Where is The Week of Cartoons?

“Where did it go?” you might be asking yourself as you look for your remote control amongst the couch cushions.

Or, you might say the same thing if you’re wondering what happened to our epic The Week of Cartoons feature here on Nates Ramblings.  It was a staple here every Monday since the beginning of November.

Well….

Like the short-lived television series Joey -  its been cancelled.

Quite frankly, I’ve kind of become – I don’t know – bored with it.

Every Monday I’d sit here and try to come up with witty things to say about my material.  Me coming up with witty things to say is like a monkey winning an Oscar – it’s not likely to happen.  Plus, it’s felt more like a chore than fun.  Like every Monday, I’d think “Well, I’d better put up my Week of Cartoons (sigh).  Somebody shoot me.”

And if I get bored with something – chances are – you the reader will too.

SO – to make up for it, I’m going to do the whole switcheroo.  That’s right.  I’m mixing it all up…again.

I want to display my Break of Day cartoons among other things that I draw/do, so I think I’ll just put cartoons in post when they’re relevant.  That way I can keep them posting up here, but just not in one-big bundle pack like I’ve been doing on Monday’s.  Do people really like bundle packs, anyway?

Now, unless I get a ton of hate mail about this choice of mine to axe the Week of Cartoons, I think it will stay this way.  On the plus side, I think I’ll be posting more on here!  Well, actually that might be a negative considering the time you might waste reading the stuff.

So, any thoughts?

If you REALLY, REALLY TRULY LOVE AND ADORE my Break of Day cartoons, you, my friend, can subscribe to it for free HERE.  You don’t even have to subscribe.  You can just go there.  I also post them up on Facebook HERE.  Who needs a stinking Week of Cartoons, right?  Hehe…(nervously asking).

So, once again, any thoughts?  Good idea?  Bad?  Were you a die-hard reader of The Week of Cartoons and will have to attend counseling if it is discontinued?  I would love to hear.

In the meantime, rest assured, I’m working on my fall lineup already, so there will be plenty of other upcoming blog series of mine that I can also cancel.

Interview – Don’t Pick the Flowers

I had a chance to talk on the phone with the talented cartoonist David Hurley several days ago.  It was great to chat about cartooning with another cartoonist (shop talk isn’t easy when there aren’t many cartoonist around).

At any rate, I am happy to be featured in David’s blog, Don’t Pick the Flowers !

His blog has an ample supply of interviews from other cartoonist – professional, web, etc. – and is a good read.  Beyond the blog itself, he also draws/writes his own cartoons of the same name that are entertaining and fun.  You’ll have to take some time and roam around his site and read up on all the material available.

I discuss all my latest endeavors, projects, MAD Magazine and gobs of other things.  Some of it might be familiar from reading this blog, but there is a lot of other insights.

So, what are you waiting for?  Check it out!  I made it simple:  CLICK HERE.

Sometimes It Happens

On occasion, you’ll find some similarities on the comics pages.

Today when I got the morning paper, I couldn’t help but notice all the turtle coverage.  It seemed as though turtles are inspiring – not just me – but other cartoonist as well.

Coincidence?  Maybe.

Or, is there deeper meaning to all this?  What if turtles slowly (and I mean real slowly) start to saturate the comic pages?

I guess time will tell….

The Week of Cartoons Jan. 9th thru Jan 15th

As I type this, I’m watching a pretty lame movie: The American with George Clooney.

Above:  The catchy cover of the movie that makes you excited to watch but only makes you resort to blogging.

Okay, I just shut it off.

The movie has prompted me to type out this evening The Week in Cartoons an hour early or so.  Normally I wouldn’t have a movie playing on a Monday night, however, our lovely Direct TV has been out for a couple days, so I grabbed this one at the Blockbuster box at my local Publix (thanks again for that, Direct TV).  I thought it was going to be – you know – good.  However, I’m starting to think maybe I should have went with Justin Bieber movie Never Say Never.  At least then I’d know that I would be wasting my time watching.

Above:  If you’re not friends with time, kill it with this movie.

Jan. 9th Cartoon

Luckily, my concentration is OFF the movie, and now I can focus my attentions on this blog.

Jan. 10th Cartoon

Wow.  My concentration still must be a little off!  I totally forgot to comment on the January 9th cartoon.  Whoops.  Well, I’ll start to make up for it here.  Sorry about that, but that’s what happens when you watch a crappy movie.

Jan. 11th Cartoon

You know, it really drives me nuts when I waste my time with a movie that’s bad.  I’m usually pretty good about picking out stuff.  Honestly, I know my movies.  That’s why when I get one, I typically have a winner.  I subscribe to Entertainment Weekly, read the reviews and generally I agree with most of the critics – they seem to know what they’re talking about.  However, tonight’s movie, what can I say – I winged it.  I read the description, it looked good (well, read good is more appropriate) and I decided to go with it.  Plus, I had a coupon for a free movie.  So, how could I go wrong?

Above:  Scene from The American.  You’ll want this girl to shoot you while watching this.

Actually, I went really wrong.  I watched an hour and a half of it before giving up and launching into this blog post.  And now, I’m still not totally tuned in to what I’m doing.  As far as I can tell, I keep writing about The American when I’m supposed to be commenting on this past weeks comics.

Jan. 12th Cartoon

That’s how watching a bad movie can mess with me.  I just start screwing everything up.  Here I am again, not typing anything about the featured comic above (the Jan. 12th Cartoon) and I just keep going on and on about the movie.

The thing is:  I hate wasting time.  I really do.  And I just feel like I was robbed out of an hour and a half.

Above:  SPOILER ALERT:  She tries to leave the movie the quick and easy way.

Jan. 13th Cartoon

Yes, it was my fault for watching.  I really didn’t HAVE to, but when you get a free movie rental, there’s that internal urge like you have to.  I think that’s because of all that’s behind it.  I had to physically walk to the grocery store, bring my coupon, pick it up, bring it home and get a lot of work done BEFORE I put it in so that I wouldn’t feel guilty about relaxing.  And then, there’s the task the next day in reverse (except the work thing typically happens after I get the movie back).

And all of this still has nothing to do with The Week of Cartoons.

Jan. 14th Cartoon

I’ve seen worse movies in my life – trust me.  But this one was just, I don’t know, slow and boring.  A pretty bad combination when you assumed the movie was going to be a James Bond-like action thriller.  Total letdown.  It didn’t nearly live up to my expectations like Benji the Hunted did.

Above:  Benji peeing on the carpet is more exciting than The American

Jan. 15th Cartoon

And that’s that.

I just blew it.  A whole blog post absolutely ruined by a bad movie.  And you, you poor reader, had to suffer as well since I didn’t do my typical explanations of the cartoons and other stuff that gets posted here on Monday’s.  Wow.

Well, maybe I can just sum it up as wash.

Maybe since it was so bad, I can convince you to try a lighter version of my material by SUBSCRIBING to Break of Day for FREE HERE.  Or, by heading to Facebook to get your daily dose of post that DON’T consist of movies like The American.  In fact, rarely do I mention the word ‘movie’ on Facebook, so it’s not nearly as movie-oriented as this post.

Okay, I’m settling down.

Until the next bad movie…

The Week of Cartoons Jan. 2nd thru Jan. 8th

Howdy.

I’m happy to be up-and-at-em’ again.  How so?  Well, I’m catching up from practically a month away from my studio after my World Tour (read more about that HERE).  I’ve found playing catch-up quite liberating.  Anyway – I’m slowly getting there.  And in the meantime, I’m adding MORE projects to scrape away at (rather quickly for those with deadlines).  I’m telling you,  I’m anxious for this year.  I’ve got some exciting new clients and areas with my art that I’ve never really done before (on some of them) but am finding that there’s some pretty fun stuff out there along with drawing a daily comic strip.  I would’ve dove into a lot of these areas years ago, but I didn’t.  So, now I’m discovering lots of goodies.  I’ll post updates as they come – but I’ll just say that I’m busy – in a good way.  So, cheers to 80 hour work weeks!

As with everything else, so far all is going well.  I guess the only thing is I’m still having a hard time building an audience for my Ramblings here, but honestly, there’s not much learning material around these parts to read anyhow.  If you are reading this, you’re in the 99 percent – kind of like the Occupy Wall Street people.  (Except, my 99% is based on people who DON’T read and my number is a lot less exciting.)

I thought putting in some search engine words would help us out here – AND IT HAS!   However, I’ve found that people looking for a List of Gerbils in the Chicago Area rarely return after finding me.  To see what I’m talking about, CLICK HERE.

So thank you, returning readers.

AND – since you are spending your valuable time wasting it at this site, I’m happy to show you The Week of Cartoons! (Here’s where some catchy music would come in handy.  I betcha catchy music attracts an audience, doesn’t it?)

January 2nd Cartoon

Of course I’m going to hear it:  Potty Humor.

It’s really funny to me how some people think that potty humor is so awful.

Whatever.

If I find something funny – potty humor or not – I’ll typically do it.  Potty humor is not offensive.  And like those Charmin’ Bears say, “We all GO, so ENJOY the GO!”

Above:  The BUTT of many potty humor jokes.

I don’t think alligators would mind me exposing the world to what they go through.

Above:  The eyes say it all.  I’m guessing Number 2.

January 3rd Cartoon

This is one of those cartoons I really like, so – of course – it didn’t seem to spark much of a reaction on the comments page at GoComics.

Comments are either good or bad.  If I get a ton of them, it’s usually because the strip is really good and people love it, or it’s NOT good and it’s mostly negative feedback.

If I don’t get hardly any comments, I’m not sure how to take it a lot of times.  Good?  Bad?  Better than Marmaduke?  It always gets me thinking, “What do you think?  Anyone?  Anyone?

January 4th Cartoon

I checked out a couple of show on TLC about a polygamist family.  I don’t know.  I mean, hey – if that’s what floats your boat, I’m not going to make fun of it.  But, really?  Honestly, can the ‘husband’ really not be in it for ONE thing (or maybe two) only?  I’m just not sold on the whole thing and I keep hearing about sickos and pervs involved with all of it.  Sure, they say it’s for religious reasons, but… really?

I don’t know enough about it to really comment here.  All I see though is one guy with a bunch of women – and it’s okay.  This guy isn’t high-fiving his buddies during his off-time?

And the women – are they really happy with this?  I mean, what’s up with their outfits?  I’m no fashion experts, but I think even Mother Teresa would tell them to tone it up a bit.

Above:  The wives donning their new sexy summer wear.

I dunno.

Something about it doesn’t really sit right.  Maybe that’s why it’s illegal in a lot of places.  But, since my cartoon is about lions, I hope it didn’t offend anyone.  Lions practice polygamy – just they can’t marry (I believe that would be illegal as well).  I guess I hope I didn’t offend any lions.

Oh, and I guess I DID make fun of polygamist before!  (No, not lions.)

Awhile back, I did a cartoon called The Drunken Polygamist for MAD Magazine.  It was ultimately rejected, however, here are a couple of snippets for you.  Enjoy!

Click image for larger view

Click image for larger view

January 5th Cartoon

Puffer fish.

I think if I had an aquarium in my home, I’d probably get one of these things.  Although, I’d want it to puff up a lot, and I’m not sure they do it on cue.  I wonder if I could train one to do it?  Now THAT would be a fun fish.  And a possible America’s Got Talent act.  (Since cartooning in front of an audience is about as much fun as playing with moth balls.)

January 6th Cartoon

I actually drew this cartoon well over a year ago, but it was never posted up, so I decided to go ahead and use it.

What I liked about this one is it would be true:  The Tooth Fairy would be a hoarder.

If Fairy is paying out THAT much money for a lousy tooth/teeth, she (or maybe it’s a he?) better keep it if she is brave enough to sneak in a home in the middle of night, nonchalantly creep under a pillow and – unbeknownst to the kid – take the tooth and leave some cash.

Or, maybe it’s just a sick obsession of hers that’s worth paying for.  It’s like a crack addict – she’s GOTTA get her fix in – and it’s worth the dough.

I can probably say with certainty that we will probably know.  Why?  Well, I’m starting to guess the tooth fairy doesn’t exist.  (If so, dentist offices would probably have pretty good security. )

Sorry, kid readers of mine (which is probably zero).  Didn’t mean to break it to you here, so once again, sorry.  Just be sure to swing back by around Christmas time when I discuss my take on how Santa doesn’t exist.

January 7th Cartoon

Someone pointed out to me that the early worm gets ate.

I’m trying to put that analogy into perspective on my own life.  I guess that means maybe I should be a late worm?

January 8th Cartoon

I had a hard time with this one.

Okay – I wanted it to come across as the guy is “dead” or isn’t getting up anytime soon.  However, I didn’t want people to think that he ate the fish food or something and THEN died.  No.  That isn’t the premise.  Basically, I wanted to put the fish food in just as an extra element, but his perishing (or passing-out) isn’t really known.  Did it come across that way?  I don’t know.  I think so, but this cartoon took a lot of erasing, re-drawing and more erasing.  In fact, I think I went through an entire eraser on this.  Poor eraser.

Do I like the way it turned out?  Yes.  I can say that about a particular cartoon when I look at it and see NOTHING else that should have been added or taken away.  And this one – I think turned out good.  All except for my over-analyzing it here on this post.  Gosh, I do that a lot.  Just please tell me to shut-up next time.

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Okay, well – that is it!

Another week down – another one to go.

As always, if you would like to enjoy Break of Day daily in your inbox, well, I made it simple for you.  CLICK HERE.

And for you Facebook fans?  I have something EXTRA special for you!  It’s….it’s……A BOX!  Yes, that’s right.  A box.  And if you click that box, it will take you to the magical world of friend request, Farmville and other nonsense – just like my comics!  So, click the shiny box below and ‘Like’!

Until next time!

The Week of Cartoons December 26th thru January 1st

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Okay, I just wanted to get that out of the way first.  But no, really, happy New Year!

This has been a disastrous week in terms of technical glitches for Break of Day’s homepage at GoComics.  I had three – count em’ – THREE days not post.  And at this moment, it’s still not resolved.  The subscriptions went out okay (where the comic is emailed to your inbox daily), but a lot of people just go to the website to read my work.  I’m sure many thought the comic was on a holiday vacation like I was.  The fact is though, it was a glitch.  An annoying, ugly glitch.  I hope it never happens again.  I contacted several people on the tech team over there, so we’ll see if we can get that resolved.  This kind of stuff never happens to Calvin & Hobbes.

Anyway, moving on…

Thanks to the weekly The Week of Cartoons, you can see all the ones that didn’t make it!  Yes, unfortunately for you, that’s what you’re reading now.  (Or about to read, whether you keep reading this stuff.)

December 26th cartoon

I guess I should mention what comics were posted and which ones weren’t.  This one WAS posted up okay the day after Christmas.  But, it being the day after Christmas, I’m not sure how many people were surfing the net looking at comics – especially mine.  So, maybe a lot of people missed this one.

Feed bags are pretty funny.  I’m surprised they don’t make feed bags for humans (or do they?).  Especially fast-food companies; couldn’t they benefit from them?  Well, thinking about it more and more, I probably wouldn’t want to use one.  But, I’ve also never tried.  You can’t knock it until you try it, right?  Er, never mind.  A McDonald’s feedbag on my head isn’t a pretty visual what-so-ever.

December 27th Cartoon

This cartoon DID NOT post.  I did post this particular cartoon well over a year ago before it was syndicated though, so it’s been ‘around’.  But, it did not appear on December 27th as it was supposed to.

I decided to post this one again because I thought the holidays would be a good time to pullout some classics instead of my newer works.  Why?  Well, like I also mentioned before, I believe the audiences were mostly wrapped up (like, gift wrapped….clever, huh?) in other activities doing holiday things, so comics weren’t as big of a priority.  Now, that’s just me guessing.  For many (actually, like myself) the cartoons are a huge priority 365 days a year.  So, I could be wrong (about a smaller audience).  Maybe I had record numbers during this time.  Who knows.

Back to the cartoon itself….

Ducks, geese and other birds that fly in patterns or in sync – why?  And how?  Birds don’t practice the stuff, do they?  It’s not like when we’re kids and we can go practice a musical instrument or something and learn how to do it correctly.  The birds that fly in formation – WOW – good job, birds!  I guess it boils down to instinct kicking in.  Still, I don’t know why they do it.  If there WERE a bird with no wing-eye coordination, would it screw up the entire flock?  I’d love to look up in the sky someday and see a particular bird rebel against the system and fly sporadically.  That is what I would do if I were a migratory bird.  Yes, I think about stuff like this.

December 28th Cartoon

A lot of people saw this comic.  Why?  Because it was the only one that posted correctly on GoComics for a whopping three days!

If you checked by the website Wednesday, you got to read it on the day it was intended to post.  If you stopped by Thursday, it was still there.  And if you stopped by Friday, once again, you’ll see the same ol’ comic.  This is what prompted death rumors about me – cartoonist Nate Fakes.  It’s like those hidden messages in Beatles albums that started all the hoopla about Paul being dead in 1969.

Above:  Paul McCartney looking disappointed as though a song of his didn’t post on a record because of a technical glitch.

What is some ‘clues’?  Well….

December 29th Cartoon

This guy is blending fruit.  So, if you blend something, doesn’t it “die”?  The fruit was alive at one point in time.  Plus, if you look real close at that speck on the table, it looks like a piece of dirt.  Dirt is dug up at funerals.  Freaky.

December 30th Cartoon

If you read this comic backwards, it says, “Secarb deen yllaer ouy, edud.”  Which means, well – nothing at all.  It’s gibberish.  But it sounds cryptic, right?

Alright, I’ll get real for a minute or two.  I can’t compare myself to those guys.  But, I like the whole ‘death rumor’ thing.  Too bad I don’t think that happened either.  Or at least I didn’t hear about it.  I am alive and well though.  Mostly I just said all of that in a bad attempt to make this blog entertaining.  I don’t think it worked.

So anyway…

…this walrus comic and the previous one of the un-still life artist DID NOT post as well.  That’s what I was saying about the mob cartoon having a three-day-run.

This comic was a classic as well.  A girl that works in a dentist office found out who I was and told me that she saw this comic in the paper and cut it out and hung it up at the office.  That was pretty cool, considering I don’t hear that too much from strangers.  Thanks, stranger!

Above:  You might be reading the walrus comic next time you have a root canal.

December 31st Cartoon

Apparently 2012 is supposed to be the Apocalypse.  Although, so was last May, right?  And the year 2000?  Well, we’ll see what happens this year.  If you believe it is, please send any checks or items you know you wont be taking with you in the afterlife to my address.  I could use a good car, cash or coupons for donuts.

January 1st Cartoon

I don’t know what made me think this would be a good comic to start off the new year with – but this was it.  And I like it.  However, it doesn’t relate to anything new years.  I’m happy to say this one DID post okay though!

Well, I’m going to wrap this up.  My writing juices aren’t at 100% right now after a night on the town for New Years and a headache from comics not posting.

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Thank you for swinging by!  I think 2012 is going to be a banner year.  Last year went well, and I’m hoping that it was the launching pad for this year to take off.  Hope your NEW YEAR is the best one ever!

And hey!

If you’re interested in ORIGINAL ART – I have another Ebay auction that I launched today!  The last one was pretty successful, so you can check that out HERE if you are at all interested.  Cheap!

And all you Facebook fanatics – you KNOW we’ve got a page just for you.  Yes, it’s true.  It was made SPECIFICALLY for you.  So, click our shiny box below and ‘Like’ Break of Day for all kinds of other nonsense (if this blog isn’t enough).

Word Attention Grabbers

In an immature effort to attract new readers, I just wanted to do a post with a bunch of random words.  As the biggest search words that I have for my blog being ‘ELEVATOR BUTTONS’ (which I wrote about in depth HERE), I thought maybe I should expand my discovery via search engines into a bigger, broader territory.

I want to put down words that would attract a certain breed of people that might be interesting.  No, I’m not going to write the popular words that tons of people search for online  (like PORN, GIRLS and NAKED).  Nope.  (Although, I guess I just contradicted myself by typing those just now.)

So, let’s list some words AND phrases that will hopefully attract some new readers!

EXPIRED CAP’N CRUNCH

HOW TO PICK UP WOMEN (WITH YOUR ARMS)

LOOSE BAR STOOLS

BISQUICK ANNONYMOUS

SNOW REMOVAL MIAMI FLORIDA

CATS THAT ENJOY TOFU

WEIRD SCABS

BLIND DATING SERVICES

SPORTING BADS

HOW TO TIE A THAI

MALE PATTERN BALDING TIRES

THE DEFINITION OF ‘DEFINITION’

UNEMPLOYED SESAME STREET CHARACTERS

LIST OF GERBILS IN THE CHICAGO AREA

GROUND TRAVEL BY AIRPLANE

PANHANDLING CAREERS

And probably the most effective:  POINTLESS BLOGS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Week of Cartoons December 19th thru December 25th

First off, I hope you are having a great holiday.  Okay…I’m a day late with this to (this post).  Sue me.  Consistency is something I’ll have to work on in 2012 (since I failed miserably at it in 2011).  But anyway, were the holidays good for you?  How else could I start this post out without asking?  I mean, IT’S CHRISTMAS!  Well, it was Christmas several days ago.  At any rate, whether you celebrate the holidays or not, I hope you’ve been having a good season toward this end of this 2011.

Me?  Oh my.  I feel so lazy.  Here I am on an extended time away from my studio (partly the reason for this being late since an internet connection is a rarity where I am).  Yea, I’m still not home.  I’m on the road.  My sabbatical is almost over though.  I will be back at the helm by the end of this week.  And boy, am I anxious to get back on the drawing board.  Not that I don’t love a little break, but I can’t wait to jump into 2012 and try to have the best year ever of my cartooning endeavors.  2011 was a banner year work-wise.  Between syndication, newspapers and other notable projects that came together – I can’t complain.  However, my industry still isn’t exactly “thriving”, but I remain optimistic and can’t wait to see what I can do with the resources out there.  I guess I’m a ‘glass half full’ kind of guy….whatever that means.

Anybody else set goals at the beginning of the year?

Besides cutting back on the donuts, I’ve got some (goals).  Some of it is real basic stuff, and others are more grandiose.  The big one of 2012?  Money.  Listen, I don’t need to be a rich man.  Wealth might be nice, but honestly, I’m happy getting by.  As I’ve written about before, even with syndication and other work, I might have to get an actual day job at a work place to make the Benjamen’s.  That – I would love to avoid.  And you know what?  I might.  If these New Year resolution work out for me, I can continue my work without interruption (day job).  It will be tougher passing on chocolate Long Johns and glazed donuts though.

Okay, I’m going to keep this weeks The Week of Cartoons kind of short and sweet (sweet like a donut that I so crave).  Here we go!

December 19th Cartoon

I am the TYPO CHAMPION!  I seriously am becoming a pro at typos.  Again, seriously, what is wrong with me?  How can I let some of these slip through the gate.  Today’s major ‘oops’ is the word rivets.  Notice the above comic.  Can you spot the word?

Me, while trying to retain my typo championship, wrote rivots in the balloon.  I added the ‘O’ and let it go (hey, that rhymes).

You know, I can mope and be pretty down on myself about that one, but I’m not.  I’m slowly accepting the fact that I’ll have to expect several major typos in my career.  It has happened to Shultz, Larson and even on Sesame Street (the Count isn’t always very clear either when analyzing numbers).  But my typos are just stupid.  What the —- was I thinking?

Rivots (smacking myself on top of my head).

It about ranks above my typo of electronical from a few post ago.

Here’s a New Years Resolution, Nate.  How about TYPO PREVENTION!

December 20th Cartoon

While I type the rest of this, I might as well iron out several new resolutions.  Another one – rabbit cartoons.

I find that I’m enjoying cartoons with rabbits.  So, I think I’ll draw more of them.  And the above ‘toon got a lot of laughs (yea, I could hear all of you laughing at your computer screens and newspaper).  Also, think of the material; there’s tons!

Let’s see how many rabbit jokes I can install a typo into in 2012.

December 21st Cartoon

Do you see any typos in the above cartoon?  I don’t.  So, that probably means there’s one in there.  Please, someone point it out to me.

December 22nd Cartoon

I actually drew this one roughly a year ago, but decided to go ahead and post it again – now that Break of Day is syndicated (and actually has a relatively large audience).

Why?  Well, I kind of like it.  And also, I’m pretty certain I left a typo out of it.

December 23rd Cartoon

I actually had an animal activist contact me about how this “isn’t a laughing matter” featuring lobsters about to get boiled.

Listen…

I draw a lot of cartoons with animals in chaotic situations because  – surprise – I like animals.  I’ve never hunted, I don’t fish and I’m a big supporter of everything, well – animal-ish.  But, lobsters and a hot tub…It’s a joke, silly.  Take it as one.

I wonder if this same person laughed at the Popeye cartoons when Popeye would hit Bluto?  Poor Bluto.  The guy suffered immensely.  What sick human being would laugh at a dignified adult being plummeted by a sailor high on spinach?  (Okay, I would.)

Above:  This man suffered punches from Popeye on a regular basis.  Plus, I’m sure he never boiled lobsters.

December 24th Cartoon

I’ll be the first to admit – I saved some of my not-so-favorite material for the holidays.  I did it because readership drops quite a bit this time of year for everyone because people are more focused on Santa than cartoons.

I like the ballerina spraying her pits – but I kind of thought a lot of people wouldn’t ‘get it’ or enjoy it as much as me.

But, it turned out that it seemed kind of popular.  Even more to my surprise, I’ve had a huge spike in Break of Day subscriptions over Christmas (which if you don’t have already, CLICK HERE).  Who would of thought!  (It might just be fans of typos that wanted to hop on board to see how many more will come about.)

December 25th Cartoon

Another oldie.

I drew this one last year, but found it appropriate for the big day.  Enjoy.

The best thing about it is there are no words, so I CAN’T include a typo!

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Okay, well, I mentioned to you I was going to keep this brief.  You really didn’t want me to write too much rambling today anyhow, did you?  I mean, I’m sure you’re gearing up for New Years parties and still eating that leftover ham.  Just please be excited for me that I managed to type this post while STILL away from the studio.  Amazing, isn’t it?

In the words of Jim Carey:  Alllrighty then – that’s the conclusion of The Week of Cartoons.  Please, you hardcore Facebook Freaks, hit the button below and ‘Like’ us.  There will be a lot of stuff happening in the social media market shortly, so our page is a MUST if you like a lot of extra garbage that you necessarily don’t need.

The Week(s) of Cartoons December 5th thru December 18th

Ta-Da!

It’s here.  Oh, it’s finally here!  The Week of Cartoons that WASN’T published last week has now arrived as a two-week mega special.  This sucker is chock full of so many cartoons that your eyes will hurt after reading all of them.  And your head will hurt after reading my long, drawn-out writing that accompanies everything.  Aspirin is probably in the cabinet.

As I mentioned here, I’ve been out-and-about the last week and I haven’t had access to a computer – let alone internet.  Unfortunately, there’s no print edition of this blog, so the only way to get it is if I do it all on a computer and internet.  So, mathematically, it doesn’t add up to post.  (And I’m guessing it takes a computer to do even a print edition anyhow, so that really didn’t have much to do with anything.)  It HAS added up though to a nice break and I’m anxious to get rolling with things again (well, not technically ‘rolling’ but maybe hopping).

Hey – let’s get to it!

December 5th Cartoon

I don’t have a cat.  I guess I’ve always been more of a dog person.  Dogs don’t mind getting wet – cats do.  Why is that?  Cats seem so keen on cleaning themselves constantly, I’d assume an animal like the feline would enjoy water to wash up.  Instead, they like to lick themselves.  And that seems to clean them.

Cats – I’ll never understand you.

December 6th Cartoon

Typo time!

I am slowly becoming a typo pro.  I’m going to write a post on that soon.  Though I was sly and fixed this cartoon, it had a typo in it.  Well, not technically a typo, but a made-up word.  Yes, even at my age, I’m still making up words.

I’m not to blame though.  I assumed THIS WAS  a word!  How could it not be?  It sounds so good.

What word am I talking about?  Well, the word is electronical.

Originally, the caption read:  The real reason why you should turn off electronical equipment before takeoff and landing.

I mean, c’mon!  ELECTRONICAL.  THAT’S not a word?  I naturally assumed it was, and let this comic post with all its typo glory unbeknownst to me that I had a made-up word included.

Cartooning easy?  Here’s a prime example of when it’s not.  Who would have thought that wasn’t a word.  Electronical….  jeezum (another made-up word I just came up with).

Don’t worry.  There will be plenty of typos to come, so you’ll have your chance to point them out and easily make fun of them soon.

December 7th Cartoon

Being behind with the times, I had no idea what planking was until about six months ago.

A friend of mine kept texting me, “Have you planked yet?”  (back when I had a cell phone).  I was getting frustrated because I didn’t know what he was talking about.  To me, it sounded like something that happens after taking some kind of psychedelic drug.  Not being a narcotic user, I couldn’t understand what it was.

Thanks to Google, I was quickly able to pull it up.  And from there, it seemed like every corner had a picture of a person planking.

Now, the big fad is Tebowing.

Above:  Tim Tebow Tebowing.  Or possibly contemplating suicide.

I don’t know.  All of it seems silly.

I think I’ll stick to sitting.

December 8th Cartoon

It was pointed out to me that this cartoon is similar to one that was done before by Dan Reynolds (which, I highly recommend reading his comic, Reynolds Unwrapped).  Here’s a link to Dan’s cartoon HERE.

This has happened before.  I avidly try to avoid this kind of situation.  In fact, I have numerous single-panel cartoon books that I read to see what NOT to do.  I’ve scratched a lot of good ideas that I’ve had because I think to myself that it just had to have been done already.  Usually, my instinct is right.

With my Dog and Tattoo cartoon above, I was on the edge of not doing it because I had that gut feeling that it was too good of an idea to not have been done.  And, I was right – it was done in a similar fashion.

Of course, this kind of thing happens, like I mentioned.  A few great moments of similarity in history are:  Coke and Pepsi, chick flicks, Nates Ramblings and spam, etc.

December 9th Cartoon

This wasn’t near as sad as Hot Sauce of Arabia.

December 10th Cartoon

Poor spiders.

I so often see them build a web in the most horrible places.  I’ve seen them put up on my car tires, broom handles and other spots where disaster is just waiting to demolish their precious home.

Spiders should hire a good contractor before construction, because I don’t think they think location through too much as it is.

December 11th Cartoon

I had a fun time coming up with this one.

I flipped through a Chinese menu, and looked for the item that had the funniest name.  There are a lot of them. Kun Bow Chicken and Moo Shu Pork almost made the cut for this cartoon.

At the end though, Moo Goo Gai Pan takes the cake.  I’ve never actually eaten the stuff, so I’m not sure about its after affects.  Typically though, any Chinese food can lead to many bathroom trips.

December 12th Cartoon

Recently, I’ve been coming up with a lot of baby cartoons.  They always say, “Write what you know.”  Well, I go against the grain and often times write about things I don’t know.  I don’t know much about kids (and looking at the rest of Break of Day’s material, I don’t really know much about any of it).  Babies though are funny to me.  They have odd-shaped heads, they burp and smell.  Hundreds of comedic material there (just like with Chinese food, the toilet humor here is priceless).

Drawing babies is new to me as well.  I erased this comic over-and-over trying to ‘fine-tune’ the way they look.  I kept making them – well – ugly, and I was trying to go for the cute factor.  Ever try drawing a baby?  It’s not very easy (at least for me).  They just didn’t look right after drawing them.  BUT – I’m pretty happy with the final results.  And now maybe I can draw babies better.  Maybe….

December 13th Cartoon

I’ve worked hard trying to come up with a funny raccoon cartoon.  Here again, like the babies, kind of new territory.  Raccoons are a little tough to get material out of.  I guess I just don’t know much about them (again, like babies).  Typically, the first thing that comes to my mind when trying to write a gag for the critters is a black eye joke.  But, that can run thin and everything I wrote wasn’t very funny (like a lot of my blog post).

I like this one though.  AND it included somewhat of a black eye joke.

As a kid, I always was scared to death of raccoons because I heard how nasty they were.  And if you cornered one, they would rip your head off.  Do they really?  I’m not sure I want to try.  Without a head, I wouldn’t have an easy time cartooning.

December 14th Cartoon

This idea is from my love of trains.  I love train travel and I wish America had a better network of railroads to travel on.

Call me old fashioned, but I’ve taken the train from Ohio to California, Chicago to New Orleans and many trips to Kansas.  It’s a great way of traveling because you DO meet interesting characters and you get to relax.  There’s also nothing like eating dinner while going 90 miles per hour through the desert.  The bar car isn’t too shabby either.

I’m hoping that in my lifetime trains will make a comeback.  Most other countries have a nice rail transportation system.  Why don’t we?  Who knows.  Lets just blame it on gnomes.

Above:  The perfect way to travel and look for snowmen.

December 15th Cartoon

Okay, a lot of people didn’t get this one right away.

Look.  Just look closer.

Closer.

CLOSER.

Got it?  GOOD!

Yes, the whole gag is the air freshener, silly!

Many people took notice of the axe and assumed it was something to do with an ax murderer.  This isn’t The Shining.

Again, with this cartoon, I found a similar one in The NewYorker with a tree driving a car and a human air freshener.  I’m not a plagiarist, I swear.  I actually drew this several months ago and just now got around to posting it.  However, I can’t prove that.  Let’s just hope I don’t have a hot streak of similarities with other cartoons.  I’ve been racking them up here recently.  Break of Day doesn’t need a lawsuit.  I could go for a cookie though.

December 16th Cartoon

Ah, sharks!

Do sharks have lessons in circling prey?  This kind of situation could happen if not.

December 17th Cartoon

I could never handle mouse traps too well.  When I worked at a restaurant, we had mice. (I won’t tell you where – just in case you’re going there for dinner tonight.  I would hate to spoil that for you.)  Every morning I would have to check the walk in and see if we caught one.  And of course, we did.

So, I’d have the unpleasant job of picking them up and throwing the trap and dead mouse in the trash.

They don’t learn too well from their buddies that you avoid the food that is on a wooden trap.  If I saw my friends get picked off at a McDonald’s drive thru, I’d probably turn around and go to Taco Bell instead.

 

December 18th Cartoon

Do these t-shirts really exist?  I might actually want one for myself that has an arrow pointing up for every time I go through a McDonald’s drive thru (like the one I mentioned just a moment earlier).  I keep eating the stuff, then I feel like crap – and I eventually go back again.  Stupid?  Yes.

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Okay, folks, that IS our weekly wrap up.  Or in this case – TWO week wrap-up!  Whew.  My fingers are tired.

I hope it was worth reading and your eyes aren’t strained too much.  And that Aspirin?  Did you take that already?  Good for you if you did.  Maybe your head isn’t hurting as bad as it would’ve after reading this nonsense.

And as always, Facebook Fanatics, click our little box below and ‘Like’ us.  You know you want to.  And for a daily dose of cartoons straight to your inbox, subscribe to Break of Day for FREE here.  It’s the gift that keeps on giving, and it taste much better than a fruit cake.

Hope your holiday shopping is over and you’re enjoying egg nog.

A Bit Behind

My apologies…

Here I go again – promising post and not delivering.  If I were a fencing company that was supposed to deliver fence post, I would have been sued by now.

Okay, I have a good excuse.  I really do.  And here it is:  I’m not home.

I had to leave town for multiple, important purposes.  In fact, as I type this, I’m still not in town.  I won’t go into details, but lets just say it had to be done.  And leaving town means possible downtime on here.

HOWEVER, unfortunately for you, the reader, I now have ample opportunities to get caught up.  Yes, indeed.  From now through this holiday season, I shall be catching up.  That means more bickering, blabbering and more nonsense than ever before.  Waste of time?  Sure!  But, what else would you be spending your time reading?  Those boring Facebook post?  (Okay, we must admit, those Facebook post are typically ten times better than these.)

One thing to be on the lookout for THIS Monday, is a two week supply of The Week of Cartoons feature.  Since many of you stopped by Monday and had nothing new to read, I’ll try to make it worth your while by adding more apologies and bold letters – just like my elevator button post.

Along with Ramblings, I’ve got a few new writings in the works for several new clients.  Yes, I’m slowly working on coining a fresh term:  Word Pollution.  The more garbage I can add to the internet, the more people might get off of it and head toward print – where I could use some help with my syndication endeavors and getting Break of Day in more newspapers.

Beyond this post, really, I’ve been taking a little downtime on everything before the big holiday rush – which in the cartoon business at Fakes Central means hardly anything.  I’m caught up in all my cartoons, and am away from the studio for a few more weeks.  But, I’m collecting “future” projects and getting geared up for a busy 2012.  Well, at least hopefully busy 2012.  And no – cleaning up under the couch cushions doesn’t count as ‘busy’.  As I mentioned previously, I already did that looking for lunch money.

On a quick note, I took an excellent stop on my World Tour in Kansas City to visit the cool folks at Break of Day’s syndicate, Universal/UClick.  Here’s a post (just click here) and some free pictures.  Enjoy as you will.  And please don’t laugh at my pics.  I might cry.

And I’ll leave you at that.  Be sure to stop by Monday.  I might be handing out old Halloween candy to make amends for lack of postings recently.  First though, I have to figure out how to get candy through the computer screen.

Above:  Inside the lobby at Universal Syndicate.  With all the empty bottles and a guy in the background with no pants on, I’d say it gets pretty wild around here.

Above:  The guy with no pants on kept waving to me.

Above:  Represent (sorry, GoComics).

Above:  On a street corner with Universal in the background.  (Note:  Nate’s bucket and bell are out of view.)