What Gerald Ford said about her: "if God created the world in 6 days, he couldn't have rested on the 7th day– he would have had to explain it to Helen Thomas."

Via Awesome — a note from someone's mom:

When you don’t post something to your blog for a few days I get worried but then when you write some of the things you do i am really worried Love you anyways.Mom

UPDATE: Go see the whole "postcards from yo momma site". Utter and complete hilarity. Made my day.

While we're having a laugh, an awesome lolcat from this week:

see more crazy cat pics

For the past couple of months, I've been taking advanced cartooning lessons from the very talented and fun Tom Hart. It makes me feel a little bit like I'm starring in one of those "You, too, can draw this turtle!" commercials from my childhood, only because I didn't know that you could actually take serious classes in this stuff until recently. (Tom teaches cartooning at SVA, btw.) Anyways, it's the most fun I've ever had drawing.

Last night, we were reviewing some sketches I'd been working on for the first comic in a series (hopefully) to be titled "The observed weakness of gravity," and I can't tell you how wild and complicated combining images (over which you have ultimate and complete control) and words (see previous parens) is. My sticking point at the moment is that I tend to draw absolutely everything — elements, frames, pages — on the perpendicular. Everything lines up neatly with everything else, which doesn't necessarily make for a totally engaging visual.

It wasn't until we were breaking each of the images apart that it hit me why I do this: graphic design. For years and years now, I've had it drilled into me that every element in every design, especially in web design, absolutely must make sense in its placement and line up on some sort of grid. Even if that grid is uneven in places, it almost always exists. I'm sure the creative director of the agency I used to work for is thrilled that he's beaten my subconscious into submission, but I'm stymied.

How does one unlearn all of this training in order to set art and stories free? Onward to breaking off the grid…

Who knew?

• Plant a tree on your block (or any block) (via mikki)
• Put a bike rack on your sidewalk
• Fix a pothole

I've actually done the bike rack one — they were surprisingly speedy and nice. They came out and measured the sidewalk, which wasn't wide enough in the end, and then emailed me to discuss other options.

OH NO!

Originally uploaded by J-Easy

Since Easter's coming, don't forget to check out Peeps Research.

Update: But wait! There's more — "Ultimate Peep Show":

I'm watching CNN this morning as we gear up for Democratic Decider Day, and there was just a commercial on the absolute unwavering virtues of… coal. In the background, "Celebration" (wah-hoo!) played. America's power! (wah-hoo!) It's what runs 70% of our energy systems! (wah-hoo!) Heyyyyyyy… wait a second.

But the "I Like to Watch" column in Salon yesterday had world view that was a little more akin to my own — on the economy:

The talking heads want us to think that it's all our fault for charging a 52-inch plasma flat-screen TV on our credit cards, but we're not buying that song and dance anymore. A pound of chicken breast is $7 at my grocery store. I live in a working-class neighborhood. What the hell are people eating out there? The federal minimum wage is $5.85 an hour! Can you imagine working over an hour for a f***ing chicken sandwich? What is this, Zimbabwe?

In troubled times like these, I like to tune in to "The Suze Orman Show" (9 p.m. EST on CNBC) so Suze and her befuddled crowds and I can sigh heavily together over the sorry state of the U.S. economy. I love how Suze talks about good things to do with money I don't have. I like putting imaginary money into IRAs and then saving some more imaginary money for a 529 college fund. It feels reassuring, somehow, to know that if I stumbled on $10,000 or $15,000, I'd know lots of things to do with it that wouldn't involve Cabo San Lucas or high-grade cocaine at all.

Amen, sister. I do however, really like the Holiday Inn Express breakfast bar commercials.