CoMiCs!!!

 

The comic I chose is called "Pearls Before Swine". It was created by Stephan Pastis in 1997. Pastis was born in 1968 (which means he's 39) in San Marino, California. Steve had wanted to be a cartoonist since he was a little kid (corny much?), but past rejection made him wait until 1998 to pick his best work and send it in to a publishing company. Surprise surprise, this time, they showed interest in his work. The first "Pearls Before Swine" strip appeared on comics.com in 2000, and Pastis was launched into the newspaper biz in 2002.

Pearls Before Swine consists of about a dozen different characters coexisting in their own little messed up world. The characters are both animals and humans, but animals are the main characters. The top two are Rat, a cynical loser, and Pig, a dim-witted sweetheart. Pastis decided to make their names simple because otherwise it would have "made it artificial," he says. Rat is always getting into trouble, and more often then not, taking Pig down with him. The other characters include Goat, an under-appreciated genius who basically suffers the other character's company, and Zebra, a nice guy who's only problem (other than Rat) is fear of being eaten at every waking moment. He lives next door to the Lions, a bunch of easy-going bachelors with tempers, and the Crocs, who are always trying to eat Zebra. Fortunately, they are dumber than dirt. Another character that I like is Guard Duck, Pig's hired bodyguard. Guard Duck struggles with anger management issues (like wanting to blow up all their neighbors) and relationship problems- his girlfriend Maura is wonderful, but migrates from time to time.

Pearls Before Swine addresses all kinds of problems. Rat and Goat tend more toward the political, while Pig is always struggling with more inner problems. His girlfriend Pigita thinks he's an idiot, as does the rest of the world, but Pig is just a lonely, naive little kid. Most of the time, they are all just making fools of themselves. Rat is always seeking love and finding it and then screwing it up royally. Pig is always giving love and then getting kicked out the back door.

Basically, Pearls Before Swine is the best comic ever! Just kidding. But it is pretty auspicious. I like the ideas, the characters, and the way all the stories go together.

To visit some of my favorite comics, go to www.dilbert.com/comics/pearls/archive/pearls-20080214.html or pearlsbeforeswine

OH YEAH BABY!

YESSSSSSSS! In the words of Napoleon Dynamite, that was freakin' sweet. I can't believe Tom Brady actually sucked it up. (suck being the operative word :P) Eli Manning has completely earned back my respect. Sorry, perfect season hopefuls- there's always next year...or the year after that.

e-prompt

mr.ross, i can't open your website!!!!! so not cool! so I'm pretty sure i was supposed to post this.

if i remember correctly, the prompt was, if you could see someone blatantly cheating, and the teacher wasn't noticing, what would you do?

well, my first reaction is, I hate cheaters, put that loser down. But...I'm extremely ashamed to say this, but i myself am a cheater. (gasp! i know you are all SHOCKED!) and i know that sometimes there are other motives behind the cheating besides being a lazy, low-down slacker. (which i was totally being, by the way. well, this one time...anyways.) but if you are being obvious like that, it's not a mistake. So if this person is cheating on purpose, and you don't know whether they're just some random jerk, or really need this grade or whatever, what do you do?
...asking myself MORE QUESTIONS!!! not a good idea...
well, i think that it would be best to just talk to the guy(or girl) first, because maybe it WAS a mistake, maybe he(or she) thought you could use a calculator, or whatever his(or her) deal is. Talk it over with them first. Because judging from mr.ross's experience, talking to the teacher might not be the best idea. Plus, if someone called me out for doing something wrong, I would stop.
....now what do you thing about THAT? :)

lalalala, I'm getting sick from all these stinking GERMZZZ

There are several different animals whose domestication has been tried, and failed. Think zebras, cheetahs, grizzlies, etc. What are three different reasons a species might resist domestication? Explain, and give an example of each one. This section begins on the bottom of page 168.

Okay, one BIG problem is with captive breeding. No one wants to...um...yeah, in front of people. (unless you have a very sick, sick, mind!!) so consider how the animals are feeling. Also, some species have very complicated rituals that can involve long distances. Take the cheetah, for example. Males will chase females for several days over long distances, in order for the female to CONSIDER mating with them. This obviously can't happen in an enclosed environment such as a zoo.
Another problem is nasty disposition. Not all animals are cute and cuddly; and if they aren't cooperative, they can't be kept in captivity, much less dealt with. One example is the African buffalo. It has almost all the suitable traits of being domesticable, but one of its' other traits cancel the rest out. Once buffalo have grown to full size, which is about a ton, it becomes, well, mean. The African buffalo is considered the most dangerous large mammal in Africa!
The final reason is diet. The conversion of food biomass into the consumer's biomass is about 10% efficient. Meaning, you would have to feed an 50 pound dog 500 pounds of dog food. But a dog is an omnivore. Carnivores are a different story. Since they eat the herbivore and/or omnivore, they consume the 500 pound cow and virtually the 5,000 pounds of vegetation it took to feed that cow. So carnivores are out.

GO CHARGERS!

yeah, that's right, the San Diego Chargers are in the semis!!!!! PEYTON GOT OWNED ! and I'm in love with Billy Volek. wait to save our butts, man. next week is the patriots! we are going to eat tom brady alive. :)
peace! gabby

yeah, another poem

I'll sing you a song
you don't have to listen
even if you do
i know you won't hear

The words that I say
you seem to be missing
they drift right through
just like i feared

sometimes it doesn't turn out the way that we wanted
sometimes it falls through our fingers onto the floor
sometimes it's better to leave it behind us forever
sometimes there can still be something more...

I loved you then
it still hasn't changed
but love is fickle
and moves like the wind

I gave you my heart
and then took it back
can't you see there's
nothing left to give

sometimes life beats us down 'til we're broken
sometimes love mends our souls right up to the break
sometimes words are not possibly enough
but I know you'll be in my heart...always.



okay, so maybe this is a LITTLE more serious than before.
love gabby