Let's call it what it is...

I just can't keep up with this site.

At this point, the only people who'll see this email are those who subscribed. Thanks, actually, that means a lot to me.

So I owe to you to finally concede to myself that this thing isn't going to work out. I just don't have the time to work on this and provide the content needed, nor do I have enough desire. Usually I read the comics right before bed, and I'm just done. Trying to find things to be funny about every day, especially when there's nothing queer, then doing all the bloggy behind-the-scenes stuff, it's just too much.

But I started another project to put together several of the blogs that I was working on, to make it easier to do them. I still read the comics, and I still want to post on them sometimes, so I moved that over to Rise Above on WordPress. I'm also doing some of the serious political stuff there that I was doing at another site, as well as some other fun stuff that doesn't work on either of these two sites or Bilerico, which I'm still editing.

I already posted about today's gay FBOFW, and I just checked out Josh's site and see that his wife was thinking along the same lines I was.

Thanks again for all this time!

Alex states the obvious about Thursday's comics

Because the noise that vacuum cleaners make isn't entertaining!


Washing, vacuuming, and shampooing things makes them cleaner!


Being annoying and saying "bump beds" repeatedly instead of "bunk beds" doesn't make you any less annoying!


The art in Gil Thorp isn't as painful to look at anymore, but I still can't tell who anyone is!


But nobody laughs at Hi and Lois!


Those two should kill Mark Trail!


You also know you're pregnant when you're (hetero)sexually active, your period stops, and your pregnancy test is positive!

For Better or for Worse

Thank you, Lynn Johnston, for convincing me never to have children.

Get Fuzzy

I don't think I've ever put up a Get Fuzzy here. Maybe because it's actually funny....

This is an actual queer reference, however miniscule. We exist, dammit!

But this does remind me that I wanted to share this all with you, the story of the "Lawrence comes out" storyline, as told by Lynn Johnston. I just found it the other day, and I have to say, it gives me a little more respect for the Johnston. While her writing has gotten worse, I think that her art has improved a lot over the last 15 years. I wonder if people would have the same reaction to a gay character in a mainstream comic nowadays. Is this progress?

Saturday's For Better or For Worse

Well, Lizardbreath has the spoiled French Canadian/English Canadian children with career mothers who stood up for themselves and left loveless marriages to mustachiod philanderers without mothers vote. So can the wedding happen yet?

I can't wait for it any longer. It's like watching a movie for the fiftieth time and just waiting for the boring part to be over. Actually, it's not like that, it is that, except for the fact that it's not a movie.

Friday's For Better or For Worse

It's interesting that Elizabeth is being painted as "good with kids" because she not only caves in to Francoise's begging and whining, but does so with such gusto that "ice cream" turns into "giant fudge and caramel sundae". After several years with Lizardbreath, I can imagine Francoise turning into such a pampered and spoiled child that, when she asks if she can learn to drive and Elizabeth doesn't immediately buy her a pink Hummer, she throws a temper tantrum that results in the former-Patterson being thrown down the stairs and Francoise spending a few years at juvie (or whatever Canadians call it... "jouvie"?).

For a moment there, I thought the speech balloon that says, 'What does "usurp" mean?' was coming from Anthony. That would explain his looking confused at Elizabeth, instead of fawning over her for taking Therese's place of overpowering him so swiftly.

Just one FBOFW

From 7/24:

I don't really know what the joke is here, but here are some ideas I came up with:

1. April and Eva hate "Rebecca" so much that it makes them throw up.
2. They really don't want to go on after "Rebecca", so between panels 3 and 4 they got wasted and now need to go to the bathroom.
3. "Fluid" is actually Canadian slang for "angry", and they're headed off to the women's room to gossip.
4. Eva and April are into watersports, and April finds being peed on so relaxing that she's asking Eva to do it in public.
5. The fluidity they're referring to is actually gender fluidity, and they're headed off to the bathroom to get in drag in an attempt to upstage "Rebecca".

Any other ideas?

Tuesday's For Better or for Worse

EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSS!!!!!!!

And you're probably all caught up in the comics and know what happens. I'm still working my way through this week. But GROSS!

But definitely not unexpected.

For Better or for Worse rewrite

Ah, now the dialogue matches the facial expressions.

Come on, Lynn, you can still save this plotline!

Tuesday's For Better or for Worse

Is it just me, or does it really sound like Candace is about to ask Lizardbreath to be her date to the wedding in panel one? And then in panels two through four Ellie Jr Elizabeth either just doesn't get it or pretends to not get it to avoid Candace propositioning her? And in panel five, the joke is that Candace sees through that, makes a veiled sarcastic criticism of the patriarchy involved in weddings that also works to cut through Elizabeth's excuses while the Patterson swoons?

Am I the only one interpreting it this way? Well, I might just be the only person still holding out for the best FBOFW plot twist ever.

Friday's For Better or For Worse

Oh, man, Gerald. You should know better than to awkwardly and inappropriately use a loaded phrase to describe what is an innocuous paying job, because you know you'll get APRIL-PUNNED!

I'm beginning to think that like Agatha Christie with her mystery novels, Lynn Johnston writes her jokes backwards. Thoughts?

For Better or For Worse

OK, when a tree falls on your house, you shouldn't go running inside it. And when natural disaster strikes, it's not a good time to make a cliche pass at your wife to try to get some play out of it. But I'd also say that when a friend of yours is testifying against a man who tried to rape her that it would be a bad time to make a pass at her, so maybe I just don't know how they do things in Canada.

For Better of for Worse

While Ellie's pondering the gross difference in size between the houses and how it relates to the difference in size between their two families, I'd like to do a little math. Number of people in Michael's family: 4. Number of people in the Pattersons' family: 3. The difference between the two? One effin' person. Holy cow. I really didn't know that Canadian zoning law was all that specific about how many people can live in a house.

As a side note, I've never really believed Johnston's depiction of April's character. I mean, isn't she supposed to be some sort of mainstream teenage girl? So why doesn't she like the idea of having a finished basement to herself? Seriously, at her age I was worried half the time about my parents walking in on me jacking off. I totally would have welcomed the 7 second warning that stairs would have provided.

For Better or for Worse

"And I never had a chance to tell you how I felt about you then, Elizabeth. You know, just in case you need a third person to reject for Anthony."

Please, please, please let Candace be what saves Elizabeth from the jaws of Anthony. It would be the awesomest plot twist EVER. I would go out and buy all the FBoFW books and be the biggest Lynn Johnston fan ever. I would convert to Catholicism. I'd move to Canada. I'd collect toy trains. Oh for real, I don't know if I'd be able to stand it.

I like the guy in the final panel just sorta checking Candace out for no reason. I have my coffee and I'm just sitting fine here. I would take your face too, my pretty, but you could probably outrun me. That or he could be the Spirit of Elizabeth's Innocence, getting oh so close to dying as she has to make the final jump into maturity and marry Anthony. Or eat Candace's box. Whichever comes first.

For Better of for Worse

Oh, someone knows how you feel, April.