How to Talk Through a Troubling Experience

Sadly, I find that all too often in life Plan B is just “Plan A, but harder.”

The story I tell in the comic about the Englishman spanking his 14 year old in public is true. I saw it in the grocery department at Target.

Think about that for a second, I saw a family of British tourists in the grocery department at Target, and that wasn’t the weird part. I never saw that in Seattle, and I haven’t seen it yet in Phoenix. But in Orlando, you get used to seeing international tourists in places you wouldn’t expect. If you’ve never seen a huge group of Brazilian teenagers wearing identical t-shirts swarming through the outlet mall, it’s an experience you don’t ever forget.

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How to Survive the Dreaded Post-Holiday Phone Call

My father and I express how much we care for each other by sparing each other the discomfort of ever talking about our feelings.

What do we talk about instead? Anything. Literally, anything we can think of that isn’t our feelings.

The last time we spoke, we spent ten minutes talking about the innovative experimental sail Jacques Cousteau attached to one of his ship in the ’80s.

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How to Manage Your Emotions

The frog story is true, right down to shouting “Froggy.” The only place where it diverges from the truth is that it happened to me, not Ric.

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How to Stage a Hostile Takeover Takeover of Another Strip

A couple weeks back, when the image of Tim Rickard showed up in one of the comics, I contacted him for permission to identify him by name. Being the great guy he is, he also gave me permission to rerun his guest strip from 2011.

It’s funny, no other cartoonists ever asked me to do a guest strip for them. it’s probably due to a combination of my “limited” art style and my patented “Wall of Text” writing technique.

Note from Missy: If memory serves, this is the only time in the history of BI where Rocket Hat speaks!

Reply from Scott: Yes, I believe you’re right.

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How to Let Someone in on a Secret

Some of you may be wondering: if mustachioed pugilism is the white man’s martial art, why didn’t they ever make mustachioed pugilism movies? My answer would be to ask you to watch any Burt Reynolds movie from the late ’70s or early ’80s and wait for the inevitable barroom brawl.

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How to Discuss Something You Just Like, and the Other Person Loves

I was one of those people who walked out of the midnight showing of The Phantom Menace saying “I liked it.” I saw it at least two more times in the theater, and each time I walked out saying “I liked it” a little quieter, and with more of a question in my tone.

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How to Explain Your Unique Interests

QI did show up on Hulu for a while, but they edited it weirdly and screwed it up. Luckily, a lot of UK panel shows end up on YouTube, some via official channels; others, not so much.

Now, all I want is a legitimate way to watch full, HD versions of the documentaries of Philomena Cunk (again, NSFW).

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How to Remember Information by Using a Mnemonic Device

Here’s a great example of the power of a good mnemonic device. Watch the following clip from a UK Panel show called Would I Lie to You, (Note, it’s mildly NSFW) and you will probably be able to identify the Teletubbies by name and color for the rest of your life. At the very least, you’ll be able to remember which one is Tinky Winky.

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How to Motivate Yourself to Maintain Your Dental Health

The Waterpik was an attempt to harness my love of gadgets to trick myself into practicing proper hygiene. It didn’t last long. Hard water did it in. I figured if calcium was building up on the device itself, how could it help my teeth?

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How to Handle a Project That Seems Doomed to Failure

The consultant here is being portrayed by Tim Rickard, the creator of the very funny comic strip Brewster Rockit: Space Guy. We met up while he was on vacation with his family at Walt Disney World, which explains the fanny pack.

People who would never even consider a fanny pack in their everyday life will happily wear one while visiting a Disney theme park. I guess people figure they’ll be screaming on rollercoasters and taking pictures with a giant mouse, so maintaining their dignity is already off the table.

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