New Week. New Series.

Today begins Lots of New Things. The only one that most of you will see is the new Clarity of Vision series on origins of movie quotes. Most of you do not realize that scripts come from real life. Let's take a look at where a couple of famous quotes actually began.
Since I called it a series, you can imagine there will be more. Which ones, and who, do you think I will cover?

Another new things we can start today is Season 3 of LOST. We finally finished Season 2 this weekend. Many of you did not think 3 was a very good season, Regardless, I need to watch it for the snippets of details that may be important in subsequent seasons.

Now that I think about it, maybe that is all of the new things. Can two things be called lots? It is enough for me. I can only handle so much new at a time.

Admit It! It Was Sweet!

This week has been a series based on Halloween candy. Yes, it was sa-weet. Yes, you even chuckled at a few of them. Yes, you did. Admit it. Anyway, today is the final installment for this year.

Where will CoV go next week? I have an idea, but no decisions have been made.

It has been a crazy, busy week at work. The weekend cannot come soon enough. Where will the weekend go? I have an idea, but no decisions have been made. No, that is a lie. I have no idea, but I thought it would be funny to echo the same line in the following paragraph. Was it funny? No, I did not think so either.

I have been enjoying Mom's homemade cocoa mix this week. It somehow seems smoother and richer than the mix packages. Looking at the bag, I would guess I have at least one month's worth still sitting here. People notice the bag of powder on my desk and more than a few have challenged me as to what I am using. Ha ha. You are all so funny. If you are that funny, why don't you write your own comic and share it with everyone?

Well, I am burning daylight, so I'd better get going. You can check over the weekend, but I don't know if I will post or not. Yes, I will try so you can have your funny bone tickled over the weekend. Oh, the pressure to succeed.

You Did It, Too

Please. Doesn't every parent do some of this at some point during their child's trick-or-treating years? If not, you are missing prime candy-consuming time.
Somehow, I never got to get on the computer last night. So, once again, no photos for Isabella or Kendall. Sorry. If you came just for that, I know you are disappointed. However, I shall make no promises on when they will reappear.

The economy has now affected us in a personal way. It appears that, for maybe the first time since Bella was born, we will not have our trip to Christmas Disneyland. Our annual tradition is just a little too expensive for our salary this year. Still, compared to the every-two-years trips we made when our kids were young, this is minor. But Dis at Christmas is really nice, and the weather is pleasant. Maybe we can do it around Bella's birthday on St. Patrick's Day.

Another LOST episode down. A seed of doubt was planted that could mean the entire series is simply a delusion of one of the characters. Really? Is that all you've got? That was worked into the end of Newhart. Can you really top that? Or what about how they ended the American version of Life on Mars? Are we going there? I hope not. Maybe it will be like The Prisoner series in the 60s and this is a government secret place. Well, I don't know yet. I am ready for some of the alleged time travel to begin.

A Nugget of Humor

Well, we are back to just a Clarity of Vision comic today. I was not home to get any family photos uploaded. I think you'll be OK with today's sweet nugget of levity. And if you are not, maybe just go read Justin's Baylor Tweets or some other family frivolity.
Dad came back to Chorale last night. Somehow, that sounds like a Roman triumphal entry type statement. Anyway, that certainly a positive sign. And yesterday, I saw a name in our company phone book that looked like someone from the Chorale. I asked her last night and, yes, she started with IT about 4-5 weeks ago. She works in a different location, but it was surprising.

So, since we had Chorale practice last night, we did not get a chance to watch any LOST. Maybe this weekend, I can double-check my timing to be sure we are going to reach our goal of being 100% caught up when the final season starts next year.

Tricks or Treats

Let's shake things up a bit today. We will start with something other than Clarity of Vision. I uploaded my Halloween photos and decided to share a couple with you. We will start with Kendall as a pirate.
And then, we follow up with Isabella as Batgirl (in pink, of course). The mask did not stay on very long.
There are many other photos (96 in all) from the haircut in the afternoon to the post-Halloween posing at Connie and Brent's place. I will probably let Lyndsay post whichever ones she wants.

Mmm. I love Whoppers. I even like malts from Dairy Queen. So, I decided to carry the Halloween theme for at least one more day. This one is admittedly a bit less political than yesterday.

What Would Pat Benatar Do?

Perhaps that is an obscure reference for many of you? I don't know, is she even still recording? Anyway, she recorded that famous song, "Hit Me With Your Best Shot." Yeah, that's what I did with a cartoon referencing Obama today. I had to send a pre-publishing warning to one of my liberal friends at work. She said she deleted it when it came though the email without even reading it. As for you, well, no warning here. I'm just going to hit you with my best shot.
I heard that. Some of you said,"That was your best shot?" Well, yes, it was. You can create your own comic strip if you want something else.

We are just over halfway through the Second Season of LOST. We got caught up on regular TV and were able to watch several episodes this weekend. I think we are still on track to be ready for Season Six next year.

We went trick-or-treating with Kendall and Isabella this weekend. I have not loaded my photos yet, so none today.

Yeah, Boo for football this weekend. Yeah, the Cowboys won. Boo, the Cardinals lost.

Yeah for hot chocolate today. I had some of Mom's homemade recipe, and it was goooood. I got it last night. So, as it says in the Good Book, "And the evening and the morning were the first day." I don't know where that came from. Oh yeah, I remember. When I wrote "and it was goooood" up above, I thought of the Genesis passage where God said it was good and the evening and the morning.... I truly wish I understood what makes those synapses fire in my brain. If I could harness that, I could probably be rich. Of course, I cannot love God and mammon. That's enough. I'll sign off now.

No Blood to my Brain

I think today's strip sucked all the blood from my brain. I really struggled with finding a direction. All I started with was everyone having the same costume. Then, I had to decide what the costume would be. Then, I had to find the edgy comments to add in. Well, here it is.
There is definitely a love/hate relationship with Russell on Survivor. We had our weekly get-together over at the folks' and Russell's team lost again. He again engineered who be voted out and is still conniving behind the scenes. He is so good at being bad. With the merge next week, let's see how he fairs against the larger tribe.

I think we are still planning on trick-or-treating tomorrow night with Bella and Kendall (and some others). It should be nice and cool this year.

We are caught up on TV, so LOST Season 2 returns to our viewing schedule this weekend. Let's see if we can make up for the last week. If not, I could be LOST when it returns in 2010. (Isn't it clever how I worked that reference into that last statement?)

Don't Get Mad. Get Even

Well, maybe it's not so extreme, but how else could I introduce today's CoV? I thought about titling today's post Are Deadlines Hulking Over You?, but that seemed even more of a stretch.
We have almost caught up after our week away from TV. Just one more show, and then we can get back to LOST. However, tonight is Survivor, so we'll watch it with family over at the folks'. And Saturday night is trick-or-treating with the granddaughters. That leaves Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Good news, huh?

So, here we are 40 years down the road, but I can still remember many of the words from a youth musical we did called Good News. Whenever I hear that phrase, I remember the title song. Good News is a way of living. Good News is a way of giving. Good News says 'Come on. Get with it." Good News says "Wake up and live it." Sounds rather 60ish, doesn't it? Another day, we can delve into the musical Tell It Like It Is.

Pay no attention to Facebook messages from Craig Weeks. Those photos are obviously fake.

Your Computer Will Not Melt

You can safely read today's Clarity of Vision. My computer did not melt when I wrote it, and I suspect your computer will be OK when you read it.
Mom and I went to East Valley Chorale practice last night. So, I was not home to watch any TV or LOST. I was not home to work on any photos of granddaughters. Well, if I carried this to its extreme, I would have to say I was not home to do anything because I was not home. OK, let's drop this concept.

Today's strip got its genesis (what a clever Bible reference, huh?) when I got a message in Facebook that Jesus wanted to be my friend. That is quite a request, and I thought it was a joke at first. When I clicked to the profile, I found it was Jesus Ruelas from Guadalajara who used to work for me (that is a clever reference to having lived in Mexico) and found me in Facebook. From there, today's strip was born.

Dad is feeling better. He got good news from his oncologist, but no surcease (that is a clever Edgar Allen Poe reference) of pain. He does have 60 Vicodin, though. Hmm, think he would notice if a few disappeared? Many of you may think that all this cleverosity comes from already being on something, but no, this is way I always am. So please, lift up a prayer for Kathie (a clever way to drop my wife's name into the post) who has to deal with it all the time.

A Whole Lotta Shaking Going On

Not only shaking, but moving, too. I decided I needed to skewer the mayor again, and I already had an idea written down to use the phrase movers and shakers somehow.
Finally fixed a problem I have been having with Photoshop last night. So, a tool I have not been able to use (Camera Raw) is working again. Now, I just need to get caught up a bit on TV so I can spend time on the computer at night. Well, of course, LOST is still queuing up to be caught up by 2010.

We have Chorale practice tonight, but Dad is still not able to attend. He should be back next week. Oh, and he is back in his arm sling again. He said it helps his arm feel better if it is immobilized, but really, he is looking for the sympathy vote. Do not look here, my friend. Do not look here.

And writing that twice reminds me of an idea for CoV. Why would a real person repeat a phrase in a conversation? I like the concept, but have not found a funny way to present it. I was thinking to have a character say something twice, and the other character ask why the first one did that. Yeah, that's where I get stuck. Maybe character 1 would deny doing it? Well, that's the life of a cartoonist. Ideas sometimes have to percolate. I am thinking to have everyone show up in the same costume for Halloween, but have not found the twist for the final panel yet.