Frog Applause by Teresa Burritt for October 22, 2022

Yikes! I hope nobody catches me with this bone China coffee cup AND reading the comics! If word gets out I’ll be the laughing stock at the office!

I came upon him unawares one afternoon. He was drinking herbal tea and reading the comics. I was stunned to learn that he believed the comics to be the more relevant portion of the news, being stripped of all pretense, except for those intentionally pretentious, and catering to those for whom the headlines and other dirty laundry bits were pivotal to their mental well-being and emotional state. He claimed that nonsense was actually the foundational essence of all realities, and the comics provided him that insight, missing in the remainder of the media presentations. At first, I thought this to be madness. But compared to what? I soon reevaluated my appraisal.

This happened the day his usual table at The Crystal Room and Jade Palace tea garden was occupied, and he had to sit in a high-traffic area.

Golly, that Henry. What enigmatic hi jinx will he get into next?

I always thought that reading newspaper comics was something reserved for when one was sitting on the toilet.

why not?

What clothes go on in love is stays on their body.

Fried cold pizza in the morning.

There goes your reputation.

Mother should I run for president?

Get a smartphone and fuhgettaboutit …!

Best part of the newspaper. At least they change every day, unlike the news.

Is his teacup pinkie in the air? A little too snooty perhaps?

James Stewart perhaps?

I don’t care. I’ve started doing it openly in public.

Just bang your head on the table and moan in disgust and hopelessness. They will think you are reading about politics, and it will prepare you for tackling Frog Applause.

Hey hey randy b…

Screech owls make good screech brakes….

Do characters in their own comic strip read their own stuff. I wear earbuds to cancel my own stuff to cancel my own stuff to cancel my own stuff I wear earbuds to cancel my own stuff.

…that’s the only thing President Reagan and I had in common…

…reading the funnies first…

…which then took me to the Editorial page…

…with 3 or more political cartoons…

…including at least one Pat Oliphant…

…and maybe a Chuck Ayers …

…Doonesbury at the bottom….

…letters to the editors…

…notice, I said, ‘letters’

…editorials…

…columnists…

…opinion pieces…

…aaah, the good old days…

…the Froglandia Piqua still has sections…

… two coloured pages of comics…

…Frog Applause left page top left…

…number one position with a bullet..

…right page most bottom right…

…Ziggy…

How could anyone know that I am reading the comics online?

He was too dumb to realize that making Comments on every strip he read was a dead giveaway!

Oh, I’m a proper Froglandian, I am….

He is alarmed to discover that he is a comic.