you want to think you’ll improve a little each time you try, but no

This comic was likely inspired, at least in part, by my Mom. Over six years ago I introduced her to the computer game “Bookworm” and she has been playing it ever since. Oh sure, there have been other things in the meantime (“Peggle”, and more recently some hidden object games) but Bookworm was her first big gaming fixation.

If she’s ever not playing it regularly, it’s because of the issue brought up by this comic; one day the pieces will fall into place and she’ll get a higher score than she’s ever gotten. Too high, she thinks. Impossibly high. And then in subsequent games she won’t even be able to get close. It’s funny and a bit sad to watch, because I’ve been in that place so many times — if you set the bar too high and aren’t even sure what you did to get there, what hope do you have of ever getting there again? [January 3, 2012]

it’s the human condition, I guess

Somewhere over the years I picked up the habit of saying “like a million” (yes I know the comic uses “billion”, but generally I go with “million”). “Like”, in that sense, is meant to mean “approximately”. So for instance I’ll say “Man, I watched that movie like a million years ago” or “We’re already like a million hours late so let’s go!”

I bring this up by way of an explanation for the third panel, which probably didn’t need explaining but guess what I’m doing it anyway. What happened is that the people buying my idea have said “We’ll give you, I don’t know, like a billion dollars or something” and then whoever was in charge of printing the oversized novelty cheque just ran with that exact phrasing. It’s probably about a billion and fourteen, plus some change. [November 14, 2011]

oh, "can’t complain" – will I ever replace you?

I’ve discovered that saying “Fantastic!” when people ask how I am often catches them by surprise, which is fun. And if you’re sincere about it — which I am, because, I am! — it seems to brighten others up a little too. All those pithy motivational posters your schoolteachers had about happiness being contagious might actually be true? [November 9, 2011]