Jon Furniss

WOTD: motley adj. 1. of many colors or patches of color 2. wearing many-colored garments 3. having or composed of many different or clsahing elements; heterogeneous
n. 1. cloth of mixed colors 2. a garment of various colors worn by a clown or jester 3. [rare] a fool or jester 4. a combination of diverse or clashing elements

Before I start telling you about Toothpaste For Dinner I give you FreeRice. This is a vocabulary game where you have to get the definition of a word and it moves you up to the next level every time you get three right in a row. Also, for every word you get right the website donates 10 grains of rice to the United Nations. There are 50 levels altogether, I’m currently hanging out around level 35.

Anyway, Toothpaste For Dinner, this was the first webcomic I started reading. That happened back in tenth grade. I have been checking it daily pretty much ever since then. It is another somewhat stickfigurish artistic webcomic, but they’re not really stick figures… they’re more, blobby, I’d say. The comic is drawn by Drew and was started back in 2002. It is updated daily. It touches on politics, modern events, music, school, every day life, and just some completely random stuff. And now because I’m going to continue to be lazy with my blog and my life, some of my favorites:

toothpastefordinner.com

Why I love this one? Isn’t it obvious, I’m lazy and a procrastinator, and an official member Do Your Homework in the Five Minutes Before Your Class It’s Due in Begins.

toothpastefordinner.com

Because math makes me smile (when I don’t have to do it, although sometimes I do miss it) and Keanu Reaves makes me laugh. Even though the title of the movie has nothing to do with anything in the movie, the first Matrix was good at least.

toothpastefordinner.com

I love this one because I actually have to do this at my job, I actually printed this out and it is hung up on the wall at customer service (out of sight to the customers though, sorry). I do have to admit that they’ve gotten better and made it so almost all of the warranties are actually less expensive than the product now. But still, some of it is fairly outrageous.

toothpastefordinner.com

I want a job where I can play solitaire all day someday… Just kidding, I don’t really like solitaire at all.

And that is that folks, take a look around Toothpaste For Dinner, but make sure you have some time first because it has been called “The most addictive comic on the web.”

WOTD: blarney n. smooth talk used in flattering or coaxing

I have decided that every Friday (for this month at least, or perhaps until I run out) shall be Portrait of the Webcomic. In it I will let you all know about a webcomic that I like or maybe don’t. Today’s feature comic is xkcd. XKCD is a self-described “webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.” It is drawn by Randall Munroe, who is “just this guy” with a degree in physics. Before starting the comic he worked on robots for NASA, which I personally think is pretty awesome. (This, and more, can be found on the about page, but I felt like telling you something, so I did.)

XKCD is my favorite webcomic ever, hands down. Its drawings are beautiful in their simplicity, just as every comic is beautiful in its complexity. For those sarcastic, romantic nerds out there (yes, I include myself in that category), every comic is perfect. If you’re just sarcastic, romantic, or a nerd, then you might not like them all, but just the same they’re all still amazing.

It also sticks out to me because it is all drawn in stick figures. I myself am not an artist (and often struggle with even stick figures), so it’s nice to know that even lines with a circle on top can be used so meaningfully. And then the calculus, coding, linguistics, and physics are thrown in there, making every comic pretty much awesome.

And now, a choice few favorites of mine:

One of the main reasons I love this one is because it is perfect for us smart slackers. Sure, we can do well in the class, but sticking it to the man in alphabetical order is much more fulfilling.

Are you a people hater? Like experimenting with the world and seeing what you can get out of it? How that comic could not make you smile is beyond me.

And lastly I will give you my two all-time favorites:

Both are sufficiently romantic, and the play pen balls one… I’ve wanted to do that my whole life and someday I will.

So poke around xkcd, it updates every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Or else do what I do and take an afternoon out to read every comic from the beginning, and then check it religiously every day even though you already know when it will update.