editorial page editor. He's done the Cub Scout tour for us for a couple of years; the kids have a good time and he gets a kick out of showing off for them. It's fun to talk to someone who loves newspapers, the newspaper business and the news. It's nice that there are good guys like him who are willing to take the time to share that passion with the rising generation.

Special sketchbook: The Inauguration

Monday sketchbook: Rain camp

Thanks to the influence of Jim Heder (yes, he's Jon's dad), our Scout troop has a winter camp every year. But in Oregon it isn't always guaranteed that we'll have snow for snow camp. That uncertainty has taught our youth and our leaders to be prepared. Some even pack a pair of cross-country water skis, just in case. They're heading up this weekend, so we'll hope for the best!

I suppose, as a faithful ODOT employee, I should put in a plug for TripCheck, our travel information Web site with the latest in road and weather information. The road cams are way cool...we can see ahead of time if there is snow in the pass.

Simply the best

Personally, I never had any bad experiences with dogs while serving on my mission in Korea...unless you count the time we accidentally wandered into the wrong area of the market while trying to find a shortcut home. But that's another story that we won't get into here, and I totally blame Elder Cross. He was the senior.

If I remember correctly, this is one The New Era ran when I was actually out in the field. That was a little surreal, being half a planet away and seeing my cartoon in a magazine.

Snow club

At work I've been helping with a presentation for the Transportation Commission and a legislative committee about the department's response to the recent storms. It got me thinking about how folks in the past may have gone about getting rid of the snow.

Put THAT on your schedule!

It's never too early to start procrastinating!

Explain this to me...

Post-holiday blahs

I think it's a great idea, but my wife and I have a bargain. I can put up as many lights as I want as long as I promise to pay the electric bill and turn them off before the kids go back to school.

But, seriously, don't you think groundhog lights would be cool?

Last of the trilogy

This makes up the third and final of the "tree" series. I couldn't just leave this one hanging. So to speak.

Monday Sketchbook: One day at Mr. Mac's

One thing about waiting for a mission call is the rampant speculation on where the prospective missionary will be assigned. This is a result of a rampant speculation session...and a Robot Chicken segment featuring a "yo' mamma" fight between Luke Skywalker and the Emperor.*


*"Yo' mamma's so dumb she went to Bangkok to get a Tie Fighter!"

Snow body to teach

I always loved how Calvin and Hobbes did crazy things with snowmen. This may not be exactly crazy, but it's kinda fun.

Ben, my apprentice, wants to be sure that we point out that the two "missionaries" are Elder Frost and Elder Snow.

I think that I shall never see...

Another "tree" cartoon. I had this new brush that was really good for drawing trees, and I got a little carried away...

Special guest artist: Dale Kilbourn

Yep, Zach got his call. Tempe, Arizona. Yee-hah!

This was one that The New Era bought a long, long time ago when a lot of my older friends started getting their calls. The same feeling seems to be true even today! Of course, when I got my call, I had to telephone all my friends and family to let them know when and where I was going. Zach covered just about everybody with one blast text message and a posting on his Facebook!

Tree of wisdom...not so much

Yesterday we (the Oregon Department of Transportation) had to close a bunch of highways because of fallen trees. The wind and the ice combined with saturated soil made it a bad combination. Anyway, that reminded me of this deep philosophical question.

For the Gee Whiz file: At ODOT we have landscape crews who scour the roadsides looking for hazard trees, trees that could pose a threat to motorists traveling the highways. They identify the potential hazards and clear them out of the way. I love that name, hazard tree. Sounds like Ents on a rampage!

Getting to know you?

With some people, you just never know...

New chances

Yep, it's a new semester and everyone is excited. Woot.

Called to serve?

This is one that was a lot better in my head than it was on paper, one reason it never made it past the sketchbook.

FYI: The next Elder Beckstrom is awaiting his call. Our stake president says that according the the Church's Web site, the call has been sent. Now it just has to make it to our mailbox.

It's cold out there every day

This is not the original caption for this cartoon, and my wife said that I can't tell you what it was (but she did tell Helen).

I was inspired to rewrite this by my oldest son, however, who in February came home from a mission in Montreal; he is now engaged to a lovely young lady from Tahiti.

BONUS MATERIAL: Elder Beckstrom in action in Montreal, snow diving out of his apartment balcony.

Happy roommate friends

Ever had that new roommate who comes in and takes over the place?

Ready to get back to work

You know that line in "It's Beginning to Look at Lot Like Christmas" that says, "and Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again"? From what I hear, most families are about there.

2008's Top Ten, part II

Now the 2008 Top Ten concludes!

---

No. 5

This is from one of my other blogs, Zarahemla Times, but it is one of my favorites.

---

No. 4

OK, technically this isn't new, but Twilight puts things in a different light.

---

No. 3

From what I hear, Christi, you're not alone in this!

---

No. 2

What can I say? I just like this one!

---

No. 1

This is my favorite from the year, the Memorial Day sketchbook. It may not be funny, but it really gets me.

Thank you to all of you who read my blog and give me ideas and feedback. Happy New Year!