For years, I thought I wasn’t a casserole man, myself. I thought they were all gloppy and tasted alike. Then, as I began to get into food and cooking, I came to realize it was cream of mushroom soup I wasn’t crazy about. If I sometimes seem to confuse my own thoughts with the words that come out of Arlo’s mouth, or Janis’, I hope you won’t read too much into it. After all, everything they say and do does come from me, but I am not them. Really. Well, not literally anyway.
On another subject, I’ve talked a lot here about space exploration, because as a boy I was mesmerized by the Mercury program, and I’ve never quite lost the fascination it held for me. We’ve talked about the feats of the Mars rover Curiosity and the incredible journeys of Voyager I and Voyager II, among other things. Over the years, these marvels have been, by definition, American ventures. I didn’t want anyone to think I’m being a sorehead, because I haven’t mentioned the European comet expedition. Others have talked about it here, but I haven’t given “Philae” its due. I mean, like, WOW! What else can I say? I just hope it comes out from the shadow of that cliff and comes back to life in coming months. What a tough break: send a spacecraft on a 10-year mission, land it on a comet, and it winds up in the shadow of a cliff, leaving its life-giving solar panels next to useless. We’ll be rooting for you, Philae!
Cartoonist’s note: I admit it. I went to today’s A&J on the GoComics Web site, and I didn’t get it. Then, I remembered, “Oh, yeah! Big pot, as in big tummy!” I remembered further that I had intended to go back and put the words “big pot” in parentheses, to draw attention, but I got in a hurry and failed to do so. One thing cartoonists learn (some faster than others) is, You can’t be too obvious. Obviously.