"No thanks."
- A newspaper editor's August 11, 2015 email declining our request to add Buddy and Romeo to the daily comic section.
Short and sweet? In fairness, most editors don’t write back at all (or return phone calls) so at least he responded. It’s better to just get a “no” up front so that then you can just move on and not waste any more time. Also in fairness, the entire email was four words, not two. The full email read “No thanks. Best wishes,” which is very nice, actually. But the first sentence in isolation makes for a funnier post title.
I guess I was lucky that my labels were “artist” and “the skinny kid.” Although the latter label left me with low-grade body dysmorphia and the former with the weight of impossible expectations. About 12 years ago, I was lamenting with a co-worker about coping with my latest rejection from the comic syndicates and he gleefully congratulated himself for knowing “a tortured artist.” Yes, it's fantastic. I’m really happy for you. Happy to help with your Bingo card.
I obviously — thankfully — don’t remember being bathed in the kitchen sink but I remember my mom bathing my younger sibling in it. I guess that’s a thing? Imagine being small enough to sit in a kitchen sink?
I used to write a lot of strips while shoveling the driveway in the winter or mowing the lawn. This one came about while mowing the lawn. It must have been buggy that night.
I forget where we were but I was sitting with my wife at a social gathering and I noticed several of her girlfriends were standing behind us. So I stood and asked if anyone else would like to sit down. Without hesitation, some guy said “Sure!” and he sat down! He took the chair! That chair wasn’t for him! It was for one of the women! I would have loved to continue sitting next to my wife if none of her girlfriends wanted to sit down!
I stood there like an idiot staring bitterly at the top of this guy’s head while he enjoyed his night. I privately fumed about it for the rest of the night and, judging by the copyright year on the above cartoon, for the six years that followed.
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