My Favorite Calvin & Hobbes strip...EVER!

Let me be clear...I am a HUGE Calvin & Hobbes fan. I have been reading the strip since I was in 8th grade. I have most of the books and collections in paperback. Also have the recently released three-volume collection in hardback of every strip published. I know that Bill Watterson is an asshole, but I don't care. I know if there's one person I could have lunch with before I die it would be him.

It's always difficult to pick a favorite out of something you love so much, but because I'm such a dork I've actually put thought into this. After much internal strife and rigorous debate with multiple personalities I have concluded that the strip you see here has won the coveted award of "Dork's Favorite Calvin & Hobbes Strip."

This strip still makes me laugh every time I read it and, in my opinion, pretty much embodies all that Calvin and Hobbes is about. Calvin's antipathy for school and the morning routine that precedes it, societal anarchy, subversive dialogue and a conclusion that you know is going to get him in trouble...again. It's all there. And sitting as always by his side, serving as his conscience, is the loyal Hobbes. What a pair. What a comic strip. One of the best.

Train Sketches

More fun on the way to work.

The Fire in Hidden Hills

This past weekend in Southern California fires raged out of control throughout the city of Yorba Linda and more specifically, the neighborhood and area I grew up in. The area just beyond the hills of my parents house is where Chino Hills and Corona merge with Yorba Linda. There's a lot of undeveloped, dry hills that tend to be fire prone, but thankfully, our area has never severely been threatened. All of that changed last weekend.
The entire city and surrounding areas were engulfed by smoke and flames. It was an experience I'll never forget. Thankfully my parents house was not burned down thanks in large part to the heroics of our nextdoor neighbor who happens to also be a firefighter. After my folks were evacuated he stayed behind with a hose and soaked the surrounding trees between his house and ours. Thanks Jim! The house directly above them, however, could not be saved and burned down. Two other houses along their street burned as well.
These images were taken outside of my house in La Habra which is less than a mile from where the Brea fire was located and only about three miles from the Yorba Linda one.

Cracked Pavement

Having grown up reading comics in the LA Times, it has always been a dream of mine to have a syndicated comic strip. This was my first attempt at it. "Cracked Pavement" was a strip that I created after Bill Watterson quit the business. His leaving left a huge void in my life and this was my attempt at filling it. I created about 15-20 strips, bundled them up into a portfolio and sent it to all the major syndicates. Of course, it was rejected, but I still had fun doing it and hope to continue with it someday.