Not much going on in The Life of Tom Cherry™. I'm slowly growing fond of Barney Miller and, for some odd reason, I've been thinking about Annie Potts the last couple of days. This may be proof that I watch too much television and I need to get back into the habit of reading books.

August 9, 2003
Hey, I just joined Indiana Cartoonists.com, a collective of cartoonists from Indiana that showcase their work at www.indianacartoonists.com! The site features many talented and respected cartoonists, and I'm honored to be included among their ranks. Thanks to Mr. Stacy Curtis for letting me sit with all the cool kids!

If you have ever watched any of our parade episodes and wonder who Arlo is referring to when he mentions "the elderly clown couple", just pick up* the August issue of Prime Years, a local magazine that caters to geezers and geezerettes. Buttnz and Bowz, a married couple from Dunkirk, are the cover story!

*if you live in and around Muncie, Indiana, of course!

Finally, I have to address a rumor. Contrary to what you may have heard, I am not running for governor of California.

August 4, 2003

Lattice or leave it: Arlo appears to be the captain of the ship
in this doctored photo (Courtesy of Theresa Keihn).

This past Friday I took the day off to go boating. Theresa Keihn (aka "the woman in the blue vest") recently bought a pontoon and she
arranged a pontooning excursion for a few of her friends which included Christy Hiday, Eric Whetsel, and myself. We were all to meet around fiveish at Prairie Creek reservoir. Due to the fact that Christy and Eric have never been to the reservoir before, I was nominated to be the reservoir taxi.

We all set out for Prairie Creek a little before five and didn't really get to our destination until 5:30 pm. Our tardiness could be blamed on a detour and the fact that I didn't know where the pontoon docks were located. As we drove around looking for a sign of Theresa, I guess a conservation officer hollered at me to slow down (Eric actually reported this to me since I was apparently too busy speeding at the time).

Once we found Theresa and her pontoon, we requested to come aboard and Theresa graciously allowed us to. Soon we shoved off and we were cruising around the lake. I have never been on the reservoir before so I didn't really know what to expect. It turned out to be an enjoyable and relaxing experience. Though the skies overhead threatened to rain at any minute, the stormy weather held off until later that night.

We were out on the water for about three hours. During that time, Theresa allowed Eric and me to take the wheel. It was pretty fun captaining the boat though my "driving" came under criticism from Mr. Whetsel. According to him, I was either going too fast or getting too close to other boats and such. I don't know if his criticism was just or not, but at least I didn't break the captain's chair.

As twilight approached we were forced to come ashore. After we unloaded the vessel, we all thanked Theresa for the pleasant afternoon and then said our good-byes. Soon we were on the road once again as the rain finally began to fall.

July 31, 2003
Today's my Aunt Carol's birthday. As many of you know, Carol Richardson plays the female half of the Moochers and, just like Chuck a couple days earlier, she's turning fifty. In honor of her big day, I present the following...

Happy Birthday, Aunt Carol!

July 28, 2003

Moocher Man (Chuck Williams)

One of our favorite Moochers is celebrating a milestone today. It's Chuck Williams's birthday and he's turning 50! Happy Birthday, Chuck! 

In other news, I recently saw Tim's big commercial for Insight Communications and he did a bang up job. Unfortunately, he didn't have any lines, but his facial expressions spoke volumes. Good work, Tim!

Oh, and I'm buying too many comic books on eBay. Somebody stop me before I bid again!