Category: comics

Em ơi! #341: The Shiba Inu, part 2

Apparently, Norman barks at B because he doesn't like men.

Apparently our condo has thick walls.  Thank goodness.  This was also the longest conversation we’ve had with our neighbor since she moved in (she lives on the other side of our duplex), so it’s a bit random for her to give us a dog toy.  Maya has really been enjoying chewing on the bully stick though.  It is a great toy.

This comic is filed under
SF429.S63 L86 2011a, which stands for:
Animal culture–Pets–Dogs–By breed, A-Z–Shiba dogs.

So to give you some idea of what my training schedule has been like since I last posted:

Week of March 7th-March 13th

Monday: Biked 19.5 miles
Tuesday: Ran 10.3 miles
Wednesday: Ran 8.1 mi
Thursday: Ran 10.5 mi
Friday: Swam 2550 yards
Saturday: Ran 22.6 miles
Sunday: Ran 10.5 miles
Total: 19.5 miles biked, 2550 yards swum, 62 miles run

Week of March 14-March 20th:

Monday: Swam 3100 yards
Tuesday: Ran 10.3 miles
Wednesday: Ran 10.2 miles
Thursday: Ran 10.4 miles/Ran 2.4 miles as second evening run
Friday: Swam 3200 yards
Saturday: Ran 11.1 miles
Sunday: Ran 24 miles
Total: 6300 yards swum, 71.5 miles run

And this past week:

Monday: Swam 2000 yards
Tuesday: Ran 10.3 miles
Wednesday: Ran 8.1 miles, plus about 2.3 miles evening run on the elliptical
Thursday: Ran 10.3 miles, then 3.1 miles in the evening
Friday: Day off.
Saturday: Ran 20.2 miles
Sunday: Ran 11.6 miles
Total: 2000 yards swum, 65.9 miles run

So if you see me looking tired, that’s why.

During the 20-miler this past Saturday, I managed to take a header and scrape up my right knee and apparently bruise my left foot.  So far it doesn’t seem to be anything serious, but I’m keeping an eye on it.

Taper begins now, by the way.  I’m excited.

 

Em oi! #340: The Shiba Inu, part 1

"Maya" is, among other meanings, an alternate name for the Goddess Durga.I’ll admit it, I’ve been a little tired lately, a little depressed.  For various reasons, comics are not getting done as quickly as I’d like them to.  But that’s all going to change (I hope). I’ll be able to officially announce why in a few weeks.

For now, here’s what I’ve got on the docket: a race. This race, in fact. It’s April 9th at 8:00 in the Arb. I’m doing the 50k. If you’ll be in the area, come say “hi.” If you come around 13:00, maybe we can do lunch.

I like lunch.

I’m sure you’re wondering how one trains for a 50k. Let me show you my last two weeks, because they are illustrative:

This was a “cycle down” week, so the longest run was 10 miles (well, 11).
Monday, 21 Feb: Swam 2500 yards.
22 Feb: Ran 8.1 miles (9.4 min/mi pace)
23 Feb: Ran 7.2 miles (10.2 min/mi pace), then 3.4 mi with Bryan in the evening
24 Feb: Ran 8.1 mi (10.3 min/mi pace)
25 Feb: Swam 2500 yards and lifted weights (legs)
26 Feb: Ran 11.3 mi (11.1 min/mi, plus about 1 mile with dog)
27 Feb: Ran 10.8 mi (11.4 min/mi)
Total: 48.9 mi ran, 5000 yards swum

This was a normal week. My weeks will look about like this until the race:
Monday, 28 Feb: Swam 2750 yards
1 March: Ran 8.1 mi (9.5 min/mi)
2 March: Ran 8.7 mi (9.4 min/mi pace) plus 3.4 mi with B in the evening
3 March: Ran 8.9 mi (9.9 min/mi pace)
4 March: Swam 2250 yards
5 March: Ran 22.6 mi (10.6 min/mi pace)
6 March: Ran 10.5 mi (10.6 min/mi pace)
Total: 62.2 miles ran, 5000 yards swum

My training plan has two elements which are quite different from my usual marathon plans:

1. Two days off per week (Monday and Friday).

2. Back-to-back long runs (in the 2nd week here, 22 and 10).

This takes a lot out of a body.  I’m running about 10.5 hours per week, give or take, and swimming about 2 hours.  If I added in another hour of swimming and maybe 5 hours of biking, I could be doing an Ironman.  Of course, B would never get to see me, which is a problem.  And already I’m starving all the time.  I hate to see what would happen to our food budget if I upped my mileage any more.

Anyway, the situation around our house is calming down somewhat. Kali has decided that Maya is not terrifying (more annoying) and is sleeping at my feet as I type this (having the heating pad on doesn’t hurt). Maya is…well, she’s a handful, but things are getting easier. And as for me, I can’t say I’m exactly used to getting up at 6:30 to take her out every morning, but I’m resigned to it, and I’m getting in the habit of getting to bed early enough that I’m not totally non-functional.

Apparently shiba inus are not necessarily recommended for first time dog owners, and shiba puppies have a certain reputation for being hellacious bundles of fur. Now they tell us. Because she’s a rescue, we don’t really know what happened to Maya before she came to live with us, but she doesn’t really have any bad habits (unless you count being kind of reserved around new people as a bad habit). And the screaming is getting better. A little better, anyway. I have to hope it will eventually be totally better, or else I will run mad. Mad I say!

Ok, maybe it’s bed time.

All in all, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend getting a puppy, although there are some benefits (see the aforementioned no bad habits thing). But in general we’re pretty happy with Maya.

This comic is filed under
SF429.S63 L86 2011, which stands for:
Animal culture–Pets–Dogs–By breed, A-Z–Shiba dogs.

Em oi! #339: Politics

That's what Marie Antoinette said.

File under JF1525.P6 L86 2011, for Political institutions and public administration (General)—Public administration—Special topics, A-Z–Political planning. Public policy.

I was going to write some funny stories about the protests (which are still going on downtown a week and a half after this conversation happened), my colleagues, or the dog, but I’m actually pretty tired and in a hurry.  The dog learned to climb stairs last night and has been sulking all morning because we won’t let her go upstairs and eat the cat food.  Why she wants the cat food instead of her puppy chow is a mystery, as are a lot of things dog-related.  We’re working on it though.  She’s getting much better at going to the bathroom in the right spots.  Now if only we could get her to stop howling when we crate her…

Advice, internets?  We will try almost anything.

Em oi! #338: Un metier nouveau?

The tallest man in France.

We’ll file this one under:
HF1543 .L86 2011
For:
Commerce–International economic relations–Other regions or countries–Europe–France–General works (Historical and descriptive).

Sometimes, at the end of the week I feel like curling up into a little ball and letting it all wash over me until it’s the weekend and all I have to do is easy things like run twenty-eight miles and read three thousand pages.  Walker’s new plan to totally screw anyone who works for the state of WI and is in a union is also terrific.  Le sigh.

Sorry this comic took so long.  I just had a weird block ab0ut it; eventually I didn’t even want to look at it anymore.  So yesterday I queued up an episode of “The Dog Whisperer” and just did it.  AND here it is.

Anyway, it’s a true story.  If you are wondering what old French ladies buy at the supermarket, the answer is shrimp, some kind of soft cheese, and non-alcoholic beer.  In panel two where I addressed her to make sure B was getting the right beer down, she looked very confused as to why I was speaking to her.  I don’t think she understood that he didn’t speak any French (I mean, fair’s fair, we were standing around a Carrefour in a Paris suburb).  Later at the post office a woman apologized for the weather (it was raining, hence the umbrella) and gave me a postal calendar as a souvenir.

Ok, on to new comics.  Next week perhaps we’ll catch up to what has happened in my life since we got home from Paris.

Indexing

I have created the following index of all the LCC numbers used for comics drawn and posted here between 2009-2012:

The following DDC numbers were also used:

Then I decided I don’t like DDC much and stopped compiling the numbers.

A few  notes about these LCC numbers:

  1. Strictly speaking, because these are all literature (I know) and I’m an author who lives in the 21st century, they should all be classed as follows: PS3612.U68 .[Title Cutter] 201[x].
  2. This is because the point of classifying things is to collate by author (in the case of literature, anyway) so that someone who is looking for an author’s works can find all of them in one place.
  3. However, I decided to class the comics by subject since it’s more interesting that way.
  4. Also I guess “Lupton” should Cutter out as L87 instead of L86, but who’s counting.  What table was I looking at?  Oh man.  If you look at the DDC numbers, you’ll see that I couldn’t Cutter “Lupton” correctly on the Sandborne tables to save my life, so I guess I just got locked into L86 and decided to go with it.
  5. Anyway, I should probably be getting to bed now.  It’s getting late.
  6. Oh, this includes the last comic of 2010 that was lacking a call number.  I haven’t classed the 2011 ones yet, but everything through the end of last year is taken care of.
  7. The most popular comic was: HC79.C63 L86 2010 (#322). Also, incidentally, the most popular post in the last year, getting 78 views in one day.  The second most popular was #289, Conan the Librarian.(It lacks a call number because I didn’t start doing them until 2010.)
  8. “But no other room displayed the meticulous solemnity of the library, the sanctuary of Dr. Urbino until old age carried him off.  There, all around his father’s walnut desk and the tufted leather easy chairs, he had lined the walls and even the windows with shelves behind glass doors, and had arranged in an almost demented order the three thousand volumes bound in identical calfskin with his initials in gold on the spines.” (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Love in the Time of Cholera)

Further updates:

  1. As of 10 June 2012, all comics currently posted on the blog that have been given an LCC number should be indexed here. There are some comics that weren’t assigned an LCC number and thus aren’t indexed here.
  2. #289, Conan the Librarian in: Book Challenges is still the most popular comic of all time, with 253 views.
  3. #304, The Meaning of Wife (Book Review) is the most popular comic of the last 12 months.

Em oi! #337: Adventures Underground

Two countries divided by a single language.

I am fairly certain that the trouble we experienced in London can be ascribed to the fact that, as native English speakers, we expected words to mean certain things and not other things. Unfortunately, the British don’t seem to subscribe to the same philosophy, as evidenced by their misuse of the word “Subway.”

The other reason for our problems was that many Tube stations/lines were down for maintenance on the weekend and the Monday after our arrival (we came January 2nd, a Sunday), which was apparently a national holiday. In Paris, the Metro was never closed and we could get fresh croissants within a block of our hotel. In London we ate at Indian restaurants a lot.

Classes start tomorrow! Very exciting, etc. I am recovered from my end-of-semester burn out and ready to go do something intellectual again. I wonder how long this will last.

Belated classification: PE1961.A63 L86 2011.

Em oi! #336: Assassin’s Creed II

And then Leonardo da Vinci makes suggestive comments. If only I were making this up.

Happy New Year, everyone!

I’m a bit late, aren’t I? Well, I’ve been away, and…yes, I know, excuses, excuses. This comic was actually sketched out but not yet colored (or, I think, inked) when we left for Europe, and I didn’t exactly have access to my art supplies or a scanner while I was there. All apologies. I do have a couple of comics planned out for the next couple of weeks, though.

Belatedly classed under GV1469.35.A68 L86 2011.

I won’t mislead you by claiming that this game (i.e. Assassin’s Creed II) was all Bryan discussed on our trip…but he did enjoy looking through the Louvre to find some of the paintings showed in the game (without giving too much away, the game features a Da Vinci Code-esque plot in which assassins fighting Knights Templar seek clues in Renaissance paintings. Also stabbing. Lots of stabbing). And he got up at 5:30 this morning to play.

That was mostly jet lag though. I think.

Anyway, we’re happy to be back. I’ll write more about the trip later, when I have a couple of related comics to show you. For now, I’m going to have some dessert and then perhaps take myself off to bed a bit early. It’s back to work tomorrow (very exciting) and I need to be ready to get up early.

Do you have any New Year’s resolutions? I haven’t come up with any yet, I guess I could use some ideas.

Em oi! #335: The M&M Jar

Ask not for whom the M&Ms toll...

Well, I’m knackered, but my computer is now up and running again (Windows 7) after a reformat, and hopefully it will keep going for a long time. Unfortunately, I’ve lost the password I needed to log into the site (Classification Web) where I could look things up in LCC, so the comics won’t be categorized for a while.  After winter break ends, I can use the hard copy of LCC or the computers in the library school lab.

A few quick notes about the comic:

  • Based on an actual conversation, and I laughed for a long time.  Bryan has a perfect sense of timing.
  • My birthday is actually May 3.  I figure since it’s mostly Bryan and my mom who read this, I shouldn’t bother mentioning it.  But then I thought maybe I should for those random strangers.
  • I have had this drawn for a couple of days and I’ve been waiting on the re-installation of all my various programs before I could process and upload it.  I would have had it up last night, but Bryan’s computer exploded and I went to go play games with him to console him.  The things we do for love.
  • I think that’s it.  I’m really tired now.
  • Oh, the name of the comic was chosen to be similar to The Bell Jar.  Not that I recommend the book, mind.  Unless you are a depressed teenager, then it will be awesome.  Actually, I take that back.  I think it was so depressing I had to stop reading it.  So that’s pretty depressing.

I’m not one for Xmas cheer, but I’ll close by wishing everyone a happy holiday season.  My gift is a trip to Paris and London.  I am so excited I cannot sit still.  I get to go to Paris!  I can run to the Eiffel Tower!  We’ll go to London!  I’ll see Baker Street!

I’m full of exclamation points.

If I owe you an email, I’m sorry.  Still getting caught up on everything from finals.

ETA: Classed as GT2920.C3 L86 2010 for Manners and customs (General)–Customs relative to private life–Eating and drinking customs–Foods and beverages–Beverages–Other, A-Z–Chocolate.

Em ơi! #334: A Short and Pointless Story

Let's talk about socks, baby? Socks it to me? Sufferin' sock- okay, I'll stop.

Bryan’s friend’s dog came over (long story) to go for a run with us tonight. Last week when this happened, Kali (the cat) freaked out, urinated on me to get me to drop her, streaked up the stairs and was not heard from for another three hours. This week she sat on the sofa and hissed quietly when the dog came near. This was pretty distressing for the dog, who wants to be friends with everyone and who was evidently determined to protect his friend Bryan from the mean nasty bitchy cat, but I think it’s a vast improvement.

This comic…Bryan and I have had a couple of conversations about it.  The first one was like this:

Em: I’m going to do a comic about your socks.

Bryan: My…my socks?  That won’t be funny.  Aren’t you afraid people will think you’re all domestic?

Em: It’ll be fine.

Second conversation:

Bryan: The comic is funnier now that I’ve read  it again. (pause) I’ve been finding mis-matched socks in my drawer for the last two weeks.

Em: See, I’m helpful.

We’ll file this comic under PN6231.S634 L86 2010, for Collections of general literature–Wit and humor–Collections on special topics, A-Z–Socks.

I usually don’t class my stuff in PN (literature) because, well, everything would go there, and part of the point of this exercise (if there is a point) is to get to know the LCC in general.  But I’m only finding one other topic related to socks, and it’s about knitting, which isn’t right.  So literature it is.  This is, of course, the problem with an enumerative classification (all categories listed out, as opposed to an expressive classification like Dewey which allows a cataloger to create numbers on the fly).  But don’t get me started…

I’ve noticed that most bloggers end with questions to try to engage their readers in a dialog and garner comments.  So how about this: Do you have any opinions on enumerative versus expressive classification systems?

No, wait.  Don’t go.  Let’s start with something easier, like “How was your day?”  I myself swam 2100 yards, cleaned a heinous virus off my laptop, and made truffles out of bad fudge.  What did you do today?

Em ơi! #333: Sucks to be Me

CERTAIN DOOM.

This was meant to be a follow-up to the comic from the week before last, #332, about giving up sugar.  But even though the comic was finished last week, the week itself was a total write-off in terms of getting things done, so it didn’t get scanned until today.

I just burned the fuck out of my hand failing at fudge making, so excuse me if I’m not as apologetic as I should be about completely missing an update.  Ugh.  I’ll have an amusing illustrated essay up Friday or Saturday to make it up to you.

Not eating sugar/candy was a weird experience.  I basically wanted to eat the biggest most chocolate-y and fat filled cake I could imagine.  Instead I think I had some low fat frozen yoghurt.  But whatever.  While I was not eating candy, Bryan and I were planning a big dinner party, so basically every time we were out running or driving around or whatever, it devolved into a case of, “So, what should we make for dessert?”  Bryan thought for some reason we should focus on the main course.  I don’t get it.

Anyway, I wish I could say I’m eating less sugar or something now that I’ve had my time off.  But I’m not.  I am eating more dried fruit, which I guess is a plus.

So my hand.  I usually don’t fuck up recipes this badly, but I just threw away like five cups of burned crystallized sugar and peanut butter.  All I can say is, “Go fuck yourself, Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.”

This comic is filed under TX553.S8 L86 2010a, for:

Home economics–Nutrition.  Foods and food supply–Examination and analysis.  Composition.  Adulteration–Dietary studies, food values, experiments, tests, etc.–Special constituents, A-Z–Sugar