For years while building my house in the boondocks of Oregon I lived in a leaky trailer with no electricity and the only running water was rain that leaked through the roof. I finally moved into the house about twenty years ago. That means that many things in the house are 20 years old and are falling apart and/or breaking down almost simultaneously. The joys of home ownership. The latest thing to give out was the black locust pole I used to hold up my extra-large mailbox. You know you lead a dull life when installing a post for your snail-mailbox is considered a major event. Continue reading
Author Archives: Theresa McCracken
A Medical Breakthrough I Want: Brain Transplants
I had my physical and everything checked out. Dang.
I was hoping to be recommended for some experimental surgery akin to a full-body transplant.
Once when I was giving blood the nurse asking questions to screen out folks with possible diseases asked … well, I can’t remember what she actually asked, but at the time I thought she asked, “Have you had a brain transplant in the last six months?” “No,” I said, but do tell me more.” No doubt this proved in her mind that I had mad cow disease. Continue reading
The Doctor Wishes You’d Come Sooner
Tomorrow I’m having my first physical in I don’t know how many years and I have this image stuck in my head; Medical cartoon 7659: A doctor taking the pulse of a skeleton sitting on an examination table. He says, “I wish you’d come to me sooner.”Here are a few more of my favorite Doctor Cartoons. They make great posters for waiting rooms, posters which coincidentally can be purchased at my Cafepress store. Remember, laughter is the best medicine, and these cartoons can be had over the counter for a lot less than most drugs. Continue reading
Splurge on Cheap Cartoons
Dang. I missed celebrating National Splurge Day yesterday.
To make up for it I’m having a sale on all my already way-too-cheap cartoons until June 25th.. You get 25% off your order by typing “ha ha” in the “Apply Coupon” box.
If you’re reading this after June 25th, don’t worry. Email me and I’ll make a special coupon for you. Continue reading
Birds, Birds, Birds
Last night I watched The Big Year, a comedy about competitive bird watchers. It’s a premise I would have thought absurd except I’ve been around such people. In addition to cartooning I teach natural history and lead nature walks, and I would rather get between a mama bear and her cub than get between a bird and birders trying to add to their Life Lists. Full disclosure, I don’t keep a Life List. Continue reading
Overlooked Cartoons
The relaunching of my website has been in a word, disastrous.
To humans the new web design is nicer to look at than my old site and much easier to use, but Google hates it.
What happens when Google hates your site? Continue reading
Shakespeare’s Monkey
I just sent my second tweet:
“An infinite # of monkeys & typewriters will produce the works of Shakespeare. The rest produce Captcha nonsense to show you’re human.”
My Life Has Gone To The Puppies
I just sent my first tweet:
License Accident Cartoon 6708
Get this cartoon on mugs, magnets, T-shirts & other stuff @ CafePress
“The advantage of getting a puppy at 57 is your bladder holds about as much as a puppy’s, so housebreaking is easier.”
On March 29th, my old dog Sammy died of complications due to surgery for cancer. I was pretty devastated. My parents were visiting, and Dad said he’d buy me a puppy for my upcoming birthday. Oh how I longed to hear those words when I was a child, but I told him, no thanks because I always take in older dogs no one wants.
One Hour of Cartooning Down, 9,999 To Go
How to Become a Slightly Warped Cartoonist: Part 11
If you’ve tried all the techniques I’ve mentioned, and still can’t come up with funny ideas, don’t give up immediately. Like other muscles, the humor muscle takes time and practice to build. I had a five-year-plan when I quit my secure well-paying government job and started cartooning full-time in 1981. Continue reading
Trade Journal Cartoons
How to Become a Slightly Warped Cartoonist: Part 10
Gag-cartoonists call the big magazines most have heard of The Majors. That’s where everyone wants to be published. I don’t know how many Majors there are now. Maybe fifty.
The odds that someone starting out will have a cartoon selected from the first batch of cartoons she’s drawn is – well, I don’t know what the odds are, but I believe the odds of winning the lottery are better.
There are hundreds of other magazines and trade journals to submit to, though.