1155 Taking Notice.

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You know, if I could actually talk about what’s going on in my life, instead of playing like everything is peachy and I’m just drawing and playing video games, these posts would seem really compelling. I’m caught in the blogger’s dilemma. Cause trouble for attention, or be respectful of my family’s privacy.

That is not to say that I don’t enjoy having my cousin in my life. Quite the contrary. I feel like getting a chance to make a difference in her life is a gift, and the least I could do in the name of my uncle’s memory. I just also have the modern need to let every thought spill out of my head in a petty attempt to profit on it.

Welcome to Earth 3.0

X3

In all seriousness, I was supposed to be watching community with her since after dinner but I had to color the page and get it ready to post. I am the worst.

41 Comments

Crave, just as long as you have some place to go to get things off of your chest, you should be fine. I’ve been blessed to have the family I’ve got, so I don’t know that I can sympathize. Please accept my empathy. We’ve never met, so it isn’t much. It’s all I can do, though.

It seems to me as though you really enjoy your family, and this is actually kind of a tough thing for you that it has affected your family like it has.

As far as drawing goes, you update more consistently than probably 95+% of webcomics. Even other webcomics whose professional roots run deeper than yours might don’t update like they should. (Nuklear Power, Dr. McNinja… I’m looking at you guys!)

The longest I’ve held any one job was five years, and that was the U.S. Marines. The longest civil job I’ve held lasted less than two years, though I was in that field for almost three years.

The fact that you’ve kept this comic up longer than I’ve kept a job makes me jealous. I know that Between Failures is only occasionally autobiographical for you, but I hope you think of what you’ve got going on as one of those good times in between.

Even if you have nobody to read what you write and don’t feel comfortable posting to the net (VERY understandable), still write it down.

You don’t want holding it in to become how you hold life together.

Is…is this finally the revelation of the teen’s identity? (well, relative identity? I guess?) My god. The feeling of resolution…it’s magnificent. That said: Crave, definitely stick with relative isolation concerning the blog and your personal life. As much as I enjoy Between Failures and your blog posts, I (along with every other commenter) am an audience member. So, yea, that’s my two cents. That said, I don’t think you crossed a private life boundary with what you said in this post. Here’s hoping things smooth out for you. Oh, also, those people complaining about characterization recently, have their heads up their asses. It was obvious from the get go BF was going to have some emotional weight, and, considering the setting, that requires characters with flaws.
…
Now I don’t know how to end this. <__> *breaks a glass* MAZEL TOV!

WURST
UNKEL
EVAR.

You are such a meanie, @Crave. Delaying a teenager’s eternal quest for continuous entertainment, wasting time on your stoopid comic. As if your thousands of fans would even notice.

I’m sort-of surprised that Dawnstance didn’t go all whine-a-zoic on poor Mike. Perhaps she’s had a bit of a revelation — the sort you can use to start to mature, if you’re wise — and gotten a clue.

Sometimes, having your @$$ handed to you will do that.

Life, what a job it is.
Tell us, or not. Whatever you do tell your audience, will be lapped up, because everyone is, to some extent, a closet voyeur. I think it all comes down to, “hey, someone else’s life is (adjective) up more than mine!”

Thoughts on today’s strip:
1. I can’t wait to find out what hell hath Reginald wroth.
1.5 Did it have to do with Reggie’s new trainee? (wasn’t he the guy Thomas thought is a thief?)
2. What, Dawnstance STILL can’t remember Nina’s name?
3. Panel 3: I can’t decide if she just … complimented Mike? the store? the employees? … was is an insult? to Mike’s predecessors? to Thomas?

I just had a random thought. So… Dawn is an author, whether self-published or not, she writes for a living. Is that a “full time job”? Does she need a job, now that they’ve moved, at least until the little monster comes out? She’s an author, so would be most interested, I assume, in a job that is at least tangentally book-related. Now she recognizes this store as “better than she remembers”, and there might be an opportunity there. And who, exactly is in charge of books?
The following is in my best vocal impression of the guy who used to introduce the sit-com Soap… will Thomas melt down? will Dawn ask for a job? will she work for Nina? will the Nina explode? has Reggie burned his bridges? his trainee? the store? … Next on “Between Failures”

(* snerk! *) @Chris used Dawnstance!

Panel 3: I can’t decide if she just … complimented Mike? the store? the employees? … was is an insult? to Mike’s predecessors? to Thomas?

My Mom used to call that, “Damning with faint praise.”

And who, exactly is in charge of books?

Ah, that would be Ms. Nina Grace…

So, I just posted the comment above, I live on the East Coast and we’re in Eastern Daylight Savings Time, (or did it just end…I can never remember). I posted it at approximatly 9:19 am. Why does the post say, from my point of view, 7:19pm?

It’s the World Wide Web, baby! You may be on America’s east coast, but the server…well, it might be anywhere in the world. Vanuatu is very popular with some serving companies, for instance. It’s also interesting to note that many Unix or Linux servers use UTC (Greenwich Mean Time) internally, and calculate the difference between local and London. This server may not be bothering to do so. Or it could just be very, very confused. Whatever the issue, it works wonderfully to bring us one of our favorite comics, so I say let the time be off, as long as Nina gets a chance to witch-slap that obnoxious twit with the assistant professor husband. ; -)

It’s 6 p.m. in New York. It’s 3 p.m. in Los Angeles. It’s midnight in London. In Baltimore, it’s 4:27, time for the 11:00 news!

It’s 1444 in CST right now. If that’s +6 to the post time, then the server uses GMT.

Or, wait, was that -6? Ah, I won’t need to post a response either way.

Y’know I like reading this comic a lot. Even the dumb character retain a bit of cunning or at least likeability. It would’ve been easy to paint Dawn as the total villain, and Thomas as the eternal working class hero but instead they changed roles almost, or at least shared a bit of the other. I also like the subtle dialog. No one ever freaks out or gets super emotional. It’s like everyone is spies playing some low stakes game of life and death.

I’d recommend respecting your family’s privacy. If it’s a serious issue, they wouldn’t appreciate it ending up on the internet. However, if you feel the need to talk about, you should find someone to talk to about it. (Or at least, as Vorlonagent said, write it down so you can sort through your thoughts.)

I don’t see any burn marks on Mike, I guess the ‘structural failure’ was a conventional one.

Agreed. Family Privacy first, venting second. And there are always those of us whom you can vent to in a more controlled manner and we’ll never let it slip.

Then again, I always advocate the more healthy method of keeping it inside and letting it eat away at you until you snap and/or accidentally cause a three state manhunt.

Yes, three states is still my current best. Even after I found out that guy wasn’t kidding about being part of the Russian Mafia… God I miss the nineties.

I think Dawn’s beginning to realize she wasn’t the best thing for Thomas in his journey towards maturation, which, given her ego, must be getting her goat. :D

What… did Reggie do to Mike?
I’m more curious about that after getting over the “Dawn, get over yourself” reaction.
I’d like to know.

Has anyone bothered to consider that Thomas is, and likely always has been, more enlightened than Dawn (or most anyone) give him credit for being?

Someone on a previous post sneered at Thomas working retail, saying it’s basically demeaning and almost as bad as being unemployed and only tolerable if you’re on your way to something better. I don’t think I’d like that person very much as they are extremely materialistic, judgemental (accent on the `mental’), and non-evolved.

Thomas LIKES the store. If not happy, he’s at least content and understands he is doing a valuable service…not only helping to keep the store open, but also being the go-to guy for the other employees. There’s nothing demeaning about that. Being comfortable where you are is a Good Thing…there’s a gazillion philosophers said it better, but essentially: it’s the journey, not the destination. Thomas isn’t rushing through life crazed with desire for the ever-elusive prize; he’s doing the best he can where he is, and enjoying the ride. Enjoying what he has, rather than bemoaning what he doesn’t.

Granted, this is more my impression of Thomas from his general demeanor rather than a specific comic panel stating, “Thomas believes X”. He has hopes and dreams, sure, and his share of doubts (it’s tough to be internally validated when most everyone else is chasing after the next shiny)…but on the whole, he is where he is and enjoying it. It’s not where he will likely stay…as was stated, he can do something amazing, he just hasn’t done it yet.

He has a solid group of friends, a supportive beautiful girlfriend, enough money to support himself…what more is there, really? Contrast that with Dawn, looking for the Bigger Better Shiny…she’s likely going to squeeze out a few kids, cheat on her husband a few times, divorce him for the pool boy, rinse and repeat. And her life of misery and deceit will always be someone else’s fault…THEY didn’t do something.

Pretty sure Thomas is going to realize he actually has a far better life than Dawn.

Hi there, it’s me, that person you’re talking about in the beginning of your post. Just a few things…

“Thomas LIKES the store”
No he doesn’t he likes the people. He almost quit the store, but stayed for the people. His relationships with these people have been a big part of his personal development over the years. In fact, I don’t think Thomas has ever expressed that he likes the retail part of his job, and he gives Dawn the distinct impression that he’s miserable (and that’s the context I am speaking in).

“Non-evolved”?
What does that even mean? Do you know what that means?

“Judgmental”?
Very much yes, so sue me. Considering that you said “I don’t think I’d like that person very much as they are extremely materialistic, judgemental (accent on the `mental’), and non-evolved”, isn’t the pot calling the kettle black here?

“Materialistic”?
Where do you get this from? When did I mention money (or material anything) in relation to Thomas’s job? Did I say anything like ‘Thomas’s life isn’t fulfilling because he only makes X dollars a year’ or ‘Thomas’s life isn’t fulfilling because he doesn’t own X’? You brought the topic of material things into this. Maybe you’re projecting?

I maintain that being a retail grunt is not a fulfilling job, and it seems that we agree that the important parts of Thomas’s life are the things he does beyond being a retail grunt. He has developed several close interpersonal relationships, and in many ways he manages the store. These are the fulfilling parts of Thomas’s life. Thomas’s job as a retail grunt is just something he does, his relationships with his friends and his leadership role at the store are a part of who he is. I think we are in agreement there.

“she’s likely going to squeeze out a few kids, cheat on her husband a few times, divorce him for the pool boy, rinse and repeat”
Really? More with the witch hunt? Where are you getting this from? Dawn is no saint, but why are so many people trying to make her the devil incarnate? Do you have some psychological need for a clear villain in the story? Or is she just a target for you to dump all your negative feelings on?

You can call me judgmental, but you’re the one treating your opinions as fact, and then going on a rant of unsupported and highly judgmental claims.

As Ashton Kuchner famously said, “There’s no job you’re better than.” Being a retail grunt is not a bad thing in and of itself, and has no bearing on the worth of the person filling that job.

So perhaps I should have asked in a soothingly concerned voice, “Why do you feel retail is demeaning, dear?” But in truth, it doesn’t matter. You’re quite free to believe that, and I’m quite free to believe that makes you materialistic, as if a person needs to have a job of a particular social standing before you consider them worthwhile individuals.

It may be a shock, but there are a lot of people who LIKE working retail. A lot of people hate it. A lot of people do it just to pay the rent. Judging people by their job is not what I would consider valid criteria of their worth.

As for my `unsupported’ arguments and `judgmental opinions’, let me turn it back on you: where in the comic does it show Dawn having qualities NOT in keeping with the devil incarnate? Since it’s your opinion she isn’t and everyone who dislikes her is wrong. Many of us have a great many points we refer to in order to support our dislike or opposition to her…where in the comic is the proof to support YOUR claim?

Yeah, thought so. Le me know when she actually exhibits some redeeming qualities.

Honestly, this exchange has probably been allowed to go on a little too long. I was hoping you guys would reign it in a little as things went on… Just try to keep it civil if you can, okay? It seems like feelings have been hurt on both sides already. try to keep that in mind.

Dawn seems very concerned as to where Thomas is….like constantly. Kinda weirds me out.

She probably wants to have a real conversation about the emotional baggage leftover from their breakup. So far, their conversations have either devolved into petty arguments or been interrupted. It makes sense that she keeps trying to find Thomas because she still needs to talk.

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