This is almost verbatim from a story my friend Marge told me in college. I think she was on the NYC subway when she overheard the conversation.
I also like the slightly blurred line here of whether Bruno is making fun of the loonies on the bus, or if she IS one of the loonies on the bus.
Heh. I’m sure her insult is unclear (it is a bit even to me), but she is insinuating that his mom slept with his uncle to conceive him, and so his mom would also be… his aunt. Except for not really, because she’d have to marry his uncle in order to be his aunt. but then she’d no longer be his aunt.
Life is so confusing when you’re hurling insults.
I forgot if I said this or heard this, “endless distractions ’til we die,” but it still cracks me up. As does the response, which also happened, although I forgot who. :)
I used to feel this way about my home town. I’ve finally come around to seeing it’s an okay place, but back during my college years it was hard to fathom.
Her scarf was a blueish grey one I used to have. I think Jess might have ended up with it. Hrm.
Lol, yes, being asked to quantify one’s knowledge can be a burdening thing, but where’s life without the drama? Think of sneaking out the back window. Do it. Take it a bit far.
On her bed-stand, she’s reading “War & Peace,” but I can’t make out the title on top (sketchbook is back in MA and the high res scan doesn’t show). Hrm.
Ah, to be the parents of Bruno is to never get any peace.
Of course, in ways, she’s vaguely a reflection of my thoughts and feelings, so… hm. Sorry, mom and dad!
The driving distance is not quite factual. It’s more about a 20-25 minute drive from Greenfield to UMass, Amherst.
This is actually on campus at UMass, Amherst. I think she’s standing next to Brett dorm with Franklin dining hall in the background.
I found that sometimes working in the single-panel format compromised the dialogue delivery, because I was allowed only one facial expression to sum everything up.
I think this is one of those instances because the conversation between these two is like a roller coaster of tone, volume, and expression… and I don’t think their singular expression contains it.
But god, living in the dorms you can get some real crap living situations. Best I had was the guy who was obsessed with serial killers. A very tense semester.
The first appearance of a major character (outside of family & cat). And I think it sums up their relationship well. They’re good friends and enjoy needling each other a bit. Lenny is often exasperated by her, but highly values her friendship and character.
They are sitting in what used to be Clasé Café, which I think is now Bruegers Bagels, with the post office (and Salvation Army sign) across the street. Jess Potts used to laugh at me because for years I called it Classy Café rather than “class-say” Café.
I broke the fourth wall a bit in this one. At the time, all the daily strips I knew were family friendly (newspaper strips, this was pre-internet), and so there wasn’t a lot of pot smoking.
But Randall is such in his own world, that he would be the one to step outside his own strip.
And I must’ve been on a roll, two major characters in one week.
A friend of mine never had anything in the house but water or tea. I’ve become that way myself over the years, but at the time I enjoyed having milk, juice, or occasionally soft drinks around.
Christine is grinning, showing teeth, btw. Since I didn’t draw in individual teeth, or a line separating her rows of teeth, it might appear she has her warped mouth open like some great white cavern.
It’s also one of the first strips I wrote where I found the dialogue patter to be entertaining and funny in the way that it would be if you were there, but where if you look hard — you can’t actually find anything really funny about it.