Dogs, dieting, fashion, cars...and some meta

Sorry for my delinquence of late; I know, I've been terrible. I do recommend checking out the comments on the entry at CC about Al's death; some of his family and friends have checked in, and some people have also written some pretty moving comments. I also suggest reading this blog entry by a reader. Both he and Josh have managed to articulate their feelings about Al much better than I. (This is why I'm an editor, not a writer, people!) I will say that it makes me sad that there's been virtually no coverage of Al's death. TDIET is one of the few comics that's carried nationally, and has been around for a long time. You'd think the passing of its artist would merit some attention.

Anyway. On with the show. Four days in brief recap...

Monday. Mrs. Goosegg should rely solely on the dog for vacuuming purposes; I mean, why have a vacuum at all if you have a dog? Also, where did that table come from in the bottom panel? I'm sure you all also saw that this is a CC reader-submitted strip. So exciting!

Tuesday. I can't really fault Ragmop here. Part of the key to losing weight isn't to necessarily cut out all fatty foods; it's just to eat them in moderation. If he can be happy with samples only, more power to him. And isn't Fatburger a real restaurant?

Wednesday. This is awesome for many reasons, except the similarity to last Monday's strip. I love that Migraina actually calls him out for not going with her suggestion, and I love that Al included "send him to the moon" with the "striped shirt" piece. It could've been "The urge to stripe his shirt" or something, but the "to the moon" made it all worthwhile. Awesome.

Today. Oh, kids these days, with their loud music. Maybe Hekkie heard the plinking between songs on his radio. Notice that he never says that the noise bothers him; maybe he's just upset by his car making a weird noise? I know I am. And I applaud him for taking good car of my car.

Congrats, Fifi--you got your own tag!

So the premise of today's strip is that if a couple only goes out to eat once a month and eats very casually at home...they should have low expectations? Honestly, if I only go out to eat once a month, I want it to be nice. And waiter, rolling your eyes if I complain about wilted lettuce is not going to help your tip. I also wouldn't be happy with lukewarm water and dirty napkins. Most of these aren't unreasonable complaints! It really shouldn't matter how people eat at home; if the people at the next table eat off their fine china every night, but have similar complaints, are those valid? Fifi sure does seem to have an issue with messy people. Particularly people who are messy in private, but want things neat in public. I don't really consider that hypocrisy, but it sure does piss Fifi off.

Also, what does "live like they're camping out" even mean? They only have hot dogs, hamburgers, and smores to eat? They sleep in sleeping bags on the floor? They need to leave the house to use a bathroom?

Frantic catch-up

Today's strip strikes as kind of completely bizarre. Garbage cans? The kid who's clutching his mother in fear totally makes the strip. Clearly Dad has rage issues. You'd think he'd plan ahead when taking the garbage out, but apparently not. I kind of want the passer-by to lecture him on raccoons. Or, have a raccoon attack him! That would be awesome.

Yesterday's strip delves into a side of the medical world we rarely see--how doctors relate to their spouses. I'm kind of disappointed it's not more like Grey's Anatomy. Epsom is no McDreamy. The issue is Mrs. Epsom's expression in the top panel. I'd imagine that she's been sick before and dealt with his treatment (or lack thereof); her expression in the top panel should be more ironic; at least a smirk. I guess she doesn't want to know what a crap husband Epsom is.

In Tuesday's strip, we delve into the fascinating world of mommy issues. Love how Ragmop says "Ohh yeah" not once, but twice. Excellent. I'm also fascinated that he actually knows how his mother made this mystery concoction--honestly, the men in this strip don't seem that perceptive. And again, it's like Al can't say "divorce," but has to keep saying "Grounds for you-know-what." Unless by that he means "murder." Hmm. And again with all the dishes! Geez.

Newsflash in Monday's strip: Boys will do things for the girls they like that they complain about when their mother wants them to do it. (Man, what an awkward construction. My bad.) Although, honestly, it looks like Yorkie and his girl are planning to hike the Appalachian Trail, given the size of those packs.

And I do recommend that everyone check out Sunday's strip. As reader Cedar pointed out, it contains so many TDIET highlights--squid, yoyoitis, an odd highlighting of technology (i.e., CDs), "Oh, Daddy, what you said!" We also get a glimpse of how Al draws cats. It's...neither pretty nor realistic.

See if I take my tourism money to Florida again

Ah, today's strip is more people in Florida complaining about us folks from Up North. There clearly is a disconnect here. Migraina and Ragmop are really dressed up in the top panel; that has to be a really fancy place. And in the bottom panel, I can only assume that the restaurant doesn't have a dress code; otherwise, the host could just tell them to dress up a bit. Therefore, the place probably isn't that fancy. (And if the top place isn't that fancy, then Migraina and Ragmop are just overdressed, which also is mockable. But that's not the point here.) And by the way, snooty (snotty?) restaurant guy? They can still spend money, even if they are in casual wear.

(I want to add the disclaimer here that I never want to see Migraina in a two-piece ever again.)

And really, Hal Steinberg, how do you know (a) that these people are from "up north" and (b) that they always dressed up for every meal out? Do they say, "Man, when we lived back Up North, we always wore tuxes and evening gowns when we dined out! I love that we can now dress like we just came from the pool when we go out"? If not, shut it.

I kind of want tomorrow's strip to make snide comments about Southerners.

A teenager girl who doesn't want to talk to her mother? Shocking!

I'm having a hard time with today's strip. Are we supposed to be upset that as a teenager, Shalimar didn't want to talk with her mother, but as an adult, she likes talking to her mother? Is asking advice a bad thing? Are we supposed to correlate her talking to mother with her getting married (as opposed to just growing up and maturing)?

No, I guess we're supposed to focus on her asking for help with a down payment. I shouldn't complain that that's not exactly uncommon, seeing that this is "They'll Do It Every Time." This is supposed to be stuff that happens frequently. And I guess we're supposed to judge hubby Ragmop as a doofus (since that's how he's drawn).

I don't know. Maybe it would help if Al specified that Shal only ever shows up to ask for money. But I'm in a sunny mood and looking forward to seeing my mom this weekend, so I'm going to come down on Shal's side, and say that it's nice that she wants to talk to her mom.

And hey, Mom could always try to pull a Gilmore Girls-type promise that in order to get the money, Shal and Ragmop have to have dinner with her every week.