someone at work celebrated their 60th birthday couple of months ago.
i actually asked them how it felt like. she said it was a shock to realise how old she is as she still feels like a 30 year old.
from what i gather age is a state of mind..not a number.
I just turned sixty on Wednesday, and I noted the same thing to my friends. With the exception of the occasional ache and pain that wasn’t there when I was 24, I feel like I haven’t aged a day… Nice panel today, Paul.
I hear ya! I’m coming up on my 57th this Sunday, and yet in my mind I feel much the same as when I was 27 (a very good year for me). On the other hand I have now a depth of serenity and am much more centered than I could have laid claim to back then, so I don’t regret the learning years
I think reading web comics – particularly the rare few exceptional ones like this one – both reminds me of that inner 27 year old and reminds me of how I couldn’t have appreciated it as i do now – best of both worlds
*great** link there!! – link phobics must grit thier teethand try it, for any and almost all questions related..
I have another thought though.. recently some film stars have been saying they are getting bored answering the same old q’s properly 100′s of times… so they just *invent* an answer to relieve boredom!!!
Once upon a time in a Psychology class, one of the early twenties students brought up the question “What’s it like to get older?” My contribution (being late twenties) was “You know when people are lying to you.”
As the round robin discussion wobbled from topic to topic, the “Don’t Trust People Over 30″ wheeze popped up as well. This was connected to my comment on liars, in that by the time you’re 30, you’ve had enough experience to know when certain things are simply not worth doing because of a proven track record of poor results. “You’ve GOT to believe!” is a sure sign of somebody reaching for your wallet.
So it came down to age and experience == reduced gullibility. But there was also another key point involved: Cynicism vs Skepticism. Cynics age a lot faster because the world around them is a fraud. Skeptics may be annoying, but they tend to have a better handle on things. Why?
Give a Skeptic an inch, and he’ll measure it. A Cynic will just complain about how small it is.
Shelly has had enough experience to be a calm skeptic rather than a sad cynic. Good for her!
And for my part, 55 is still a happy, bouncy time of life!
At the very basic level language is a means to communicate. Grammar is just icing on the cake. Dr. Seuss and Lewis Carrol proved words don’t have to be real to do the job. Grammar Nazis have their place, but not in relaxed forums and web comics.
^ What he said–especially when the word is so good at communicating the meaning.
Besides, English always has had a lot of suffixes that make words it has do jobs they weren’t quite intended by nature to do. Like Calvin verbifying words. As he said, “Verbing weirds language.”
Collectively, you guys have just amazed and gratified me.
At the tender age of 49, I’m the only one I know close to my age who reads webcomics with enough interest to actually comment on them. I have more in common with the adult kids of some of my friends.
Somewhere about twenty years ago, when my sister’s sons were like ten and seven or thereabouts and i was in my early forties, i got up to NC to visit every month or so, and Evan and Eli and i would mess around with their computer.
One day i showed them something Really Neet, and Eli dashed off to the kitchen to tell Kathy what Uncle Mike had taught them.
Kathy said “It’s great you guys have an uncle your own age to play with.”
How true! It’s mostly the women around that get all muttery -and by times somewhat insulting- when I ,as a grown-up admit reading comics, like RC cars and buy me the occasional men-barbie (Got me a 12″ Martha Jones/Freema Agyeman..one of the last!! Yay!!). Yet ,when I sneakily slip-in a remark about how I am impressed by the fact that they still hold-on to their barbies and Little ponies ,and keep them in tip-top condition….
Well ,suffice to say, they become silent..and sometimes even admit they read an Archie or two every now&then
Hey Jay-em! @0616 am
go easy on the women…as a 48 yo woman and very much a comics fan… we are out there!! I relate Very well with my 11 and 14 yo boys (although that may not be something to brag about but i do anyway) I love to watch most of their anime and cannot wait until they are old enough to start reading some of the great comics like Wapsi…started them on Girl Genious tho’!! and Lio!
I may grow old but I will never grow up!!
even fashion has seen the division between males and females in regards to comic and stuff.
look in ANY catelogue (or department store)
now the guys tshirts will have homer simpson, turtles in compromising positions and lots and lots of other things.
women have .. hello kitty, minnie mouse and cute stuff. I have YET to see Marge Simpson on a T-Shirt for Women!
according to fashion women are serious
which makes us buy blokes clothes ^^
I love the age range of the group that reads and follows this comic: I’m currently 17, have been reading Wapsi Square for at least a year, if not more. Both the comments and the comic itself are amazing!
Since my teens, and the realization that “acting like a grown-up” was in part voluntary, I have been fighting tooth and nail against growing up. And now at 55, I can say, for the most part, I’m winning!
One reason, i suppose, that i never really expected to live to even forty, and have never really managed to get the hang of “maturity” (and i mean that in both its positive and negative implications) is probably reflected in one of my answers to a questionnaire that a professor teaching a course in science fiction handed out in 1972, trying to get a handle on where everyone in class was on SF and SF concepts:
It asked “Do you believe that there may be nuclear war within your lifetime? If so, when?”
My response: “Yes. Just before the end.”
By the time i was fourteen, i had essentially read every issue of Astounding/ANALOG SF magazine published since 1941 – my Dad had them all. Nuclear war was a pretty common theme.
My aunt (who just turned 70) and said she had read a study where they once asked people what age they ‘felt’ like mentally.
The average was around 24-25. I am unsure of the validity of this ‘study’ but it makes sense. Just by the comments here I think it proves the point. You are only as old as you feel, and I think that usually in our 30′s we sort of stop aging mentally and think we’re that age forever.
I just turned sixty, and I’ve been going on the working assumption that if you don’t grow up, you don’ t have to grow old. Of course, when I was a kid, the grown-ups I knew seemed to think that life was a grim duty. And they certainly acted old…
But how can I, with webcomics like Wapsi Square to read? And gardens to dig, and arts to learn, and good coffee to drink. Life is good.
I’ve met several people who were in the early 20′s who seemed to me to already be old in the heart of the mindset. Old and brittle- but none of them would I think come here knowingly.
Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you
If you’re young at heart
For it’s hard, you will find, to be narrow ofmind
If you’re young at heart
You can go to extremes with impossible schemes
You can laugh when your dreams fall apart at the seams
And life gets more exciting with each passing day
And love is either in your heart or on it’s way
Don’t you know that it’s worth every treasure on earth
To be young at heart
For as rich as you are it’s much better by far
To be young at heart
And if you should survive to 105
Look at all you’ll derive out of being alive
Then here is the best part
You have a head start
If you are among the very young at heart
And if you should survive to 105
Look at all you’ll derive out of being alive
Then here is the best part
You have a head start
If you are among the very young at heart
No – i just checked Wikipedia, and it was Sinatra, 1953 – and it was so popular that a film that Sinatra was making with Doris Day at the time (a remake of the 1938 film Four Daughters) was retitled to Young at Heart to cash in, and the song was used over the credits.
yes. My memory of her interview was all hazy.. hence the question-marks.
I only remember her child-like enthousiasm when talking about flying. I never delved in her controversial stance towards her role in nazi-germany though..
All i could think as i looked at this panel is a great deal of envy for women.
Women are properly structured to be this close, physically and emotionally. I love my best friend dearly, but there will never be an instance when he and i can PHYSICALLY lean on each other…. It just doesn’t work that way.
I think that perhaps this is what women were created for…. to be close to.
hmm
guys do seem abit bulky topside. but when you look at faces we shouldn’t be able to kiss due to the noses! maybe with guys you just need to hug abit to the side
The Infocom text-adventure game “Leather Goddesses of Phobos” has a puzzle where you need to change a 45-degree angle back into the King’s daughter (don’t ask – it’s too complicated).
To do which you have to get a “T”- removing machine from a salesman on Venus (Trying it on the rabbit at the Watsup Dock on the Martian canal has interesting results) and a jar of detangling cream, and …
if you have a friend
on whom you think you can rely –
you are a lucky man!
if you’ve found the reason
to live on and not to die –
you are a lucky man!
preachers and poets and scholars don’t know it,
temples and statues and steeples won’t show it,
if you’ve got the secret just try not to blow
it – stay a lucky man!
if you’ve found the meaning
of the truth in this old world-
you are a lucky man!
if knowledge hangs around your neck
like pearls instead of chains –
you are a lucky man!
takers and fakers and talkers won’t tell you.
teachers and preachers will just buy and sell you.
when no one can tempt you with heaven or hell-
you’ll be a lucky man!
you’ll be better by far
to be just what you are
you can be what you want if you are what you are -
and that’s a lucky man!
oh yeah, a lucky man
and that’s a lucky, a lucky, a lucky man
a lucky, a lucky, a lucky man
(And those who know my tastes in film will tell you that that’s saying something. Or that me saying that something was “the moss sentimental film i have ever loved” was a pretty extreme statement, for that matter.)
Heh. Had a chance to talk to Jeremy Bulloch – the young man in that scene and in the sports car and with the sandwich boards – at the banquet at a media convention way back in the ’80s.
He was so surprised that anyone Over Here had even seen the film, let alone remembered him in it that – to the frustration of the other people ’round the table who wanted to talk about Star Wars, we spent almost the whole meal talking about O Lucky Man. He had some funny stories to tell…
Seems like you two made the right call. Plenty of time to yap about massively popular films like Star Wars, not plenty of time to talk to obscure foreign movie/tv actors.
That’s awesome…he should realize that cable TV really started rolling out at the right time for movies like that to be widely seen. I’d have never been allowed to watch A Clockwork Orange otherwise, and it is because of that movie I sought out other Macolm Mcdowell movies, hence O Lucky Man.
Of course, the prepoderance of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer on FM rock stations helped keep it fresh in my mind as well…
I made the point fo being at the theatre here in Atlanta when it began its original Stateside run, and i took Susan (first wife) to a double feature of …if… and O Lucky Man when they released the uncut (almost half an hour longer) O Lucky Man here in the States, years later.
you’d be surprised. HBO was among the first cable movie channels, but when it started a bigger rollout in the late ’70s/early ’80s, more channels like the Movie Channel and the very-easily-descrambled Playboy Channel started to appear…and since these channels usually ran a 24-hour schedule, some very interesting late-night movie offerings were to be had, some of which were cult classics already, such as O Lucky Man, Forbidden Zone, The Last Days of Man on Earth, Wifemistress, Turkish Delight, Gallipoli, The Road Warrior, etc.
And then the strange and terrible contrast–people pretend to be grown up, and let the fun of childhood and life be leached out of them, rather than holding on to it and growing brighter as they grow older.
“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways {and} have put them aside.”
Took me until i was closing in on 40 to realize that it is time to take ownership of my responsibilities as an adult…
Anyone here would like to buy a bunch of comic books and action figures?
No one should lament the loss of childhood, rather accept the onset of adulthood as a wholly different type of fun….
There is a vast, VAST difference between being “childish” in manners and behavior and having a “child-like” attitude towards the world.
“Being an adult” should not mean that you’re super serious all the time, that you look down upon someone doing something you may believe is immature, etc. Most people need to lighten up I believe.
That quote deals primarily with being responsible and acting in a way that shows you have matured enough to take responsibility for your actions. I know people who are in their 70′s and still have yet to grasp that concept.
I was aiming at the “Like Santa Claus, but no-one tells you it’s not real” bit, but it works for the rest also. The awesome is in the idea that there is a super good thing that can’t be spoiled; it will continue to be great for a long time.
My midnight haze doesn’t do much good when I try to explain things. I wasn’t trying to advocate eternal immaturity but rather allowing daily joy and wonder to continue as we grow older, thus growing brighter-like lights on a dimmer switch as you turn them up.
And I’ve been through the meat grinder of happiness myself a few times. Not as thouroughly ground up as some people–but not nearly as carefree as my daughter. Positive is a choice, 90% of the time, and there are days where I have to force myself to choose it because nobody around me deserves to be buried under my bad attitude. (The other 10% are birthdays, lotto winnings, and the truly tragic moments where there is no positive choice to make. That’s 8% and 2%, respectively.)
There’s one comic in the archives where Shelly says, “Don’t worry–every day is a school day.” I can’t find the link…but that comic contrasts with this one and really shows Shelly’s growing up.
They’ve been getting progressively closer to each other all week, and now they look kind of like they’re snuggling…not at all in a sexual way, but it looks quite cozy between the two of them…
People have been speculating about a sexual relationship, and I suppose sex is foremost in the minds of many, but here we have just good old fashioned longstanding iron-bound friendship.
What a relief.
Once I would have put myself in the romance camp as it seemed right for both of them at the time (and especially as Tina, whose judgement on personalities is better than most, supported the pairing). However, that was the first time round and too much has changed since then.
They are both in need of a friend they can rely on.
From what I remember of Heather’s story, shortly before spending time with Shelly, she had recently moved to their city and didn’t really know anyone. She seems to be having cold feet with Vickie. She needs friends who will be with her however her love life turns out.
They both in the wrong place for a relationship and I don’t think they are meant to be an item. I do think, however, that they may start spending enough time catching up that everybody else thinks they are.
I’m not one of those who thought Shelley and Heather should have gone to a sexual relationship, at least not at once (certainly not with how Shelley is feeling right now), but Shelley’s relationship with Officer Asspull allways seemed to me to be based on lust rather than love.
It’s like Paul thought “Let’s give Shelley a love interest”, and came up with Officer Asspull, someone who had literally zero exposure in the comic until that point. And then he became someone for Shelley to lust over, rather than love. AFAIK we’ve never seen those two NOT close to, or in, a bed.
Whereas Shelley and Heather have quite a bit of backstory. They seem to be very comfortable with each other, to the point where Shelley goes to Heather for understanding and comfort rather than Officer asspull.
Wether Shelley and Heather ever become a physical item is up in the air. But they have an excellent chance as love rather than lust interests.
A sudden relationship with someone who’d had zero story exposure thus far? That reminds me of the way ET suddenly arrived to usher Heather off the stage.
I’m pretty sure that the monetary value of this 2 foot truck is pretty much hosed even though it is rare enough that not even the Buddy L museum has a picture of it.
Imagine the looks of my fellow competitors when I stated ‘Isn’t playing with toycras fun?’ ..and proceeded to be 11th on a national championship and only missing out on the A-pool because of a half-charged battery..
I was having fun, happy as a kid with my little purple (!)Porche whizzing around the track, while the others were ‘racing seriously’…pffft.. Their cringed-up, stressed-out faces were no fun..
yeah, my roommates dad has a set that takes up 10 pieces of 4′x8′ plywood, set in a do-nut shape (the hole in the center was to stand in and watch) for his hobby. it’s a given that for b-days and x-mas we just get a train related item and he’s happy.
No more then me. I build models of the Gundam mechs and have a 15″ toy of Optimis Prime that cost over $250. The only difference between being an adult and a kid is how much you can spend on your toys.
Examples of this truth are dart guns to paintball, the ride-on toy cars to ATV’s, or my favorite from the little model rockets to homemade rockets that can handle a quart of liquid fuel…
When i worked at AMI (yes, American Megatrends – i also worked at Hayes for three years) one of the engineers had one of those stickers that say “He who dies with the most toys wins” on his Jeep’s bumper. Next to it was a homemade sticker that said “So far, I’m in last place.”
I know someone who has designed and machined a paintball mortar, fully automatic gun emplacement, grenades, and goes out and uses them regularly…as a youth leader, and has more fun with it than anyone else I know.
Once upon a time there was an ad in Car & Driver magazine for full-auto BB guns shaped like Uzis – powered by a one-pound freon can, capable of 3000 (or was it 5000) rounds per minute…
full-auto paint balls? Auwtchie!! I remember my one&only ,hilarios, encounter with paint balls.
We had a day-out with work. I was the only one with some military training under my belt, and what I remember best, is the screaming and jumping of people I ambushed..
I got hit once..by accident..while we were waiting for instructions..by some numb-nut sales-rep that was playing about with his paint-ball gun… .. It HURT!!! Like a slap on a wet pair of swimming-trunks..
Never knew that conscription would be useful to me one day
this is really a reply to Fairportfans reply here:
yeah those bb guns were REALLY authentic looking too. when i was in the Navy over in Japan, i picked up a .45 cal. and another pistol (i can’t remember what right now) and gave them as Christmas gifts to my step-brother who’s a licensed gun-smith… boy was he surprised!. i also picked up an Ingram Mac-10 but by the time i got to really playing around with it, i found out it was missing a part and it wouldn’t function… blarg… so now it’s just a decoration. customs had i fit when i brought it back through, they they it was real from the looks and i had to take it apart to show them it wasn’t…
It is my understanding that almost all of the weapons you see in movies are Airsoft. Remove the mandated red muzzle extender and they are indistinguishable from the real thing.
The person I know makes his from scratch, steel, and aluminum–and probably some other stuff. Paintballs are commercial but the parts are all hand-made.
I like the one panel for this; it’s all it needed. The hair gives me a sense of yin and yang, and the entire scene is peaceful. Kudos, Paul, nicely done.
I personally think people do grow up but it’s very slow and you don’t notice it. The following applies for most people but not everyone:
As you grow up you start gaining responsibilities, you have to motivate yourself, you become less selfish, you become less impulsive, you are more aware of the bigger picture, you are know that you need to do things that you don’t like doing, etc.
Another group that grows up (and gets responsible) but never entirely loses their child-like sense of play is many monks and nuns–not all, but a good percentage.
“I’ve never met a monk that didn’t have a smile on his face or a bit of mischief up his sleeve…”
Ironic that Monk could be shortened off Monkey, and monkeys are know to cause mischief…
To code it I wrote out punctuation: (e.g. instead of “.” it would be “stop” or “full stop”), split the text into groups of 5 characters then applied rot13 to it.
When you read it just remember it was just some random thoughts at a particular point in time. To tell the truth, I don’t think anything like that would happen (at least not in a way that would create tension). Once I read The Fansheep’s comments I supected that, like him (her?), I was expecting a cliff hanger.
It’s all in how you look at it, isn’t it? To me the cliffhanger is what is the meeting between Shelly and Jin going to be like?
That’s the meeting I have most wanted to see.
I’ve usually said my inner child can beat up your inner child.
It helps to be able to play with my son instead of just telling him to go play.
I usually said some time ago that God will not let me lead a normal life. So I sit back relax, enjoy the crisis and embrace the chaos.
Helps me get through most days and back to playtime at home.
I think that last panel, and sentiment in general would make a very nice print or mini-poster. If you got rid of the first word bubble (because standing alone it doesn’t make any sense) and gave it a shot of color (or not, the B&W’s not bad) it would look nice hanging on a wall. Especially a wall one sees often enough to be reminded of that idea.
Off topis, does anyone else have a problem with the Wapsi homepage? I keep seeing the “Intro to Creepy Girl” comic and not the latest comic of the day?
I added my then-favorite page (not the home page) to my favorites and just click latest once it loads. Incidentally, it’s http://wapsisquare.com/comic/collect-your-coffee/ and all I can see is Phix’s head as she says, “Excuse the interruption”…
Although I may grow older, I will never really grow up. As it is, my Dad’s side of the family live way too long to deal with the boneheads of the world. But aside from the teachings of Groucho, Asimov, the Yogis Berra and Bear, Harlan Ellison (The Crankiest Man in Science Fiction), and the Deteriorata, one of the best lessons I’ve ever run across is:
Maturity is regaining the Seriousness one had as a Child at play.
Ok. New reader. Just finished the entire archive, and all I can say is WOW. This thing called Wapsi Square is pretty damn amazing. It’ll be interesting to see what comes next.
Today’s comic reminded me of something I read in another comic that kinda hit home: “Nobody becomes ‘big’ when they hit adulthood. They just become better at hiding how small they are.”
FAIRPORTFAN: I found it! “Terror of the Autons” The Doctor (Pertwee) tries to use a part from TheMASTERs’ Tardis and it blows up. Jo tells him he is being Childish and The Doctor replies “Whats wrong with being childish,I LIKE being Childish.” (as he kicks a table)
Well, okay. But the quote as friends of mine who were big fans of the Fourth Doctor – one, who was almost as tall as Baker, had his hair permed into curls, and went everywhere in duplicates of the coat, scarf and hat, even to arriving at the British HQ of his employer in it when he was sent there – specifically attributed it to the Fourth Doctor was as i had it, “What’s the use oif being grown up if you can’t be childish?”, so i suspect that it got recycled.
Yep – here it is on the BBC Classic Episode Guide:
I just remembered a Bible quote – I can’t remember the chapter and verse, and I hope I don’t mis-quote: Unless thou become like a little child, one cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Now to everyone: are the spots on her face warts, spots on her fur (I can imagine her face being covered in very fine fur, dunno if that’s correct, but I liked detailing that) or freckles?
The sculpt is fantastic, Jay. It’s hard for me to describe my awe without descending into earthy language. It has a definite wow factor of 10.5.
I keep hanging up on a comment you made some days earlier where you said that the Arts Academy you attended took all the fun out of it for you. I can only feel a sadness that they could do that. The joy I get just looking at the pictures of your work cannot, I assume, even touch what it should bring to you for doing it.
I hope if you haven’t found the joy in your work, that you do at some point.
That’s…about the nicest comment ever. I never thought looking at my dabblings could give people true enjoyment.
Possibly because the constant harping I got at the academy, because I just couldn’t get myself to produce the abstract “artsy” things they apparently considered the only things worthy. I got accused of producing “horrible kitsch” , or worse “being too lazy, and constrained by figurative thinking” Pfffft.. That was enough for me. After the second year, I flipped them the birdy, got my Microsoft certifications, got a well paying job in ICT, and didn’t touch a pencil, brush, or a piece of clay for 6 years.
The problem withy many academies of fine arts is that the teachers are more often than not, failed “artistes” themselves, with monstrous chips on their shoulders.
Not good around young, impressionable kids.
I only enjoyed the guest-lectures from settled illustrators, sculptors and other active artists, to be honest.
I took a “Creative Writing” course at Georgia Tech, manymany years ago. (Bear in mind that anyone who’s teaching creative writing* at an engineering school like Georgia Tech very likely couldn’t get a job elsewhere…)
For the weekly assignments, i turned in good solid genre writing that might – with a little clean-up – have been salable. We had weekly individual meetings with the professor to critique our work. I let him know, fairly early on, that i wanted to hear what was wrong with the actual writing – not with his idea of what was wrong with the type of story or the subject matter.
I finished the course with a “C”.
I was the only person in the class who got below a “B”.
Including a couple of guys who were certainly functionally literate, but not a lot more.
Arts courses (in general, and that includes writing courses) should teach the history of the field, the techniques available – including ones that are currently out of fashion – and then critique how well the student uses those techniques, not what he chooses to use them to produce not how closely he matches the professor’s prejudices.
Unfortunately, art courses are taught by human beings, and the old saw about “Those who can…” all too often applies.
Forgot to follow up on the “* i inserted in that last rant:
*This description of English professors at schools like Georgia Tech should not be taken to apply to the ones like Bud Foote who taught the SF course already alluded to:
Just as liberal arts schools need at least one token reactionary in every department, engineering schools need at least one certified free-range maverick in each department in the humanities.
The presence of Bud Foote was substantial fulfillment of that requirement for the entire school.
Absolutely. After this I hope Jay will be inclined to grace us with additional examples of his interpretations of the Wapsi characters. A Phix in all her sphinxy glory would be wonderful! It’s such a treat to see, not only the finished product, but the steps along the way.
Phix ey?.. Hmm.. Nudge is about 12″.. If I’d do Phix to scale….welll… 8O She’d be about 24″. If I’d decide do a Phix-Sphinx ,it would be a whopper of a statuette. Say, the size of a big housecat.. With a wingspan of 40″ I’d have to get a building-permit for that
Nah, If I’d do another one, it would be a Tina-with demon-eye-hands (You know the one I mean) with real eyes in the hands, and “christmas ornaments in hollow skull” just to unsettle the onlooker…. (makes You wonder how Paul came up with that vision.. )
Thanx You all for the uber-nice comments and encouragement!
Ah, but it would be magnificent. Thatnotwithstanding, the Tina one would be a great choice as well. Still, if you also make Tina to scale, she would be a bit small-ish as well would she not? About 8 inches? But wadda I know, that may be fine.
Nothing against Emerson, Lake and Palmer, but they didn’t have anything to do with the movie “O Lucky Man.” That soundtrack was done by Alan Price and his band the Alan Price Set. You can hear the original here:
Sorry, but I have no idea how to make a link in HTML.
I managed not only to not link it, but to delete the address: http://youtu.be/81IOO9EC1nE
It was a very odd movie, and I almost left near the beginning when they chopped off the coffee picker’s hand. I saw it at a midnight show in the fall of 1994. There was a lot of horrific detail, but there were also some incredibly beautiful scenes.
So even though the idea was mentioned above, I would just like to clarify for the “adults” in the room. If you are reading this, then you are not a “grownup”. You still love the kid inside you, and are happy to bring them out to play every once in a while.
My dad was 82 when he died this last xmas and he was flying solo for the last six years, except for this last year because the FAA wouldn’t let him renew his license due to a failed heart checkup (that’s what finally got him in the end too…) and he sure as heck hadn’t won the lottery, either!.
i guess i’m just really saying is don’t wait for some nebulous “i’ won the lottery” thing, just go and do it, that is, if you are able to allot the time, effort and money to the task without hardship.
Given that it’s about £160/hour tuition and the MINIMUM is 45 hours before you’re even allowed to take the PPL, not to mention that you have 7 exams (each cost £100+), books, etc, it looks like it’lll have to wait until I win the lottery.
I am looking at the text, and the postures of Shelly and Heather, and I cannot decide if Shelly likes the fact that everybody is still a kid, sees it as something positive, or resents it, but has resigned to it…
I mean, did those 80000+ years teach her (stoic) acceptance, or is something deep inside still childishly (sic.) longing for that elusive “growing-up”
No – i think that what those 80K+ years taught her was to hang on to it and treasure it.
In Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth, Milo (the protagonist) meets a boy about his own age who stands and walks in the air, never setting foot on the ground.
He explains that his people are born with their head at the height of a normal adult’s head, and their feet grow downward till they reach the ground. Thus, he says, they always have a grown-up viewpoint, which is a good thing, because you never are disappointed by things you believed as a child turning out to not be as you grow older.
But, he admits, occasionally among his people, one will be born upside down – which puts his head at the level of an ordinary child, and means his feet can never reach the ground.
Milo asks what happens to people like that.
He answers “I don’t know for sure – but I’ve heard they become giants, and walk amonfg the stars.”
Very true.
yup
someone at work celebrated their 60th birthday couple of months ago.
i actually asked them how it felt like. she said it was a shock to realise how old she is as she still feels like a 30 year old.
from what i gather age is a state of mind..not a number.
I’ll be sixty-three in October. Things that happened when i was in my thirties seem like yesterday.
Some things that happened last week seem so long ago i can barely recall them. (Not early senility, i’m pretty sure – boredom.)
I just turned sixty on Wednesday, and I noted the same thing to my friends. With the exception of the occasional ache and pain that wasn’t there when I was 24, I feel like I haven’t aged a day… Nice panel today, Paul.
I hear ya! I’m coming up on my 57th this Sunday, and yet in my mind I feel much the same as when I was 27 (a very good year for me). On the other hand I have now a depth of serenity and am much more centered than I could have laid claim to back then, so I don’t regret the learning years
I think reading web comics – particularly the rare few exceptional ones like this one – both reminds me of that inner 27 year old and reminds me of how I couldn’t have appreciated it as i do now – best of both worlds
I became 60, last November.
In about a month, I’ll be The Ultimate Answer. So for at least a year, every prognostication of mine about this story shall not be questioned…
*great** link there!! – link phobics must grit thier teethand try it, for any and almost all questions related..
I have another thought though.. recently some film stars have been saying they are getting bored answering the same old q’s properly 100′s of times… so they just *invent* an answer to relieve boredom!!!
Once upon a time in a Psychology class, one of the early twenties students brought up the question “What’s it like to get older?” My contribution (being late twenties) was “You know when people are lying to you.”
As the round robin discussion wobbled from topic to topic, the “Don’t Trust People Over 30″ wheeze popped up as well. This was connected to my comment on liars, in that by the time you’re 30, you’ve had enough experience to know when certain things are simply not worth doing because of a proven track record of poor results. “You’ve GOT to believe!” is a sure sign of somebody reaching for your wallet.
So it came down to age and experience == reduced gullibility. But there was also another key point involved: Cynicism vs Skepticism. Cynics age a lot faster because the world around them is a fraud. Skeptics may be annoying, but they tend to have a better handle on things. Why?
Give a Skeptic an inch, and he’ll measure it. A Cynic will just complain about how small it is.
Shelly has had enough experience to be a calm skeptic rather than a sad cynic. Good for her!
And for my part, 55 is still a happy, bouncy time of life!
getting the feeling i’m the youngest one here(turning 20 next month)
this cliffhanger friday seems less cliffhangerry(for those who will cpmplain that cliffhangerry isn’t a word: bite me)
At the very basic level language is a means to communicate. Grammar is just icing on the cake. Dr. Seuss and Lewis Carrol proved words don’t have to be real to do the job. Grammar Nazis have their place, but not in relaxed forums and web comics.
I highly prize and respect the right of a language user to create new words (and languages) to express meaning.
I have more on this topic but not for a quick comment.
^ What he said–especially when the word is so good at communicating the meaning.
Besides, English always has had a lot of suffixes that make words it has do jobs they weren’t quite intended by nature to do. Like Calvin verbifying words. As he said, “Verbing weirds language.”
hm wlel see if yuo cna see aynthnig wrnog wtih tihs
I bet you can understand it though!! your brain unmuddles it for you.. ( unless your ESL skills are not great…)
20 next February. an hour and 2 minutes before Valintines..
Collectively, you guys have just amazed and gratified me.
At the tender age of 49, I’m the only one I know close to my age who reads webcomics with enough interest to actually comment on them. I have more in common with the adult kids of some of my friends.
How about a 50-year-old? (Of course, you don’t actually know me…)
;^)
Somewhere about twenty years ago, when my sister’s sons were like ten and seven or thereabouts and i was in my early forties, i got up to NC to visit every month or so, and Evan and Eli and i would mess around with their computer.
One day i showed them something Really Neet, and Eli dashed off to the kitchen to tell Kathy what Uncle Mike had taught them.
Kathy said “It’s great you guys have an uncle your own age to play with.”
@Fairportfan
Well ,suffice to say, they become silent..and sometimes even admit they read an Archie or two every now&then
Hey Jay-em! @0616 am
but i do anyway) I love to watch most of their anime and cannot wait until they are old enough to start reading some of the great comics like Wapsi…started them on Girl Genious tho’!! 
and Lio!
go easy on the women…as a 48 yo woman and very much a comics fan… we are out there!! I relate Very well with my 11 and 14 yo boys (although that may not be something to brag about
I may grow old but I will never grow up!!
I don’t know what you guys are talking about.
These are not comics. They’re serialized graphic novels!
That’s my story and I ‘m sticking with it.
even fashion has seen the division between males and females in regards to comic and stuff.
look in ANY catelogue (or department store)
now the guys tshirts will have homer simpson, turtles in compromising positions and lots and lots of other things.
women have .. hello kitty, minnie mouse and cute stuff. I have YET to see Marge Simpson on a T-Shirt for Women!
according to fashion women are serious
which makes us buy blokes clothes ^^
@jay-em
i kinda shut anyone down pretty quick when they start on about me reading comics.
peeps hate it when you use that pesky ‘truth’ thing against them
@Paula: I agree, except for one little point.
There are no men’s t-shirts. There are women’s and unisex.
I will not confirm, or deny, that I’m this year.
D’oh!
Well, y’all get the idea . . .
Nevermind.
I love the age range of the group that reads and follows this comic: I’m currently 17, have been reading Wapsi Square for at least a year, if not more. Both the comments and the comic itself are amazing!
Since my teens, and the realization that “acting like a grown-up” was in part voluntary, I have been fighting tooth and nail against growing up. And now at 55, I can say, for the most part, I’m winning!
Same here. ‘grown-ups’ are overrated..
‘It’s a child’s mind that sees possibilities everywhere. It’s a grown-up’s mind that gets stuck on the missed ones’
So, growing up? Nah.. pass..
One reason, i suppose, that i never really expected to live to even forty, and have never really managed to get the hang of “maturity” (and i mean that in both its positive and negative implications) is probably reflected in one of my answers to a questionnaire that a professor teaching a course in science fiction handed out in 1972, trying to get a handle on where everyone in class was on SF and SF concepts:
It asked “Do you believe that there may be nuclear war within your lifetime? If so, when?”
My response: “Yes. Just before the end.”
By the time i was fourteen, i had essentially read every issue of Astounding/ANALOG SF magazine published since 1941 – my Dad had them all. Nuclear war was a pretty common theme.
And my fourteenth birthday was 22 October, 1962.
And Rudolf Anderson was from my home town…
This did not foster in me a sense of personal security; rather it confirmed for me Pogo Possum’s dictum regarding life: “…it ain’t nohow permanent.”
We fought one nuclear war before I was born. See: Hiroshima, Nagasaki…..
@fairportfan
best..reply..ever
Bud Foote, the professor, thought so…
Huh. Weird. I swear i did that right:
22 October, 1962
My aunt (who just turned 70) and said she had read a study where they once asked people what age they ‘felt’ like mentally.
The average was around 24-25. I am unsure of the validity of this ‘study’ but it makes sense. Just by the comments here I think it proves the point. You are only as old as you feel, and I think that usually in our 30′s we sort of stop aging mentally and think we’re that age forever.
Well, until gravity starts winning anyway, lol.
My motto is: You’re only young once, but you can be immature forever!
Dagnabbit, where’s the “like” button in this comments section?
I just turned sixty, and I’ve been going on the working assumption that if you don’t grow up, you don’ t have to grow old. Of course, when I was a kid, the grown-ups I knew seemed to think that life was a grim duty. And they certainly acted old…
But how can I, with webcomics like Wapsi Square to read? And gardens to dig, and arts to learn, and good coffee to drink. Life is good.
Thums-up to that *raises Latte from Confusion-Corner at Mucho Mocha*
I’ve met several people who were in the early 20′s who seemed to me to already be old in the heart of the mindset. Old and brittle- but none of them would I think come here knowingly.
Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you
If you’re young at heart
For it’s hard, you will find, to be narrow ofmind
If you’re young at heart
You can go to extremes with impossible schemes
You can laugh when your dreams fall apart at the seams
And life gets more exciting with each passing day
And love is either in your heart or on it’s way
Don’t you know that it’s worth every treasure on earth
To be young at heart
For as rich as you are it’s much better by far
To be young at heart
And if you should survive to 105
Look at all you’ll derive out of being alive
Then here is the best part
You have a head start
If you are among the very young at heart
And if you should survive to 105
Look at all you’ll derive out of being alive
Then here is the best part
You have a head start
If you are among the very young at heart
The inimitable Jimmy Durante. (Possibly not the first, but his version is the one I hear in my head.)
I love the strip – and the comments. It’s nice to hear everyone else’s take on… well, everything!
Sinatra also… Durante did it first I think.
No – i just checked Wikipedia, and it was Sinatra, 1953 – and it was so popular that a film that Sinatra was making with Doris Day at the time (a remake of the 1938 film Four Daughters) was retitled to Young at Heart to cash in, and the song was used over the credits.
Durante also recorded “As Time Goes By” in the 50s…
Dawwwww^2
She’s kidding, right?
When I was young, I couldn’t wait to grow up.
Now, I wish I could grow young.
“Ve grow too soon oldt undt too late schmardt!”
“Too late? Ach! Sumtymes neffer!”
Reminds me of Hanna Reich(?). One of Hitler’s top-test, female(!)pilots.
She was interviewed when she was about 80 (?) about ‘Das Kraft-Ei’ the Messerschmitt rocket-plane.
She was all enthousiasm, like a child, when describing the kick of blasting away at 300 miles per hour in 4 seconds.
Telling about that, wildly gesticulating, she didn’t look one day older than early 20′s… THAT’S how I want to grow old..
One character — Zelazny’s Prince Corwin? — once expressed a desire to die in bed — stepped on an elephant while making love.
Do you mean Hanna Reitsch?
yes. My memory of her interview was all hazy.. hence the question-marks.
I only remember her child-like enthousiasm when talking about flying. I never delved in her controversial stance towards her role in nazi-germany though..
I’m glad I could help.
Awwwww! they’re rubbing shoulders… and their hair is mixing together…i hope they brought detangler….
Maybe a hose?
With that wind, a hose will only make it worse. If it’s more than a minute or two, the only recourse will be scissors.
All i could think as i looked at this panel is a great deal of envy for women.
Women are properly structured to be this close, physically and emotionally. I love my best friend dearly, but there will never be an instance when he and i can PHYSICALLY lean on each other…. It just doesn’t work that way.
I think that perhaps this is what women were created for…. to be close to.
Vive la difference…
Oh, ye poor deluded, brainwashed lad.
Oh, ye poor maltreated kid.
hmm
guys do seem abit bulky topside. but when you look at faces we shouldn’t be able to kiss due to the noses! maybe with guys you just need to hug abit to the side
its a lovely way to look at it though.
Well of course women were made to be close to. That’s why they are softer.
if you can’t sit like that, try back to back. the inner jock in you won’t be worrying that one of you might move in for a kiss.
Show Sheen works wonders. WD40 will work in a pinch.
If only WD40 smelled better..
Maybe WD-39?
The Infocom text-adventure game “Leather Goddesses of Phobos” has a puzzle where you need to change a 45-degree angle back into the King’s daughter (don’t ask – it’s too complicated).
To do which you have to get a “T”- removing machine from a salesman on Venus (Trying it on the rabbit at the Watsup Dock on the Martian canal has interesting results) and a jar of detangling cream, and …
wd-39
the vanilla scented can.
Maybe someday they’ll branch out and introduce a WD-69.
Since WD-40 was the 40th formulation they tried for a “Water-Displacement” solvent/lubricant, I think the next try–for a better scent–should be WD-41.
if you have a friend
on whom you think you can rely –
you are a lucky man!
if you’ve found the reason
to live on and not to die –
you are a lucky man!
preachers and poets and scholars don’t know it,
temples and statues and steeples won’t show it,
if you’ve got the secret just try not to blow
it – stay a lucky man!
if you’ve found the meaning
of the truth in this old world-
you are a lucky man!
if knowledge hangs around your neck
like pearls instead of chains –
you are a lucky man!
takers and fakers and talkers won’t tell you.
teachers and preachers will just buy and sell you.
when no one can tempt you with heaven or hell-
you’ll be a lucky man!
you’ll be better by far
to be just what you are
you can be what you want if you are what you are -
and that’s a lucky man!
oh yeah, a lucky man
and that’s a lucky, a lucky, a lucky man
a lucky, a lucky, a lucky man
That is, of course, the title tune to possibly the most cynical movie i have ever loved.
(And those who know my tastes in film will tell you that that’s saying something. Or that me saying that something was “the moss sentimental film i have ever loved” was a pretty extreme statement, for that matter.)
hmm
never heard the film but oh my brother i do recognise the actor
Okay. O Lucky Man is both a seqel and a (sort of) prequel to …if… the film that Kubrick saw McDowell in that decided him to cast him as Alex.
(And it’s based on a memoir that McDowell wrote…)
I’d watch …if… before i attempted O Lucky Man, personally.
Can never get past the scene in the hospital, when he throws the sheet back to see the body of a sheep…
Heh. Had a chance to talk to Jeremy Bulloch – the young man in that scene and in the sports car and with the sandwich boards – at the banquet at a media convention way back in the ’80s.
He was so surprised that anyone Over Here had even seen the film, let alone remembered him in it that – to the frustration of the other people ’round the table who wanted to talk about Star Wars, we spent almost the whole meal talking about O Lucky Man. He had some funny stories to tell…
Seems like you two made the right call. Plenty of time to yap about massively popular films like Star Wars, not plenty of time to talk to obscure foreign movie/tv actors.
That’s awesome…he should realize that cable TV really started rolling out at the right time for movies like that to be widely seen. I’d have never been allowed to watch A Clockwork Orange otherwise, and it is because of that movie I sought out other Macolm Mcdowell movies, hence O Lucky Man.
Of course, the prepoderance of Emerson, Lake, and Palmer on FM rock stations helped keep it fresh in my mind as well…
I doubt that O Lucky Man has ever been on cable.
I made the point fo being at the theatre here in Atlanta when it began its original Stateside run, and i took Susan (first wife) to a double feature of …if… and O Lucky Man when they released the uncut (almost half an hour longer) O Lucky Man here in the States, years later.
I doubt that O Lucky Man has ever been on cable.
you’d be surprised. HBO was among the first cable movie channels, but when it started a bigger rollout in the late ’70s/early ’80s, more channels like the Movie Channel and the very-easily-descrambled Playboy Channel started to appear…and since these channels usually ran a 24-hour schedule, some very interesting late-night movie offerings were to be had, some of which were cult classics already, such as O Lucky Man, Forbidden Zone, The Last Days of Man on Earth, Wifemistress, Turkish Delight, Gallipoli, The Road Warrior, etc.
Between that and MTV, my days were just packed…
Come to think, looking back, i think you’re right. In fact, i think i taped it.
..darn it…
i’ve been waiting for that feeling for like forever..
you mean it doesn’t exist?
is it like santa claus except no one tells you it’s not real?
Do you realize the awesomeness of that statement?
And then the strange and terrible contrast–people pretend to be grown up, and let the fun of childhood and life be leached out of them, rather than holding on to it and growing brighter as they grow older.
Some of us have had the very joy of youth beaten out of us by too many circumstances beyond our control.
It’s sad, but for some, life turns into a meat grinder for happiness.
“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways {and} have put them aside.”
Took me until i was closing in on 40 to realize that it is time to take ownership of my responsibilities as an adult…
Anyone here would like to buy a bunch of comic books and action figures?
No one should lament the loss of childhood, rather accept the onset of adulthood as a wholly different type of fun….
keep the comics and figures!
its for your future. as well as your past
There is a vast, VAST difference between being “childish” in manners and behavior and having a “child-like” attitude towards the world.
“Being an adult” should not mean that you’re super serious all the time, that you look down upon someone doing something you may believe is immature, etc. Most people need to lighten up I believe.
That quote deals primarily with being responsible and acting in a way that shows you have matured enough to take responsibility for your actions. I know people who are in their 70′s and still have yet to grasp that concept.
i didnt get much sleep last night
which part of the statement was awesome?
For me it was “..darn it…
“i’ve been waiting for that feeling for like forever..”
It’s like C.S.Lewis’s “joy”: an intense longing for something such that the very longing for the feeling is itself the feeling.
I see others have noted the Lewis connection…
I was aiming at the “Like Santa Claus, but no-one tells you it’s not real” bit, but it works for the rest also. The awesome is in the idea that there is a super good thing that can’t be spoiled; it will continue to be great for a long time.
My midnight haze doesn’t do much good when I try to explain things. I wasn’t trying to advocate eternal immaturity but rather allowing daily joy and wonder to continue as we grow older, thus growing brighter-like lights on a dimmer switch as you turn them up.
And I’ve been through the meat grinder of happiness myself a few times. Not as thouroughly ground up as some people–but not nearly as carefree as my daughter. Positive is a choice, 90% of the time, and there are days where I have to force myself to choose it because nobody around me deserves to be buried under my bad attitude. (The other 10% are birthdays, lotto winnings, and the truly tragic moments where there is no positive choice to make. That’s 8% and 2%, respectively.)
“What’s the use of being grown-up if you can’t be childish once in a while?” – The Fourth Doctor
Huh. Mistyped the e-mail address and my new gravatar didn’t show…
“When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.” – C.S. Lewis
Much better quote!
Yes,Yes. Quite so, Quite so!
My wife aprefers the C.S. Lewis quote over The – wait that was Pertwees’ Doctor (#3).
I looked it up online, and it was credited to the Fourth Doctor (well, to “Tom Baker”).
It’s in character for Four, not really in character for Three.
There’s one comic in the archives where Shelly says, “Don’t worry–every day is a school day.” I can’t find the link…but that comic contrasts with this one and really shows Shelly’s growing up.
This one?
Yes! Thank you.
They’ve been getting progressively closer to each other all week, and now they look kind of like they’re snuggling…not at all in a sexual way, but it looks quite cozy between the two of them…
People have been speculating about a sexual relationship, and I suppose sex is foremost in the minds of many, but here we have just good old fashioned longstanding iron-bound friendship.
What a relief.
Alternately, some of us could be hoping for romance between them, as opposed to a strictly sexual relationship.
Once I would have put myself in the romance camp as it seemed right for both of them at the time (and especially as Tina, whose judgement on personalities is better than most, supported the pairing). However, that was the first time round and too much has changed since then.
They are both in need of a friend they can rely on.
From what I remember of Heather’s story, shortly before spending time with Shelly, she had recently moved to their city and didn’t really know anyone. She seems to be having cold feet with Vickie. She needs friends who will be with her however her love life turns out.
They both in the wrong place for a relationship and I don’t think they are meant to be an item. I do think, however, that they may start spending enough time catching up that everybody else thinks they are.
I’m not one of those who thought Shelley and Heather should have gone to a sexual relationship, at least not at once (certainly not with how Shelley is feeling right now), but Shelley’s relationship with Officer Asspull allways seemed to me to be based on lust rather than love.
It’s like Paul thought “Let’s give Shelley a love interest”, and came up with Officer Asspull, someone who had literally zero exposure in the comic until that point. And then he became someone for Shelley to lust over, rather than love. AFAIK we’ve never seen those two NOT close to, or in, a bed.
Whereas Shelley and Heather have quite a bit of backstory. They seem to be very comfortable with each other, to the point where Shelley goes to Heather for understanding and comfort rather than Officer asspull.
Wether Shelley and Heather ever become a physical item is up in the air. But they have an excellent chance as love rather than lust interests.
A sudden relationship with someone who’d had zero story exposure thus far? That reminds me of the way ET suddenly arrived to usher Heather off the stage.
I’m 40 and rebuilding a toy fire truck from the 1940s. Does that make me still a kid?
that depends. are you doing it for monetary value or for the fun of it? if it’s the latter then yes. XD which is great news!
I’m pretty sure that the monetary value of this 2 foot truck is pretty much hosed even though it is rare enough that not even the Buddy L museum has a picture of it.
No more than all those adults who still play with electric trains.
There’s a difference between “playing with toy trains” and “building and operating model trains”.
Not that the same person can’t do both.
That’s “operate scale model railroads,” not “play with trains.”
@Fairprtfan: Dude!
Yeah, like “Professionally racing RC-Cars”
Imagine the looks of my fellow competitors when I stated ‘Isn’t playing with toycras fun?’ ..and proceeded to be 11th on a national championship and only missing out on the A-pool because of a half-charged battery..
I was having fun, happy as a kid with my little purple (!)Porche whizzing around the track, while the others were ‘racing seriously’…pffft.. Their cringed-up, stressed-out faces were no fun..
‘Why so serious’ Indeed.. (scariest Joker EVAH!!)
And they’re ACTION FIGURES, dammit! Not Dolls!
So there. Nyah!
^^THAT, unequivocable THAT *indignant huffing*
(same goes for men-barbies.. eehhh.. ” 12″ action-figures featuring real cloth” .. so..yes, men-barbies..)
yeah, my roommates dad has a set that takes up 10 pieces of 4′x8′ plywood, set in a do-nut shape (the hole in the center was to stand in and watch) for his hobby. it’s a given that for b-days and x-mas we just get a train related item and he’s happy.
hmm
i always took wash in firefly to be very adult but he played with dinosaurs
No more then me. I build models of the Gundam mechs and have a 15″ toy of Optimis Prime that cost over $250. The only difference between being an adult and a kid is how much you can spend on your toys.
Ain’t THAT ^^ the truth..
PS, I am childishly eying the 13″ $250.- Patlabor ‘Alphonse’
.
.
.
.
*waking-up*
Waitta minute THAT’S what’s missing in Wapsi Square.. giant Mecha!!!
(Lanthians seem crazy enough to have once tried to make a 100ft. Golem…)
“If you don’t think of fifty-foot-high killer golems, somebody else will.”
–Sir Pterry
Xiutecuhtli, does that include 50 foot tall Stay-Puff marshmallow men?
Examples of this truth are dart guns to paintball, the ride-on toy cars to ATV’s, or my favorite from the little model rockets to homemade rockets that can handle a quart of liquid fuel…
When i worked at AMI (yes, American Megatrends – i also worked at Hayes for three years) one of the engineers had one of those stickers that say “He who dies with the most toys wins” on his Jeep’s bumper. Next to it was a homemade sticker that said “So far, I’m in last place.”
I know someone who has designed and machined a paintball mortar, fully automatic gun emplacement, grenades, and goes out and uses them regularly…as a youth leader, and has more fun with it than anyone else I know.
And I’m drooling over you guys’ toys.
Once upon a time there was an ad in Car & Driver magazine for full-auto BB guns shaped like Uzis – powered by a one-pound freon can, capable of 3000 (or was it 5000) rounds per minute…
$34.95, sometime in the first part of the 1980s.
We had a day-out with work. I was the only one with some military training under my belt, and what I remember best, is the screaming and jumping of people I ambushed..
I got hit once..by accident..while we were waiting for instructions..by some numb-nut sales-rep that was playing about with his paint-ball gun…
.. It HURT!!! Like a slap on a wet pair of swimming-trunks..
Never knew that conscription would be useful to me one day
this is really a reply to Fairportfans reply here:
yeah those bb guns were REALLY authentic looking too. when i was in the Navy over in Japan, i picked up a .45 cal. and another pistol (i can’t remember what right now) and gave them as Christmas gifts to my step-brother who’s a licensed gun-smith… boy was he surprised!. i also picked up an Ingram Mac-10 but by the time i got to really playing around with it, i found out it was missing a part and it wouldn’t function… blarg… so now it’s just a decoration. customs had i fit when i brought it back through, they they it was real from the looks and i had to take it apart to show them it wasn’t…
I think you are talking about Airsoft:
http://www.hobbytron.com/AirsoftGuns.html?gclid=CJSMr9GvwKkCFQh75QodhFuBgg
It is my understanding that almost all of the weapons you see in movies are Airsoft. Remove the mandated red muzzle extender and they are indistinguishable from the real thing.
The person I know makes his from scratch, steel, and aluminum–and probably some other stuff. Paintballs are commercial but the parts are all hand-made.
Nope – not talking about Airsoft – this sucker fired steel BBs and held several thousand. (I hate to think what it weighed loaded.)
I like the one panel for this; it’s all it needed. The hair gives me a sense of yin and yang, and the entire scene is peaceful. Kudos, Paul, nicely done.
Agreed…this is lovely!
Did they kiss off screen? Did I miss it!
NO THEY DIDN’T KISS! Sheesh.
Then why are they holding hands?
Actually, i’m not sure they are.
I’m only sure that i see Heather’s hand there – from the turn of her shoulder, it looks as if Shelly’s left hand could be in her lap.
it looks like there is a rock in between them.
Elegant, adequate, spectacular. Beautiful arc indeed for Shelly, I must say! I love the character development. Its the best.
All the songs listed here remind me of a song I used to listen to when growing up: The Hungry Years by Neil Sedaka.
Here’s a link to it:
http://www.youtube.com/v/avTD_-wK0jw&hl=en&fs=1
I personally think people do grow up but it’s very slow and you don’t notice it. The following applies for most people but not everyone:
As you grow up you start gaining responsibilities, you have to motivate yourself, you become less selfish, you become less impulsive, you are more aware of the bigger picture, you are know that you need to do things that you don’t like doing, etc.
Buuuut…that doesn’t absolve one from the responsibility to have child-like fun.
The people around me that grew the oldest (80+ or even 102!!), were those that enjoyed and nurtured the child inside.
Another group that grows up (and gets responsible) but never entirely loses their child-like sense of play is many monks and nuns–not all, but a good percentage.
“I’ve never met a monk that didn’t have a smile on his face or a bit of mischief up his sleeve…”
Ironic that Monk could be shortened off Monkey, and monkeys are know to cause mischief…
A great moment in an interesting, introspective arc.
A deep friendship solidified, and two souls connecting.
Beautiful, simply beautiful .
wait a sec its a Friday comic and no cliffhanger? ^^ Whats happening Paul? Everything alright?
And i think this one without the text would make a lovely Wallpaper
Maybe the cliff hanger is making people wonder if there’s a cliff hanger? Or letting people generate their own cliff hanger?
I probably noticed that there should have been one today from some of my predictions for Monday.
If you’re intested then here’re some of my thoughts on how a cliff hanger could be made:
jungv sivpx vrghe arqhc evtug abjdh rfgvb aznex jbhyq furha qrefg naqdh rfgvba znexj urgur efurq brfbe abgpb zznub jjbhy qfury ylnpg dhrfg vbazn ex
To code it I wrote out punctuation: (e.g. instead of “.” it would be “stop” or “full stop”), split the text into groups of 5 characters then applied rot13 to it.
Hmmm! Think I’ll whip up a Python script to decrypt that for funzies…
When you read it just remember it was just some random thoughts at a particular point in time. To tell the truth, I don’t think anything like that would happen (at least not in a way that would create tension). Once I read The Fansheep’s comments I supected that, like him (her?), I was expecting a cliff hanger.
Well i got used to have a cliffhanger at fridays update by now ;p
Here’s a simple color version in 1024×768…
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/16/thesecret1024x768.png/
aww
even better in colour
And 1440×900
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/840/thesecret1440x900.png/
Paul is such a good web comic peep that he makes us more nervous with no cliffhanger than he does with one!
that’s quite good really
It’s all in how you look at it, isn’t it? To me the cliffhanger is what is the meeting between Shelly and Jin going to be like?
That’s the meeting I have most wanted to see.
That could indeed be very interesting. Shelly won’t be as easily spooked by Jin now ,I gather..
That image is the perfect depiction of a friendship – you can lean on each other and know you’ll be there for each other.
Thanks for a lovely way to head into the weekend!
this is simply beautiful.
beautiful
I’ve usually said my inner child can beat up your inner child.
It helps to be able to play with my son instead of just telling him to go play.
I usually said some time ago that God will not let me lead a normal life. So I sit back relax, enjoy the crisis and embrace the chaos.
Helps me get through most days and back to playtime at home.
I think that last panel, and sentiment in general would make a very nice print or mini-poster. If you got rid of the first word bubble (because standing alone it doesn’t make any sense) and gave it a shot of color (or not, the B&W’s not bad) it would look nice hanging on a wall. Especially a wall one sees often enough to be reminded of that idea.
It makes nice wallpaper, certainly.
Off topis, does anyone else have a problem with the Wapsi homepage? I keep seeing the “Intro to Creepy Girl” comic and not the latest comic of the day?
That’s really weird. Try emptying your cache, restarting your browser and see if that helps.
what browser are you using?
I added my then-favorite page (not the home page) to my favorites and just click latest once it loads. Incidentally, it’s http://wapsisquare.com/comic/collect-your-coffee/ and all I can see is Phix’s head as she says, “Excuse the interruption”…
Although I may grow older, I will never really grow up. As it is, my Dad’s side of the family live way too long to deal with the boneheads of the world. But aside from the teachings of Groucho, Asimov, the Yogis Berra and Bear, Harlan Ellison (The Crankiest Man in Science Fiction), and the Deteriorata, one of the best lessons I’ve ever run across is:
Maturity is regaining the Seriousness one had as a Child at play.
Ok. New reader. Just finished the entire archive, and all I can say is WOW. This thing called Wapsi Square is pretty damn amazing. It’ll be interesting to see what comes next.
Today’s comic reminded me of something I read in another comic that kinda hit home: “Nobody becomes ‘big’ when they hit adulthood. They just become better at hiding how small they are.”
Kudos to you, Mr. Pablo.
“But the secret” => “But the secret is”
^.^
BTW
She is completely correct. Only the saddest people let that part of them die out.
FAIRPORTFAN: I found it! “Terror of the Autons” The Doctor (Pertwee) tries to use a part from TheMASTERs’ Tardis and it blows up. Jo tells him he is being Childish and The Doctor replies “Whats wrong with being childish,I LIKE being Childish.” (as he kicks a table)
Well, okay. But the quote as friends of mine who were big fans of the Fourth Doctor – one, who was almost as tall as Baker, had his hair permed into curls, and went everywhere in duplicates of the coat, scarf and hat, even to arriving at the British HQ of his employer in it when he was sent there – specifically attributed it to the Fourth Doctor was as i had it, “What’s the use oif being grown up if you can’t be childish?”, so i suspect that it got recycled.
Yep – here it is on the BBC Classic Episode Guide:
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/robot/detail.shtml"Robot
The episode in which the Brigadier says he’d just once like to meet an alien menace that wasn’t immune to bullets and
Arrrgh.
That was supposed to be Robot
I just remembered a Bible quote – I can’t remember the chapter and verse, and I hope I don’t mis-quote: Unless thou become like a little child, one cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
Trust. Wonder. Imagine. Play.
Matthew 18:3. And it’s close enough, up to translation differences.
Can the cast page be updated? I’ve totally forgotten who Heather is …
Aaaand..another Nudge- update
First paint-tests. Tail is curing at the moment. Details will be painted when I find a satisfactory colour-scheme for the body.
Oh crapola , for got a ” .
Next try:
Nudge pre-detailing
i am in serious awe of your skills jay-em
thnx
Now to everyone: are the spots on her face warts, spots on her fur (I can imagine her face being covered in very fine fur, dunno if that’s correct, but I liked detailing that) or freckles?
I think you will have to ask The Man.
I think they’re some sort of warts or bumps, but freckels would be cuter.
The sculpt is fantastic, Jay. It’s hard for me to describe my awe without descending into earthy language. It has a definite wow factor of 10.5.
I keep hanging up on a comment you made some days earlier where you said that the Arts Academy you attended took all the fun out of it for you. I can only feel a sadness that they could do that. The joy I get just looking at the pictures of your work cannot, I assume, even touch what it should bring to you for doing it.
I hope if you haven’t found the joy in your work, that you do at some point.
Thank you for sharing it with us.
That’s…about the nicest comment ever. I never thought looking at my dabblings could give people true enjoyment.
Possibly because the constant harping I got at the academy, because I just couldn’t get myself to produce the abstract “artsy” things they apparently considered the only things worthy. I got accused of producing “horrible kitsch” , or worse “being too lazy, and constrained by figurative thinking” Pfffft.. That was enough for me. After the second year, I flipped them the birdy, got my Microsoft certifications, got a well paying job in ICT, and didn’t touch a pencil, brush, or a piece of clay for 6 years.
The problem withy many academies of fine arts is that the teachers are more often than not, failed “artistes” themselves, with monstrous chips on their shoulders.
Not good around young, impressionable kids.
I only enjoyed the guest-lectures from settled illustrators, sculptors and other active artists, to be honest.
I took a “Creative Writing” course at Georgia Tech, manymany years ago. (Bear in mind that anyone who’s teaching creative writing* at an engineering school like Georgia Tech very likely couldn’t get a job elsewhere…)
For the weekly assignments, i turned in good solid genre writing that might – with a little clean-up – have been salable. We had weekly individual meetings with the professor to critique our work. I let him know, fairly early on, that i wanted to hear what was wrong with the actual writing – not with his idea of what was wrong with the type of story or the subject matter.
I finished the course with a “C”.
I was the only person in the class who got below a “B”.
Including a couple of guys who were certainly functionally literate, but not a lot more.
Arts courses (in general, and that includes writing courses) should teach the history of the field, the techniques available – including ones that are currently out of fashion – and then critique how well the student uses those techniques, not what he chooses to use them to produce not how closely he matches the professor’s prejudices.
Unfortunately, art courses are taught by human beings, and the old saw about “Those who can…” all too often applies.
OOps.
Forgot to follow up on the “* i inserted in that last rant:
*This description of English professors at schools like Georgia Tech should not be taken to apply to the ones like Bud Foote who taught the SF course already alluded to:
Just as liberal arts schools need at least one token reactionary in every department, engineering schools need at least one certified free-range maverick in each department in the humanities.
The presence of Bud Foote was substantial fulfillment of that requirement for the entire school.
And much of Atlanta in general.
Absolutely. After this I hope Jay will be inclined to grace us with additional examples of his interpretations of the Wapsi characters. A Phix in all her sphinxy glory would be wonderful! It’s such a treat to see, not only the finished product, but the steps along the way.
Phix ey?.. Hmm.. Nudge is about 12″.. If I’d do Phix to scale….welll…
8O She’d be about 24″. If I’d decide do a Phix-Sphinx ,it would be a whopper of a statuette. Say, the size of a big housecat.. With a wingspan of 40″ I’d have to get a building-permit for that 
Nah, If I’d do another one, it would be a Tina-with demon-eye-hands (You know the one I mean) with real eyes in the hands, and “christmas ornaments in hollow skull” just to unsettle the onlooker….
(makes You wonder how Paul came up with that vision.. 
)
Thanx You all for the uber-nice comments and encouragement!
Ah, but it would be magnificent. Thatnotwithstanding, the Tina one would be a great choice as well. Still, if you also make Tina to scale, she would be a bit small-ish as well would she not? About 8 inches? But wadda I know, that may be fine.
Nothing against Emerson, Lake and Palmer, but they didn’t have anything to do with the movie “O Lucky Man.” That soundtrack was done by Alan Price and his band the Alan Price Set. You can hear the original here:
Sorry, but I have no idea how to make a link in HTML.
I managed not only to not link it, but to delete the address: http://youtu.be/81IOO9EC1nE
It was a very odd movie, and I almost left near the beginning when they chopped off the coffee picker’s hand. I saw it at a midnight show in the fall of 1994. There was a lot of horrific detail, but there were also some incredibly beautiful scenes.
…and some absolutely hilarious lines:
“A rock band, eh? Are you rich?”
“No, but me manager is.”
I have never met a professional; musician who didn’t find that line both funny and all too true.
Some actors I’ve known think so to.
Another song from the movie that might be applicable here.
Actually, a goodly part of the soundtrack fits in a way…
http://youtu.be/ZyAJWhgxhWY
http://youtu.be/w_u-Ka4E7k8 – not necessarily applicable … but wonderfully cynical.
MoonsingerFan! So happy to see you here!
Thank you, FatUncle. Of course, today is the first time I’ve looked back at the comments over here since I made mine. LOL!
So even though the idea was mentioned above, I would just like to clarify for the “adults” in the room. If you are reading this, then you are not a “grownup”. You still love the kid inside you, and are happy to bring them out to play every once in a while.
Woot, Woot!!… now all we have to do is not get Grounded! that would mean we’d miss out on all the Wapsi updates…
I agree with you but I’m trying to work out whether I like the idea.
Who am I kidding? If I won the lottery, I’d learn to fly and buy a plane — simply to be able to fly when I want.
Yes, I’m a kid at heart.
…or where.
That’s true.
Why wait to win the lottery?
My dad was 82 when he died this last xmas and he was flying solo for the last six years, except for this last year because the FAA wouldn’t let him renew his license due to a failed heart checkup (that’s what finally got him in the end too…) and he sure as heck hadn’t won the lottery, either!.
i guess i’m just really saying is don’t wait for some nebulous “i’ won the lottery” thing, just go and do it, that is, if you are able to allot the time, effort and money to the task without hardship.
Given that it’s about £160/hour tuition and the MINIMUM is 45 hours before you’re even allowed to take the PPL, not to mention that you have 7 exams (each cost £100+), books, etc, it looks like it’lll have to wait until I win the lottery.
I am looking at the text, and the postures of Shelly and Heather, and I cannot decide if Shelly likes the fact that everybody is still a kid, sees it as something positive, or resents it, but has resigned to it…
I mean, did those 80000+ years teach her (stoic) acceptance, or is something deep inside still childishly (sic.) longing for that elusive “growing-up”
No – i think that what those 80K+ years taught her was to hang on to it and treasure it.
In Norton Juster’s The Phantom Tollbooth, Milo (the protagonist) meets a boy about his own age who stands and walks in the air, never setting foot on the ground.
He explains that his people are born with their head at the height of a normal adult’s head, and their feet grow downward till they reach the ground. Thus, he says, they always have a grown-up viewpoint, which is a good thing, because you never are disappointed by things you believed as a child turning out to not be as you grow older.
But, he admits, occasionally among his people, one will be born upside down – which puts his head at the level of an ordinary child, and means his feet can never reach the ground.
Milo asks what happens to people like that.
He answers “I don’t know for sure – but I’ve heard they become giants, and walk amonfg the stars.”
Best damn conclusion. Good work Paul
It looks like Shelly got her wish.