One with nature

It's in the bag

Anyone who has packed a diaper bag for more than one kid knows exactly what this feels like.

And so it goes...

I kind of feel like that every morning as I leave home and go in to work. Sigh.

I'm stepping off the LEM now

I blame the Apollo program for my geekiness. As if rockets and spaceflight weren't cool enough, they had to nickname the command module and the lunar excursion modules for Apollo 10 -- the dry run for the big one -- "Charlie Brown" and "Snoopy."

So it was with a sad heart that I learned the news that this weekend one of my childhood heroes, Neil Armstrong, passed away. Armstrong was cool under pressure, as evidenced by the actual landing of the LEM, was humble (at least as far as hotshot pilots and astronauts go), stayed away from the limelight, and was an Eagle Scout.

Thank you, Mr. Armstrong. You were an inspiration!

Monday Sketchbook: Back to School

It's back to school time around here, and I just happened to stumble across one of my old sketches for Explore Provo. The University Avenue reconstruction project had progressed to a point right in front of Provo High School right at the same time that school was about to begin. We were able to work with the school district to work out access to the school. And wisely, we chose not to run this cartoon.

A year's supply

Some people get a little emotional when they get in the pulpit.

End of summer clearance sale!

This is a gag I did a few months ago, thinking it might fit in with the pioneer and Old West theme that I often use in July. I bumped it from the lineup then. Perhaps it should have had a permanent bump...

And he responds to "fetch!"

In one of my districts we didn't have a puppy, but we did have a couple of pet goldfish, Stud and Bud. They only lasted a couple of weeks -- we didn't have much time to care for them (may they rest in peace).

This started out as a sketchbook drawing a while ago, but I kept thinking it deserved a promotion. By way of background, "golden" is missionary slang for someone who is interested in learning more.

It's in the air

One does not simply walk into middle school

Over the summer the district did a few upgrades to the local middle school. The changes did NOT include, however, hiring a Dark Lord as principal -- although there are those who say that may be up for discussion!

It ain't hold 'em

I often spent summer vacation with my Grandma. One of her favorite forms of entertainment was teaching her grandchildren how to play cards -- more specifically, how to cheat at playing solitaire. Which, of course, really messes me up when I try to play on the computer!

Monday Sketchbook: Teaching techniques

I had the honor of hanging out with fellow cartoonist Arie Van de Graaff a little while ago. We broke bread, swapped stories, commiserated on common issues, and generally geeked out. While I put missionary-related cartoons on our ward bulletin board, he uses his cartoons as visual aids when he teaches Sunday school. I couldn't let that opportunity pass without making some sort of comment!

Guess who's coming...

My house can't be the only one in which this happens.

Long live the crown

There seems to be a pattern of dentist gags showing up here just after I go to see my dental practitioner. Must be the laughing gas.

Education Week again

I think BYU holds Education Week right before school starts so the students perceive traffic as being better when all the Education Weekers leave. It gets kinda crazy!

By the way, my comic strip Zarahemla Times will be coming of reruns soon. Stay tuned for more news as it develops!

Another Education Week

I'm sure I'm not the only one who ever felt this way!

More Education Week

I tried to get my folks to steer away from classes about raising or disciplining children. For some reason, they didn't listen to me...

Education Week

Yesterday started Education Week at BYU. I could never figure out why my folks would want to spend all those summer vacation days taking classes. Now I find myself wishing I could go every year.

Monday Sketchbook: Banned substances

One last visit to the Olympic games, thanks in part to my little padawans.

The time is ripe

The song "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen was written for parody -- it's catchy, exuberant and overplayed -- so of course I had to take advantage of that fact. I showed this to the elders serving in our ward, and that said that it's kind of the message of the Mormon.org cards: click us, maybe. Hmmm.

Editor's note: I know that I usually have the Mission President interviews on Saturdays. But yesterday I had to issue the reminder about the Persied meteor shower (as a public service announcement), so this got bumped to today.

Editor's other note: I find it somewhat coincidental that Ms. Jepsen was born in Mission, BC. Mission. Hmmm!

We won't get fooled again

Quick! Take a look outside! You may still be able to catch a glimpse of the Persied meteor shower. For real! NASA says that this is one of the best years for viewing it, and tonight/tomorrow morning is supposed to be the best time.

Look up!

P-Day prep, part II

I actually wouldn't be surprised if there was already one of these shirts on the market.

Down on the river

I was really torn on this one, trying to decide whether it was OK the way it is or if it needed a caption. A couple of captions I tried on were: "Death takes a fishing holiday;" "Bob wondered if there was a deeper reason this fishing hole was secret;" and "Hey! What are you using for bait?" That last one didn't work very well because Death is fly fishing.

So what do you think? Did I make the right choice? Should it be captionless? Aaargh! The struggles of cartooning!

Signs

I've seen the sign of Gandalf saying, "You shall not pass," but I wondered what other signs they might use in Middle Earth. Personally, I like the "no pedestrians" sign by the exit sign to Mordor. You can't just walk there!

Reapply when needed

I promise this is my last sunscreen cartoon for a while. I probably should have saved it for spring, but here it is anyway...

Monday Sketchbook: Missionary Olympics

Shield your faith

We just had our first 100+ - degree day this year, so there's been a lot of slathering of sunscreen. Let your light shine anyway.

Looking for referrals

Somehow around the dinner table the other night we got onto the topic of returned missionaries and dating. We decided that both are similar in that personal referrals are much more effective than cold contacting or knocking on doors.

Stick to 'em

OK, I know that it was only a week or so ago that I said that the "my other vehicle..." bumper stickers were trite, but I had to do this gag anyway...

The feet have it

Today's gag comes from faithful reader Austin. Stay away from his feet.

Street contacting

One of my nieces did this on her mission. It was less effective, and something the president didn't want the other missionaries to try.