Ohhh the boys have learned that Bea is flying the nest, I like how Elvis is trying to look unconcerned. Gonna be a lot of feels in this arc, I am guessing. *looking for tissues*.
I went back and forth on this bit of grammar for a while before posting, and found with examples such as “how do you handle when your boss calls you into their office” that indicated there was an immediacy of emotion implied when ‘it’ is removed as an event. It’s not perfect, but I preferred “how do you handle when” to “how do you handle it when,” after looking through examples.
It’s fine the way you wrote it, Georgia. I completely understood what Puck was asking. Also, I appreciate that you took the time to consider both options.
I’ve never heard ‘handle’ used without ‘it’ following, but I have heard ‘deal’ used like that (‘I just can’t deal, I’m outta here!’), so it makes sense that ‘handle’ is used like that too. It is perfect just as it is.
I think “it” in this case is appropriate. What is “it”? With Beatrix leaving, “it” is a very big word, evidenced by Elvis shuffling papers. “It” means blurry screens.
Hello, everyone!! Today’s strip is a wee bit early in the wee hours of the night, and I hate to say Monday’s strip will be a wee bit late–most likely posting on Monday night or Tuesday morning! We are traveling this weekend, and I will not be near a computer to post until then. What advice will Baba have for us? I promise you won’t wait too long to find out!
Poofy Tommy is just too funny… thought he was going to pop his clothes off, lol. As for the other boys ;( that just made me want to gather them all up for a hug… which i’m sure Elvis would just hate
It will be fascinating to find out what pearls of wisdom Baba Mouse will have for us. She already gave us a big one when she said ” spay and neuter, folks.” That look on her face when she says this conveys so much when she thinks back to all those kitten births and how hard that can be on a female cat.
LOL! Tommy in panel 5! Almost had the floof scared right out of him. Baba Mouse’s “Naw. Im just messing with you” made me laugh out loud. What a feisty broad. And the boys are missing Bea! Sad faces all ’round. And Baba Mouse has her own subterranean lair…
Georgia, this was a great strip. The boys turning to Baba for advice on letting Beatrix go, and how to accept this. I loved the panel where they ask her “how do you handle when they go out into the world?” There was so much emotion on the boys’ faces, even Elvis who was trying to act as if he was not concerned. His eyes give him away. Baba’s face in the next panel is great also as you can see her remember when her babies left to enter the world. I’m not sure what she has in mind to tell the boys, but I’m sure it will be good.
OMC! LOL! Just reading the comments and was scrolling back up and spotted the pic of Elvis and Bea for the Twitter link, STOP TELLING BIRDS MY BUSINESS! LOL, just hadn’t seen it before.
Baba Mouse is exactly the kind of old lady I want to be when I’m old. Minus being a cat… and having lots of kids. Basically I want to be scary and full of adorable wisdom.
I just can’t figure out what the green things are that are hanging next to Tommy in the panel before Baba appears. One reminds me of a celery bunch, but that can’t be right. ???
I couldn’t imagine what the green stuff was at first, but I remembered Beatrix tweeting about locating Baba Mouse’s house when the station ran out of coffee and she borrowed some from her. I reread the tweets to see if something in them might tell me what the green stuff is. I forgot that you have to go through an herb garden to get to Baba Mouse’s house. I bet she makes all kinds of home remedies. Beatrix’s tweets can be read without joining Twitter (I haven’t joined). Just click on that cute pic up towards the top right area of the screen of Bea (being cute, as always) and Elvis (screaming).
Glad to hear Baba Mouse supports Spay Neuter! Now if we could get the humans to sign on there would be a lot fewer abandoned kittens and puppies in the world. As always a fantastic strip Georgia.
Poofy Tommy is incredibly cute.
Baba Mouse’s sad look on her face and the way Puck had trouble getting out his question brought a tear to my eye.
Can’t wait for Baba’s words of wisdom. Perhaps they will help when my kids go out in the world! (A day far off, but already dreaded!!)
Georgia, since your move to the West Coast I’ve learned to not look for BCN until later in the day (seeing as how I’m in Montreal), so it was a *great* surprise to see this strip bright and early in the morning! And oooh, poofy Tommy, yay! Another wonderful strip, I can’t wait to find out what Baba Mouse has to say next….
I understand the point, but I think there’s more immediacy in the way Georgia presented it. “How do you handle *this thing*?” is more imperative than “how do you handle it when this happens?”
BreakingCatNews Alert! Don’t miss all the series of Tweets today from the Social Media Intern! Just follow that link to Twitter mentioned above – the one at top right of this page and it takes you right there. Great stuff from the Big PolyPaw =^..^=
I loved seeing Tommy all “proofed out.” And Baba Mouse, well, getting to know her will be so awesome, I just know it…I didn’t realize I would miss Beatrix so much, but I know she will be back soon…Safe travels, have a wonderful weekend!!!
You don’t let Beatrix go.
You NEVER let friends or family go- – -they are ALWAYS in your heart.
My son is grown and “on his own”- – – but he is STILL my son, with me always, and in my heart and thoughts.
Tell Tommy and the BCN crew this. No one is ever “gone” while they are in your heart.
Beautifully said, Noreen! Have no kids, me, but plenty of other humans who are in my heart, many of whom are far far away from me now. Far away, but always close, and in both head and heart every day!
Aw, Poofy Tommy. Almost didn’t think Mr. Mellow And Friendly had it in him. Baba Mouse must be quite intimidating when she wants to be. And Mouse’s reaction to the kitten question brings to mind all those pictures of mamacats covered in kittens giving the world a “Spay Me Now!!” look. Glad the boys have someone to ask for advice about how to handle a kid leaving home.
…Are we gonna see photo albums of Baba Mouse’s babies?
The hanging bunches are herbs drying. People used to (and still do) tie up herbs by the stems and hang in a dark airy place to dry for use later. I first thought it might be catnip but no self-respecting cat could resist catnip for long. So perhaps it’s pennyroyal as that’s supposed to repel mice and some bugs.
Those bundles hanging near Tommy appear to be herbs drying…..maybe it’s catnip? We know catnip is good for whatever ails you!
I can barely hold the tears back, I can feel the boys’ and Baba’s sadness at their respective babies leaving home.
I like Georgia’s phrasing on it. One thing I’ve learned in my work (I am on a team of four writers who write scenario based simulations for classes) is to accept a wide range of acceptable phrasings for dialogue.
Mouse is her name. How and why she got it is something you’d need to ask her people. I used to think of one of our neighbor cats as “Mouse” because she reminded me of one (small, partly gray, and skittish) but I have no idea what said cats people called her. Nowhere is it written that cats can’t be named Mouse, after all.
Baba is a word in several Eastern European languages meaning “Grandmother” or “Older woman”. As the matriarch of the farm cats, Baba Mouse qualifies for both titles. My great-grandmother was called Baba, and my niece calls my mother Baba.
And, of course, Georgia’s taken the name and run with the Baba Yaga similarities.
Except she’s a lot nicer than Baba Yaga. I do like the slightly witchy implications of the name though and her living in what I’m guessing is a root cellar doesn’t decrease them.
We had a small tabby named Mouse. Nicknamed Mo. I think/hope there will be a reveal as to why “grandma Mouse” has a special relationship with the robber mice.
I had a kitty I named Mouse. When I got her, she was around 6 weeks old (abandoned by stray mother as too sick to survive) and she looked just like a little mouse, she was so tiny and all grey. She had a nice long life before she passed.
Beautifully said, Noreen! Have no kids, me, but plenty of other humans who are in my heart, many of whom are far far away from me now. Far away, but always close, and in both head and heart every day!
Out of curiosity, just how old is Baba Mouse? I remember from the Halloween arc that she was born in the 90s, but that could mean anything from ‘venerable’ to ‘we suspect magic is involved’…
(Also…*gives the boys a hug* Don’t worry…I’m sure she’ll be around.)
If I may weigh in on “handle” without being all know-it-all-ish: I copyedit fiction, and grammatically speaking “handle it” is correct, because “handle” is a transitive verb–it needs an object (literally and grammatically!).
However, in fiction, dialogue goes to character, so if the author feels a certain usage or syntax is appropriate for characterization, the author trumps.
Georgia–I love that you searched around for different usages. I do that all the time. Check out my new fav toy: https://books.google.com/ngrams Enter 2 terms and see which has appeared in print more often within your prescribed time frame. So fun!
This is my first time commenting on BCN. Big fan here!
“How do you handle” followed by a direct object is perfectly fine. The object might be a phrase or even a clause.
How do you handle cats?
How do you handle when you have to move?
How do you handle a crowd of fans of whom many have decided opinions on English grammar that they want to write about in the comments section and proceed to do just that?
I am picturing Baba Mouse’s home full of picture albums of her many children and adventures over her long life, and with 90’s music playing in the background.
I have to apologize–I am almost certain the comic is going to be later than I had hoped this week. It may only be a Thursday strip after all. We have been traveling the past few days, as the Man ran the Mystery Tournament at the Northwest Majors in Seattle this weekend. (It’s a video game competition. The Man ran a tournament during it where folks competed against each other in obscure and/or retro video games! Fun stuff!) I brought my paints with me, planning to paint the strip in the evenings after the kiddos went to sleep. I somehow did not factor in the toll that travel would take on the kids, in the form of being very excited each night after days packed with visiting friends and family (the Intruder–their real life aunt–lives up here!) It has been hard to get them to bed on time, and once they have been down–I’ve been exhausted myself. It’s a good kind of exhausted, but bad for inking and painting without dozing off. I could rush the strip once we arrive home tomorrow, or I can explain the truth to you all and take a couple of days to finish the new strip right and have it ready for Thursday. I hope everyone understands, and I thank you for your patience!! I think you will all enjoy it very much, Baba Mouse has some very sound advice for our boys!
I’m sorry again, I had really thought the trip would not break my stride too much–why I thought this, I don’t know. It makes sense to me now that working while traveling was going to be tough, but it somehow all seemed totally doable on Thursday.
The good news is the Man ran one heck of a tournament, and got to feel very much in his element! He adores when he gets the chance to run gaming tournaments, and he is quite good at it. He does so much to support me and what it is I do, the kids and I were glad to return the favor for him this weekend. And it has been amazing to see friends and family during the day, we have missed Seattle so much these past two years.
The strip will return on Thursday! This will give me a chance to really paint all the details of Baba Mouse’s home, which as you will see… Require a little care!
Georgia, you get it out when you can.
But dang, I wish I’d known you and The Man were in Seattle. I rather think I’d have gone and found that tournament.
At least on this trip, you didn’t have to cross time zones. Get settled back in, and we fans will pester each other in the thread while eagerly awaiting Thursday.
And for my fellow grammar mavens: It’s dialog and from a cat, and a wistfully sad cat. Lighten up.
The next time we go, I may try to do something like that! This was our first time traveling with both kiddos on a trip (vs moving) and I was not certain how they were going to respond to traveling–which made me unsure of how *we* would respond to traveling. Thankfully, they were great! Just very hard to put to bed after fun filled days, ha!
Georgia, please take all the time you need to rest and recuperate! You are a full-time wife, full-time mother of 2 young kids, full-time mother of 3 furbabies, and a full-time cartoonist/artist! I can only imagine the toll all that takes on you! Please do take care of your health first; none of us would want you to push yourself so hard that you get ill! P.S. sounds like you and the Man had an awesome time in Seattle! Good for you!
Good Morning Georgia! Your art makes me smile every time I read it. So, taking a few days to do what you need to do is fine with 99.9% of us. The small .01% will just have to be happy with reading the older gocomics. Blessings to you, the Man, Toddler, Gwen, and the BCN Staff!
So glad The Man had a great time & was in his element!! You take all the time you need, FAMILY FIRST!!! we love you and will wait patiently (sort of) for the Thursday strip. With all of the roles you have i am always amazed that you can produce broadcasts twice a week anyway. Please get some rest and replenish, we will be here.
Speaking for about 70% of the readers, we understand you have 2 toddlers 3 cats and you and the man so 1+1+3+2 = 7 to take care of!
i just have to wait a bit longer, that’s all.
OK, I couldn’t stand it. I finally asked our company technical editor about our grammatical question, and here is her answer, which I consider definitive: Well, it seems that in almost all cases, _handle_ is a transitive verb, which means that it requires an object. That’s what “it” provides, an object. If an intransitive verb was used, such as “cope,” then there would have been no need for “it.” Noun clauses can serve as direct objects, but clauses starting with _when_ are adverbial clauses rather than noun clauses. You could move it to the front of the sentence, and that shows you more plainly the need for a direct object: When the kitten grow up and leave home, how do you handle ___ ?
Not a problem at all, you just take your time. Of course the kids were excited- new experiences, new places to see, new stuff to get in to. Best to be there for them now-since you spend so much time and effort being there for us, with wonderful FREE content at least twice a week. We can wait-impatiently, but we can wait.
I keep a lot of the details vague when we go out of town, only for safety reasons on the Internet (never can be too safe, and public info on traveling routines always makes me nervous) but the boys were well cared for, did great, and Elvis is still furious with us!
We all need to be good to working parents who keep up jobs along with taking care of kidlets. BCN adds so much pleasure to my week. I’d hate to think you’d have to choose between child rearing and keeping our favorite feline correspondents on the air. A little drawn out anticipation never hurt anybody. We’ll look forward to Thursday’s strip with added relish. Happy travels to the whole family.
Please never apologize for enjoying being out with your family and having fun. We can wait. It’s a good time to reread some of your stories. By the way, I’m glad you are on the main page of ‘gocomics’. I enjoy reading those too!
There has been a lot of talk on the grammar in this strip, and I’d just like to ask folks to please be a bit forgiving of the conversational grammar some of the characters use. If I wrote every character with perfect grammar, the strip would lose a lot of its flavor. It’s important that the characters come across as having different levels of education, formality, comfort with public speaking, etc or they’re all going to sound the same and lose a lot of their personality. Tommy would say something much differently than how Sophie would choose her words; Elvis and Lupin would have different levels of professionalism on air, and so on. I don’t always like dissecting how the writing comes together, but I felt it was important to take a moment and gently address what goes behind writing some of the dialogue and why sometimes the grammar is tighter than others. Spelling errors I will always go in and correct immediately–grammar is a lot more open depending on which character I am writing with and how they are feeling in a particular moment.
Unless it’s Sophie. If you ever see me write incorrect grammar with Sophie, and she’s not in a situation of great shock or awe, correct me. Sophie is the only character who I feel would do her absolute best at all times to speak in perfect grammar. (Elvis would think he is, but might not actually pull it off in moments of puffiness).
Oh my CAT! I think I would fire that “technical editor,” because a noun clause can begin with the word, “when.” In Puck’s sentence, “you” is the subject, “do handle” is the verb, “how” is an adverb describing “do handle.” Now, the trick for finding the direct object of a sentence is to ask “do handle what?” The answer to that is obviously, “when they go out into the world.” I should know. To double check, an adverb answers the questions, “when, where, why, how, how much, or to what extent?” Does “when they go out into the world?” answer any of those questions? No! “When” is a modifier within the clause itself modifying “go.”
I have a bachelor’s degree in English education, a master’s degree as a reading specialist, and a teaching certificate to teach both English and reading in grades K-12. I taught high school English including College Prep Composition and Grammar and Composition for grades 9-10 for 19 years. For the next 11 years I was a reading specialist for grades K-6. I usually don’t volunteer that information because the first thing people usually say to English teachers after they find out our guilty secret is, “Oh dear, I’ll have to watch my grammar.” Except I would never presume to correct the grammar, spelling or punctuation of anybody outside my classroom. And I would certainly never presume to correct the grammar of a cat.
Even if Puck misspoke, the rules for conversational English are more flexible than those for written English because when speaking, we often change thoughts in mid sentence resulting in a need to change a previously spoken verb. It’s no big deal to delete and replace when writing, but in speaking it would be awkward to stop and change the previously spoken words to match the new thought. Conversational English needs to have a natural flow, and grammar correction mid sentence is not only unnatural, it is awkward and makes one sound like a :::::shudder::::: English teacher! Oh my cat!
So Georgia, as the “resident grammarian,” I hereby give everybody an A+ in conversational English. I also hereby grant to you, all BCN correspondents and interns, and all BCN commenters a “get out of grammar jail free” pass in perpetuity! For I consider message board posts to be similar to conversational English. Since this board lacks an “edit post” button, all comments are considered to be “rough drafts.” In a rough draft, our most important task is to get our ideas down as quickly as possible. Yes, it’s nice to proofread before hitting, “Post Comment,” but since the message window, at least on my browser, lets us see only 4 lines at a time, proofreading is difficult. I frequently spy my errors about half a second after I hit the “Post Comment” button. So feel free to dangle those participles, split those infinitives, commit subject verb disagreement, but expect no further corrections or judgments from me. I’m retired and my red, pink and purple pens retired along with me. But please don’t expect perfect grammar, spelling and punctuation from me. I’m not perfect.
Well, that trumps my simple English degree that I’ve been known to trot out when grammar discussions get heated. Given how variable and sometimes silly the Official Rules for English can get (English is a pidgin language between Old English and French that kept the Germanic sentence structure, then got some rules tacked on that make MUCH more sense for Romance languages because Latin is for Educated People, THEN went out and built an empire and borrowed from every language it came in contact with…) you have to be flexible in enforcing the various rules. And you have to know when to not bother with some of them, such as when writing in casual dialogue. It’s something that’s been covered in classes for every language I’ve taken; you have to know the rules so you know how to break them.
Something we were told in our writing classes was to read the line out loud, since it can be very easy to write in a more formal mode than intended when you aren’t hearing it spoken. If it passes the read aloud test, I ain’t complaining.
Touche! Not only is it conversational, it’s a cat. I’m as much of a nitpicker as anyone you’ll find when it comes to this sort of thing–but I choose my battles. Were there any doubt what Puck meant, I could see some angst over his phrasing. As is? Pure silliness.
Thank you so much, everyone who has been so understanding about the strip being late this week and why (explained above!) We are back home as of tonight, reunited with our well cared for boys! Elvis is furious, but slowly forgiving us.
The Man’s tournament sounds SO cool! Congrats to him! And I hope you got to enjoy being back in the Northwest again and didn’t stress too much about the strip. Artists need to recharge to keep the magic flowing.
AND WOW, IT’S ALMOST YOUR BOOK’S BIRTHDAY…HOW COOL IS THAT???
My thought exactly.
Or maybe in the confusion of Freddie’s passing, Young Mouse slipped out of the Shelter and ended up in the Barn (or someone like Kit Chase wooed her out of the shelter in the the exciting world of barn life)
Georgia – not to worry. I’m pretty sure 99.998% of us would rather you ‘did it your way’ than to allow our need for instant gratification to addle our brains. Can’t wait for Thursday!! : ) I love going back to your previous creations to look for the Easter Eggs that I would have missed without the comments. Everyone of your strips are so much fun and well worth the wait. But of course, May 10 cannot come soon enough either.
You don’t need to apologize for expressing your thoughts and fears over grammar changing the strip. I enjoy it as it is, and felt it was just right. understand what you were saying about each character having their own style of speaking, and some would not have perfect grammar. It can also depend on the situation and who you are talking to. At work, I am more formal and precise than I am with my friends and family.
Travel is a part of being a mobile society, Georgia…and having done that with small kids back LOTS of years ago, no matter how modern society gets, it’s still damn tough–especially at the ages of your little ones. It’s no wonder you’ve been unable to get the strip ready–if you were producing it with computer graphics, it might have been easier on the road…but we’d lose SO much of the personality you put into each panel…no matter WHEN you publish it’s well worth the wait! And you shouldn’t feel bad about not getting it out on Monday–you need to support the man just as much as he supports you! And a few extra treats headed Elvis’ way should help him overcome that feeling of abandonment…unless you’ve got some ham in the fridge!
Grammar, schmammar – Cats on the internet are widely understood not to have much grasp of spelling or grammar, see about 90-gazillion cat GIFs and be happy the boys don’t communicate in lol-speak. Tommy in panel 7 is not saying “Oh hai, rite, uf c-” – (Hmm – send Tabitha out to interview the ghost of the Lol-rus, and see if he’s been reunited with his bukkit in the great beyond?) No worries here, ‘k? They are the most erudite cats around these parts. “I can haz tuna water?” is not seen here….
So jealous of The Man right now! I love retro video games (probably because I AM retro! Ha ha…not “old”…43 next week is not old!). I love your comments on grammar – I would have told people to shove it (and I, too, am a URI alumna with a [minor] degree in Writing and Rhetoric. 3 credits shy of a B.A. so I took the minor and graduated on time!).
Love retro video.
We have a new downtown eating place called Pixels and Pints here in Huntsville which combines a chili restaurant with a bar and 80’s video & pinball games. You get a cup of tokens with every order and can purchase extras as needed. It’s fun watching these youngsters learn the old etiquette like putting your token on the machine to claim the next play.
I wait, as does my four-legged furry brother, with baited breath. I do hope that at some point you can manage to get a couple strips in the queue so you don’t need to worry about schedule so much, though it will take a good long time before the gocomics stream catches up. Enjoy home and the boys. sa7u8,34ebgho9i <– the furry brother says `hi'
I am very happy that you and the Man have been having a good time in Seattle (a city a I know a little, having lived there in, um, 1979 I think it was)! I was worried that something bad had happened and am very relieved to learn that nothing did; indeed, not being a video gamer at all, I might know the names of some of the retro games at least (being, you know, old at 57 {g}). Take all the time you need for the strip and we’ll all be even more delighted than we always already are on Thursday! *hugs*
Congratulations to the Man on the tournament. Glad you are all home safe and sound.
Just a suggestion: my ideal, Charles Schulz, worked ten weeks ahead of his syndicate’s deadlines on the Sunday strips, and six weeks ahead on the dailies. In my professional career, I’ve had to work months ahead of publication date of material. You might try setting up several strips well ahead so you don’t get caught behind.
I’m enjoying your work immensely. I look forward to seeing what happens with Baba Mouse!
That is my goal when it comes to getting the strip ready for newspapers. I’m currently working with my editor at Uclick to prepare for that, and we have rough drafts for about 130 strips. I wish very much that I could scramble to get ahead on the current web strips, but it’s a Catch 22–if I had the time to make extra, I’d never be late. Looking back, I wish I had delayed debuting the comic until I had a few months of strips written as a buffer, but very happily it took off unexpectedly. I had not realized it would be so popular, and I am very thankful that it is! Right now for the web strips, I would have to take a few months off to get ahead of myself. Currently I write and ink the strip on Monday and Tuesday night, paint it Wednesday night, post it Thursday, write and ink it Friday and Saturday night, paint it Sunday night, post it Monday.
Eventually the comic will be in a traditional format, with six daily strips and one painted Sunday. That’s what we are working toward, and when that happens, there will be a buffer in place. Until then, each of these web strips is written, inked, and painted over three nights, and it’s a bit like juggling–if I miss one of the nights, it gets delayed.
I so totally understand all the effort that goes into it. I had a comic page with a magazine for ten years, it came out once a month and I still was scrambling to make deadline (which was three months ahead) by the end of the month. I had to script, pencil, ink, letter and color on computer. Right now I’m trying to work on something for future publication and it always seems like something else comes crowding in to take precedence. You’re doing great for all the work you’ve been putting into it. It’s so charming and unique. Glad to hear you’ve got bigger plans to come.
And Miss Georgia, you NEVER have to apologize for a late strip! Family first. We all understand, especially those who have had to raise children, cats, spouses, etc!
The wait makes it all the more suspenseful and satisfying anyway.
In these days of instant gratification, a little wait is sometimes good for us all.
Please folks, enough with the grammar lessons. Just relax and enjoy the most wonderful comic strip in existence. I actually love it when cats speak lousy English. You should hear my cats. And, I speak to them the way I imagine they would speak. So much fun.
Ohhh the boys have learned that Bea is flying the nest, I like how Elvis is trying to look unconcerned. Gonna be a lot of feels in this arc, I am guessing. *looking for tissues*.
Haha! I just love Baba Mouse’s playful gruffness! She’s so cool.
And puffy Tommy! 
Oh dear cat! LOL
Hey, Georgia. Did you mean to write ‘How do you handle *it* when they go out into the world?’ (Also, that’s SO sad!)
Love Baba Mouse’s lantern and Tommy’s super-puffiness.
I went back and forth on this bit of grammar for a while before posting, and found with examples such as “how do you handle when your boss calls you into their office” that indicated there was an immediacy of emotion implied when ‘it’ is removed as an event. It’s not perfect, but I preferred “how do you handle when” to “how do you handle it when,” after looking through examples.
It’s fine the way you wrote it, Georgia. I completely understood what Puck was asking. Also, I appreciate that you took the time to consider both options.
I’ve never heard ‘handle’ used without ‘it’ following, but I have heard ‘deal’ used like that (‘I just can’t deal, I’m outta here!’), so it makes sense that ‘handle’ is used like that too. It is perfect just as it is.
I think “it” in this case is appropriate. What is “it”? With Beatrix leaving, “it” is a very big word, evidenced by Elvis shuffling papers. “It” means blurry screens.
Nope, I agree with Georgia. And it’s someone speaking, so that’s how that someone would say it. People (and cats) do not always speak grammatically.
Hello, everyone!! Today’s strip is a wee bit early in the wee hours of the night, and I hate to say Monday’s strip will be a wee bit late–most likely posting on Monday night or Tuesday morning! We are traveling this weekend, and I will not be near a computer to post until then. What advice will Baba have for us? I promise you won’t wait too long to find out!
You need an intern
Maybe Beatrix can recommed someone for you.
Awww, the boys are missing their intern! Poor guys 8-{
We’re going to need tea. Maybe 2 cups even.
…………. quite probably a bucket load ….
It just now came in…will prove to be interesting, can’t wait for next episode!
Aw! Lupin’s eyebrows and Elvis shuffling papers wrenched my heart as much as the Bowie and Prince mugs in the last comic. Wonderful stuff.
Poofy Tommy!!!!!
Yay! A storyline featuring Baba Mouse!
Omg I’m so excited to see her home.
Poofy Tommy is just too funny… thought he was going to pop his clothes off, lol. As for the other boys ;( that just made me want to gather them all up for a hug… which i’m sure Elvis would just hate
Adorable and intriguing!
It will be fascinating to find out what pearls of wisdom Baba Mouse will have for us. She already gave us a big one when she said ” spay and neuter, folks.” That look on her face when she says this conveys so much when she thinks back to all those kitten births and how hard that can be on a female cat.
Awww, poor boys. I just want to give them a scratch behind the ears.
LOL! Tommy in panel 5! Almost had the floof scared right out of him. Baba Mouse’s “Naw. Im just messing with you” made me laugh out loud. What a feisty broad. And the boys are missing Bea! Sad faces all ’round. And Baba Mouse has her own subterranean lair…
Georgia, this was a great strip. The boys turning to Baba for advice on letting Beatrix go, and how to accept this. I loved the panel where they ask her “how do you handle when they go out into the world?” There was so much emotion on the boys’ faces, even Elvis who was trying to act as if he was not concerned. His eyes give him away. Baba’s face in the next panel is great also as you can see her remember when her babies left to enter the world. I’m not sure what she has in mind to tell the boys, but I’m sure it will be good.
OMC! LOL! Just reading the comments and was scrolling back up and spotted the pic of Elvis and Bea for the Twitter link, STOP TELLING BIRDS MY BUSINESS! LOL, just hadn’t seen it before.
Tommy is so big and fluffy. I couldn’t imagine him bigger and fluffier! So cute!
You cry boys, you cry. You let them go because they need to go and grow.
Ooh Tommy all puffed up!!!!! Can’t wait to see what Baba says! Btw Georgia I had my Tommy bag at PAX East this past weekend so everyone could see
Yay!! Thank you, Lady Mel!!
Puffy Tommy is too cute. You can see the boys are sad to see Beatrix leave and are trying to deal with it. This can be such a teaching moment.
Hope to see Beatrix soon.
Anytime you can get the comic out is a good time!
Love Baba Mouse’ fang. And, I can just hear her cackle when she says, “I’m just messing with you.” I just know it’s going to be a great story line.
I can’t wait to see what Baba Mouse’s house looks like !!
Baba Mouse is exactly the kind of old lady I want to be when I’m old. Minus being a cat… and having lots of kids. Basically I want to be scary and full of adorable wisdom.
Oh Baba, sharing her infinite wisdom with the boys as little Bea goes out to her new job. Our Cat News reporter here is purring with anticipation.
The boys are so worried about their intern. So sweet. Puffy Tommy just made me crack up.
You continue to bring me joy twice a week. Thank you.
POOFY TOMMY!!!! Made my day.
Truly stunning poofiness!
I just can’t figure out what the green things are that are hanging next to Tommy in the panel before Baba appears. One reminds me of a celery bunch, but that can’t be right. ???
They look like bundles of drying/dried herbs to me!
i thought they were herbs, but in a hen house??
Ah, but they said it was the OLD hen house, lol! No hens there anymore!
Herbs hanging for drying.
I couldn’t imagine what the green stuff was at first, but I remembered Beatrix tweeting about locating Baba Mouse’s house when the station ran out of coffee and she borrowed some from her. I reread the tweets to see if something in them might tell me what the green stuff is. I forgot that you have to go through an herb garden to get to Baba Mouse’s house. I bet she makes all kinds of home remedies. Beatrix’s tweets can be read without joining Twitter (I haven’t joined). Just click on that cute pic up towards the top right area of the screen of Bea (being cute, as always) and Elvis (screaming).
Glad to hear Baba Mouse supports Spay Neuter! Now if we could get the humans to sign on there would be a lot fewer abandoned kittens and puppies in the world. As always a fantastic strip Georgia.
Oh man, I see a tear-jerker on the horizon here!!
This is so sad. The boys miss their girl!
Poofy Tommy is incredibly cute.
Baba Mouse’s sad look on her face and the way Puck had trouble getting out his question brought a tear to my eye.
Can’t wait for Baba’s words of wisdom. Perhaps they will help when my kids go out in the world! (A day far off, but already dreaded!!)
Georgia, since your move to the West Coast I’ve learned to not look for BCN until later in the day (seeing as how I’m in Montreal), so it was a *great* surprise to see this strip bright and early in the morning! And oooh, poofy Tommy, yay! Another wonderful strip, I can’t wait to find out what Baba Mouse has to say next….
Sheesh, Baba Mouse never lets Tommy get any footing in the conversation.
Aww, look how fancy Tommy is dressed for the big interview!
Did you consider using “cope when” instead of “handle when”?
I understand the point, but I think there’s more immediacy in the way Georgia presented it. “How do you handle *this thing*?” is more imperative than “how do you handle it when this happens?”
Fritz, I believe Baba Mouse is drying herbs. That’s what the celery-like bunches are in panel 3.
What’s in the cellar?!?!?!?!?!?
I imagine they’re different herbs and/or lavender, hanging up to dry.
Just love the Elvis shuffle.
I think the green things hanging in panel 3 are bundles of herbs that have been hung to dry.
BreakingCatNews Alert! Don’t miss all the series of Tweets today from the Social Media Intern! Just follow that link to Twitter mentioned above – the one at top right of this page and it takes you right there. Great stuff from the Big PolyPaw =^..^=
But I don’t want to hear from a bunch of birds!
I loved seeing Tommy all “proofed out.”
And Baba Mouse, well, getting to know her will be so awesome, I just know it…I didn’t realize I would miss Beatrix so much, but I know she will be back soon…Safe travels, have a wonderful weekend!!!
You don’t let Beatrix go.
You NEVER let friends or family go- – -they are ALWAYS in your heart.
My son is grown and “on his own”- – – but he is STILL my son, with me always, and in my heart and thoughts.
Tell Tommy and the BCN crew this. No one is ever “gone” while they are in your heart.
Beautifully said, Noreen! Have no kids, me, but plenty of other humans who are in my heart, many of whom are far far away from me now. Far away, but always close, and in both head and heart every day!
Grab me a tissue!!! Although a puffed up Tommy is great comic relief!
Aw, Poofy Tommy. Almost didn’t think Mr. Mellow And Friendly had it in him. Baba Mouse must be quite intimidating when she wants to be. And Mouse’s reaction to the kitten question brings to mind all those pictures of mamacats covered in kittens giving the world a “Spay Me Now!!” look. Glad the boys have someone to ask for advice about how to handle a kid leaving home.
…Are we gonna see photo albums of Baba Mouse’s babies?
The hanging bunches are herbs drying. People used to (and still do) tie up herbs by the stems and hang in a dark airy place to dry for use later. I first thought it might be catnip but no self-respecting cat could resist catnip for long. So perhaps it’s pennyroyal as that’s supposed to repel mice and some bugs.
I think Baba Mouse dries her own catnip. Nice touch, Georgia!
Those bundles hanging near Tommy appear to be herbs drying…..maybe it’s catnip? We know catnip is good for whatever ails you!
I can barely hold the tears back, I can feel the boys’ and Baba’s sadness at their respective babies leaving home.
Panel 6: Introducing Chipmunk Tommy
and a case of tissues.
Oh boys, you big softies.
Fritz G – I bet she is trying her catnip !
I mean DRYING !Mouses !
I like Georgia’s phrasing on it. One thing I’ve learned in my work (I am on a team of four writers who write scenario based simulations for classes) is to accept a wide range of acceptable phrasings for dialogue.
Love love love love love!
LOVE Tommy’s’ fur floofing out!
Next: Baba mouse’s underground home!
ok need help here. why is she called BaBa Mouse when she is cat?
leaving for the weekend an leaving us with a cliff hanger. well all I can say is Have Fun!!
puffed up tommy sad look on mama cats face.
Mouse is her name. How and why she got it is something you’d need to ask her people. I used to think of one of our neighbor cats as “Mouse” because she reminded me of one (small, partly gray, and skittish) but I have no idea what said cats people called her. Nowhere is it written that cats can’t be named Mouse, after all.
Baba is a word in several Eastern European languages meaning “Grandmother” or “Older woman”. As the matriarch of the farm cats, Baba Mouse qualifies for both titles. My great-grandmother was called Baba, and my niece calls my mother Baba.
And, of course, Georgia’s taken the name and run with the Baba Yaga similarities.
Except she’s a lot nicer than Baba Yaga. I do like the slightly witchy implications of the name though and her living in what I’m guessing is a root cellar doesn’t decrease them.
Also, they live near a llama farm? Cool!
We had a small tabby named Mouse. Nicknamed Mo. I think/hope there will be a reveal as to why “grandma Mouse” has a special relationship with the robber mice.
I had a kitty I named Mouse. When I got her, she was around 6 weeks old (abandoned by stray mother as too sick to survive) and she looked just like a little mouse, she was so tiny and all grey. She had a nice long life before she passed.
Naturally it is Puck who can get the question out in the open…
As always, your cartoon is amazing and so full of soul and spirit! Thank you!
Beautifully said, Noreen! Have no kids, me, but plenty of other humans who are in my heart, many of whom are far far away from me now. Far away, but always close, and in both head and heart every day!
Puffy Tommy is the best!
She looked like a mouse when she was a kitten. So she was named Mouse. The title came later.
I basically consider Baba Mouse strips to be Swaneaters crossovers. They make me happy.
Just found out today is the 9th birthday of Admiral Thomas Whiskerstache, our own Tommy! We share the same birthday.
Out of curiosity, just how old is Baba Mouse? I remember from the Halloween arc that she was born in the 90s, but that could mean anything from ‘venerable’ to ‘we suspect magic is involved’…
(Also…*gives the boys a hug* Don’t worry…I’m sure she’ll be around.)
If I may weigh in on “handle” without being all know-it-all-ish: I copyedit fiction, and grammatically speaking “handle it” is correct, because “handle” is a transitive verb–it needs an object (literally and grammatically!).
However, in fiction, dialogue goes to character, so if the author feels a certain usage or syntax is appropriate for characterization, the author trumps.
Georgia–I love that you searched around for different usages. I do that all the time. Check out my new fav toy: https://books.google.com/ngrams Enter 2 terms and see which has appeared in print more often within your prescribed time frame. So fun!
This is my first time commenting on BCN. Big fan here!
I agree, cats scoff in the face of grammar – how else would they hold their heads up high as mighty hunters
Oops agreeing with Diane, way back up there
Oohh! What’s down there?
Sionyx
Thanks for your reply. understand it now.
“How do you handle” followed by a direct object is perfectly fine. The object might be a phrase or even a clause.
How do you handle cats?
How do you handle when you have to move?
How do you handle a crowd of fans of whom many have decided opinions on English grammar that they want to write about in the comments section and proceed to do just that?
I can *handle* going even longer.
I am of Ukrainian extraction on my father’s side. My father’s mother was “Baba”. Use of “Grandma” would get corrected by others.
Just for fun, “Baba” is Cantonese for dad.
I am picturing Baba Mouse’s home full of picture albums of her many children and adventures over her long life, and with 90’s music playing in the background.
I Love it when the kitties puff up!
Somewhere Georgia commented Baba Mouse remembers the 1990s because she is an ancient of 26 years!
I have to apologize–I am almost certain the comic is going to be later than I had hoped this week. It may only be a Thursday strip after all. We have been traveling the past few days, as the Man ran the Mystery Tournament at the Northwest Majors in Seattle this weekend. (It’s a video game competition. The Man ran a tournament during it where folks competed against each other in obscure and/or retro video games! Fun stuff!) I brought my paints with me, planning to paint the strip in the evenings after the kiddos went to sleep. I somehow did not factor in the toll that travel would take on the kids, in the form of being very excited each night after days packed with visiting friends and family (the Intruder–their real life aunt–lives up here!) It has been hard to get them to bed on time, and once they have been down–I’ve been exhausted myself. It’s a good kind of exhausted, but bad for inking and painting without dozing off. I could rush the strip once we arrive home tomorrow, or I can explain the truth to you all and take a couple of days to finish the new strip right and have it ready for Thursday. I hope everyone understands, and I thank you for your patience!! I think you will all enjoy it very much, Baba Mouse has some very sound advice for our boys!
I’m sorry again, I had really thought the trip would not break my stride too much–why I thought this, I don’t know. It makes sense to me now that working while traveling was going to be tough, but it somehow all seemed totally doable on Thursday.
The good news is the Man ran one heck of a tournament, and got to feel very much in his element! He adores when he gets the chance to run gaming tournaments, and he is quite good at it. He does so much to support me and what it is I do, the kids and I were glad to return the favor for him this weekend. And it has been amazing to see friends and family during the day, we have missed Seattle so much these past two years.
The strip will return on Thursday! This will give me a chance to really paint all the details of Baba Mouse’s home, which as you will see… Require a little care!
See you Thursday! Thank you for your patience!
Georgia, you get it out when you can.
But dang, I wish I’d known you and The Man were in Seattle. I rather think I’d have gone and found that tournament.
At least on this trip, you didn’t have to cross time zones. Get settled back in, and we fans will pester each other in the thread while eagerly awaiting Thursday.
And for my fellow grammar mavens: It’s dialog and from a cat, and a wistfully sad cat. Lighten up.
No problem — just sorry to have not heard you were going to be back in Seattle. Maybe there could have been a BCN meetup!
The next time we go, I may try to do something like that! This was our first time traveling with both kiddos on a trip (vs moving) and I was not certain how they were going to respond to traveling–which made me unsure of how *we* would respond to traveling. Thankfully, they were great! Just very hard to put to bed after fun filled days, ha!
Could you also do one to Vancouver,BC,Canada?
Georgia, please take all the time you need to rest and recuperate! You are a full-time wife, full-time mother of 2 young kids, full-time mother of 3 furbabies, and a full-time cartoonist/artist! I can only imagine the toll all that takes on you! Please do take care of your health first; none of us would want you to push yourself so hard that you get ill! P.S. sounds like you and the Man had an awesome time in Seattle! Good for you!
Good Morning Georgia! Your art makes me smile every time I read it. So, taking a few days to do what you need to do is fine with 99.9% of us. The small .01% will just have to be happy with reading the older gocomics. Blessings to you, the Man, Toddler, Gwen, and the BCN Staff!
So glad The Man had a great time & was in his element!! You take all the time you need, FAMILY FIRST!!! we love you and will wait patiently (sort of) for the Thursday strip. With all of the roles you have i am always amazed that you can produce broadcasts twice a week anyway. Please get some rest and replenish, we will be here.
Speaking for about 70% of the readers, we understand you have 2 toddlers 3 cats and you and the man so 1+1+3+2 = 7 to take care of!
i just have to wait a bit longer, that’s all.
OK, I couldn’t stand it. I finally asked our company technical editor about our grammatical question, and here is her answer, which I consider definitive: Well, it seems that in almost all cases, _handle_ is a transitive verb, which means that it requires an object. That’s what “it” provides, an object. If an intransitive verb was used, such as “cope,” then there would have been no need for “it.” Noun clauses can serve as direct objects, but clauses starting with _when_ are adverbial clauses rather than noun clauses. You could move it to the front of the sentence, and that shows you more plainly the need for a direct object: When the kitten grow up and leave home, how do you handle ___ ?
I know it will be worth the wait. We all need some time to ourselves. Enjoy.
Hiya, Georgia,
Not a problem at all, you just take your time. Of course the kids were excited- new experiences, new places to see, new stuff to get in to. Best to be there for them now-since you spend so much time and effort being there for us, with wonderful FREE content at least twice a week. We can wait-impatiently, but we can wait.
Puffy tommy is so cute!!!!!!
But-did you have someone to “Sit on the Cats”? or take them along? or board the boys somewhere?
I keep a lot of the details vague when we go out of town, only for safety reasons on the Internet (never can be too safe, and public info on traveling routines always makes me nervous) but the boys were well cared for, did great, and Elvis is still furious with us!
We all need to be good to working parents who keep up jobs along with taking care of kidlets. BCN adds so much pleasure to my week. I’d hate to think you’d have to choose between child rearing and keeping our favorite feline correspondents on the air. A little drawn out anticipation never hurt anybody. We’ll look forward to Thursday’s strip with added relish. Happy travels to the whole family.
If Baba Mouse came from the Quinn shelter, wouldn’t she have been spayed before they let her go to the barn?
Please never apologize for enjoying being out with your family and having fun. We can wait. It’s a good time to reread some of your stories. By the way, I’m glad you are on the main page of ‘gocomics’. I enjoy reading those too!
There has been a lot of talk on the grammar in this strip, and I’d just like to ask folks to please be a bit forgiving of the conversational grammar some of the characters use. If I wrote every character with perfect grammar, the strip would lose a lot of its flavor. It’s important that the characters come across as having different levels of education, formality, comfort with public speaking, etc or they’re all going to sound the same and lose a lot of their personality. Tommy would say something much differently than how Sophie would choose her words; Elvis and Lupin would have different levels of professionalism on air, and so on. I don’t always like dissecting how the writing comes together, but I felt it was important to take a moment and gently address what goes behind writing some of the dialogue and why sometimes the grammar is tighter than others. Spelling errors I will always go in and correct immediately–grammar is a lot more open depending on which character I am writing with and how they are feeling in a particular moment.
Unless it’s Sophie. If you ever see me write incorrect grammar with Sophie, and she’s not in a situation of great shock or awe, correct me. Sophie is the only character who I feel would do her absolute best at all times to speak in perfect grammar. (Elvis would think he is, but might not actually pull it off in moments of puffiness).
Oh my CAT! I think I would fire that “technical editor,” because a noun clause can begin with the word, “when.” In Puck’s sentence, “you” is the subject, “do handle” is the verb, “how” is an adverb describing “do handle.” Now, the trick for finding the direct object of a sentence is to ask “do handle what?” The answer to that is obviously, “when they go out into the world.” I should know. To double check, an adverb answers the questions, “when, where, why, how, how much, or to what extent?” Does “when they go out into the world?” answer any of those questions? No! “When” is a modifier within the clause itself modifying “go.”
I have a bachelor’s degree in English education, a master’s degree as a reading specialist, and a teaching certificate to teach both English and reading in grades K-12. I taught high school English including College Prep Composition and Grammar and Composition for grades 9-10 for 19 years. For the next 11 years I was a reading specialist for grades K-6. I usually don’t volunteer that information because the first thing people usually say to English teachers after they find out our guilty secret is, “Oh dear, I’ll have to watch my grammar.” Except I would never presume to correct the grammar, spelling or punctuation of anybody outside my classroom. And I would certainly never presume to correct the grammar of a cat.
Even if Puck misspoke, the rules for conversational English are more flexible than those for written English because when speaking, we often change thoughts in mid sentence resulting in a need to change a previously spoken verb. It’s no big deal to delete and replace when writing, but in speaking it would be awkward to stop and change the previously spoken words to match the new thought. Conversational English needs to have a natural flow, and grammar correction mid sentence is not only unnatural, it is awkward and makes one sound like a :::::shudder::::: English teacher! Oh my cat!
So Georgia, as the “resident grammarian,” I hereby give everybody an A+ in conversational English. I also hereby grant to you, all BCN correspondents and interns, and all BCN commenters a “get out of grammar jail free” pass in perpetuity! For I consider message board posts to be similar to conversational English. Since this board lacks an “edit post” button, all comments are considered to be “rough drafts.” In a rough draft, our most important task is to get our ideas down as quickly as possible. Yes, it’s nice to proofread before hitting, “Post Comment,” but since the message window, at least on my browser, lets us see only 4 lines at a time, proofreading is difficult. I frequently spy my errors about half a second after I hit the “Post Comment” button. So feel free to dangle those participles, split those infinitives, commit subject verb disagreement, but expect no further corrections or judgments from me. I’m retired and my red, pink and purple pens retired along with me. But please don’t expect perfect grammar, spelling and punctuation from me. I’m not perfect.
Thank you, Sue Ellen!!!
I’m holding onto this “get out of grammar jail free” pass!!
Well, that trumps my simple English degree that I’ve been known to trot out when grammar discussions get heated. Given how variable and sometimes silly the Official Rules for English can get (English is a pidgin language between Old English and French that kept the Germanic sentence structure, then got some rules tacked on that make MUCH more sense for Romance languages because Latin is for Educated People, THEN went out and built an empire and borrowed from every language it came in contact with…) you have to be flexible in enforcing the various rules. And you have to know when to not bother with some of them, such as when writing in casual dialogue. It’s something that’s been covered in classes for every language I’ve taken; you have to know the rules so you know how to break them.
Something we were told in our writing classes was to read the line out loud, since it can be very easy to write in a more formal mode than intended when you aren’t hearing it spoken. If it passes the read aloud test, I ain’t complaining.
Touche! Not only is it conversational, it’s a cat. I’m as much of a nitpicker as anyone you’ll find when it comes to this sort of thing–but I choose my battles. Were there any doubt what Puck meant, I could see some angst over his phrasing. As is? Pure silliness.
Keep your vorpal blade sharp, Sue Ellen!
Thank you so much, everyone who has been so understanding about the strip being late this week and why (explained above!) We are back home as of tonight, reunited with our well cared for boys! Elvis is furious, but slowly forgiving us.
See you on Thursday!!
The Man’s tournament sounds SO cool! Congrats to him! And I hope you got to enjoy being back in the Northwest again and didn’t stress too much about the strip. Artists need to recharge to keep the magic flowing.
AND WOW, IT’S ALMOST YOUR BOOK’S BIRTHDAY…HOW COOL IS THAT???
Baba Mouse would’ve left the Quinn shelter about the time Freddie died. Maybe in the confusion her spay was missed?
My thought exactly.
Or maybe in the confusion of Freddie’s passing, Young Mouse slipped out of the Shelter and ended up in the Barn (or someone like Kit Chase wooed her out of the shelter in the the exciting world of barn life)
Georgia – not to worry. I’m pretty sure 99.998% of us would rather you ‘did it your way’ than to allow our need for instant gratification to addle our brains. Can’t wait for Thursday!! : ) I love going back to your previous creations to look for the Easter Eggs that I would have missed without the comments. Everyone of your strips are so much fun and well worth the wait. But of course, May 10 cannot come soon enough either.
You don’t need to apologize for expressing your thoughts and fears over grammar changing the strip. I enjoy it as it is, and felt it was just right. understand what you were saying about each character having their own style of speaking, and some would not have perfect grammar. It can also depend on the situation and who you are talking to. At work, I am more formal and precise than I am with my friends and family.
Travel is a part of being a mobile society, Georgia…and having done that with small kids back LOTS of years ago, no matter how modern society gets, it’s still damn tough–especially at the ages of your little ones. It’s no wonder you’ve been unable to get the strip ready–if you were producing it with computer graphics, it might have been easier on the road…but we’d lose SO much of the personality you put into each panel…no matter WHEN you publish it’s well worth the wait! And you shouldn’t feel bad about not getting it out on Monday–you need to support the man just as much as he supports you! And a few extra treats headed Elvis’ way should help him overcome that feeling of abandonment…unless you’ve got some ham in the fridge!
Grammar, schmammar – Cats on the internet are widely understood not to have much grasp of spelling or grammar, see about 90-gazillion cat GIFs and be happy the boys don’t communicate in lol-speak. Tommy in panel 7 is not saying “Oh hai, rite, uf c-” – (Hmm – send Tabitha out to interview the ghost of the Lol-rus, and see if he’s been reunited with his bukkit in the great beyond?) No worries here, ‘k? They are the most erudite cats around these parts. “I can haz tuna water?” is not seen here….
…Or did I mean Tessie?
…no, Tillie is the ghost cat. Keeping them all straight, beyond me, evidently.
So jealous of The Man right now! I love retro video games (probably because I AM retro! Ha ha…not “old”…43 next week is not old!). I love your comments on grammar – I would have told people to shove it (and I, too, am a URI alumna with a [minor] degree in Writing and Rhetoric. 3 credits shy of a B.A. so I took the minor and graduated on time!).
Love retro video.
We have a new downtown eating place called Pixels and Pints here in Huntsville which combines a chili restaurant with a bar and 80’s video & pinball games. You get a cup of tokens with every order and can purchase extras as needed. It’s fun watching these youngsters learn the old etiquette like putting your token on the machine to claim the next play.
I wait, as does my four-legged furry brother, with baited breath. I do hope that at some point you can manage to get a couple strips in the queue so you don’t need to worry about schedule so much, though it will take a good long time before the gocomics stream catches up. Enjoy home and the boys. sa7u8,34ebgho9i <– the furry brother says `hi'
I am very happy that you and the Man have been having a good time in Seattle (a city a I know a little, having lived there in, um, 1979 I think it was)! I was worried that something bad had happened and am very relieved to learn that nothing did; indeed, not being a video gamer at all, I might know the names of some of the retro games at least (being, you know, old at 57 {g}). Take all the time you need for the strip and we’ll all be even more delighted than we always already are on Thursday! *hugs*
Congratulations to the Man on the tournament. Glad you are all home safe and sound.
Just a suggestion: my ideal, Charles Schulz, worked ten weeks ahead of his syndicate’s deadlines on the Sunday strips, and six weeks ahead on the dailies. In my professional career, I’ve had to work months ahead of publication date of material. You might try setting up several strips well ahead so you don’t get caught behind.
I’m enjoying your work immensely. I look forward to seeing what happens with Baba Mouse!
That is my goal when it comes to getting the strip ready for newspapers. I’m currently working with my editor at Uclick to prepare for that, and we have rough drafts for about 130 strips. I wish very much that I could scramble to get ahead on the current web strips, but it’s a Catch 22–if I had the time to make extra, I’d never be late. Looking back, I wish I had delayed debuting the comic until I had a few months of strips written as a buffer, but very happily it took off unexpectedly. I had not realized it would be so popular, and I am very thankful that it is! Right now for the web strips, I would have to take a few months off to get ahead of myself. Currently I write and ink the strip on Monday and Tuesday night, paint it Wednesday night, post it Thursday, write and ink it Friday and Saturday night, paint it Sunday night, post it Monday.
Eventually the comic will be in a traditional format, with six daily strips and one painted Sunday. That’s what we are working toward, and when that happens, there will be a buffer in place. Until then, each of these web strips is written, inked, and painted over three nights, and it’s a bit like juggling–if I miss one of the nights, it gets delayed.
I so totally understand all the effort that goes into it. I had a comic page with a magazine for ten years, it came out once a month and I still was scrambling to make deadline (which was three months ahead) by the end of the month. I had to script, pencil, ink, letter and color on computer. Right now I’m trying to work on something for future publication and it always seems like something else comes crowding in to take precedence. You’re doing great for all the work you’ve been putting into it. It’s so charming and unique. Glad to hear you’ve got bigger plans to come.
Thank you, Kat! You know how those deadlines always seem to suddenly be tomorrow again, ha!
Well said, Sue Ellen! I love that!
And Miss Georgia, you NEVER have to apologize for a late strip! Family first. We all understand, especially those who have had to raise children, cats, spouses, etc!
The wait makes it all the more suspenseful and satisfying anyway.
In these days of instant gratification, a little wait is sometimes good for us all.
Please folks, enough with the grammar lessons. Just relax and enjoy the most wonderful comic strip in existence. I actually love it when cats speak lousy English. You should hear my cats. And, I speak to them the way I imagine they would speak. So much fun.
Grammar wars is amusing though. A bit like stars wars without lasers? Have to admit to never having seen Star Wars.
Amazon says my copy of the book will arrive tomorrow!