A lot of McDonalds still use old art for the play-places and stuff, or at least they did when I was a kid, so it’s reasonable enough he’d know about the other characters besides Ronald. Especially since he’s such a McNugget enthusiast.
Needfuldoer
McDonalds is currently in the middle of turning all their restaurants into diabetes prisons. Something tells me McDonaldLand is fading into obscurity.
When I was a kid, I got stuck in one of those Officer Mac climber treehouse things outside the local one. (This was before they added the indoor playplace. (Man, those things are petri dishes, at least the dangerous outdoor stuff got rinsed off by rain…)
For “diabetes prisons”? Look at a remodeled McDonalds and tell me that’s not what it looks like…
Before: Mansard roofs, brick, earth tones.
After: The same dark gray and woodgrain boxes every other fast food place is building, but somehow even more institutional
I will be the first to admit I’m not an expert on gender stuff, but I’m pretty sure Carla is a transwoman and not nonbinary. I think Johan is talking about Malaya.
Dr. T
I’m a little out of my depth on the topic (and that’s scary as the parent of a transgender child), but is Malaya actually nonbinary? She openly stated questioning her identity but openly embraces the obvious secondary sexual traits that she exhibits, never actually addresses the topic of identity, and outside of getting a short haircut, which isn’t outside the norm anymore at all, hasn’t done anything non-conforming to the identity assigned to her.
Again, this stuff is generally out of my depth. My generation did not get exposed to this kind of stuff and we are poorer and less well adjusted for it, to be honest.
Completely forgot about that strip. It wasn’t even that long ago, so I have little excuse. Granted, it does say that we time skipped over her wearing a binder for a month.
Spookyfox
oh yikes your wording Hurts
Dr. T
In what way? Again, I said I was out of my depth on the topic. I try to defer to what people directly tell me they want, but when I don’t have that direct interaction it is a confusing topic for those in my generation, let alone those who are older than me. While I never, ever agreed with the prevailing train of thought of those that surrounded me in Southern IN that people had to fit in whatever box they were assigned to, I wasn’t exposed to those who got to be their true selves as they saw fit either. Therefore, my vernacular on the topic may be off without meaning to be.
Demoted Oblivious
Dr. T, you were open to clarification and forthright in explaining that you weren’t sure of terminology. Anyone trying to guilt trip you for embrasing the topic with respect (and an open concern about your own ignorance) is just being a jerk. While you may have misused some terms (not that I could see) you did nothing with the apparent intention of causing upset. You’re fine until somone provides *constructive* criticism.
SystemofEleven
Hi, I’m an AFAB enby. I personally like my boobs, have few if any opinions about what’s going on downstairs, and I use gendered pronouns. The physical traits I was born with are completely unrelated to the gender I experience. Some nonbinary people like their physical traits, some don’t. Some express highly gender neutral, some dress in combinations of stereotypically masc and fem expressing outfits, some dress primarily masc or primarily fem. Some use gender neutral pronouns, some don’t.
The whole point of nonbinary is “F the two box gender system”. By specifically trying to stay out of one box or the other, we would be reinforcing the boxes’ definitions. Nonconforming to gender stereotypes for the sole purpose of fitting into the stereotype of a nonbinary box, defeats the purpose of a nonbinary option. Instead, the idea is to be completely authentic to oneself and be able to ignore those boxes altogether when deciding what makes a person feel comfortable. Malaya can be in the general vicinity of the “female” box, but so long as she isn’t confined to it, she’s all good.
Johan
Even when I’m femme I’m still a them! ~
DailyBrad
Carla’s a trans woman. NB people are trans, but not all trans folks are NB. it’s sorta like how toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads.
a/snow/mous/e
wait toads are frogs?
so Frog and Toad was about two frogs?? mind blown
I mean I personally don’t think either of them are shit. Besides, flaws make characters interesting. They have roles to play in the story and development of themselves/other characters that exist separate from their gender and I’d honestly prefer that to them just being seemingly perfect for the sake of the least problematic existences possible in a cast full of walking dumpster fires (because let’s be real, Booster and Malaya having obvious flaws makes them fit right in with everyone else).
And before anyone asks, yes I am an enby myself and am not just projecting/making assumptions. Though I do understand and appreciate if other non-binary people have differing preferences for representation.
Johan
I’m also enby. Malaya is a well rounded character that sucks but makes sense.
I suppose it is too soon to cast harsh judgement on Booster but dang that was certainly an entrance.
Zor
Neat. I really am curious to learn more about Booster. I doubt they made such a… “memorable” first impression without some sort of driving force behind it, and while it likely won’t justify their behavior, I have enough faith that it’ll at least provide a more understandable explanation.
Oh Joyce, how are you going to handle being an atheist if you can’t even accept you need glasses? More importantly, and more interesting for us, what will your parents think?
It’s not necessarily an issue of acceptance. You don’t wake up one day suddenly short-sighted, and therefore have to get glasses and refuse to do it. Your eyesight gets gradually worse, and you gradually accommodate it without even noticing: you squint, you sit at the front of the class, you continually ask your friends which Hollywood blonde is on the screen and get confused when she gets replaced on the screen by the other HB in the movie.
Eventually, you get a moment when all the accommodations fail at once and it penetrates your consciousness that maybe there’s something up with your eyes. This is (hopefully) Joyce’s moment of realization.
Also, fuck all Joyce’s friends who are too cool to take notes. WTF? No wonder they aren’t doing well in this class.
…Though, now I’m wondering if Joyce isn’t the only one with vision problems.
Segnosaur
I wouldn’t say ALL of them are too cool to take notes.
She has asked 2 of them (Sal/Walky) that happen to be in class with her, and one of them may have a learning disability. I suspect people like Sarah and Dorothy would have taken notes had they been in the same class. (As would people like Ethan, if he hadn’t seem to have vanished.)
Which is incidentally how I can see any 18-19-year-old in the nebulous now knowing enough about the Hamburglar to draw a recognizable picture. I remember the Hamburglar and I still couldn’t describe him until that audio started going around.
I have to work tomorrow (today), so I’m having a Swanson Hungry-Man frozen turkey dinner when I get done at 5:00. My concession to it being Thanksgiving is that I’ve made up a batch of cranberry-flavored Jello shots to go with it.
Thanks! My family and my fiance’s family made a pod, we all got tested and we’ve stayed super socially-distanced for many months. (Lots of vulnerable folks: four healthy 30-somethings but one is pregnant, and four parents above 70, one of whom also has asthma and immune issues.) Very luckily we can all work from home, and we live where it’s possible to stay scrupulously distanced from all other people. We were all so diligent and we’re extremely lucky to be able to do Thanksgiving together this year. I made pie.
My students’ families are probably gonna do a whole lot of Zoom Thanksgivings, because 3rd Graders and their families can’t keep distance so perfectly. But it’s a Jewish afterschool zoom program, so we already did all the High Holy Days online, so I know they can do this too.
I see the parents in the background of the students’ frames sometimes. They look like ragged superheroes.
Rose by Any Other Name
I teach college, but my oldest is in 3rd grade this year. We’ve kept him full online, so no contact with anyone outside the house since school started (and before, actually).
Yeah, it’s rough. I have immune issues and the only places I’ve been were A) In my car while we drove around, B) My boyfriend’s house when nobody was home or only his immediate family was home and had not been anywhere (and once a week or two ago when his grandma – who lives alone and socially distances – was there as well) and C) A lawyer’s office to sort out some funding issues for school (distanced and wore a mask, though neither he nor his secretary did).
TIL the last Biff-Burger in the world that is still operating as a Biff-Burger is in Saint Petersburg. I guess I’ll have to go there next time I’m in Florida. (The one in Land O’Lakes is a used car dealership. It’s on southbound Highway 41 just before the high school.)
Ngl if I had realized earlier that drawing in class kept me as focused as it did I would have done a lot better in a lot of my classes than when I tried to take actual notes (or more often read or tried to do homework for another class, which did not work because it engaged the same parts of the brain).
116 thoughts on “Notes”
Ana Chronistic
Joyce: “IT NEEDS MORE DOUG FUNNIE FUCKING ALF, WALKY”
Walky: “oh… I’M ON IT”
Doctor_Who
It occurs to me that not only are these kids too young to remember Doug, they are now also too young to remember the Disney revival of Doug.
Shocked they even remember when McDonalds did commercials with characters, actually.
Alf however is a timeless cultural icon.
tim gueguen
I think McDonalds stopped using those characters in its Canadian ads before it did in the US.
DSL
I wonder if Walky drew the pudgy, cute, non-threatening Hamburglar or the original, stuff-of-nightmares Hamburglar.
SuperFroakie82
A lot of McDonalds still use old art for the play-places and stuff, or at least they did when I was a kid, so it’s reasonable enough he’d know about the other characters besides Ronald. Especially since he’s such a McNugget enthusiast.
Needfuldoer
McDonalds is currently in the middle of turning all their restaurants into diabetes prisons. Something tells me McDonaldLand is fading into obscurity.
When I was a kid, I got stuck in one of those Officer Mac climber treehouse things outside the local one. (This was before they added the indoor playplace. (Man, those things are petri dishes, at least the dangerous outdoor stuff got rinsed off by rain…)
DSL
Buzzword BINGO!
Needfuldoer
?
For “diabetes prisons”? Look at a remodeled McDonalds and tell me that’s not what it looks like…
Before: Mansard roofs, brick, earth tones.
After: The same dark gray and woodgrain boxes every other fast food place is building, but somehow even more institutional
Deanatay
“timeless cultural icon” says the person with the time machine.
tbf
Most of the kids reading here are too young to remember that New Year’s strip, Ana.
Ana Chronistic
hence my name
Ana Chronistic
also I couldn’t remember any other bizarre pop culture reference that was also funny enough for a punchline
Marsh Maryrose
Hey Ana, is that Daisy in your grav? Does this foretell her return?
Ana Chronistic
Who knows? It’s Willis, that strip could get pulled, and I’d be stuck with this forever ?♀️
Chris
I guess some things never change.
Mra
Too bad she is not in the same class as Dorothy
CrazyJ
She’s in the same class as Lucy though, who seems like the type that would take thorough notes.
Johan
Oh no. Joyce is the voice of reason…
Johan
Side note because I’m a fragile child (grown adult), Mike being dead after a redemption arc is still worse than Billie and Ruth breaking up.
Sucks Billie decided to mob boss it up but death is final there’s no going up from that.
Booster sucks and it sucks that both enby reps in this comic are shit.
Viktoria
Carla is awesome, tho.
Some1
I will be the first to admit I’m not an expert on gender stuff, but I’m pretty sure Carla is a transwoman and not nonbinary. I think Johan is talking about Malaya.
Dr. T
I’m a little out of my depth on the topic (and that’s scary as the parent of a transgender child), but is Malaya actually nonbinary? She openly stated questioning her identity but openly embraces the obvious secondary sexual traits that she exhibits, never actually addresses the topic of identity, and outside of getting a short haircut, which isn’t outside the norm anymore at all, hasn’t done anything non-conforming to the identity assigned to her.
Again, this stuff is generally out of my depth. My generation did not get exposed to this kind of stuff and we are poorer and less well adjusted for it, to be honest.
a/snow/mous/e
i mean “transcending gender” seems pretty enby to me
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2020/comic/book-11/01-this-bright-millennium/pronouns/
Dr. T
Completely forgot about that strip. It wasn’t even that long ago, so I have little excuse. Granted, it does say that we time skipped over her wearing a binder for a month.
Spookyfox
oh yikes your wording Hurts
Dr. T
In what way? Again, I said I was out of my depth on the topic. I try to defer to what people directly tell me they want, but when I don’t have that direct interaction it is a confusing topic for those in my generation, let alone those who are older than me. While I never, ever agreed with the prevailing train of thought of those that surrounded me in Southern IN that people had to fit in whatever box they were assigned to, I wasn’t exposed to those who got to be their true selves as they saw fit either. Therefore, my vernacular on the topic may be off without meaning to be.
Demoted Oblivious
Dr. T, you were open to clarification and forthright in explaining that you weren’t sure of terminology. Anyone trying to guilt trip you for embrasing the topic with respect (and an open concern about your own ignorance) is just being a jerk. While you may have misused some terms (not that I could see) you did nothing with the apparent intention of causing upset. You’re fine until somone provides *constructive* criticism.
SystemofEleven
Hi, I’m an AFAB enby. I personally like my boobs, have few if any opinions about what’s going on downstairs, and I use gendered pronouns. The physical traits I was born with are completely unrelated to the gender I experience. Some nonbinary people like their physical traits, some don’t. Some express highly gender neutral, some dress in combinations of stereotypically masc and fem expressing outfits, some dress primarily masc or primarily fem. Some use gender neutral pronouns, some don’t.
The whole point of nonbinary is “F the two box gender system”. By specifically trying to stay out of one box or the other, we would be reinforcing the boxes’ definitions. Nonconforming to gender stereotypes for the sole purpose of fitting into the stereotype of a nonbinary box, defeats the purpose of a nonbinary option. Instead, the idea is to be completely authentic to oneself and be able to ignore those boxes altogether when deciding what makes a person feel comfortable. Malaya can be in the general vicinity of the “female” box, but so long as she isn’t confined to it, she’s all good.
Johan
Even when I’m femme I’m still a them! ~
DailyBrad
Carla’s a trans woman. NB people are trans, but not all trans folks are NB. it’s sorta like how toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads.
a/snow/mous/e
wait toads are frogs?
so Frog and Toad was about two frogs?? mind blown
Johan
Carla is amab female. That is not non binary.
Zor
I mean I personally don’t think either of them are shit. Besides, flaws make characters interesting. They have roles to play in the story and development of themselves/other characters that exist separate from their gender and I’d honestly prefer that to them just being seemingly perfect for the sake of the least problematic existences possible in a cast full of walking dumpster fires (because let’s be real, Booster and Malaya having obvious flaws makes them fit right in with everyone else).
And before anyone asks, yes I am an enby myself and am not just projecting/making assumptions. Though I do understand and appreciate if other non-binary people have differing preferences for representation.
Johan
I’m also enby. Malaya is a well rounded character that sucks but makes sense.
I suppose it is too soon to cast harsh judgement on Booster but dang that was certainly an entrance.
Zor
Neat. I really am curious to learn more about Booster. I doubt they made such a… “memorable” first impression without some sort of driving force behind it, and while it likely won’t justify their behavior, I have enough faith that it’ll at least provide a more understandable explanation.
Kyrik Michalowski
Oh Joyce, how are you going to handle being an atheist if you can’t even accept you need glasses? More importantly, and more interesting for us, what will your parents think?
NelC
It’s not necessarily an issue of acceptance. You don’t wake up one day suddenly short-sighted, and therefore have to get glasses and refuse to do it. Your eyesight gets gradually worse, and you gradually accommodate it without even noticing: you squint, you sit at the front of the class, you continually ask your friends which Hollywood blonde is on the screen and get confused when she gets replaced on the screen by the other HB in the movie.
Eventually, you get a moment when all the accommodations fail at once and it penetrates your consciousness that maybe there’s something up with your eyes. This is (hopefully) Joyce’s moment of realization.
NelC
Also, fuck all Joyce’s friends who are too cool to take notes. WTF? No wonder they aren’t doing well in this class.
…Though, now I’m wondering if Joyce isn’t the only one with vision problems.
Segnosaur
I wouldn’t say ALL of them are too cool to take notes.
She has asked 2 of them (Sal/Walky) that happen to be in class with her, and one of them may have a learning disability. I suspect people like Sarah and Dorothy would have taken notes had they been in the same class. (As would people like Ethan, if he hadn’t seem to have vanished.)
NotPiffany
At least one of Joyce’s siblings already wears glasses, so I don’t think her parents will be particularly shocked.
tim gueguen
What did Hamburglar ever do to you, Walky? I mean, other than perhaps steal a hamburger from you, which was his job.
Doctor_Who
Hmmm, we know his parents pushed him into acting gigs as a kid. Maybe he actually did a McDonald’s commercial at some point?
Might explain the lifelong obsession with McNuggets.
Regalli
Commit voter fraud, according to Alex Hirsch.
Which is incidentally how I can see any 18-19-year-old in the nebulous now knowing enough about the Hamburglar to draw a recognizable picture. I remember the Hamburglar and I still couldn’t describe him until that audio started going around.
Rose by Any Other Name
When I first read the comic, I read “hamburger” rather than “hamburgler” so I was like “so what, bears sharing a hamburger?” I was very confused.
Yeah, this is way darker than my initial impression.
Needfuldoer
They ate Mayor McCheese first.
JessWitt
R.R.I.P.: Robble Robble In Peace
Rectilinear Propagation
That rated a hearty chuckle.
BBCC
WALKY NO
Good luck with Thanksgiving, you American type Pokemon out there.
Rose by Any Other Name
Thanks!
We picked up the groceries for it today via no-contact pay online then drive up and have them put your stuff in your trunk style shopping.
We’re having hot chicken wings (fried in our new air fryer) with sweet potato fries. Also cranberries and pie.
Bicycle Bill
I have to work tomorrow (today), so I’m having a Swanson Hungry-Man frozen turkey dinner when I get done at 5:00. My concession to it being Thanksgiving is that I’ve made up a batch of cranberry-flavored Jello shots to go with it.
Rose by Any Other Name
Update: Oh my fucking gods! Fresh air-fried hotwings are so much better than Turkey. The fries and pie were awesome too.
The cranberries kinda sucked. Like, they weren’t bad, but they weren’t amazing either.
Still, 3/4 successes ain’t bad. Plus it only took an hour to make rather than, like six+ hours. Quarantine Thanksgiving Feast for the win.
BBCC
Sounds like a fun time!
Leorale
Thanks! My family and my fiance’s family made a pod, we all got tested and we’ve stayed super socially-distanced for many months. (Lots of vulnerable folks: four healthy 30-somethings but one is pregnant, and four parents above 70, one of whom also has asthma and immune issues.) Very luckily we can all work from home, and we live where it’s possible to stay scrupulously distanced from all other people. We were all so diligent and we’re extremely lucky to be able to do Thanksgiving together this year. I made pie.
Leorale
My students’ families are probably gonna do a whole lot of Zoom Thanksgivings, because 3rd Graders and their families can’t keep distance so perfectly. But it’s a Jewish afterschool zoom program, so we already did all the High Holy Days online, so I know they can do this too.
I see the parents in the background of the students’ frames sometimes. They look like ragged superheroes.
Rose by Any Other Name
I teach college, but my oldest is in 3rd grade this year. We’ve kept him full online, so no contact with anyone outside the house since school started (and before, actually).
BBCC
Yeah, it’s rough. I have immune issues and the only places I’ve been were A) In my car while we drove around, B) My boyfriend’s house when nobody was home or only his immediate family was home and had not been anywhere (and once a week or two ago when his grandma – who lives alone and socially distances – was there as well) and C) A lawyer’s office to sort out some funding issues for school (distanced and wore a mask, though neither he nor his secretary did).
Kravis
Walky Bears are a particularly dangerous kind of bear.
Doctor_Who
Distantly related to Australian drop bears, but instead of dropping on your head they throw toys at it.
StClair
So I just figured out the significance of the current storyline title.
It’s something they tell you to do at an eye exam.
Jo Giggles
All these years reading the DoA and I never noticed those titles under the comic until your comment lmao
Stephen Bierce
*plays ZZ Top’s “Burger Man” on the hacked Muzak*
I wonder if the derelict Biff Burger stand is still there in Land O’Lakes Florida.
Stephen Bierce
It just gets greasier every time I heard it!
Stephen Bierce
TIL the last Biff-Burger in the world that is still operating as a Biff-Burger is in Saint Petersburg. I guess I’ll have to go there next time I’m in Florida. (The one in Land O’Lakes is a used car dealership. It’s on southbound Highway 41 just before the high school.)
Proto_Eevee
That’s still more effort than I put into my notes.
not someone else
Ngl if I had realized earlier that drawing in class kept me as focused as it did I would have done a lot better in a lot of my classes than when I tried to take actual notes (or more often read or tried to do homework for another class, which did not work because it engaged the same parts of the brain).
Regalli
But why wouldn’t the bears eat his sack of hamburgers? They’re right there.
RacingTurtle
Bears: Your hamburgers or your life!
Hamburglar: Robblerobble
Bears: …?
DailyBrad
If they kill him, they can eat the burgers, too, at their own convenience.
Nah
Has sal not hooked him up with her good tutor yet? He’s still only tried the shitty tutor as far as I can recall.
DailyBrad
It’d be kinda fun to see Danny and Walky interact some more.
Reltzik