oxfordhacker

Today's recommendation combines two of my previously mentioned interests: web-comics, and over-analysis: The Comics Curmudgeon. Josh (the curmudgeon in question) analyses newspaper comics, that weird vestigial area in which soap opera comics appear alongside kids' puzzles and anaemic humour, all seemingly drifting further and further from the world covered by the rest of the paper. As with the other critiques I like, the subject's combination of banality and awfulness inspires the critic to contrasting heights of creativity. One post might concentrate on the art, the next on plots; sometimes he'll use a comic as inspiration for a comic riff, other times he'll just present baffling panels for their own sake. Overall, he's charmingly nonplussed yet intrigued by the continuing existence of so many strikingly irrelevant and/or unfunny strips, which often end looking more like outsider art than mainstream entertainment. Thanks to him, though, you can enjoy them with an ironic commentary, which is how I like to absorb all my culture. And if it wasn't for this site, I would never have seen this:

or this:

I have not been at my personal best for the past couple of weeks. My brain has been unable to focus on anything complicated, which has meant that work has been nigh impossible. Luckily, I can get away with that to an extent, but I like my job so it makes me sad. Also, most of my hobbies require more focus than I can muster, so I kind of end up with a lot of free time on my hands. Oddly, one thing that doesn't seem to be materially affected is my ability to write things, or at least a specific type of thing. I've written a diary entry every day this year, which has given me plenty of practice in just sitting down and typing whatever happens to be on my mind. The beauty of this technique in the current situation, I realise, is that it explicitly eschews planning or concentrated effort. Hence this post: an attempt to bypass my current failing, perhaps even turn it into a virtue, inspired by the start of NaBloPoMo. Look! I've got a really busy, ugly badge and everything:



I have no idea whether I'll actually manage to keep this up, but I did once before, to my continuing surprise, so you never know. Luckily (for you, certainly) I have a topic in mind other than my current problems, albeit inspired by them. After all, what else requires next to no focus or planning ability to enjoy and can be experienced from your desk at work? That's right, it's most of the internet! I spend too much time trawling it at the best of times (and this is certainly not that), and so doing, I have filtered many delicious morsels out of its murky depths. I thought it would be nice to share them with you, like a cross between a baleen whale and a mother bird. And if that metaphor hasn't put you off entirely, here is the first such offering:



We Are Become Pals is a short, illustrated story about two friends, and I thought it was rather charming. It's written by the guy who writes A Softer World and drawn by the (NSFW) lady who draws Chester 5000, so really that's three recommendations in one...