Coffee Monkey

January 21, 1966

I went back and forth on whether I would be subtle or raunchy with my commentary here and chose: I think I would also prefer being taken away and possibly wooed and railed by that guy and not the knight. Absolutely no offense to that horse, it's amazing, but good knights that you want to rescued by don't ride horses like that. I don't make the rules, they just don't.

I guess Brutus is asking if Ms. Preen wants coffee because she might be in the conference and he's just being nice. He and Ms. Preen never interact outside of this setting so that's the only thing that makes sense. Unless it's something else. What's your game, Brutus?

One Non-Blonde

September 22, 1965

Classic ketchup bit. One of the things I love about these older strips is how angry everybody gets. They're like George Costanza when he's told he should go to anger management. "Having some trouble with the ketchup?" "Yes, probably because the WHOLE UNIVERSE IS AGAINST ME!!!"

I'm assuming Ms. Preen edited her SnapChat avatar and then felt like she needed to look exactly like that. Do typical readers of The Born Loser know that avatar is different from profile picture? I feel this could lead to confusion. Older audiences should really stick to Blondie, Hi & Lois, Beetle Bailey, or strips geared toward them like Pluggers or a soap opera strip.

Miss Preen Is Happy To Get Rid of Him

August 16, 1965

Dude, step back. She doesn't need you all up in her business. Everyone is standing too close to each other. I mean, I know you are mainly just passing around slips of paper with your info on them but still...

Wouldn't those pennies already be rolled up and ready to go? This should still go quicker than waiting for the ten people you were behind.

Bon voyage, Brutus Thornapple. And don't come back!

Flying to San Diego makes a lot more sense than flying to Pittsburgh from where Brutus is.

Surprised She Didn't Go With Veeblefester

Wow, Ms. Preen. I know that you are just doing your job but you don't have to have that smile on your face like you're getting some perverse pleasure out of this.

"Sales" Person

Tomb bricks, used during the Han period of Ancient China to bring pleasure and protection to
the tomb occupants. These date back to the Western Han Dynasty which lasted from 206 B.C. - 9 B.C.

We went to Kansas City yesterday to see an exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins Museum on Ancient China--Dreams of the Kings. It featured a lot ancient artifacts from the Han Dynasty, the Qi Dynasty, and a lot of jade from a tomb called Lion Mountain. We also saw other exhibits such as The Art of Calligraphy, Eugene Richards: The Run-On of Time, and their permanent American and American Indian collection.

While it was all good, the part that struck me was the Eugene Richards exhibit. A social activist who uses photography to bring to light the struggles and humanity of people forgotten by the system, Richards creates a powerful image in his photos. This exhibit alone was worth the trip. The photos were rough and haunting and I won't soon forget them.

For more about our excursion into Kansas City and the museum tour, check out the Tauy Creek Facebook Page and Instagram. Thanks to all the readers. Don't forget Patreon and Ko-Fi over in the sidebar if you wish to support my writing and research.

If Brutus is so bad at his job then why does he still have it? This also reinforces that Brutus is just a salesperson. But if he's just a salesperson then why does he seem to be one of the most important people at Veeblefester Incorporated? Maybe it's a "Dwight from The Office" situation. In The Office, Dwight was labeled "Assistant to the Regional Manager", a made-up position that he took to mean "Assistant Regional Manager." Maybe that's what they did with Brutus--he's "Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer."

1206: They're Still In School?!

Oh, Facebook, you never seem to disappoint with your users' veiled hint of bigotry.

First, her name is Caitlyn. Continuing to call Caitlyn "Bruce" is akin to me calling you Emily when your name is Alison. For someone who cares about world hunger, maybe you should be more respectful to people by calling them by the name they want. I'm not even going to comment on the incorrect pronoun usage except for this sentence here.

I also think people don't understand how solving world hunger would work. Hint, it would involve deposing numerous tyrannical leaders and basically taking over two continents. Why don't we focus on the hunger we have here which can easily be solved by equality and basic human decency. Lastly, how is our country being run into the ground? If your complaining about the president or Congress or the governors or state legislatures that are duly elected by the people then what are you really upset about? To change that, you would need to change our jingoistic, xenophobic and all-around holier-than-thou attitudes that we have and those are three things that you seem fine with based on your other Facebook posts.

Why do teachers in comic strips always assign summer reading? These kids are not going to be in your class next year. If it's just a suggested list then why does it seem mandatory? This kind of setup may work if these kids attended a one-room schoolhouse or even a consolidated school in the early 20th Century but not in today's modern school system.

Uh-Oh, Looks Like Brutus Is In Trouble

It's almost 11 o'clock at night and I just realized that I wanted to post today's strip here.  Then I am going to try to get at least half of Liberty #11 written because I really want to get this thing posted.

Was Brutus faking the answering machine message or did he re-record a message to include "I left five minutes ago" just in case Veeblefester called.  And don't go blaming Brutus, R.W., because when Gladys is in the mood you better get in the mood as soon as possible.

Chip Has a Way of Surprising Me

What the--? Is Chip starting to introduce continuity into the strip? Is Miss Preen going to be a recurring character? These questions and many others will probably not be answered in the next installment of...The Born Loser.

Introducing, Miss Preen

Last year, I got massively sick. I rarely ever vomit but this time I did. Endlessly and incessantly. I don't know if it was just the flu or if I caught something because a day or so before I got sick I was riding our local transit bus which you know the homeless people use as a traveling port-o-potty. Anyway, when all was said and done, I had passed the sickness to my wife and son which was, of course, fun for them.