I've had a number of images in my life that I've drawn, over and over. I used to draw a clown sitting on a chair on a stage, facing away from its audience. Lately, this image of a figure on a long desert road keeps coming up, again and again. These repeated images often turn out to have interesting meanings later on -- so I look forward to interpreting this one in a few years.

This cartoon never got published - for obvious reasons, like the fact that I am SO not a political cartoonist. Big big difference between political and social satire. My thoughts do often come out in drawing form though, so this is what was on my mind at the time. I drew this before the Iraq War, in fact I think I drew this pre-September 11th. I've inked almost 1,800 cartoons to date, and this is number 272 - to give an idea how old it is (I started publishing back in 1993). So it's interesting to go back and see just how much of this terrorist type stuff was floating around in the psyche even years ago. The buildup to where we're at now has deeeep roots. Sheesh. Okay, I will go back to being non-political now. Just kind of fun to dig around now and then and see what comes up.

In which two Ipps lose control of a balloon.

Okay I did this one quite some time ago - I had no idea it would become quite so topical. I was mostly making fun of the "Remove Card Quickly" thing that pops up on gas station pumps. But I bet there are a lot of people out there who wish they could get that card out juuust a little faster - before the machine can start ringing up 60 bucks worth of gas. Sometimes cartoons change meaning over time like that. It's a fun process to watch. Filling the car, not so much.

Since I'm about to go driving through Northern Arizona, I thought I'd post this thought about the need for food along the road less traveled.
Yes, I have eaten Nilla Wafers that looked like they'd been on the shelf for a decade at an old shop in the redwoods, I've even bought McNuggets in Paris. So, here's to all the weird food out there, and the fabulous little sandwich places in the middle of nowhere that save us from our hungry selves. I salute you.

Have you ever been in a situation, say, where a door was locked or people weren't sure which line to stand in or a store wasn't open yet, and people just stood there until one person took it upon themselves to knock on the door, or ask which line is right (is this the line for people who already have tickets?), or when the store opens? And then, everyone just gets up and goes in as if they were just waiting for that one icebreaker person to do something?
Those invisible barriers are really interesting. Becoming older and having kids seems to make you care about them a lot less. I'm much more likely to barge around and ask questions and bang on doors and stuff now than I used to be.
Or, maybe that anti-barging part of my brain just wore out at some point.
Anyway, it would be interesting to do a study where you go out and look for things that rely on unwritten rules and rule-following behavior to work. Like, velvet ropes. Or, lines on the floor made out of tape. And, any deli counter where they holler, "Who was next??"
The one place where none of this applies is: Driving. There, if it isn't printed on a sign or painted on the ground, it's fair game. Something about having a large metal object to shove around in I think.

I actually don't know what your purpose is, or mine for that matter, but I do know there are gobs of books on the subject - a whole wing of your local bookstore actually. What would be interesting would be a book about how people come to wonder what their purpose is in the first place. How does that question come up? Is it some near-death experience or epiphany or just plain boredom? Maybe after too many hours idling in front of a shiny screen the human brain is programmed to start looking inward. Like, "Why am I here?" takes on a deeper and deeper meaning, from "Why am I still on this couch" to "Why am I not out saving the world today?" Or, not. But something is setting us off, or there wouldn't be so dang many pastel-colored, inspirationally-titled books about finding your purpose out there.

I've been missing France, so I decided to set this drawing there. It kind of helps. But I think I need to go back.

This is the time of year for giving keynote speeches at graduations - so yesterday I got into the act. Except this was not an ordinary group of graduates, and I gave the speech on, oh, a few hours' notice.

You see, I visited The Women's Initiative for Self Employment yesterday morning. I had been planning to go there and learn more about the group, with the possibility of mentoring women starting their own businesses.

Well, it turned out they were graduating a group of women from one of their programs... last night. And their keynote speaker couldn't make it. So, at around 11am I was asked if I would be willing to talk.

Well I talk a lot anyway so why not just give me a microphone to do it?

But seriously - this was a group of women who were taking their very first steps toward self-sufficiency by starting their own businesses. They have created business plans, studied cash flow and developed their own "elevator speech."

So I got up there in the role of (as I put it ) an emissary from "planet been-there" - having worked in every imaginable size of organization, as an executive, and for myself - and emphasized the importance of being someone people can rely on, and on keeping your sense of humor because there will always be irrational people you can't please out there. It's okay. Just make a dart board or have a beer and laugh.

Anyway it was great fun, and I'm always happy to help remind people to laugh.

The Women's Initiative has been around in the SF Bay Area for 20 years. Check them out, it's well worth it:
http://www.womensinitiative.org/index.htm

So I framed some cartoon originals for my husband to hang in his office. This was one of the ones that I picked. I kind of forgot that he works in a pretty conservative law office where this might be, well, um, troubling. I guess. So here it is, I will put it here where those who appreciate the true humor of asparagus can see it. Since I think we're going to have to frame a different one for my husband's office. Heh.

Fortunately, it looks like it's a grass court.

If you haven't already, check out PostSecret.com. It's a site that puts up postcards sent anonymously with secrets written on one side. A lot of them are heartbreaking, some are funny. All of them are interesting. Every Sunday a new batch gets put up. There are even Post Secret books.

I've got several pages from my graphic novel up on Flickr now - they do not go in order, I'm just working on each visual as it comes together. Eventually I'll put them in order, fill in the blanks and see how it looks. The story is written out in text form, but it changes a lot in this visual format. It's much more like moviemaking. So this should be interesting to see what I end up with!

Whenever I see a spider crammed up in the corner of the ceiling, I imagine that it's having some sort of anxiety attack. Since I doubt you get much to eat by cramming yourself into the corner. They're thinking, "I'm not here I'm not here I'm not here no spider here not me please don't squish meeeeeee la la laaaaa.... nothing to see here no bug here please no squishing...."

This is my entry in a contest to create an image that promotes a local arts and wine festival. The blissful alligator parent tastes wine while chaos ensues behind him/her. The picture also promotes the music, arts, crafts and food aspects of the festival. I've been to this festival numerous times, and have found it to be this noisy jumble of grownup, highbrow stuff with crazy kid noise and silliness. I also found it comical to have a large reptile tasting wine. Anyway, wish the alligators luck!

A while back one of my kids was jumping on the couch, and I noticed a sort of glint that would appear every time she landed. I investigated, and discovered that there is this whole region inside our couch that I didn't know existed. And then I extracted, seriously, a box of stuff out of there. Jewelry, foody bits, toys, clothing... wow. I mean, I knew about that weird gap between the driver's seat and the center thingy in the car, where if something falls down there you can't ever have it again - but I didn't know the same thing existed in couches. So, if I ever need to hide the plans for galactic invasion or the formula for everlasting gobstoppers, I'll know exactly where to put it.

More from pencil illustration-land.

Here's hoping pencil comes across okay on your screen...

Lately I've spent a lot of time in customer-service land. The garbage didn't get picked up - but the lady was very pleasant about telling me that I can leave it out there for several days until someone makes it back around. My credit card info expired on everything I have ever done so lots of nice folks have informed me that they are discontinuing service, or sending another bill, or generally kicking me to the curb. So I call them all and fix it. I'm trying to order some doorknobs, but the person who is "really good at this stuff" (doorknobs?) isn't back for a few days. So I have to call back.

A lot of this involves setting the phone on speaker and listening to the person say "your call is important to us" over and over while I cruise around doing other things. 'Cause they really, really don't want to talk to you. I feel like the whole thing is just a test of my resolve.

The best one is where the little message says, "In a hurry? Try our website." Then you try the website, and they want some account number you don't have, so back you go to the phone. That's when I start punching the phone buttons really hard.

Anyway, these folks should provide some outlet while you're waiting. Maybe a game, where you get to yell swear words into the phone and it makes a Mad Lib out of them. Or, a human punching bag person you can scream at. Or, you push buttons and it makes the sound of explosions and people getting punched in the face.

I would stay on the line for that.

Okay, so it's common knowledge that people often look like their dogs. That's why I find it especially amusing when I see some burly guy walking what is clearly his girlfriend's little tiny dog with the rhinestone collar. On the one hand I think, "Dude, that's so obviously not your dog." But then I think, "That dude is really nice for walking what is so obviously not his dog." Since he has to put up with looks from people like me. And the dog is thinking, "Cool! I get to go out with this burly dude." So it works out.

Okay when you publish cartoons six days a week in family-friendly newspapers and things, you don't get to say "dick." What you do say is, "jerk."

I have done this a number of times.


However, here's a great site that makes good use of proper terminology: Dickipedia. It's well worth a read. I especially like the article on Your Mom. It's almost Onion-worthy satire, I think. To find out what Onion-worthy is, check out The Onion.

Oh and in case you missed it, check out the "re-edited" version of Bill O'Reilly's meltdown on Barely Political (WARNING - a couple of F-bombs in here...). It's worth it just for the use of the term "Troglodyte Humunculus."

This is a non-linear tale of one Ipp's bad day. In my past as an information architect I tended to work my way from a central thought out to various "framing" thoughts, like spokes on a wheel (I call them mandalas).
That's what I'm doing here in this comic - from one angry Ipp in the center to the various reasons the Ipp is angry. Noise, customer service menus, being sick, bad stuff in the news. Together, they tell the story.
And yes, this is actually my bad day - and as I worked my way outward, I felt better. So I framed the whole thing with an "architecture" made up of peace, love, music and art.