Auchtoon!

Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, July 6, 2009

’nuff said

Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, June 29, 2009

For those who notice the resemblance — no, my father-in-law who put in 40+ years at GM has not in fact taken a job as a security guard. Yet, anyway…

Originally published in the Grand Rapids Family magazine, June 2009

Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, June 22, 2009

For the record (for those who actually read any distance into the comic’s dense copy), I adore black licorice. Good & Plenties are the best. (Sing along with me! — “Charlie says, love my Good and Plenties. Charlie says, really rings a bell. Charlie says, love my Good and Plenties. Don’t know any other candy that I love so well.) Ah, I can just feel the black ooze at the corners of my mouth building up a nice crust that I can enjoy later again and again….

And by the way, all you posers out there who claim to love licorice but not black licorice — I have nothing but contempt for you. Red, blue, even chocolate flavors are abominations. Tis sacrilege to even consider them licorice simply because of their twisted, strandy shape. Woe! Woe unto you, blasphemous Twizzlerites. You shall pay dearly for your transgressions! An eternal hellfire of off-brand and misnamed confections! Repent and embrace the one true licorice!!!

Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, June 15, 2009

And then sometimes the editorial cartoons get a bit autobiographical. Long story, but suffice to say despite a lifetime of exemplary financial practices, we will not (at least at this point) be saving ourselves approximately $70,000 in interest over the next 15 years.

Strongly considering massive deficit spending and then scoring a bailout…

Hey, for all you folks with a Flint connection, this may be of interest to you. My sister’s Flint Powers classmate, Gordon Young, has an article in Slate magazine. Gordon is creator of the an addictive blog called Flint Expatriates.

Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, June 8, 2009

Big thanks to Andrew and Ben at 2G Techworks for solving my blog software issue. I tried the “Oscar Rogers” approach with Yahoo Small Business. (See above.) Didn’t work so well. Andrew and Ben apparently went another route ’cause it’s been FIXED!

Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, June 1, 2009

You know things are bad when your local editorial cartoonist grows weary of all the terrible news. Like dung beetles, we typically thrive on that, um, stuff. But geez, it is summer! So in the midst of this spectacularly awful Michigan season of foreclosure and bankruptcy and unemployment and general despair, I was looking for a ray of sunshine.

And in West Michigan that came in the form of our 40^th annual Festival of Arts. Every year in the first weekend of June, volunteers organize an effort to take over several downtown city blocks to put on a street party. There are food booths galore with impressive varieties. There are tents filled with artworks from the sublime to the strange. There are several stages where the young and old entertain in a steady stream. It really is impressive. Check it out next year. Assuming there is a Michigan then. (Back to despair.)

Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, May 25, 2009