Sudden Feelings

I agree with Tommie.  What are we talking about?  The bald guy?!?!  It's not the right time Lu Ann.  I can't pretend to care about you and Telly Savalas when I can barely keep my interest together for the Margo's stress rage/Gabby's wedding planning/poor psychic advice/return of Greg storyline.

Lu Ann, just go take a bath and then put your feelings into some squiggle art.

Keeping Busy

Oh my god. I leave for vacation during the most eventful two weeks of the strip in months (the Margo-Greg confrontation! the return of Mike "Mr. Six" Downey!) and yet the day I return to blogging, Tommie returns to snooze everything up. THANKS, TOMMIE. It's like a never left.

(By the way, for those of you interested in my travels in Japan, I posted photos on Instagram: https://instagram.com/maggiemoros)

EDIT: I meant to say this when I originally posted (I blame jetlag for forgetting) but thank you all for keeping the commentary going in the posts! I actually read your comments before reading the strips and it got me really excited to catch up. Otherwise I might've milked my vacation from blogging through the weekend/month of June.

Wrongful Termination Suit

 Tuesday, March 31st

Margo is technically correct.  Blondes with flippy hairstyles in pink blouses are interchangeable in this strip.  But Carla is still storming up the steps to her room office to call Gloria Allred to file the paperwork for her wrongful termination suit.

Wednesday, April 1st

 

Carla is displaying all the characteristics of a perpetually emotionally abused employee.  Instead of telling Margo to take this job and shove it, she is following from  the office library to the decorative fruit bowl trying to come back for more beratings.  Get some self respect, girl!

Perfectly Fine

Oh no.  Margo's second layer of jacket is off, and it was only that thin layer of polyester that was restraining her contempt and the swirl of emotions that have been bubbling her since she began wandering the yellow brick street.  Off to the nickelodeon with you insipid blonde roommate!

Pie to Go

I can only hope that breakfast pies are going to be the cronut of 2015.  And I think we can all agree that Margo is a stress eater. 

Food is Ready

So much for New York's premiere winter al fresco diner experience. Did Thelma lure Margo inside with a bowl of chow? That's how I'd describe what's in that bowl. Chow. It's all in there, Margo. Eggs. Toast. Pie. Clams. Baked beans. Marshmallows.

Does what's happened thus far in the "plot" merit recap and rehashing with Thelma the waitress? I mean, really? The only way I would say "yes" would be if this waitress was actually played by classic character actress Thelma Ritter.

I'd watch anything she's in!

Early Riser

Margo Magee got up without an underling to rouse her with a steaming cup of coffee and made her own bed?  I think Diana Devine has put a curse on her.

Hung Up

Apartment 3-G, ladies and gentlemen! Thrill as Margo calls her mother at 2:00 in the morning pretending to have ideas! Reel as her mother immediately hangs up on her like a normal person! Gasp has Margo wipes her ear grease onto her shoulder! This strip truly has it all!

Deep Thought

I love how Margo's version of taking care of the Diane situation is thinking so deeply about how she is just too tired to deal with that crap that she falls in the street. Never change, Margo.

I'm going to go ahead and assume that the mysterious stranger is someone like Greg Cooper, since there has been such an effort made to cover up his identity, and not just Sam walking out of the restaurant after Margo. The best part is that the effort to cover up his identity in a monochromatic outfit and eye-shielding hat was all for naught, because there's no telling who any given man in this strip actually is until someone refers to them by name.

Almost

YEAH!! The end (of this storyline) is near! Kudos to Carol for very artfully, very tastefully, indicating to Tommie that it might be time to hit the old dusty trail. But you won't be rid of Tommie until she...

• finds a good home for Lily?
• hooks you up with Jack?
• rides Mary the Mare into the sunset just once?
• plays one more hilarious prank on town gossip Tina?
• has something done about her Johnny Tremain hand?

After Megan's post yesterday, I do feel bad ragging on the art. I will just say this: Tommie has been wearing that turtleneck since March. (Although there was a brief interlude in the month of July with a blue turtleneck... because Carol was wearing pink and it would've been too gauche!) So we're up to almost five months. Turtleneck Watch.

Nothing But the Best Storylines Here

Am I the only one who thought that Tommie willed the bed into being through the sheer force of her imagination?  And am completely not surprised that her imagination came up with the a bed that looks like the very cheapest bed that you can buy in The Sims (if you were actually playing the game correctly and not using a money cheat so you could just buy whatever you wanted?)  And that said bed is perilously perched on the edge of a black hole?

Just Let It All Go

This is really non-ironically coming out of nowhere for me. Is Carol talking about her physical state or her psychic state right now? Perhaps this is another poorly staged PTSD storyline. And WHAT. THE HECK. is Tommie doing in the second panel?? The ol' obscene-gesture glass-of-water switcheroo?? She is way out of practice with this nursing thing.

Mini Breakdown

Come on, Carol. It's not a breakdown until you lash out physically against inanimate objects. What you actually experienced were "tequila tears," a not uncommon condition brought on by one or more margaritas combined with excessive needling from a second-tier friend. Just lie down, drink some water, maybe have a few crackers. You'll feel better soon.

Story Time

Maybe if you are drinking a lot of margaritas, Tommie's life story will seem incredibly interesting.  Or at least you'll pass out before she reaches the handsome British fiance/plane crash/brought an orphan fawn to a Manattan apartment period.

Why Can't We Be Friends?

Carol, please. I have enough friends that look like you already. I'm here to work, I guess? I thought I was here to drop off a deer, but after I came down with this wicked case of "Johnny Tremain hand," I realized there was no place in society for me but shoveling manure at Happiness Falls. So yes, I'm here to WORK. Unless it's too hot, in which case, I'm here to LOAF.

It's Therapy

Ha! Carol hit the nail on the head: Jack and Tommie are united by a desperate need for therapy.

I usually outright ignore the Sunday strip because it's just a rehash of the week's events, but I kind of like this week's Sunday recap because A. the action takes place inside a house for some reason and B. all their gestures have become like 50% more over-the-top and unnecessary. Enjoy!

Not Interested

I'm sorry for being dismissive, presumptuous, and rude before, Jack. Oh, you have a proposition? I don't want to hear it, I'm sure it's terrible, and I hope you die in a fire.

Happiness Falls

Did Lu Ann's hand turn into a pincer?  Because that would be awesome.  She could play human claw machine with that bowl of green fruit.  And, with more of a mess, that box of baking soda/tissues.

You can't hide from Tommie Thompson.  No matter how small of a town you live in, she will call the lowliest civil servant that she can find and smoke you out.

The Floodgates Open

Don't blame yourself and your perception of your maneater sexiness, Tommie--let's face it, this was Lily's fault. She was just too cute to leave! And now she must pay... The Yearling-style.

White as a Nude-Colored Sheet

"Oh Margo, it's just so awful.  My handsome, British fiancee, who totally existed, has died in a plane crash right before he was coming here to meet you.  Now you'll never have met the great love of my life.  Who existed until his small plane crashed in the forests of Vermont.  Which is totally a place that the buyer for Harrod's would go.  Do you have the receipt for all that boxed lamb?"