Since Soon-ok's retirement, there have been a lot of changes in our lives, almost all for the good. First off, she's happier, more relaxed, and more energized than I've seen her in ages. She never wanted a job, much less a career, but took one to keep the family stabilized as my own career started careening wildly. Without her we would not have squeezed by; without her my own career would have floundered completely.
So we owe her a big one, and she is more than entitled to her retirement.
Second, as she rightly deserves, she's getting to do a lot of things she wanted to do, such as travel and renovate the house. I'm glad for this, and more than happy to go with her and help her in the various projects.
But it plays havoc with my own productive schedule, and I find myself falling further and further behind.
To get caught up, I'm jettisoning a lot of things I used to do. One of those things was keeping up with numerous comic strips. I've been a fan of the art form since I was a little kid and first entranced with Dick Tracey and Little Orphan Annie and Buck Rogers and Pogo and Li'l Abner and Mr. Mum. Each December I post my list of the ten funniest strips of the year; I want to keep doing that, but in recent years I've had to forgo the yearly overview of all the strips I track.
I've already dropped several strips that I felt had exhausted themselves and become repetitive. Here are six I'm dropping simply because of time constraints; they're still good and I still enjoy them but I have to jump through too many hoops make too many clicks to read them.
That doesn't sound like a big deal, but every productive minute is precious now, and I've got to ration them like a stranded traveler in the desert rations his water. If you read my previous post on the topic, you know what it feels like when I can't write, so to squeeze out a few extra minutes, I'm giving up a lot of things I used to enjoy.
Feh, enough mawkish self-pity. If you like comic strips / web comics and haven't tried the following, give 'em a look. They're all good. (Descriptions courtesy JSOline)
Baby Blues by Rick Kirkman & Jerry Scott is an entertaining and poignant view of parenthood and childhood. Wanda and Darryl MacPherson spend the majority of their time chasing, refereeing and pleading with their three children.
Edge City by Terry & Patty Laban is a groundbreaking comic strip about a hip, Jewish-American family juggling relationships, careers, and tradition at the fast pace of modern life.
Mutts by Patrick McDonnell explores the special bond between animals and their guardians, and the endearing friendship of Earl, the dog, and Mooch the cat.
Safe Havens by Bill Holbrook is a comic strip that focuses mainly on Samantha and her group of friends, who met as toddlers at Safe Havens Day Care and are now young adults enrolled at Havens University.
Sally Forth by Francesco Marciuliano, Jim Keefe is a timely comic strip about a working mother, who juggles her mid-management job and finding enough quality time for her husband and daughter. Somehow, Sally manages to keep her sanity and sense of humor.
Zippy the Pinhead by Bill Griffith creates a reality all on its own with a unique cast of characters, including Griffy, Zippy's foil; Zerbina, Zippy's wife and their children, Fuelrod and Meltdown.