Hemorrhoids

I'm really going to have to conduct a poll once this strip settles down a little with the kooky dialogue to figure out which quote the new banner should feature. There have been so many epic quotes recently, including this gem about the invention of hemorrhoids. I have to say, Carol's cheery command of "Get the stick out!" is probably still my favorite.

In other news, did Tina Grant just stumble through the backyard like Bigfoot? And no one stopped her? Tommie stone cold doesn't care. "Not my problem if some random lady stomps all over our yard and lets all the animals out and pees in the fridge and changes everything about the background scenery in the process. It's time to work my head off."

Dramatic

Boop! We're inside now. Does that make this conversation easier to swallow? No? How about if they talk about things Tommie obviously won't comprehend, like human behavior or emotional wounds? No? Still boring?

I give up! There's obviously no way to make this strip interesting within the strict regulations of newspaper comics, which state that all comics must feature two characters in the foreground from the armpit up looking at each other and talking. Those are the rules, right?

The Neverending Story

Sigh... OK Tommie, let me break this down for you.

Horse (noun) - a large, solid-hoofed, herbivorous quadruped, Equus caballus, domesticated since prehistoric times, bred in a number of varieties, and used for carrying or pulling loads, for riding, and for racing.

Ride (verb) - to sit on and manage a horse or other animal in motion; be carried on the back of an animal.

Jack Riley (noun) - a man, physically indistinguishable from any other man in the world, who is kind of a dick, let's be honest.

I'm not sure why Tommie is so confused by the fact that this eccentric guy who took her and her fawn in would run off somewhere on his horse. ("But he's always been so reliable! He's never left in the past 3 days I've been here!") But I figured she might just literally not understand what Carol is saying? That might explain some of it?

Just Going to Irritate Me

For those of you who think this "plot" (using the word informally) can't move any slower: once this gets sorted out, I guarantee the Professor is going to show up any minute now looking for his drinking buddy and we'll have to hear about how he disappeared all over again.

So I guess what I'm trying to say, readers, is that I understand if you stop checking in with the blog for a few days or weeks at this point. Just come back when Jack actually does see a ghost. Or Lily runs away. Or Margo is ever featured in the strip again.

Jack's Not Here, We Get It!

First, Carol looks like the American Gothic version of Lu Ann, and then Tommie inhabits Lu Ann's mind, by being incapable of understanding how humans can move without cars.

These last few strips have been worse than the "tell don't show" mode of storytelling that we've grown accustomed to.  This is "tell us something we already know, repeatedly because one of other characters is slow on the uptake" is pretty annoying.

Work Your Head Off

I think normally when you choose to, or are asked to, "______ your head off," it's an action that is naturally head-related, like talking or laughing for example. I've never heard of "work[ing] your head off." Let's try to think of a suitable alternative, shall we? Great, go...

• Work your tail off?
• Work your body off?
• Work your hair flat?
• Work your crewneck blue?
• Work your deer into a proper foster home?

Different People

Get the stick out?  Is that supposed to be referring to the stick up Tommie's butt that makes her rigid and unfriendly?  Or is this some regional colloquialism with which I am not familiar?

I'm not sure why Tommie finds it so hard to get along with Carol...She looks like Lu Ann and is bossing her around like Margo.  She should feel right at home!