Atlas Shrugged

I could not finish Atlas Shrugged.

To rabid fans of Ayn Rand: I'm willing to admit that I'm too stupid to understand her brilliant ideas. Fine, an obnoxious Objectivist or two might think I'm ignorant. I can live with that. I think of it as an intellectual equivalent of an obese person criticizing my relatively slow running pace.

This cartoon sums up some of my feelings quite nicely.

I loved this comment about the above mentioned cartoon:

"Rand never gets credit for her single greatest accomplishment... giving assholes an intellectual framework for being assholes."

Now, what to do with my copy of Atlas Shrugged, which I bought at a garage sale for 50 cents? I've thought about this a lot. I don't want to destroy the book because I don't believe ideas should be destroyed regardless of how bad. So burning, dunking, shooting, drawing and quartering are out.

A list of uses for Atlas Shrugged (that retains the readability of the copy)

1. Obvious: door stop and paper weight

2. Violent: blunt object that inflicts pain but no real damage

3. Liberal repellent

4. Yoga prop

5. Exercise equipment

6. When all you need is an extra 3 inches to reach something

7. Bug killer

8. Flower press

9. Furniture leveler

10. Lumbar support (paperback version)

11. Pot holder

12. Action figure scenery

13. Hot Wheels track support

14. Animation

Feel free to add others in the comments. I might get around to re-enacting some of these in photos and drawings.

Herb and Jamaal

Herb and Jamaal free online comic strip library at comics.com

There is nothing else going on here.

There is nothing else going on here.

There is nothing else going on here.

Just two grown men being friends. Nothing to see here. Move along.

The hopeless gardner

To read stories of successful efforts as self-sufficiency and sustainability visit http://bigmyrtle.blogspot.com/. I admire what Mark and Shelley have done.

My efforts on the other hand have yielded a single onion. It provided some nice flavor to my morning egg. There is still hope for a cantaloupe. Three of the plants grew real well until a rain followed by heat killed them. The dog killed two when he thought my little garden would make a great place to dig and wallow. The lone onion survived this assault. Walter placed some sticks in the bed to deter the dog. It worked and I had onion to show for it. One melon plant is still growing and blooming. I cheer it on every time I take Loki out for a walk.

Harvested a pound of Muscatine grapes but those weren't grown through my own efforts. We have a wild grape vine that partially encircles our backyard. When we moved in the previous owner said that the vine wouldn't produce because it was missing a component. Apparently the vine found the needed part. I snacked on the grapes for about a week after a good washing. Some of the grapes were located within Loki's firing range. I liked the tart flavor of the grapes. Looked up some recipes but these called for more grapes than I had.

Found that gardening is not something to do casually. Takes more time than I'm willing to commit at this point. I like the idea more than the actual project. That last statement sums up most of my life.

When pros fail

Glad to see that even a professional can screw something up. Give Joe Giella points for trying. Where does Mary hide all that hair? I thought she had an Ann Richards style hairdo.

History & Quotes - Classic Quotes by Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) US writer - ArcaMax Publishing

History & Quotes - Classic Quotes by Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988) US writer - ArcaMax Publishing

What is supposed to happen in a democracy is that each sovereign citizen will always vote in the public interest for the safety and welfare of all. But what does happen is that he votes his own self-interest as he sees it... which for the majority translates as 'Bread and Circuses'.

An armed society is a polite society.

Men rarely (if ever) dream up a God superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child.

History does not record anywhere a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.

Offensive speech, bad manners, and filthy toilets all seem to go together.

----------------------------------

I'll clean the bathrooms after I come home. At least scrub the toilets.

Photoshop boo boo

102 Series Leather Sectional Sofa | Modern Furniture Warehouse

It's 5:00 o'clock. I'm out of here. I'll finish removing the lamp tomorrow.

What?! You made it live!

How to recognize the signs of an imminent Mary Worth attack

How to recognize the signs of an imminent Mary Worth attack

Strange Brew

Strange Brew free online comic strip library at comics.com

Do they make salon hair dryers like that anymore?

Brevity, the soul of wit

Brevity free online comic strip library at comics.com

I tried to share this on Twitter but the Fail Whale kept appearing. All hail the Fail Whale!

Tiny Atlas Shrugged Production Finally Gets Started

Tiny Atlas Shrugged Production Finally Gets Started

Speech or no speech?

Momma free online comic strip library at comics.com

Momma free online comic strip library at comics.com

Momma tries her hand at political commentary. Time to place her in a home. She's wandering around and entering random people's homes.

I don't think I can do it.

I've completed 7 marathons, 5 half marathons and some shorter races but I cannot manage to finish reading "Atlas Shrugged"

I'm past the long John Galt speech. The only time I've yelled at a book character was while reading that speech. A guy blathers on for 3 hours and nobody thinks to cut the power.

I'm down to the last 300 or so pages. I've flipped ahead a few times. I know a bridge gets blown up, Cuffy Meigs and Dr. Statler die, Jim Taggart loses his mind, John Galt is tortured and rescued; and Hank, Francisco, Dagny, John, Ragnar and all the rest of the producers go to Galt's Gulch and live happily ever after doing their circle jerk while the rest of the world burns all around them blissfully unaware that unless they build a spaceship they too will get burned.

I could be mistaken about the above since I can only bring my self to skim at this point. Actually, I haven't picked up the book again since February, so my memory could be a bit sketchy.

In context of the BP oil gusher, I find my desire to finish decreasing ever more. I wonder in the context of this reality how any adult can take Objectivism seriously? Okay, Rand's dire vision is happening in North Korea but that is an aberration. Maybe Zimbabwe, too, with the white farmers.

Maybe I'm too old to read Atlas Shrugged. I tried to read The Fountainhead in high school but I couldn't stand it for very long. Enjoyed Anthem. Maybe "Objectivism/ Ayn Rand phase" should be incorporated into the American life cycle chart. An interesting question to study - why some people don't grow out of it?

I have a few of Rand's philosophical writings in my library. They are quaintly amusing. Stalinism sucked; thankfully no country has tried to fully implement Objectivism because that would suck just as hard. That won't happen because this world is populated by humans rather than the ideas with human-like characteristics that populate the world of Atlas Shrugged.

I should finish this book or at least get it off my nightstand. Maybe try composting it or using its pages to line the bird cage.

The idea for another project: documenting uses for a slightly worn copy of Atlas Shrugged.

Did learn that carrying a copy into a UU church will cause a greater reaction than carrying a Bible.

Clapping

Drew a cartoon today with the following dialogue:

"I must warn you that worship at this UU church is quite raucous. They start clapping before the last verse of the hymn."

Since I have limited experience with worship at other UU churches, I wonder if it's just my church that waits until the last verse to clap? This assumes that the hymn is suitable for clapping.

I've clapped by myself when appropriate but I don't clap very loudly because I end up clapping to the up beat rather than the down beat. Sometimes I clap to both.

Speaking of joyful noises, a woman ran, walked and danced on the treadmill next to mine yesterday. She clapped, too. My initial annoyance went away when I realized that exercise - even on a treadmill - should be fun. As long as she continues to make it fun for her, she will reach her fitness goals.

I bet she wouldn't be afraid to clap loudly in a UU church.

3D TV Health Risks: 7 People Warned Not To Watch 3D TV (PHOTOS)

Unless nearsightedness (I wear corrective lenses) is an eye problem, then I'm one of a few people who can actually watch 3D TV without problems. Brilliant! Manufacturing a product that can't be used safely by 75% of the US population. Maybe Samsung has given a few Americans an incentive to get in shape. Get fit so that I can sit around and watch TV in 3D!
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Auspicious start of my 41st year

First, gratuitous dog photo:



Loki running in the snow. He was running toward the door to get back inside after taking care of business. I guess he wanted to catch a few snowflakes on the way. Snow is a rare treat in these parts. Texas A&M will be delayed until 10:00 am tomorrow. This is assuming I even feel like going in at all. I celebrated my 41st on Sunday; in addition to some neat gifts, birthday greetings and hearing an excellent dharma talk, I got a cold.

I have plenty of sick leave and my work is not so terribly important that its worth infecting others.

Today, I felt like getting dressed and off the couch. Even stood on the porch to film the snow. Yesterday, it was bed or couch. The oddest thing about yesterday is that I channel surfed for hours and did not catch one bit of Law & Order, not even one little donk-donk. I made up for it today by watching part of an episode of Law & Order: SVU.

I tried to watch some Olympics because I've become rather fascinated by curling but all the NBC-Universal stations that my cable provider carries were acting up.

Would it kill NBC to have a commentator explain curling or at least provide a crawl with a definition of terms & how the scoring works? I suppose I could drag my laptop to the couch and look up this stuff while watching but I don't feel like doing that and what about the viewers without wireless networking?

I become fascinated by curling every four years because of the absurdity of the sport.

This blog got a shout-out from uuworld.org: the interdependent web.

Real life & online life intersects

We had a guest speaker at church today. I figured out who she is in the middle of her sermon. Oh wow, it's Lizard Eater! That wasn't the name she used for church. I introduced myself after the service and had to use my alternate name. Now we know each other's real names, not that I make much of an effort to hide mine, but I wonder if this is how spies feel after they retire and they can reveal themselves. The nature of the relationship really doesn't change with this new knowledge but more of a fleshing out of a person or they seem more real. I don't know.

If your church is looking for a guest speaker, I would recommend Lizard Eater. She is a very engaging speaker and you don't need a sound system. She drowned out a train. To be fair, it was one of the quieter trains but still didn't need to take a train pause. I did wish that she said 'love train' instead of 'love jar' while the train rolled by but that is a comedian thinking not a minister. I can get comedy anytime, ministry (in the broadest sense of the term) is a more precious commodity.

Some of the things she has described in her blog about seminary come through in her speaking style. She has a bit of pentecostal in her. We all need a little pentecostal.

This online - real life intersection was a neat experience.

Exercise Log: February 7 - 13

I walked and ran 33.52 miles, burned 3592.1 calories and weigh 139.9 pounds. Loki walked 1.61 miles.

Monday: run - 4.43 miles in 44:50
Tuesday: elliptical - 1.22 miles in 15:00
Wednesday: run - 6.17 miles in 1:00:00
Thursday: run - 4.45 miles in 44:44
Saturday: run - 8.10 miles in 1:18:25.28

Mary Faust, Part Seventeen

Click on comic to enlarge.

That lap top is making Dawn's eyebrows shorter and making her grow old!

POET

Depart! elsewhere another servant choose
What! shall the bard his godlike power abuse?
Man's loftiest right, kind nature's high bequest,
For your mean purpose basely sport away?
Whence comes his mastery o'er the human breast,
Whence o'er the elements his sway,
But from the harmony that, gushing from his soul,
Draws back into his heart the wondrous whole?

Shout Outs!

I need to get the bit of promo for "The Word" app that airs at the end of the Colbert Report to put on my website. It's the second one where Stephen points to and says the phrase, 'A Perfect World'. Happens to be the name of my comic and the domain name: aperfectworld.org.

Why dot org? When I bought the domain name the dot com version was being used by a male enhancement company. perfectworld.com is a MMORG. aperfectworld.com has nothing on it.

I subscribe to UUpdates feed. Below a list of individual blogs on UUpdates that I always read (no particular order):

• Ms. Kitty's Saloon and Road Show http://mskittyssaloonandroadshow.blogspot.com/
• it's all one thing http://shetterly.blogspot.com/
• CUUMBYA http://cuumbaya.blogspot.com/
• Beauty Tips for Ministers http://beautytipsforministers.com/ (odd since I'm neither a professional minister or interested in fashion)
• The Chaliceblog http://chalicechick.blogspot.com/
• Tete-a-Tete-Tete http://tete-tete-tete.com/ (Sorry, too lazy to look up the html for accented characters)
• The Journey http://uuminister.blogspot.com/
• The Wild Hunt http://wildhunt.org/blog/ (another odd one for me since I'm not a pagan. Proof that I do read word press based blogs)
• Pfarrer Streccius http://pfarrerstreccius.blogspot.com/ (I skip the Illinois politics posts)
• Yet Another Unitarian Universalist http://www.danielharper.org/blog/
• Orcinus http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/

Thank you to each of you for sharing your thoughts.

I felt like making some recommendations since we all have a limited amount of time. I feel the above blogs are a good use of my limited blog reading time.

Looking over the list I notice a majority use Blogger and hosted by Blogspot.com. I use Blogger and this blog is hosted by Blogspot.com. I wonder if my list would be different if I used WordPress or a different platform?

Why I don't read your UU blog?

• Congregation specific (nothing wrong with that.)
• Read entries that grab my attention but not a regular reader
• Location specific
• Just not interested in the topic

Lack of quality is not a reason.

Mary Faust, Part Sixteen

Click on comic to enlarge.

Giant Galapagos Island Tortoises are reading this and thinking, "Get on with it!"

Ents (the tree people from Lord of the Rings) consider themselves quite hasty compared to the pace of this storyline.

Which will come first: my 41st birthday (Feb. 21) or the conclusion of this plot?

--------------------------------

Poor fools the muses' fair regards.
Why court for such a paltry end?
I tell you, give them more, still more, 'tis all I ask,
Thus you will ne'er stray widely from the goal;
Your audience seek to mystify, cajole;--
To satisfy them--that's a harder task.
What ails thee? art enraptured or distressed?

Miracle Match Marathon

Finished the Miracle Match Marathon in Waco, Texas in 4:41:12.42 according to the time on my watch. Official results have not been posted yet.

This was the most challenging marathon I've run without an injury. Didn't set a personal record but I now know that I'm a sub-5 hour marathoner.

I would not recommend this race for a first-time marathoner but then again if you finish it as a rookie all the others in Texas will seem easy.

The challenging parts but scenic parts of the course are between miles 14 and 24. There is nothing in Bryan - College Station that could have prepared me for some of the downhill slopes. I had to walk down several.

Waco's Cameron Park is quite gorgeous and I enjoyed the running beside the Brazos River through a park. Waco should be proud of its parks. Their beauty, even in winter, made me wonder why I live in Bryan.

The race was well directed with plenty of friendly volunteers manning water stops in the freezing cold. Sponsors provided wonderful perks such as food, wine, beer and post-race massages. The finishers' medals looked incomplete but the finishers' windbreaker jacket more than made up for that.

The race packet swag bag had some good stuff in it. Surprising for a race with 1,200 total participants.

The cool thing about such a small race: the third place person in my age group (40 - 44 Female) had a time of 4 hours and 20 minutes. A slower person has a shot at placing.

The Miracle Match Marathon is a well-run smaller race that supports a great cause. If you're looking for a challenging winter race be sure to check this one out.

Exercise Log: January 24 - 30

Ran, biked, and walked 37.75 miles, burned 3422.7 calories and weigh 138.6 pounds.

Sunday: run - 8.25 miles in 1:23:50
Monday: bike - 5.19 miles in 20:54
Tuesday: run - 3.27 miles in 32:33.82
Wednesday: bike - 2.72 miles in 12:00; run - 1.37 miles in 15:00
Thursday: run - 5.40 miles in 52:50
Friday: run - 2.83 miles in 30:00

Mary Faust, Part Fifteen

Click on comic to enlarge.

Maybe time to reinstate the Mary Watch: Number of Mary Worthless days. The over-arching lesson from the 2009 stories and continuing into 2010: stay off the internet.

As to a masquerade, with absent minds, they press,
Sheer curiosity their footsteps winging;
Ladies display their persons and their dress,
Actors unpaid their service bringing.
What dreams beguile you on your poet's height?
What puts a full house in a merry mood?
More closely view your patrons of the night!
The half are cold, the half are rude.
One, the play over, craves a game of cards;
Another a wild night in wanton joy would spend.

Mary Faust Part Fourteen

Click on comic to enlarge.

I've given up trying to fit the text into the balloons. Easier to redraw balloons. I inflict my learning process upon you! Hopefully, the divisions will make more sense.

Wilbur doesn't own a cooler? I bet his condo neighbors appreciate him transporting the fish like that. Next panel: Dawn introduces her guest, Jill the Game Warden.

How it revolts the genuine artist's mind!
The sorry trash in which these coxcombs deal,
Is here approved on principle, I find.

MANAGER

Such a reproof disturbs me not a whit!
Who on efficient work is bent,
Must choose the fittest instrument.
Consider! 'tis soft wood you have to split;
Think too for whom you write, I pray!
One comes to while an hour away;
One from the festive board, a sated guest;
Others, more dreaded than the rest,
From journal-reading hurry to the play.

Exercise Log: January 17 - 23

This week I ran, walked, biked and rowed 49.01 miles, burned 4426.5 calories and weigh 139.9 pounds.

Sunday: Run - 12.35 miles in 2:02:56.07
Monday: Walk - 2.68 miles in 1:12:01.44
Tuesday: Run - 3.57 miles in 34:53
Wednesday: Row - 1.31 miles in 10:00, Elliptical - .45 mile in 10:00, Bike - 3.57 miles in 15:00
Thursday: Run - 5.05 miles in 47:29.26
Friday: Row - 1.90 miles in 15:00, Elliptical - 1.27 miles in 15:00, Bike - 3.53 miles in 15:00
Saturday: Walk - 3.32 miles in 1:20:16.36

Tomorrow, my final long run before the marathon.

Mary Faust: Part Thirteen

Click on comic to enlarge.

Wilbur and Kurt continue fishing.

Karen Moy gives the reader a feel for a real fishing trip when the fish refuse to bite. Too bad she didn't provide beer. A single keg should provide plenty of beer for everyone who actually reads Mary Worth.

Spin for their eyes abundant occupation,
SO that the multitude may wondering gaze,
You by sheer bulk have won your reputation,

By mass alone can you subdue the masses,
Each then selects in time what suits his bent.
Bring much, you something bring for various classes,
And from the house goes every one content.
You give a piece, abroad in pieces send it!
'Tis a ragout--success most needs attend it;
'Tis easy to serve up, as easy to invent.
A finish'd whole what boots it to present!
Full soon the public will in pieces rend it.

POET

How mean such handicraft as this you cannot feel!

Mary Faust: Part Twelve

Click on comic for larger image. The Sunday strip was a recap of the action from the previous week, which is to say, nothing has happened.

A sprightly fellow's presence at your play,
Methinks should also count for something too;
Whose genial wit the audience still inspires,
Knows from their changeful mood no angry feeling;
A wider circle he desires,
To their heart's depths more surely thus appealing.
To work, then! Give a master-piece, my friend;
Bring Fancy with her choral trains before us,
Sense, reason, feeling, passion, but attend!
Let folly also swell the tragic chorus.

MANAGER

In chief, of incident enough prepare!
A show they want, they come to gape and stare.

Exercise Log: January 10 - 16

This week I walked, ran, biked and rowed 58.03 miles, burned 5228.1 calories and weigh 139.1 pounds.

Sunday: Run - 20.09 miles in 3:25:19.90
Monday: Bike - 8.91 miles in 35:00
Tuesday: Run - 4.31 miles in 45:00
Wednesday: Walk - .61 mile in 15:20.45
Thursday: Run - 6.94 miles in 1:05:00
Friday: Row - 1.92 miles in 15:00; Run - 1.92 miles in 20:00; Bike - 4.32 miles in 20:00
Saturday: Walk - .70 mile in 19:57.63

There are other walking miles with Loki and during the work week not listed above that are part of the total. Loki walked a total of 3.42 miles.

Tomorrow, I start my taper for the Miracle Match Marathon. 12 miles on the agenda.

Will enjoy my 3 day weekend.

Good luck to everyone running in the Chevron Houston Marathon tomorrow. You can do it!

Mary Faust: Part Eleven

Click on comic to enlarge.

Wilbur kept the same glasses all these years.

A failure now, with words now fitly mated,
In the wild tumult of the hour is drown'd;
Full oft the poet's thought for years bath waited
Until at length with perfect form 'tis crowned;
What dazzles, for the moment born, must perish;
What genuine is posterity will cherish.

MERRYMAN

This cant about posterity I hate;
About posterity were I to prate,
Who then the living would amuse? For they
Will have diversion, ay, and 'tis their due.

Mary Faust: Part Ten

Click on comic to enlarge.

Has the boredom of Kurt and Wilbur's conversation driven everyone, including those out of earshot, from the lake?

POET

Oh of the motley throng speak not before me,
At whose aspect the Spirit wings its flight!

Conceal the surging concourse, I implore thee,
Whose vortex draws us with resistless might.
No, to some peaceful heavenly nook restore me,
Where only for the bard blooms pure delight,
Where love and friendship yield their choicest blessing,
Our heart's true bliss, with god-like hand caressing.

What in the spirit's depths was there created,
What shyly there the lip shaped forth in sound;

Mary Faust: Part Nine

Click on comic to enlarge.

Out of boredom, Kurt's legs have left the scene. A most extreme case of Restless Legs Syndrome.

Still in broad daylight, ere the clock strikes four,
With blows their way towards the box they take;
And, as for bread in famine, at the baker's door,
For tickets are content their necks to break.
Such various minds the bard alone can sway,

My friend, oh work this miracle to-day!

Mary Faust: Part Eight

Click on comic to enlarge.

Thanks and shout out to Seattle PI for making larger comics available. You can even rate each comic.

I enlarged a bit more when removing original dialogue but since I had a larger image to start quality has not degraded as much.

How make our entertainment striking, new,
And yet significant and pleasing too?
For to be plain, I love to see the throng,
As to our booth the living tide progresses;
As wave on wave successive rolls along,
And through heaven's narrow portal forceful presses;

Mary Faust: Part Seven

Click on comic to enlarge.

The posts are now erected, and the planks,
And all look forward to a festal treat.
Their places taken, they, with eyebrows rais'd,
Sit patiently, and fain would be amaz'd.
I know the art to hit the public taste,
Yet ne'er of failure felt so keen a dread;
True, they are not accustomed to the best,
But then appalling the amount they've read.

--------------------------------------------------

The tackle box does not have tackle in it.

Mary Faust Part Six

Click on comic to enlarge.

A yearning long unfelt, each impulse swaying,
To yon calm spirit-realm uplifts my soul;
In faltering cadence, as when Zephyr playing,
Fans the Aeolian harp, my numbers roll;
Tear follows tear, my steadfast heart obeying
The tender impulse, loses its control;
What I possess as from afar I see;
Those I have lost become realities to me.

Prologue in the Theatre
MANAGER. DRAMATIC POET. MERRYMAN.

MANAGER

Ye twain, in trouble and distress
True friends whom I so oft have found,
Say, for our scheme on German ground,
What prospect have we of success?
Fain would I please the public, win their thanks;
They live and let live, hence it is but meet.
-------------------------------
I'm filling balloons. Seven Sunday panels gives me lots of balloons.
I ran my final 20 mile training run - 20.09 miles in 3:25:19.90. I will set a new personal record if I can repeat that performance for the marathon on Jan. 31.

Mary Faust: Part 5

Click on cartoon to enlarge.

Sorry about the Comic Sans. I need to download Digital Strip to my home computer. I enlarge the comic strip and then paste text into balloons. I try to fit as much as I can while maintaining readability. I do cheat occasionally by slightly enlarging a balloon to add a bit of white space around the text.

Part of the third verse of Dedication:

Dispersed the throng, their severed flight now winging;
Mute are the voices that responsive rang.
For stranger crowds the Orphean lyre now stringing,
E'en their applause is to my heart a pang;
Of old who listened to my song, glad hearted,
If yet they live, now wander widely parted.

Mary Worth is the work of writer Karen Moy and artist Joe Giella and is owned by King Features Syndicate. All images from the comic strip are owned by King Features. Faust is the work of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and is public domain.

Exercise Log: January 1 - 9

This year so far I walked, ran & biked 44.04 miles, burned 3782.8 calories and weigh 141.3 pounds.

Loki has walked 5.62 miles. He had a great time today walking off leash in the woods and park.

Less than a month until my marathon in Waco. Tomorrow, I run my final 20 mile training run. Then I taper. Thinking about running by time rather than distance tomorrow. Maybe run 4 hours and see how far I go.

Jan. 2: walk, 1.08 miles, 23:36.25
Jan. 3: run, 8.31 miles, 1:24:42.48
Jan. 4: bike, 9.18 miles, 35:00
Jan. 5: run, 6.20 miles, 1:05:00
Jan. 7: run, 5.38 miles, 51:52
Jan. 9: walk, 2.82 miles, 1:04:53.98

Mary Faust: More Dedication

Click on cartoon to enlarge.

Today's larger word balloons allowed me to place more text. If you wish to keep up with the storyline as written by Karen Moy visit Mary Worth & Me. Wanders & friends do an outstanding job of keeping up with the goings on in Santa Royale. You will understand the humor of Mary Worth if you spend any time over there. Be sure to enjoy the Charterstone Jukebox.

Looking forward to the Sunday comic. Lots of balloons to fill.

Sorrow revives, her wail of anguish sending
Back o'er life's devious labyrinthine way,
And names the dear ones, they whom Fate bereaving
Of life's fair hours, left me behind them grieving.

They hear me not my later cadence singing,
The souls to whom my earlier lays I sang;

Mary Faust: Dedication Verse Two, Part 1

Click on cartoon to enlarge. Picture quality degraded because of enlargement. I don't know why syndicates don't make larger versions available for online venues. Maybe to prevent miscreants from rewriting crappy comics? It takes a larger comic to truly appreciate the care Joe Giella put into rendering Wilbur's comb over.

Shades fondly loved appear, your train attending,
And visions fair of many a blissful day;
First-love and friendship their fond accents blending,
Like to some ancient, half-expiring lay;

Mary Faust: Dedication Verse One

Click on picture to enlarge. (Click here for the first part)

Dedication

Ye wavering shapes, again ye do enfold me,
As erst upon my troubled sight ye stole;
Shall I this time attempt to clasp, to hold ye?
Still for the fond illusion yearns my soul?
Ye press around! Come then, your captive hold me,
As upward from the vapoury mist ye roll;
Within my breast youth's throbbing pulse is bounding,
Fann'd by the magic breath your march surrounding.

Mary Worth: Faust

Click on cartoon to make bigger.

An insomnia induced project idea: Goethe's Faust replacing Mary Worth dialogue. A fun way for me to read all of Faust and make Mary Worth a bit more amusing.

Also something to justify the continued existence of this blog.