Recent Comments

1. about 7 hours ago on Off the Mark

   My mother got one of these for our daughter when she was five, against our express wishes (we hate the crass commercialism, poor quality of the product, and message of elves spying on the kids and reporting back to Santa daily). We explained to our daughter that it was a marketing scam, and not a magical toy that moved on its own. We told her that she could play with the doll whenever she wanted, and that we could still move the elf each day for her to find. We also told her that Santa gives presents unconditionally, not based on how she acts. We did, however, tell her that parents sometimes take away kids’ privilege to play with their toys for a short while if the kids misbehave. She took her elf into show and tell at school one day, and all of the students were horrified that she was touching the elf. She then told them what we had told her…

   …some of the parents were unhappy, but not me! ;-)

2. 1 day ago on Pearls Before Swine

   It was, thank you for your condolences. It was live streamed and recorded, so I can watch it whenever I want.

3. 1 day ago on Moderately Confused

   Jeff, I also loved your editorial toon today about the aliens looking for a leader…

4. 1 day ago on Grand Avenue

   My mother got one of these for our daughter when she was five, against our express wishes (we hate the crass commercialism, poor quality of the product, and message of elves spying on the kids and reporting back to Santa daily). We explained to our daughter that it was a marketing scam, and not a magical toy that moved on its own. We told her that she could play with the doll whenever she wanted, and that we could still move the elf each day for her to find. We also told her that Santa gives presents unconditionally, not based on how she acts. We did, however, tell her that parents sometimes take away kids’ privilege to play with their toys for a short while if the kids misbehave. She took her elf into show and tell at school one day, and all of the students were horrified that she was touching the elf. She then told them what we had told her…

   …some of the parents were unhappy, but not me! ;-)

5. 1 day ago on Dog Eat Doug

   That’s exactly my thought! My dogs would have loved this opportunity! Simultaneous kisses and treats!

6. 1 day ago on Over the Hedge

   RJ has his flaws, but he is too good to be included in the ilk of tRump’s other nominees…

7. 1 day ago on Pearls Before Swine

   We had one for my daughter, who died in February at the age of 13 from a brain tumor. We waited a month to give us time to grieve, process and plan. I truly feel like she was guiding our actions to give her exactly what she would have loved in life (her birthday parties were always an event!). The service followed a visitation that included the creation of a mandala made of roses (think very short stems pushed into a styrofoam 4’x’4 base) that her friends carried into the sanctuary at the start of the service (it’s dismantled near the end of the service, with everyone taking some of the roses home), an art gallery of her work (she was a prolific artist, animator, creator of edits and videos, actor, writer, singer and dancer), a photo journey of her life, a wall of messages written by attendees on butterfly shaped cards, a "kids only” area of popup tents decorated by her classmates so that her friends could go and hang out together or be by themselves, journaling and making art, and a labyrinth in an adjacent room for people to walk. The service itself included quotes, eulogies, a video compilation, songs, and even an audio clip of her at the age of nine, talking about death (after the death of our cat) and how we’re all connected. It was beautiful and healing. The service ended with another audio clip I found on her phone, of her singing Bruno Mars’ song “Count on Me”.

8. 1 day ago on Ziggy

   We used to have a bell on our cat. After wearing jingle bell earrings for only a brief period one day during the Christmas season (never to be worn again), I understood how annoying it was, and removed the bell from his collar. He became much more active, probably because he didn’t have that constant tinkling in his ears anymore!

   On the other hand, when my daughter was a toddler, she LOVED jingle bells on her shoes, and would laugh and run and stomp around as much as possible while wearing them. I miss that!

9. 4 days ago on The Argyle Sweater

   I’m curious as to why Scott had to create “Visine Skin”, when lotion and cocoa butter are already available…

10. 4 days ago on Cul de Sac

    Between the rum in the eggnog, and the brandy (or bourbon) in the fruitcake, definitely!