Ah, Life condensed to the basics.

Brenda Starr

Brenda Starr retires January 2, 2011.

Smooth Operators

Even when this comic strip was current, there were smooth operators practicing for their lives work. The financial world of today awaits.

A relic for we relics

Three more days until New Years Eve. It will not be an occasion for me as I will certainly be fast asleep when the big ball in New York's time square gets to its destination. I do remember back in my day that Guy Lombardo was the New Years Eve regular. By the way, when I picked up this Gasoline Alley strip, it said Walt is 100 years old now. Make you feel your age a little?

...and the grocery store took their bite out of us, and of course OPEC our friendly oil providers.

What the devil is going on here Tom Batiuk? I was misdiagnosed ten years ago and told I had two years to live, and I can tell you there was no good humor in any of it. I can also tell you there is no humor in the plight of Lisa and Les. Comic strips, I thought, were supposed to be exactly that, comic, funny or maybe a little surreal, but certainly not real life with real nightmare scenarios. Each time you wrote about Lisa and Les I expected you would employ an out for their dilemma. Perhaps a new experimental drug, or at least put her cancer in a forever state of remission, but no you seem determined to kill her off. For crying out loud Tom give us a break from real life and save Lisa.

Now I get it. I quit watching those shows on HGTV showing young kids that seem to be about age fifteen or so being led around looking at houses of a quarter million or more, opining about their certainty that they could not exist without seven bathrooms to match their seven bedrooms. Certainly dog Zippy will need his own room also. Then the commentator states that this one that is just between that quarter million and three hundred thousand will fit right into their budget. NOW that is about the time I go ballistic, and I start damaging my wife's ears with WHERE DO THEY GET THAT KIND OF MONEY? WHAT KIND OF JOBS MUST THESE YOUNG PEOPLE HAVE? And then I finish off with a loud HUMPF, and walk away. Now I get it, look at this comic strip and start letting it soak in. They're getting hornswoggled by the loan companies. There is going to be a glut of houses back on the markets because these fifteen year- olds are not going to be able keep up with the mortgages when they balloon, and or other creative things the mortgage companies cook up to help all those fifteen year-olds wanting to live big, live like Bill Gates on a Dagwood salary. If it looks good and you like it come right on up and sign here.

Don't forget to click on the strip and it will enlarge for those of us who can't see as well as we should.

The poor guy in Opus has died of an up-to-date ailment, a cutoff of input, electronically conveyed, to his brain starving him, of the constant stimulation of information needed in this day and age. It's funny I suppose, but isn't it a bit true. Yes even for me, as a member of the 'old generation'. I like a lot of those things mentioned in the litany of electronic toys that were shut off and caused his demise. Oh well, perhaps in the next panel, they could haul out the portable paddle machine and jolt him back to the living. I think they do have those now for home use. It's a wonderful age we live in, I certainly enjoy it.

Isn't this cartoon about Pickles being frightened by the guy looking back at him from the mirror right on the button. I've heard many times of the predicament we all face when we get to a certain time of life. The question always is, Why can't I work all day like I used to? I feel fine. But time and nature always wins. But our brains either don't want to admit that it's host body is wearing out or it is very clever and does not want the host to lose all hope too soon. So it fools us, but we are soon found out after working at a task that in times past was thought of as a piece of cake and having to stop and rest or worse quit for the day. But in the end hopefully we all become philosophers about our dilemma and enjoy the slower lifestyle. I have.