Comic Strip: Out With Dad

Today’s cartoon is an idea I’ve had on my head for a while.  It is, in a way, my review of the first episode of the webseries Out With Dad.  This is to say it reflects my interpretation of the events therein. You might not understand the cartoon if you haven’t seen the episode in question, so you should go here and watch it.  It isn’t very long.  I’ve thought of writing reviews to all the episodes from season one, but I figure I’ll never get to it, and it is usually easier for me to draw something than figure out what to write. So here it is:

As a disclaimer, I want to mention that this work is totally fan art and I am in no way attempting to steal the work of Jason Leaver, whom I give total credit to for his creation which inspired the above.  All rights and whatnot belong to him and I’m not trying to make money off of his creations or anything like that.  I would like to suggest that visitors here donate some money to the production of Out With Dad, since the show relies on donations to cover the costs of production.

I’m glad I finally got around to drawing this strip and getting it out of my system.  I needed to do this one before I could draw the next one…

Food: Donuts

Both the looming Thanksgiving holiday and the recent (and I think temporary) demise of Hostess have me thinking about food lately.  Therefore, I now present my first blog entry about food. Specifically, I shall now discuss donuts!  (Some of you may think that they should be called doughnuts.  However, we Americans try to eliminate every letter we possibly can.  I see stuff written by people in England and Canada that includes all kinds of extra “u”s.  We don’t use extra “u”s here!  In fact, we wold eliminate all such letters if we cold I’m sre. )

Donuts are one of the most wonderful culinary creations in the universe.  Part of this is the sheer variety available.  If you can’t find at least one type of donut you absolutely love, you just aren’t trying very hard!  In fact, there are so many types of donuts that I don’t even have a favorite donut.  There are a few I’m not too fond of, like crullers and anything with chocolate frosting (but not chocolate cake covered with glaze…I like those!) , but I don’t have one that is the absolute best to my mind.  I can, however, name my favorite donuts within certain donut types.

Let’s take the fancy donuts first, for example.  These would be the crème filled, jelly filled, and cake (blueberry is especially a favorite of mine) donuts.  I don’t think anyone makes these types of donuts better than Dunkin Donuts.  The Dunkin Donuts chain has a large variety of such donuts.  They tend to be more expensive than most places, but they are very tasty. These are also very loaded with good stuff that fills you up fast, so I think you get your money’s worth.

Glazed donuts are a different matter, however.  Glazed donuts are best when they are light, fluffy, and warm.  Therefore, I have to give the win in this category to Krispy Kreme.  Krispy Kremes are probably the only donuts that I like better plain than filled.  They are very sweet since they are absolutely drenched in sugar, but it just enhances the flavor!  But be warned: The boxed Krispy Kremes aren’t nearly as good as the fresh version.

Powdered donuts are completely different than the above types.  The strange thing about these donuts is that they are best when they are not fresh from the bakery.  My favorite powdered donuts are the little mini powdered donuts that come in bags, including those by Hostess.  These things are just so sweet and tasty, and being bite sized they are easy to eat despite being rather messy.  In fact, it can be rather hard to stop eating them!  It always seems like just one more wouldn’t hurt…and then one more after that…

Well, that’s a good beginning to a discussion about donuts.  Someday I’ll write a longer and more serious essay.  It’s just too important a topic to go without some serious study!  I wish everyone some good eating tomorrow!  I suggest having a donut or two. I’ll close with this word of advice:  Donuts—they aren’t just for breakfast anymore!!

Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran’s Day, and I’ve decided to make the holiday the subject of my blog this evening.  I suppose there are a lot of people saying a lot of things about the purpose of the holiday, and I’m not trying to outdo anyone.  I’m just going to relate my experience.

I joined the United States Navy out of High School and spent two years on active duty, mostly onboard the USS Mobile.  Today my thoughts have been dwelling on the people I served with.  I served in the Navy with a very diverse group of guys.  The military takes people from all over the USA and beyond and puts them together into rather effective groups.  That’s pretty amazing, I think.  We didn’t all look alike or have the same philosophies or interests.  Yet we managed to do a pretty good job at our job!  There were guys who were born outside the US and had come to make our country their own.  There was even a friend of mine who became a US citizen while he was serving in the Navy.  I think that’s rather cool.

USS Mobile LKA 115

I’ve discovered that as a veteran I have the ability to talk to any other veteran I’ve met about our service. There is some special kind of bond.  Whatever branch and whatever time frame we served, there always seems to be something linking us.

I benefited a lot from my service.  It was a positive experience that got me the money I needed for college, and I recommend young people consider military service for all the benefits it can bring

However, there are a lot of vets who bear some horrible scars left by their service.  These vets weren’t as lucky as me to serve in peaceful times.  These vets deserve our unyielding support.  And, especially our thanks.

So thank a veteran.  Not just today, but every day!

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Art: Invaders and Legion

Here are some sketches I did last week. My love for the Legion of Super-Heroes is well documented in previous entries of this blog.  The Invaders is one of Roy Thomas’ greatest series!!  Done with markers.