A Stable Home

 

Happy Father's Day! This one goes out to my dad :) He's a carpenter and turned a barn into a house for his family! It's a nice barn/house. And we don't leave doors open or anything like that.

I want to say more about this comic, but it's also my husband's first Father's Day meaning that we have a baby and she's crying so I need to change her diaper (that's a usual culprit with her fussiness). 

Text:
P: You grew up in a stable home.
L: Enough with the "lived in a barn" jokes!

Twitter Updates

 I had this conversation with my husband - he keeps me informed on all sorts of things because I've really fallen away from looking at the news since last year when the panic was in full swing and everything was amping up the fear factor. It's hard to stay informed because everything is biased. I've also stepped away from some social media because of all the negativity thrown about there. Everyone has a right to air their opinion and everyone has a right to ignore said opinion. That's how it seems to go anyways. I have found some changes to my social media feeds to be very helpful - following certain people/groups and unfollowing others. Do what's right for your mental health and sanity!

Text:
L: Are you looking at things that make you happy or things that make you sad?
M: I am looking at things that keep me informed.

Cookies Deleted

 

An A+ alibi right there, can't do anything once the cookies have been deleted. "Deleting Cookies" is the term used for removing the small tracking tokens that tend to accumulate in your internet browser. These tokens help personalize your experience by remembering previous selections and targeting ads just for you :) It's a good idea to clear them every once in a while, but also if you're having an issue with loading a page then go ahead and clear them. Clearing your cache also helps fix pages, and on Windows machines you just hit ctrl-shift-r to do that. The cache is great for loading pages quickly but it can mess things up if the page has changed and the cache has an older version. 

Text:
A: Where did all the desserts go?!?
B: Someone must have deleted all cookies.
A: ... Someone???
B: *munch munch* *shrug*

 

Well, this will make it difficult to post comics....

It works now! But the child is upset....

And Mark has her so I can schedule a comic! We aren't sure why she's fussy, but that's her default state. Anyways, I received an email a while ago about FeedBurner (how I send out my emails) being retired so I need to find a new way to send them, and I tasked my Mark with finding that way and he decided on MailChimp since we use that in other venues. But I need to get that set up and hopefully the change will be seamless. It will have happened by this point because FeedBurner is closing at the beginning of June. It's currently the end of May so I need to get a move on transferring to the new service. 

Text:
L: Can you set up the FeedMonkey for me?
M: ... MailChimp RSS?
L: Yeah, that. 

Warm and Sunny

 

This came up when we were at our in-laws and they wanted to go for a walk and yeah it was all warm and sunny. I tend to dehydrate and burn so yeah I'm not a fan of summer. But it's ok when I'm indoors. Maybe a short amount of time outside, just a little. My husband loves the sun so we have different ideas on what a good vacation is but that's ok. Oh noes the baby is crying so I gotta go probably feed her. 

Text:
M: Want to go for a stroll?
L: But it's warm and sunny outside.

Trichotomist vs Triceratops

 

I think this is the last one in this unnamed series about tri-di-mono-things (haven't come up with a witty name for it) but saved the best for last because dinosaurs! I thought I had a joke about triceratops from my dinosaur egg oatmeal packets but I was thinking of the stegosaurus one - 

Q: What does a stegosaurus do at night?
A: Stego-snores!!!

Oh wait, I remember the triceratops one -

Q: What does a triceratops wear for pants?
A: Tricera-bottoms!!!

So many great jokes from the best oatmeal out there (the sugar eggs that melt to show dinosaur-shaped sprinkles are just top of the line). If you're wondering about trichotomy, look at the previous comic (I would link but it's still a scheduled post so it's being weird). If you're wondering about the etymology of triceratops, look at this comic from earlier.

Text:
Apatosaurus: Are you a trichotomist?
Triceratops: No, a triceratops. 

Tri vs Di with Falsehood

 

So in a previous comic I mentioned we'd get to tri- vs di-chotomy in a later comic but then I misplaced said comics but I found them! So here's one and there'll be another after this.
Theological trichotomy is the belief that humans are made up of three parts and I gotta look up what those are - it's body, soul, and spirit. But trichotomy in general is just an item/concept made up of three parts. Theological dichotomy says humans just have body and soul, i.e. material and immaterial. (You should be able to figure out what a dichotomy is from these examples but to be clear it's just an item/concept made up of two parts). I won't post links because it's a raging theological debate and I think it's fretting over something that's not fundamental (and also seems a little pedantic). I don't stand in either camp - I know we definitely have material and immaterial components but I don't think debate over how many of which parts we have is helpful. 
False dichotomy however is the belief (in any sphere, not just theological) that there are only two choices when in fact there are more than that available. It's like saying I have to wear a red or a blue shirt today when in fact I have a whole wardrobe to choose from (that's an over simplification but I think it holds true).
In superhero movies, they tend to buy into false monochotomies which is when they say "It's the only way!" when in fact there are several ways. But it's a classic trope that won't be ending any time soon I'm thinking. 

Text: 
A: Are you a trichotomist?
B: No, I'm more of a false dichotomist. 

Dasher Approaching

 

A Christmas reference in June? Well, we are getting Door Dash every once in a while (especially when Lucy was first born because neither she nor I were up to going out and about) and this conversation happened (the person who delivers the food for Door Dash is called a Dasher). I want to abbreviate Door Dash to DD but to me that means Dunkin Donuts so I keep spelling it out to be clear. Can you name all the reindeer? I think it would be funny if someone started up a Door Dash knock-off and called it Door Dancer/Prancer/Vixen but actually that doesn't sound like a food delivery service so maybe don't go down that track. Also it'd need to be in a different form (Dash vs Dasher i.e. Door Prance? Dance?). I think they picked the right one for Door Dash. I guess Door Comet/Cupid/Donner/Blitzen could work but it wouldn't be clear what the point of the service was. But all that aside, it is very convenient to get food delivered when you have a newborn but are wanting something specific that you don't want to make. Like Middle Eastern Kebabs (from Maiwan Kebab) or Japanese Ramen (from Akira Ramen). 

Text:
M: Dasher is on his way.
L: What about Prancer?

Food Color Transfer

 

I made a bunch of meals to throw in the freezer a week or two before Lucy's due date (or rather harvest date because she was a C-section) and I am very grateful I had the forethought to do that because yeah, fussy baby makes meal prep difficult. This comic was inspired by those meals, which include all sorts of meat and veggies because I was trying to have a nice assortment so there's beef, chicken, and seafood. I got the recipes from a QR code in a Better Homes & Gardens magazine which led to a list of like forty make-ahead meals. I would post the link but I can't find it anymore - I have a list of the recipes that I chose from the article but that'd be tedious to post here. So just know there are many meals you can make ahead and freeze (in portion sizes so for us it's just two and that defrosts fairly quickly). 

Speaking of freezers, tomorrow is FRIDGE DAY!!! The annual reminder of that time my mom's fridge was delivered and there was chaos. 

Text:
Mom: Cooke the chicken til it's no longer pink, and cook the shrimp til it's pink.
Daughter: Ah, a classic color transfer.
Mom: No.

Casserole Pans

This one was inspired by a church fellowship in the time of Covid when we were wondering how our church would handle dishing (haha) out the food - turns out they asked for volunteers to serve the food out so they were the only ones to touch the handles (I think that's how some buffets have handled it as well). It was a tasty fellowship - for those outside of Baptist circles, 'fellowship' means a church gathering centered around a meal. Sometimes the food is supplied by the church, sometimes it's a potluck and everyone brings something to share. The potlucks work best when there's a theme and people sign up or are designated what to bring so we don't end up with 15 green salads and three of the same sandwiches. My previous church would use the last names and say A-H brings sandwiches and I-P brings salads and R-Z brings desserts and singles bring drinks or chips. 

Text:
M: How will they serve the casseroles?
L: Let's see how it pans out.

Blissfully Unaware

 

I appreciate those who stay up-to-date with world happenings and national happenings and all that stuff. But I am not one of those people. I use to be, then I realized I was getting unhappy when I reviewed what was going on in the top stories back in the summer of 2020 so I cut back on social media and totally cut out news updates (I just get them from my super helpful husband and a few family members, and also from the social media channels I have kept) and now my anxiety and such have lowered. And I've started looking for the good, tuning my channels to be more positive. I started following humphrey_the_newfoundland_ and rastawhiteshepherd and iroh_the_berner (all amazing dogs) and I recommend following them (on insta) if you want some cute dogs and positivity in your feeds.

Text:
M: Have you heard the latest on *annoying topic*?
L: Nope, I have been blissfully unaware.
M: Well, let me fill you in...

Nature Sounds

We've been having some nice weather which means most days we have some windows open, provided they aren't making too much noise with the construction on our block (someone is putting in a new house and another is replacing their deck). There are lots of birds in our area which make for relaxing nature noise. Pretty soon the seventeen year cicadas are gonna emerge (I saw my first exoskeleton today when I went to get the mail) (today is about two weeks ago because the baby is sleeping so I'm scheduling comics while the peace lasts) and once they are all out and about we might want the windows closed again. Bleh, they are gross. Leaving their shells all around. 

Text:
L: Want to listen to some music or just nature sounds?
M: Nature sounds are good.
L: Ok - Alexa, play nature sounds.

Ambiguous Cartoon Critter

 

Here's a picture of the cartoon creature in question - the model is clearly concerned over what it is. 

After polling many people, we had suggestions of mouse, cow, sheep, bear, dinosaur, puppy, lamb, and koala. I was thinking it's a mouse but upon seeing all the suggestions, leaning towards a polar bear. The critter is repeated on the feet of the sleeper but looks roughly the same there so no help from multiple angles. But it's still a cute outfit, even if we don't know what's on it.

Text:
M: Is that a mouse on her sleeper? Or a ... cow?
L: It's a cute little ambiguous cartoon critter.

Unicorn and Narwhal Renamed

 Continuing on the theme of the last comic, we now have another rename! "Mono-dente-tops" would mean "one-tooth-face" because narwhals have a tusk which is actually a tooth that pops right through their lip and sticks out like a horn. So there's that. Some even have two tusks. Others have none. They're kinda fascinating creatures. I could say more but the baby is crying so I gotta go attend to her.

Text:
Unicorn: I'm a monoceratops!
Narwhal: I'm a monodentetops!

Triceratops vs Monoceratops

 

This came from a discussion on trichotomy vs dichotomy which will come in a later comic. But to dissect the word "tri-cerat-ops" you get "three-horn-face" so a unicorn would be a "mono-cerat-ops" or "one-horn-face." Or perhaps a "uniceratops", that could work too. Rhinoceros just means "nose-horn" but since they have one or two horns on their face/nose then they could be in the same category as a unicorn i.e. uniceratops or monoceratops OR they could be diceratops. 

Text:
Rhino: Are you a triceratops?
Unicorn: No, I'm a monoceratops!