Cheesebo

Ah, the plight of the newspaper. I’ve never understood the thought process that goes into the placement of newspaper stands. Here we have one sitting at McDonalds. It’s not by the door and it’s not really in a place where somebody waiting in line at the drive-thru could quickly get out of their car, buy a paper, and then jump back in the car.

Maybe they figure those who are most likely to buy a paper are also using the handicapped parking. This is very specific to McDonalds, but they always make sure that the handicapped parking spaces are the furthest away from the door. McDonalds would be off my list if I was in a wheelchair. There’s no way I’m navigating the snow and ice from there.

Actually, I look at this little stand as a monument of defiance. Want a newspaper? How bad? No, no, don’t buy it near the entrance to the building! People may see you. If you want one, it’s way over there, in the mulch. C’mon, buy one. I dare you!

We can’t blame the Internet on this newspaper problem, there have been weird locations to buy a newspaper for decades. I’ve just always found this one particularly weird.

I first drew Harvey (named after my grandfather) when I was ten. I ran across these drawings while cleaning out my studio. I was so young, but I still hate to say when I drew these. Let’s just say that it was a shock that year when we found out Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker’s father.

When looking at this I know you’ll be shocked (SHOCKED!) to read that my main influence was Charles Schulz.

I’m not sure what the joke is, here, but I think it’s that he’s too small to reach the sink. When I was a kid, sinks were easier for me than monkey bars.

I bragged on Facebook that my polling place was so close that I could skip to it, so Tom Racine offered me a dollar if I actually did that. Two if I was carrying a basket. I forgot my basket, so I used my wife’s purse.

Hey, money’s tight and it seems like a harmless fetish.

Let’s say that you’re 10 years old, interested in cartooning, and way too impatient for the internet to be invented. Well, let’s say I was.

Somehow my mother found out about this little booklet that you could get. I’m not sure if it cost anything or if you simply had to request one. Either way, I think it was just a non-profit pamphlet that was very well made and generous to kids like me (or like I was…well, maybe like I am).

It was probably an old publication even when I was ten. Note that Mel Lazarus looks like Rudolph Valentino. I know, the pages are a bit yellowed, but it has to say something about the reverence that I held (and hold) for these cartoonists that it’s survived for 30 years without getting demolished.

It’s also worth noting that the advice contained within is still good despite the fact that the game has changed so much.

If I’m doing this right, you can click on an image to make it bigger. If I’m not doing this right, you can squint at the lovely illegibly squeezed images.