Mostly cartoons, if you don’t mind.

Last week I signed off with, “Does that guy (me) ever throw anything away? Bernita’s answer would probably be, “I doubt it.” She’s entitled to her opinion of course, but I tend to disagree. Just this morning I purged the studio of several too-small-to-hold- comfortably pencils. Without a trace of guilt.


Also I mentioned that there would be one more Telegram Telescope . . . As you will see when you scroll down. But first, here’s a cartoon which appeared in www.computoredge.com

I do one every week for the popular online computer help magazine.

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 From the Sunday Telegram of Elmira, NY   

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I’m almost a week past cataract surgery. So far, no problems at all; Later this week a follow-up visit will confirm that the decision to have the job done was a good one. Left eye operation will take place in a couple weeks. There is a slight down side of this deal: No tennis for an extended length of time. Well, anyway, that’s why there are more cartoons this week. Easier to post. As Jimmy Durante used to say, ”I got a million of them!”



Ellen Friedman writes the gags for MagicCurrents, the newsletter

for our San Diego magic club. I just draw the pictures.

He's no relation to the character above; just happens to be in the same line of business. (monkey) Our favorite magician, VINCENT!

So, until we magically appear again sometime soon --right here. . . Believe in what you can do.

Jim

Mark Twain and Elmira, NY

     VINCENT has his fans; and they anticipate seeing him in each weekly Monthly Missive. (Is that an oxymoron?) 
So Presto!   Here he is, sans top hat, on a quiet spring day at home.

I didn't know, really, until recently, that you can enlarge this page by clicking on Control key and the "+" key at the same time. Magic.

                 

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     You’re probably aware that the Autobiography of Mark Twain Volume 1 was published recently and resided briefly on the best seller lists. Being an admirer of one of America’s greatest literary treasures, I bought two copies of the 736 page tome; one to be presented to someone I knew would enjoy Mr. Clemens’s unique gifts as much as I do. The recipient surprised me with the same book!
One of the stipulations made by Twain when he finally decided he had the ‘right’ way to  write his autobiography (“talk only about the thing which interests you for the moment”) was that much of what he wrote for it remain unpublished for 100 years. He said, “By then, I’d be dead, and unaware, and indifferent.” From what I’ve read so far, it’s obvious that some of the comments about his contemporaries just might embarrass Mr. Twain were he to meet up with his colleagues . . . Somewhere . . . Somehow.
The author did not write the Introduction, which by itself is 58 pages. I plowed through it; There’s much interesting back story stuff, at times redundant to the point of boring. But what I’ve encountered since then-- I’m on page 288-- has rewarded me with some choice observations by the master observer of his fellow man . . . and woman.


Seque now, if you will, to Elmira, NY; a city where Mark Twain is revered to this day. Major parts of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, and numerous short stories were written in an octagonal study which was given to him by the his sister-in-law Susan Crane and her husband Theodore. That was in 1874; in 1952 that study was moved from Quarry Farm, outside Elmira, to the campus of Elmira College. About that time I was doing a weekly cartoon feature for the Elmira Sunday Telegram: It was termed Telegram Telescope. One September version featured the study. I dug a copy of the Telescope out of the file cabinet. 

I know, folks are asking, “Does that guy ever throw anything away?”
Next week, just one more Telescope.

The Best Laid Plans . . .

Comparing today’s date with that of the most recent Monthly Missive blog posting . . . ten days have elapsed! How can that be? I’ve discovered that maintaining this project requires more than a modicum of discipline. And that’s a commodity of which I’m in short supply. Somewhat like this little one.

The easy way out, of course, is to include more graphics--either cartoons or photographs, both of which I’m in long supply. Somewhat like these wee woman.

 Writing, I love doing, but it’s a greedy pursuit, devouring much more time than scanning pictures to enhance the blog. Consequently, the big file cabinets will sharing a plethora of  “funnies” and “memories.” VINCENT will be a regular on these pages---as will  cartoons which appeared in magazines too long ago for some of you to remember their names. On the other hand, perhaps you'll recall seeing a drawing dated half a century ago. Hope so.

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The newly found time will be well utilized; work continues on transcribing Monthly Missives, 2004--2011 and providing an illustration for each. That will total somewhere around seventy-five missives. Could be chapters for a book.  Could maybe not be. My brother Bill suggested such a project.


We shall return.
Jim

Interesting, Jim . . . But what is it?

You’ve probably decided, all by your lonesome, that this is a Food Wheel. It could be nothing else, you tell me.
True, and it’s the salvation of those individuals who aspire to be a Refreshment Chairperson or find themselves in that exalted office because they winked at the wrong time and were railroaded into the job. 
The RC in any organization is responsible for guaranteeing that there will be a variety of delicacies available at all meetings. The Southern California Cartoonists Society used this device for years and neatly avoided our repasts consisting of nothing but bags and bags of chips and soda pop.
Here’s how the Food Wheel works: Its outer circle is divided into five sections; each section contains letters of the alphabet, scientifically allotted to each section. The inner wheel, you’ll note also has five sections; four of them feature food groups. The fifth, Raffle Stuff. Not usually edible. 
Imagine that you can turn the inner circle clockwise so that each of its sections will line up with a section of the outer wheel. (Roughly) At this point each group of letters is related to a new group of food . . . Or Raffle Stuff. Everyone knows what to bring to the table because she/he saw the Wheel in the emailed newsletter. 
In this example, my name being Whiting, I have to bring a stuffed pig. Well, that’s only a symbol. I’d probably bring a can of Spam.
Feel free to use this Food Wheel for your own functions. You might even want to add another category: “Wash and dry the dishes and put the cat out.”
The SCCS Food Wheel was created by Terry Van Kirk and me.

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The guy behind this Monthly Missive blog tends to be overly loquacious at times so we’ll move right along to another episode in the exciting life of VINCENT.

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Please check in next week, bring your friends and Click on the orange thing at the top of this posting.
Jim