Onstad knows how to write little kids. When I was a kid I couldn't stand to throw my old shoes away.

I still can't stand to part with most things.

Vlad had his moment of tearful agony over the loss of his taxi-driver hair cut.

I still do this. I recently got a new hoodie after realising my old one had holes in the cuffs, elbow, pockets, hem, and was about four shades lighter than it used to be. The old hoodie has yet to make its way into the trash after serving me well the duration of sophomore and half of junior year. I named it Muriel. The new one is called Halifax.)

That's ok as long as you weren't smug about it.

This actually happened to me: my old, battered mattress was switched for a new, plump one back when I was about nine. That night at bedtime, I snuck out into the hallway where my old mattress was waiting to be taken out next to the front door, bringing my pillow and blanket with me, and tried to sleep on that old familiar frame one last time.

I was caught by my parents, and sent to my room to sleep on the new, somehow-too-newly-cushy mattress, crying all the way.

Though the "new" mattress broke-in and became "mine," the memory of being unwanting/unwilling to let the old one go still stays with me.

Onstad captures that blind powerful overwhelming need to keep in your life the "things-that-have-been-there-ever-since-[you]-have."

Maybe it's just me.

I really like this arc. It's a bit dark, but it's one of my favorites.

Aye, me too. Unbelievable that we didn't get loads of filler after the GOF. We just plunged right into something adventurous, dark, and awesome. Proper golden age right here.

I'm not sure what puckey is, but I'm going to guess that I don't want to pour it over any sundaes.

I have one. From Big Bear Lake. Some deputies gave me sass one time and said they were going to take me in for impersonating an officer.

I think this is as close as Vlad has gotten to being a badass.

Yeah, I agree. I like his poetic prose about what it is to be a man, even when it comes to discarded furniture! It seems like, given the right circumstances of a vague emotional connection to a person, Vlad would totally commit his camaradarie, offer beautiful yet manly words of encouragement, and then split a bottle of vodka with his new friend-for-life.

Notice here how Onstad captures the very essence of the Eastern European.

...a melodramatic world-view, a heavy moustache, a and cylindrical steel nose.

His head is so nude.

I'm glad I am not the only one noticing this.

this just goes to show that Vlad is about a hundred times better with kids than Lie Bot is.

"Lie Bot, where'd the couch go?"
"I think it left because it hates you so much"

Well...There's another erson I can strike off my list of potential babysitters.

BE STRONK!

Man, you repeating that actually made it better.

[IMGS OFF]

The whole point of Achewood is nerdy males who dream macho dreams, and that is OK, and brilliantly conveyed, but at moments like the GOF and the Badass Games it does kind of move towards imploding on its own concept. I did like the GOF, but I like the one-offs where Ray is contemplating masculinity as presented by $8 glossy magazines which are mostly ads rather better.

I like Vlad because he is the only character who actually seems to like children. I don't mean "feel protective of Phillipe," I mean actually care about children and how they think and feel. It brings a manly tequila-stained tear to my butch, butch eye.

Tuesday Blogs

-Emeril-
Trashspotting - First Establishment of Premise
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Today's Blogs

Emeril: Official Trashspotting clothing and items.

I read the entire archive up to this point without bothering to register or comment on a single strip. But I just have to say how inspirational Vlad's speech is in this strip. I want to read it every morning as soon as I get out of bed.