John Hambrock is a fellow cartoonist who creates The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee. I checked in on John’s site this morning, and he was doing some bragging in his blog. His fine comic strip launched in November of 2006, which led John to calculate that he has drawn over 3,000 daily and Sunday strips that, if laid end to end, would equal the height of three Sears Towers stacked on top of one another (about 4,500 ft.). Well, John’s calculations led me to some of my own. I have drawn over 10,700 A&J strips since 1985, not accounting for leap years, which if laid end to end would extend for 2.5 miles and closely resemble my office floor. Hey, Junior! Come back in a few years, and we’ll talk some more! I must say, I do admire the way he has copies of all his strips arranged in ring binders. And if you read John’s bio, you’ll learn he spent years developing his characters before Brilliant Mind was launched by King Features Syndicate. As evidenced by the above cartoon from the first month of A&J, it wouldn’t have hurt if I’d done a little of that.
434 responses to “A Long Long Time Ago”
Because I carry my cell phone against/in a breast (I know about the cancer “threat”) and am prone to also dropping them on concrete walks, drives, streets (don’t know how they’d come out?) I carry a cheap flip phone. Not high tech at all but OK with hitting dirt and all, short of bodies of water.
Mike on the other hand always bought the newest and best but never really learned to use what he had, so I inherited one I need to get younger daughter to go with me to try to trade in on an even newer one with a better program and lots of data time so I can use the computer part of it. His is supposedly waterproof (look at his hobby) and he has lost more than one in salt water and fresh but mainly salt. I just lost one to Diet Coke when my mama kicked over a beverage and my cell phone was in the holder alongside.
There is an app for everything now, no Ouija or Magic 8 Balls necessary. Just verbally ask the phone and a psychologist will be on line with an answer in seconds.
Love, Jackie
Jackie
Did you see any of “The Gentile Giants” when they were in Oklahoma City?
They were at the Jim Noyick Arena. This was the 6 Horse Hitch Final – what beauties.
There was a hitch from Yukon OK place in top 12. Percheron hitch won.
Son in Concord NH looking forward to hunkering down – he cyber commutes.
Walt @GA is 114(?)now? Used to have a crush on Clovina when I was a kid.
Unfortunately I did not, Old Bear. My late husband used to ride Tennessee Walkers and gave that up after his teens, if he shared a love of horses with me it was not apparent. I think he replaced them with other things.
I have indeed seen and stood alongside Percherons which dwarf me. If I remember rightly I stood about half way up their sides at my tallest. I went to school in Pennsylvania in both Amish and horse country, went to a lot of horse related events in those days and got to meet a lot of beautiful animals.
Unfortunately my native Louisiana was devoid of a lot of horses until I got to south Louisiana where Cajuns supported horse racing and enough oil money to have cutting horses, show horses.
Where I grew up in my childhood mules were still being used to plow fields and tractors and automobiles had displaced horses entirely.
Waxing pretty philosophical this morning. The county fairs in northeastern states still had majestic horses and teams, carriage teams, harness racing, steeplechase, pulling teams and I got to see a little of that and know other worlds existed.
Love, Jackie
Jackie
Some people feel that a psychologist is about as accurate as a Magic Eight Ball or a Ouija Board….
Just sayin’
Steve Moore
My point exactly Steve. Just checked and there is a Magic 8 Ball online with instant answers.
Laughing about clairvoyants too, so hope no one is offended. My late husband’s great grandfather was a violinist who played with symphonies, ship’s orchestras and in vaudeville. You know how musicians are, a gig is hard to get sometimes.
During his vaudeville days he met a clairvoyant who he married, his first wife having died quite young leaving him with two young female babies to raise. Turned out she was already married, the divorce was scandalous enough to make the papers, she went back to first (?) husband, they went to New York state and founded a very well known spiritualist church, still in existence today. She was first bishop, as I recall.
Interesting things you find when you go ancestor hunting.
We started with Magic 8 Ball and psychologists…………….. I have played with both.
Love, Jackie
A 2.7 quake has struck Downington, Penn. Some days you should stay in bed.
GR6, this is a manly new product arriving to market this summer. http://www.leatherman.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-leatherman-Site/en_US/Blog-ShowPost/?p=705
Jackie
Horse pulling, Ox pulling, Pony pulling still a big draw at NE Fairs today.
Since so many of the men I know own Leatherman and Spyderco products, I am amazed I have not already seen this product. Thanks Sand, I did not see what price it will be/is?
This is actually good looking and I bet I will see some on people I know.
Should anyone doubt I am actually friends, the flowers from Spyderco and their Sage 17 sailboat company are finally dying on my kitchen table. I owe about a thousand thank you’s and can’t bring myself to write them, The Sage 17 won a bunch of awards as a new boat, there is a Sage 15 being brought out and honestly I am considering buying one, I like Jerry Montgomery’s designs. And I like Spyderci and Leatherman.
Love, Jackie
I did have a great uncle in Louisiana who trained ox teams and maintained some to entertain children and adults. I am descended from hill country ancestors who only got any roads when Huey Long came into power in the 1930’s. His oxen went to Texas upon his death I believe.
Doesn’t everything?
Cost of Leatherman Tread $150-200
No answer if that was with watch or would pass TSA.
Jackie, in answer to your question about not being so easily amused: yes , they are. But now they use politics instead of the magic 8 ball. It costs much more but the quality of the answers remains the same.
Loon has broken my heart. She sees no reason I need another Leatherman. Doesn’t she understand I am a tool guy?
Tell Loon I probably don’t make as much as she does but I am indulgent of manly excesses like tools, boats, dirt, sweat, sawdust and I occasionally cook.
Mark, my point exactly about “things have changed?” No, just gotten more costly.
Thanks, sand. That looks to be just the thing for manly adventurers who do manly adventurous things and also enjoy assembling puzzles. TSA will undoubtedly nix it for boarding, on the theory that all those tools could be used to disassemble an airliner from the inside. In much the same way they fear that the two-and-a-half inch serrated blade on my Swiss Army knife could be used to saw through the cabin bulkhead of a 757 and cause explosive decompression. You know, like the James Bond villain who got sucked out an aircraft window that time. I’ll stick with my new SOG Power Assist multitool. I fairly sure the wire cutter will bisect a penny, although I’d of course never deface a US coin to find out.
Jackie, glad to know the Sypderco folks are good people. I already knew they make good knives, based on the four of them I own.
No, no bourbon ads have shown up on this end, either, after we discussed them. The male underwear ads still are, though. I was trying to find a calendar template online to print out for my Mom, to aid her in keeping up with her appointments, when I (and I swear I am not making this up) came across a link for a “Naked Barbie Doll Calendar”. No, I didn’t click on it, as I could only imagine the kind of pop-up ads I’d start getting from that.
Ghost, I don’t think the TSA is afraid someone would damage an aircraft with one of those. More likely afraid of what the passengers would do to each other over leg room! Or to the aircrew.
Maybe one of these would be acceptable onboard: http://www.amazon.com/Wallet-Ninja-Multi-purpose-Credit-Pocket/dp/B00JJVBGU4
Whereas this would not: http://www.amazon.com/Tool-Logic-CC1SB-Companion-Serrated/dp/B0001WOKWQ/ref=pd_bxgy_hi_img_z
Good point on the assembling puzzles, Ghost. Me who could never get the links back together on
the choke chains for my big 150# dogs. Dogs, I repeat dogs in chains. They weighed more than me at the time and enjoyed chasing rabbits, squirrels with me in tow getting grass stains and torn rotator cuffs. Laying flat on ground while the wannabe sled dogs dragged my body behind.
It had occurred to me this looked more complex than the braided cording you wear around your wrist but is supposed to support an entire rescue should one be needed from a deserted island.
Love, Jackie
Something I meant to ask Ghost about what he flew. We used to have a bunch of the Tomcats down at Ellington AFB I think because suddenly last night I remembered wearing a Tomcat squadron tee shirt because they were sponsoring my bowling team and all the ladies had Tomcat tees with our names on them too. I know darn well I no longer have it.
Thought that came up from watching and reading trivia on Top Gun and Tom Cruise.
So, inquiring minds want to know what plane(s) you flew and what bike you rode?
Love, Jackie
Guys, I tell you that even 20 years ago they confiscated my glue guns, glue sticks, floral scissors, wire cutters and floral knives. They didn’t even want them checked. The glue sticks must look like plastic explosives?
I was afraid I was going to get stopped boarding 25-30 years ago.
we had a rock with fossils and a carriage clock – maybe they saw no wires.
Ghost: Naked Barbie Dolls would not be an appropriate calendar for your mom, but how about as a name for a band?
That is what most little girls do with them anyway, about a week after Santa leaves them. Lose all their clothes and be stark nekkid as we Southern ladies say.
OF just winding down now. If you go to the site below in 15-20 min., next prediction may be below the webcam picture. Remember to add an hour for CDT, 2 for EDT, or subtract one for PDT.
http://www.nps.gov/features/yell/webcam/oldFaithfulStreaming.html