CSotD: Lean freedom
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For the most part, an "interesting" strip that doesn't make me chuckle is unlikely to get top billing here, but Candorville is often a fairly straightforward piece of social commentary and since — other than his grammar-nazi issues — Darrin Bell generally mirrors my thoughts, well, here we are.
(Holy Serendipity, Batman! What an opportunity to point out that Darrin Bell is now also doing editorial cartoons!)
(Right you are, Old Chum! And that also provides a chance to note that the Baton Rouge Advocate has hired Walt Handlesman for their New Orleans edition, since the Times-Picayune has decided to open the door to anyone who would like to kick their ass in their own hometown!)
Okay, where were we?
Oh, yeah: Candorville and retirement and whathaveyou.
One of the conversations I had during the NYSRA conference was with a former colleague in the newspaper-education trade who ran the program at Newsday for several years until she was offered what is a rare privilege in our profession: A chance to resign without the security guards and cardboard box so many others have been confronted with.
She's now teaching in college part-time and doing occasional workshops for teachers, but, as she told me, at her pace and only when she wants to. We're both of an age where we only need to tap-dance a few more years before we can actually retire, and, while I was there to launch what I hope will grow into a modest income stream for the future, we share a revulsion over climbing back into full-time, boss-on-your-back employment again.
Lean freedom beats fat slavery.
And Lemont is right: For a lot of us, there's no "retirement" ahead anyway. My energy is already slackening, which is why they have those stories about 80-year-old mountain climbers: Because they are freaks. But I won't ever stop writing and I hope I don't ever stop being able to get some money for it.
At the moment, I'm a little swamped with overlapping deadlines, and that's not a bad thing, but there will be other times when life is at a slower pace and I'm okay with that. If the rent is paid and there's food on the table, that's fine. Doesn't have to be fancy.
As I'm sure I've said before, the one regret I have over working in such a low-paying career field as journalism is that I can't afford to travel. But then again, if I cared about it that much, I'd have been a travel writer. The key to satisfaction is to distinguish vain regrets from the kind you need to do something about.
Susan is always presented as Lemont's unacknowledged soul mate, an understated tension that is one of the best features of the strip. But what they offer each other — even, and perhaps especially, as friends-not-lovers — is that she does provide him with an occasional necessary goad, while he provides her with the opportunity to stop being so damn driven.
What we've seen of her job is pretty depressing and she really needs to unclench. Lemont is far from perfect, but he's got this part down cold.
Sorting out the treats:
There are so many mandatory Halloween gags every year that it's worth going through the yawners to find the gems.
I really love Sedgwick, the little rich kid in Monty. The gags aren't always particularly new, but they are particularly well done. Between what a wretched little dork he is to begin with, and his butler's ability to out-deadpan Arthur Treacher, as well as Meddick's caution in not overusing the character, he's a winner.
And today's Dog Eat Doug reminds me of the old-fashioned strips which, particularly at Christmas but for other holidays as well, would skip the tired gags and simply fashion a greeting card from the cast. It's a good idea, and, in this case, gives Brian Anderson a chance to show off a blend of the strip's normal art with some of his other stylistic chops.
And now for something completely different:
A Dogue de Bourdeaux shaking his head
(more here — h/t to Freekibble)
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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