I Guess I Was Wrong (Again)
Today in sports, we did 2 church services, had lunch, went to see the new Pink Panther movie (thumbs up from me), came home and got on April’s Real Blog for the first time in the day. I did my usual triumvirate of posts on my 3 characters snarking the daily strip and then had my Howard character lead into an evening session of gay speed dating, hoping that qnjones posting as Becky and aprilp_katje posting as Marjee Mahaha would find it interesting.
Then I looked at April’s Meta Blog, where qnjones posted that she is taking a break from ARB for awhile and may give up writing for Liz. So, I was wrong to think that the reaction to schmoosie’s post was over. Of course, my guilt has started working up on this issue again. I am trying to keep it under control. On to other things:
Constable Paul Wright. Many snarkers have protested mightily that Lynn Johnston is not doing a Valentine’s Day story with the good constable and Liz and it is plainly obvious from tomorrow’s strip, Valentine’s Day was to be represented by today’s strip. The actual Valentine’s Day appears to be a John / April heart-to-heart conversation about whatever it is that is bothering John about his nearly perfect daughter. So, I had planned a Valentine’s Day romantic story with Liz and Paul (and Shiimsa), doing what it is that Lynn is failing to do. Without qnjones to play off, these stories will be a little one-sided.
Jeremy Jones. Presumably he would be getting together with his exclusive friend with benefits, Becky over Valentine’s Day. I have already established that his father is doing a concert locally on that day, so they will probably end up there and encounter the A-girls and Z-girls that Jeremy gave comp tickets to during the course of the last week. Since there is no qnjones to play off of, I probably will invite greytail088 posting as Vicki Simone to come along, aprilp_katje posting as April to come along with their respective significant others along with Eva and the_berserker posting as Duncan, assuming that Duncan is freed up enough from his legal troubles to attend.
Howard. He begins a series of evening dates from his speed dating contacts, with hopefully a series of masterful names given to me by namemaster aprilp_katje posting as Marjee Mahaha. I already have Guy L’homme as the first date, whom I am playing as a masculine man, particularly given his name. Howard can also interplay with Marjee Mahaha during the salon business during the day about the fallout from each dating disaster. I have been intentionally posting Marjee Mahaha dialogue with Howard as protective of him, flirtatious with him, and deliberately ambiguous as far as the true nature of her feelings for him. Marjee is a character not in the strip, and I never was sure why aprilp_katje created her. She creates characters on the fly a lot, but rarely sustains them for any significant period, and yet Marjee has been maintained and I sometimes have to remind myself that she will never appear in the strip. My perspective on the relationship between Marjee and Howard is that Marjee feels comfortable flirting with him. I have known gay men with whom straight girls would flirt outrageously. I often suspected it was because girls like to flirt, but like to flirt with no consequences, e.g. "I don’t have to worry about this gay guy becoming obsessed with me, like I would a straight single guy." I experienced variations on this theme during periods of my life when I had a steady girlfriend. The same girl who was aloof to me when I was single and available would flirt with me when I was single and unavailable. I view the Marjee and Howard relationship in this way.
Tomorrow’s strip. Honestly a pretty good strip with a zinger toward the Elly and John monthly letters coming from strip April. I will enjoy seeing aprilp_katje’s take on it in tomorrow’s Blog entry.
Then I looked at April’s Meta Blog, where qnjones posted that she is taking a break from ARB for awhile and may give up writing for Liz. So, I was wrong to think that the reaction to schmoosie’s post was over. Of course, my guilt has started working up on this issue again. I am trying to keep it under control. On to other things:
Constable Paul Wright. Many snarkers have protested mightily that Lynn Johnston is not doing a Valentine’s Day story with the good constable and Liz and it is plainly obvious from tomorrow’s strip, Valentine’s Day was to be represented by today’s strip. The actual Valentine’s Day appears to be a John / April heart-to-heart conversation about whatever it is that is bothering John about his nearly perfect daughter. So, I had planned a Valentine’s Day romantic story with Liz and Paul (and Shiimsa), doing what it is that Lynn is failing to do. Without qnjones to play off, these stories will be a little one-sided.
Jeremy Jones. Presumably he would be getting together with his exclusive friend with benefits, Becky over Valentine’s Day. I have already established that his father is doing a concert locally on that day, so they will probably end up there and encounter the A-girls and Z-girls that Jeremy gave comp tickets to during the course of the last week. Since there is no qnjones to play off of, I probably will invite greytail088 posting as Vicki Simone to come along, aprilp_katje posting as April to come along with their respective significant others along with Eva and the_berserker posting as Duncan, assuming that Duncan is freed up enough from his legal troubles to attend.
Howard. He begins a series of evening dates from his speed dating contacts, with hopefully a series of masterful names given to me by namemaster aprilp_katje posting as Marjee Mahaha. I already have Guy L’homme as the first date, whom I am playing as a masculine man, particularly given his name. Howard can also interplay with Marjee Mahaha during the salon business during the day about the fallout from each dating disaster. I have been intentionally posting Marjee Mahaha dialogue with Howard as protective of him, flirtatious with him, and deliberately ambiguous as far as the true nature of her feelings for him. Marjee is a character not in the strip, and I never was sure why aprilp_katje created her. She creates characters on the fly a lot, but rarely sustains them for any significant period, and yet Marjee has been maintained and I sometimes have to remind myself that she will never appear in the strip. My perspective on the relationship between Marjee and Howard is that Marjee feels comfortable flirting with him. I have known gay men with whom straight girls would flirt outrageously. I often suspected it was because girls like to flirt, but like to flirt with no consequences, e.g. "I don’t have to worry about this gay guy becoming obsessed with me, like I would a straight single guy." I experienced variations on this theme during periods of my life when I had a steady girlfriend. The same girl who was aloof to me when I was single and available would flirt with me when I was single and unavailable. I view the Marjee and Howard relationship in this way.
Tomorrow’s strip. Honestly a pretty good strip with a zinger toward the Elly and John monthly letters coming from strip April. I will enjoy seeing aprilp_katje’s take on it in tomorrow’s Blog entry.
posted by howard at 10:02 PM
2 Comments:
Marjee started because Becky had posted references to a sister, and strip Becky was referred to as a spoiled only child. Another posted had come in and called Becky to task and implied she was crazy/imagining a sister. Becky explained about having a half-sister her father had sired in an earlier relationship, and suddenly my Marjee Mahaha jumped to her defense. :)
Laura, Howard and I love you a zillion times more than anyone out there dislikes you! You bring so much life and humor to ARB, and when you're away, it's just not the same. (That's not meant to be pressure, just an antidote to the negativity you've been exposed to!)
Laura,
I echo aprilp_katje's sentiments, and I up the number to a bazillion. As for your funk, I can recommend the Pink Panther movie to you. It is a nice silly, nothing serious about it, movie. My wife went it into expecting not to laugh, and she said she was quite pleased to have laughed out loud a few times.
Paul is definitely going to get some romance on Valentine's Day. I view him as romantic comedy, where silly and embarrassing things happen, but it is still at its heart, a love story. I was thinking more of a Jeremy / Becky story for Valentine's Day, instead of Howie / Becky. Sorry.
aprilp_katje,
Thanks for the history of Marjee Mahaha. I don't know if I didn't remember that, or if it was before my time on ARB. I suppose it doesn't matter, with my poor feeble memory.
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