Homegrown Cartoons

Back in the mid-1980’s, two graduates of Mercy High School (located in University City, Missouri) drew deeply on that Catholic education and decided to get together every week or so in order to create cartoons.   Whew!  That was more than twenty years ago.  Our plan was to make cartoons so insightful and/or funny that publishers would buy them and then we would never need to get real jobs.  It didn’t quite turn out that way.   Mike Harty was the guy who could draw and I was the guy who couldn’t, but who was willing to offer lots and lots of ideas until Mike found one worth drawing.  This brings to mind the idea of Linus Pauling:  “The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas.”

Mike and I are both baby-boomers.  We drew these in the midst of Ronald Reagan’s second term–cold war politics often worked its way into our cartoons.  As did death and “meaning of life,” and God, and incongruity.  We really didn’t have a plan other than to do something that resonated.  After reading these, you’ll probably pick up on the reason why Mike and I weren’t as popular as the football stars in high school . . .

We worked at drawing and scheming and creating, week after week, until we had created a couple hundred cartoons.  I recently spoke with Mike and asked whether it would be OK to publish some of them at DI.  He was delighted.  Tonight, …

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More of my favorite quotes

I collect quotes (who doesn’t?). Really, it’s a good hobby. It’s cheap and often interesting. When they are really good quotes, it’s like a novel condensed to a mere sentence.

The first two of this set are about one of my favorite topics, rampant materialism. The others all relate closely to one another, but only if you have a wild imagination or if you think of a very broad topic like “meaning of life.” Without further ado:

Who is content with nothing possesses all things.
— Nicolas Boileau Despreaux

Wealth is the number of things one can do without.
— Feodor Dostoyevsky

The trouble is that you think you have time.
— Zen Master

Observe your enemies, for they first find out your faults.
— Antisthenes

A hole is nothing at all, but you can break your neck in it.
— Austin O’Malley

War is when the government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide that for yourself.
–Anonymous

Never mistake motion for action.
— Ernest Hemingway

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Churches: Places where rich people go to get God’s approval to live lavishly

MSNBC has recently reported on the prosperity gospel of Televangelist Kenneth Copeland, which appears to be benefiting mostly---Kenneth Copeland and his relatives. Kenneth Copeland, 71, is a pioneer of the prosperity gospel, which teaches that believers are destined to flourish spiritually, physically and financially — and share the wealth with…

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