Take note, Apple

I saw a young woman who was about nine months pregnant struggle to use her laptop computer a little while back. She just couldn't get comfortable (uncomfortable at nine months? Amazing!). It reminded me of this old cartoon I did a while back that I didn't use earlier because (a) I was a little unsure on the medical terminology, and (2) I wasn't sure it would be in good taste.

Considerations aside, here it is. It may not be a bad idea for a product, although it may have a limited -- and brief -- target audience.

Be prepared

A certain deacon's quorum president, to whom I may or not be related to, was extremely nervous about being asked to plan a joint activity along with the president of the Beehives. It was nip and tuck, but he lived through it!

Boldly going

I certainly couldn't go without mentioning this, could I?

Monday Sketchbook: Why are we here?

I've been on the road quite a bit this past little while, and a lot of the places I stayed didn't have WiFi. When I sat down in the chapel at the ward I was visiting, all of my iThings suddenly sprang to life! I was excited to see all my emails and other notifications popping up on my screen...until I remembered that I was in the chapel. Oops!

Sunday doubleheader!

Where fiction and reality meet

So last week we took one of my sons down to Provo to start his mission. When he got dressed in the morning, somehow the suit he had on seemed too small.

Here's why:

Which meant, of course, the larger suit was still at home.

Thanks to the US Postal Service, that should all be remedied by now. Whew!

Contest winner!

Our winner in the caption contest is none other than faithful reader Scott J. who, coincidentally, hails from the Great White North and therefore knows a thing or two about hockey!

The runner up is nine-year-old Nikolas O. from southern California for his entry: "Are we playing with snowman poop?" It made me laugh out loud.

Congratulations to both, and thanks to everyone who entered!

A slippery slope

Tubing used to be one of our favorite wintertime Mutual activities when I was growing up in Utah. Here in Oregon, it's not so much. Instead here we just go outside and stand in the rain.

Beyond the arc

This is a bit of a variation of something I overheard when we opened our new stake center.

It's cold out there every day

We just returned from a quick trip to Utah to drop off yet another Elder B. We spent the entire trip in temperatures that were below freezing. The lowest low we encountered was -11 in eastern Oregon. Then the temperature hovered in the teens most of the rest of the trip. We were thrilled to get back home and find the high in the 30s!

Hold everything!

It had to be the bishop. If it was, say, the high council representative... well, you know...

Monday Sketchbook: Telephone lines

It's especially true when they call on Thursday night looking for speakers!

Speaking tips

I taught a public speaking class earlier this week, and guess what? That's not really an effective way to think about your audience. Sometimes it'll make you throw up!

Caption contest!

OK, I'm going to try another one. I made a nice little hockey gag based on the NHL labor dispute. Then they went and resolved it before it ran, so the cartoon was outdated.

The original caption had something to do with using NHL players in their game at the local pond. But now it needs something new, so I turn to you, dear readers, for your input. What should this cartoon's caption be? Leave a comment, send an email, or let me know some other way.

At the very least, the winner will get a mention when the new, improved cartoon runs again next Saturday. Enter early and often!

To life!

Hey, he had to start somewhere!

While you were sleeping

Warm snowman

There are so many things wrong about this!

They're everywhere!

Snowmen and zombies, what an awesome mix!

Monday Sketchbook: Sister missionaries

The influx of new missionaries, especially sister missionaries, is going to change the dynamics in the mission field. With sisters and elders being closer to the same age, it could be very interesting indeed!

The Miracle of Forgiveness

Don't be Mad

So one of Mme. B's students was complaining the other day that she's NEVER been in ANY of the French cartoons. Could I PLEASE draw one of her...and Justin Bieber. I kinda drew a line at including the Biebs (although he made an appearance one time, a long, long time ago).

So the background behind this is that over the winter break, the French Club went to see Les Miserables. This particular young lady didn't go, however, in part because of the reason I reference in the cartoon. And as the Academy released the Oscar nominations this past week, it seemed appropriate to run a movie-themed cartoon as well.

Who put the tribbles in the quadrotriticale?

It's the red shirt. Never wear a red shirt.

Now, some practical stuff

Every now and then there's a fun job that comes across my desk at work. We needed to have something to go along with an article on writing for the Web. Originally we talked about doing an infographic, but this idea evolved from that.

Choose carefully

Such drama that goes on in high school!

It's over

I feel the same way about going back to work!

Monday Sketchbook: Ink blots

Sometimes the ideas that wind up in the Sketchbook have their genesis in the notebook by my bed. They seem funny in the middle of the night, and then in the morning they still seem funny...but in a different way!

Two things that make me chuckle about the idea was (1) the diaper brand, Deep Ends" and, (2) visualizing what the diaper would look like -- protecting someone with eight legs could prevent quite a challenge!

I still think this would be fun to draw. Don't be surprised if a variation of this shows up some time in the future!

Flake upon flake

Post season play

I thought of this particular gag while watching the Ducks game the other night -- hence the green and yellow shirt. Even though I'm usually not a big UO fan, they played a good game. Too bad they couldn't have played next Monday!

There must be something in the air

As I said yesterday, I found a few old cartoons as I was cleaning up. Why was I cleaning up? Because my son was getting married! So I find it a little ironic that this was one of the cartoons I found.

What adds more to the weirdness is that it was only half done. It was mostly penciled in and only partially inked...from about 20 years ago! It was like visiting a ghost from the past to bring it to a finished state.

So here's another level of weird: my niece who is a model was on TV today...showing off wedding gowns! Yes, this is the same niece who was a zombie! She's very versatile!

Lights out

It seems like every time I do some cleaning, I find old cartoons. This is one I did long, long, long ago, but never used. Until today.

In my first area as a missionary, the power used to go out all the time. It was a bit of an inconvenience, but it was worse when it happened at night as it was January and we were only kept warm at night by the heat from our electric blankets. When the power went out, it got cold.

How cold?

The winter winds came down out of Siberia and were cooled by the East Sea before blowing across the bay and into our bedroom. It wasn't unusual to have icicles on the inside of the windows and frost on the furniture. It was unusual, however, the morning my eyes froze shut. It wasn't Outer Darkness, but it was colder than, well, colder than all get out!

That area was awesome!

Welcome to the New Year...

2012 Countdown: Top Ten, part II

And now, the rest of the 2012 Top Ten!

No. 5 - A couple of my Scout cartoons scored big this year. This is one of the favorites.

No. 4 - Airport security and Peanuts. What could go wrong?

No. 3 - Angry Birds were omnipresent this year, including on my Top Ten list!

No. 2 - I think this one works on many levels.

No. 1 - Ahh, Pinterest.

Thank you for your continued support and readership! Happy New Year!