Pillow Stalk

by Jimmy Johnson


Today’s old A&J is from 2014. Seems like yesterday, doesn’t it? I think cartooning is eerily analogous to hitting in baseball. If a baseball player hits the ball successfully 30 percent of the time he comes to the plate, he is a superior hitter. This would hold true even if every hit were a single. If a player hits home runs at a rate above average, he might hit successfully 25 percent of the time or less and still be considered a valued hitter. The rare batter who averages 40 percent over a season is a player of historic proportion. It almost never happens. I think those numbers come close to what a comic strip artist can reasonably expect. Of course, success is a little more subjective in cartooning. As in baseball, a cartoonist will whiff a lot, but there’s one big difference. The cartoonist will be standing on the bag after every turn at bat but will anyone be in the stands applauding, or watching at all? I am speaking here for myself; other cartoonists might see it differently. I think if I can be proud of one out of three cartoons I do, a batting average of .333, I’m doing well. To be proud of half of them (.500) is tremendous! That and better is possible over a week or two, as in baseball, but to sustain it over time? Very difficult. More often than not, I just try not to look foolish striking out.

Buy the new book, "Beaucoup Arlo & Janis!"Today's "Arlo & Janis!"

…and we’re back!

After a brief break, I’m back behind the keyboard. I’ve already put in a few early-morning hours working on this site. Those are my ...

One Step Forward

There are two areas where I need to concentrate now, aside from the areas where I don’t yet know I need to concentrate. First, ...

The Only Constant

I cannot stress enough that what you’re seeing here is subject to change. When you come to this website these days, you are stepping ...

Hey there hi there…

ho there! We’re as happy as can be! I’m guessing an uncommonly large percentage of visitors to this website view it on a desktop ...

Dinner by Candlelight

It isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Well, I’ll be John Brown. This blog was revived just three days ago, and here ...

By Special Request

We don’t even have the mouse droppings swept out of the corners yet. The last thing I want to do is bring up politics, ...

31 responses to “Pillow Stalk”

  1. emb Avatar
    emb

    Recently watched a b&w video of Maria Callas doing the Habanera from Bizet’s “Carmen.” She was supposed to be the sine qua non for this piece, but [IMO] acted a bit flaky. This mezzo may have her beat. Hope I have the right URL.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FM6585CHCw

    Peace,

  2. John II in Gautier Avatar
    John II in Gautier

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY Jackie!!! I hope you and Ghost have a wonderful day.

  3. TruckerRon Avatar

    Rick in Shermantown, Ohio: Many of us still have older cars with CD players but no USB ports or other ways to play our music without wearing earbuds or headsets. We prefer to hear the traffic noises while driving as a safety issue.

  4. Debbe Avatar
    Debbe

    TODAY’S JACKIE’S BIRTHDAY…HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY…MY CATS AND I SING HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU TODAY!!!

    Seriously…the best is yet to come my friend

    on a less serious note 🙂 https://www.birthdaywishes.expert/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Wise-Kung-Fu-Master-Funny-Birthday-Meme.jpg

    =^..^=
    debbe
    love you

  5. Trapper Jean Avatar
    Trapper Jean

    Happy Birthday Jackie! Hi Ghost Sweetie!

  6. Trapper Jean Avatar
    Trapper Jean

    Ruth Anne, I don’t know if you’ve seen it, but someone suggested the story Sharyn was looking for is Jesting Pilot by Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore. If you have a Kindle you can buy it from Amazon for $.99.