Goodbye Everett, Hello Muscles
I knew Dr. Everett Callahan would be a short term relationship for Howard, but I was never sure how I would have the relationship end. I had been playing him as a “not out of the closet” gay. I expect that even in Canada, there are still some of those around. Well today, qnjones posting as Becky and aprilp_katje posting as Marjee Mahaha confronted the good gay doctor about his closet issues, with Marjee Mahaha leaving the story to say that he was going off to talk to Howard.
In my own personal life, I sang 2 church services and had to take a hand saw to my boy’s cub scout Pinewood Racer and did the laundry and did not get back to April’s Real Blog until late. So, this plot was waiting for me. It could not have been more perfect to write the end to the Howard / Everett story. The few “still in the closet” gays I have known in my life, would never, ever, have come out of the closet at the recommendation of a 14-year-old girl they barely knew, or for that matter, for pretty much anyone, depending on the situation. I knew that with that kind of ultimatum, the only outcome would be a cessation of the relationship with Howard. I also tossed out a possible marriage proposal from Everett to Marjee, just so aprilp_katje can have some fun with that. “Hey chick. I totally want to like do the wedding thing with you.”
A second story was waiting for me. qnjones took yesterday’s Blog entry as a chastisement for her Liz ignoring Paul and Shiimsa and launched into a very funny story of Liz being embarrassed for having to show her boss’ wife, the nurse, his testicular injury due to Shiimsa mistaking them for cat toys. I don’t know if this is some comment about Paul’s anatomy or not. In any case, qnjones so nicely left me a “Paul will tell you what happened next.” Well, I cracked open the Ojibway/English dictionary and researched chastity and women’s roles in Ojibway culture and had a good, old, time revisiting my buddies in Mtigwaki.
The third story waiting for me was an angry protest from adrianne_p posting as Alexandra Love, as she finally got mad at the insensitivity of my Jeremy Jones character in telling her details of his love antics with his new friend with benefits, Becky. Jeremy plays dumb, which is good, since he is dumb. However, somebody (aprilp_katje, adrianne_p?) tossed in a Cameron (future love interest of Alexandra Love) post mentioning hockey, math, roller skates and guilty looks as part of a funny joke told by Alexandra. The intent of course was be funny that the people around Alexandra were pretending to laugh at a funny joke Alexandra had supposedly told, but did not coordinate what the joke was when Cameron asked. I thought, I can make up a joke about those things. Well, I tried, but it was awful.
Tomorrow’s strip: The strip writers have gotten into the habit of trying to show “a day in the life” story sequences, which is somewhat frightening, because it usually takes a month to be done with those. It looks like we are at the beginning of an Elly arch. Or maybe it’s a Pets arch, since they carried the strip on Sunday. My guess it is a “convince Elly to go on a cruise” story, mentioned in John’s January monthly letter.
In my own personal life, I sang 2 church services and had to take a hand saw to my boy’s cub scout Pinewood Racer and did the laundry and did not get back to April’s Real Blog until late. So, this plot was waiting for me. It could not have been more perfect to write the end to the Howard / Everett story. The few “still in the closet” gays I have known in my life, would never, ever, have come out of the closet at the recommendation of a 14-year-old girl they barely knew, or for that matter, for pretty much anyone, depending on the situation. I knew that with that kind of ultimatum, the only outcome would be a cessation of the relationship with Howard. I also tossed out a possible marriage proposal from Everett to Marjee, just so aprilp_katje can have some fun with that. “Hey chick. I totally want to like do the wedding thing with you.”
A second story was waiting for me. qnjones took yesterday’s Blog entry as a chastisement for her Liz ignoring Paul and Shiimsa and launched into a very funny story of Liz being embarrassed for having to show her boss’ wife, the nurse, his testicular injury due to Shiimsa mistaking them for cat toys. I don’t know if this is some comment about Paul’s anatomy or not. In any case, qnjones so nicely left me a “Paul will tell you what happened next.” Well, I cracked open the Ojibway/English dictionary and researched chastity and women’s roles in Ojibway culture and had a good, old, time revisiting my buddies in Mtigwaki.
The third story waiting for me was an angry protest from adrianne_p posting as Alexandra Love, as she finally got mad at the insensitivity of my Jeremy Jones character in telling her details of his love antics with his new friend with benefits, Becky. Jeremy plays dumb, which is good, since he is dumb. However, somebody (aprilp_katje, adrianne_p?) tossed in a Cameron (future love interest of Alexandra Love) post mentioning hockey, math, roller skates and guilty looks as part of a funny joke told by Alexandra. The intent of course was be funny that the people around Alexandra were pretending to laugh at a funny joke Alexandra had supposedly told, but did not coordinate what the joke was when Cameron asked. I thought, I can make up a joke about those things. Well, I tried, but it was awful.
Tomorrow’s strip: The strip writers have gotten into the habit of trying to show “a day in the life” story sequences, which is somewhat frightening, because it usually takes a month to be done with those. It looks like we are at the beginning of an Elly arch. Or maybe it’s a Pets arch, since they carried the strip on Sunday. My guess it is a “convince Elly to go on a cruise” story, mentioned in John’s January monthly letter.
posted by howard at 10:41 PM
5 Comments:
Howard, I enjoyed the joke using hockey, math, guilty looks, and roller skates. You even worked in a Patterson-esque bad pun at the end--what could be more perfect?
qnjones--I enjoyed the Liz/Paul story; sorry to be remiss in the loving on it!
Howard, I had a thought for where you could take Howard next. You mentioned in your previous post that Howard's flamboyantly gay, in contrast to straight-acting Lawrence and Nick. Maybe Howard signs up with a gay dating service? Then he could have a series of dates with SGM of Milborough? Just a thought. :)
Qnjones,
Sorry to disappoint you with the Howard and Everett relationship going to the next level. I am glad you liked the post grocery store Liz and Paul.
What's all this talk about "in reality, this tactic wouldn't work"--? Who cares about reality? ;)
I don’t, obviously, since I had Howard turned into a dog. That story pretty much sucks any credibility I have as far as reality goes.
I couldn’t see Everett coming out of the closet, just because Becky said to or because he was afraid of losing Howard. Everett has not appeared much in the strip, but each time he appears his dialogue is oriented toward what he is doing and why it is important to him. I couldn’t see him doing something for someone else. Plus, I have been writing Everett with surfer dude dialogue and never really pictured Howard and Everett as a long term relationship, because I knew that I would eventually tire of writing “dude” or “man” over and over.
Aprilp_katje
Thanks for the kind words about my awful hockey, math, guilty looks, and roller skates joke. Resorting to a Patterson-esque bad pun at the end was a dagger in the heart for me. I am afraid my sense of humour has been permanently warped by this strip.
A gay dating service is an interesting idea. What other single gay men are there in Milborough aside from Lawrence and Nick? Help me, oh continuity goddess in my time of need.
Other than Dennis, I can't think of any gay men introduced, besides Nick and Lawrence. I think we'll have to make up our own. ;)
Oooh. aprilp_katje names of imaginary gay men. I am looking forward to that. You have the best names.
Hey, what if Howard and Dennis became ballroom dancing partners, with Howard in drag--?
That is a terrific idea.
To consider the singles scene for gay men would present a quandary: do we present it how it really is, and show that promiscuity and frank sexuality are a significant part of that scene? Or do we whitewash it so we can pretend it's just like how the straight kids end up shackled for life to the first person they ever kissed (in the fourth grade)?
My snarking sense has started tingling.
So far, FOOB has pretty much taken the latter path. Lawrence and Dennis were never depicted as actively looking for dates. Lawrence just magically found two long-term relationships (IIRC).
The portrayal of homosexual men and women is interesting. I remember in university taking a class called “Sex and Gender Roles in Society.” When we got to homosexuality, the professor showed the results of several studies showing the number of partners and frequency of couplings for different kinds of couples. The order in terms of most activity in those areas starts with homosexual men, then heterosexual couples and finally homosexual women. I remember very well discussing this with a very pro-gay lady (she was heterosexual) who got very upset when I suggested that homosexual men and women were in any way, shape, or form different from heterosexual couples. By very upset, I mean she called me a lot of names. However, it just made sense to me. If you’re a guy and you want it all the time, another guy is going to understand.
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