Saturday May 29th

The comic:

This looks familiar.

Of course, the premise is so old and insulting.

Ha ha, men can't cook! Ha ha, they're eating pizza!

And take-out? I guess you save on a tip.

Meh. Stereotype, not funny, rerun not marked as such - grade F.

Another Hi and Lois Plugger Sighting

The comic:

I last sent a hand-written letter in 2006. It was sent with a check in gratitude to a friend who sent me a big box full of MAD magazines from the '70s and '80s along with the books.

And there is a thrill in getting mail in the mailbox... though you learn quickly that most will be bills and junkmail.

Comics where the characters don't age are so... weird when they talk about technology. I can't pinpoint why.

Though they don't age in Foxtrot and it works. I think it's because Bill Amend actually knows things about technology and pop culture.

This is just another way of saying "the old ways are best." I do want to send more mail to save the post office and mail on Saturday - I mean, Netflix may jack up their prices if there's no USPS anymore.

But a letter is touching - and so is a card. It's a sign you spent some money in addition to the thought. Though the best is a short note in a big box from Grandma that has candy and old family pictures and peppers that mom and her brother will fight over...

Anyway, this is non-soap opera comic without a joke or punchline. Or is it that we think progress is good, but it really isn't? I think most women, non-white Americans, GLBTQ people, people with disabilities, poor people, and on and on might disagree. Some old things are nice, but for the most part, we're always moving forward and it usually has good results. (I can't imagine my life a generation ago - no internet, shoddy psychiatric care, and college without the internet?! I saw the registration scene in "Back to School" and was quite shocked.)

Oh, I do have a point. Letters have their place. So does e-mail. So does texting. It's not a zero sum game, you can use all - nothing is stopping you.

The attitude I get from this comic and most Pluggers related to technology is that one (the older) is better - period. And the new ways are bad - period.

Text messages are awesome - one morning, I got a text from my mom (because I wake up after she's at school - and the reception for texts is better than that for calls in a lot of places) saying I was smart. It really made me happy. Of course, most days her texts "just" said that she loved me.

Friday May 28th

The comic:

How would the cashier know if he tried them on or now?

And why would she care?

Men are so lucky - 44 inches is 44 inches no matter what the brand. A 12 isn't a 12 everywhere and neither is a Large.

I hate trying on clothes (I get overheated, and it's so fun to see this perfect dress that you thought was near your size show off your tits if it can get up there), so I try to get comfy clothes that are labeled with letters and assume I need a L or XL. For something new or fancy (not a t-shirt or basic tank), I'll try it on.

I got new shorts last week and tried them on over my shorts... and tennis shoes. They fit fine.

Also, I am envious of people - no matter what their size - who don't have fluctuating weight and know their sizes won't change from year to year... or week to week. That's why I stick with sweats/yoga pants/whatever.

Though last time I bought jeans, I only tried on the first pair in the size that worked, then bought others from the same brand, so the sizes would mean the same thing. And they fit wonderfully! However, jeans hurt whether they fit or not, so... elastic.

Bah. Men's clothes seem so easy, but they do have a minefield in what's "acceptable" at work - just what is business casual? But men don't have big boobs, a big waist, and a small butt. Or the reverse. Curves are a bitch to cover without looking like a hooker or wearing something way too big - and then there are height issues...

And I haven't even wandered into the world of suits and work clothes.

Oh, where were we? Male Pluggers are smug lucky jerks. (Pluggers are smug by default. Except RhinoMan.)

I'm surprised they didn't go for the stereotype of having the wife do the shopping - some men honestly don't know their sizes, because the women in their lives have always shopped for them.

Oh! I just remembered a funny (and humiliating) sequence from The Agony of Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

Alice needs new jeans, and her older brother takes her shopping. He gets her many sizes and they don't fit, not even the smallest pair! She thinks she's a freak of nature, until a female sales associate tells them that she needs girls jeans.

So maybe we should do the shopping.

Does a long post make up for a... huh... only four days? It felt like a longer absence.

Monday May 24th

The comic:

Because he handles iron, geddit?

This isn't objectionable, it's not funny by any means, but look, he's got a job! They're talking about a movie that came out recently!

But you'd think Pluggers would enjoy comic books and movies made from them - don't Pluggers deserve 2 hours or so of escapism in some AC?

Monday May 10th

The comic:

Ha ha, Pluggers wear their pants up high!

This is what you kick off "classics week" with? Reed Hoover is a hack, but Brookins is worse.

Saturday May 8th

The comic:

His ears scare me. Also, going on the RhinoMan's story - he is at a friend or relative's house and they lent him decent pajamas. Or he broke in and put on the pjs and is raiding the fridge because his biggest fantasy in life is having a midnight snack. Ha, imagined poverty is funny!

Also, he's not thinking outside the box. If he was, we'd see an open cupboard (though the angles that would require showing more than RhinoMan and an open fridge in a blank void would probably break our heads) or at least the freezer would be open. That would be literal.

Is this supposed to be literal - he'll take food out of the box. Or is it, ha, Pluggers only think of food and that's funny because um, it just is.

No idea.



I'm not doing better health wise, but school is over (except for a 12 page paper, I just want to take an F, I'm so lazy) and I'm on the couch and the dogs need to be in. So mentally, I'm in a better place. So Monday, maybe?

Friday May 7th

The comic:

Pluggers have butts?

Pluggers have curves?

Pluggers don't have a Hank Hill butt? (And he is such a Plugger - so smug. He and Andy Griffith are total Pluggers - "real" folks and so damn smug.)

I think the point is "Pluggers are fat" and the drawing says "Pluggers are fat and it depresses them."

Or maybe this has something to do with guy jeans I don't get?

Anyways, Pluggers are fat! Hoo doggie, what a knee-slapper! Fat people are funny! I tell jokes and make people laugh, and I'm fat. Now I know they only laughed because I'm fat. (Or when I was sick and skinny, because they could tell the future and knew I'd be fat one day.)

Thanks Pluggers for clearing up my misconceptions! Now I know I'm nothing more than my hilariously fat body.

If "Pluggers are fat" wasn't funny, why would it be repeated on a regular basis?


That still doesn't mean this comic makes a lick of sense. Oh well, Texans. What can you expect.


ETA: Ha! "Fat jokes" are funny - Hagar the Horrible writer Chris Browne agrees with me! Or he wouldn't make one every week as well. It's so much fun breaking things and possibly hurting yourself, oh man, I'm going to laugh so much I might cry. Or punch the monitor.

Saturday May 1st

The comic:

Ahahahahahahahahahahaha - finally, the comic does its job. I can't stop laughing.

Wish they'd gone with the original name, because the Plugger could oh-so-innocently bring some tea bags to the tea party. (Someone must have finally told the teadiots about urban dictionary, le sigh.)

Hahahahahhahahahahahaha, shit I'm going to tumble off the bed soon.

Thanks, Marion!

Blogging Against Disablism Day 2010

Because of various issues related to my disability, I cannot sit down and write a post about Blogging Against Disablism Day or something in general, abstract. I cannot think properly due to pain and the side effects of medication.

So I'm throwing up a link to the site, which includes a round-up of various posts dealing with disabilities/chronic illnesses and how much society just SUCKS when dealing with them.


Blogging Against Disablism Day 2010

From my personal blog, I have three posts dealing with disability and disablism.

I've talked about my health since the beginning (it's why I started - to record my horrific experiences in a psych ward in 2006), but the first addressing disability and activism and such was in November of last year with "Spoon Theory and Me (It's all about me)".

Since then, I have had many posts mentioning my health and whatnot, but recently, I did two separate posts dealing with disabilist attitudes and health.

"Medication for Bipolar Disorder and TV Shows"

"Pajama Jeans and ableism"

Off to watch Dexter.

Yeah.

So.

My health has been especially heinous since the last time I posted.

And judging by tonight, it's not getting better any time soon.

Normally, mocking Pluggers would be a welcome distraction, but it's just not working for me right now.

It's not like I'm not online and I haven't shut myself off like I've done before - I still comment at some sites, still post at my favorite message board, hey, I started tweeting. Still do facebook.

I just... can't.

Well, in two weeks' time, I'll be at home and this horrible semester will be behind me (and the mountains of paperwork for filing for disability will be ahead of me... oy) and who knows.

Also, it's hard to mock Pluggers the few times they're not being smug a-holes. Because what's so funny about poor health or poverty? I guess I could just say "Ha ha, he's so poor he's doing X, isn't that what America wants to see in its comics? It's so funny! Why aren't you laughing?" It's like Funky Winkerbean some days, and the smirks come on the smug days. "Pluggers don't know what this new thing is, and they don't care" and "Pluggers are good people (non-Pluggers are not)".

So.

No promises.

Saturday April 10th

The comic:

The caption says "Pluggers' 'don't ask, don't tell'." And features the female chicken Plugger standing in front of an open fridge, looking towards the male dog Plugger (and the audience), asking, "Did you take the last piece of cake out of the fridge?" The dog has a guilty look on his face, food on his mouth, and he's holding a plate with a piece of cake on it. And he's using a fork.


This hurts my head. He can't tell right now because his mouth is full, but WTF? Is she going to kick him out of the house once she finds out he did take the cake? Because he was foolish enough to use silverware, leaving a trail behind.

So do stereotypical wives (as if there are any other in Pluggerville) not ask if their stereotypical husbands eat "bad" food?

But she did ask.

THIS MAKES NO SENSE!!!

Friday April 9th

A day turned into a week, spring fever?

The comic:

The caption says "A plugger 'last call'." and features a shot of the side of a house, with the female chicken Plugger leaning out the door, calling to a medium-sized dog (drawn surprisingly well), saying "C'mon boy, finish up!... It' (sic) time for bed!"


It's time for my bed, you mean. Yes, I know the joy of "I want out" at 2 in the morning. And then waiting, because not only must business be taken care of, the perimeter must be inspected.

The only thing is, I'd never call it a "last call."

"Pluggerisms" are the only thing separating me and most dog owners (who have indoor/outdoor dogs who sleep inside most nights) from being Pluggers.

What a nightmare.

Thursday April 1st

I've been doing this 3 years as of today.

I'm taking today off.

Wednesday March 31st

The comic:

The caption says, "After a plugger has lived it up, he has to live it down." It was sent in by Brad Wesner of Simpsonville, South Carolina and the box says "Thanks to..." which is nice, I guess. There are four Pluggers, two standing, two sitting. One is seated on the other side of the counter, and one is standing on the other side as well, so we can two fully, including the RhinoMan Plugger. A Bear Plugger is seated close to us, and a Dog Plugger is the other one sitting, holding up pictures and grinning a smug grin with his teeth showing. He is saying, "Remember the St. Patrick's Day Party, Andy, when you wore that lampshade on your head?" They appear to be in a diner and the fourth person is a female Plugger and I cannot tell her breed - no rabbit ears, no chicken beak. She is laughing. RhinoMan has no expression I can understand, but "Andy," the bear one looks horrified.



Anyways, Pluggers don't get to have fun that often and when they do, their so-called friends like to make fun of them. Pluggerville seems like a great place to live!

Also, lampshade on the head? Wow, creative!

And RhinoMan has no embarrassing pictures. I imagine he was eating at a booth (alone) and came over because he wanted to be part of the public shaming. I wonder how the Dog Plugger will use the pictures. Blackmail, of course, but what does he want?

Tuesday March 30th

The comic:

The caption says "A plugger's serving size is all-he-can-eat." It was sent in by Merla Mae Russel of Marion, Iowa, and is called a "classic". This means nothing, because they once called something a classic that was about five months old. It shows a happy Plugger, with a big grin on his face and his tongue stuck out, as if he's licking his lips in anticipation of "all-he-can-eat." He is a bear monster. He is holding a can that says BEEF RAVIOLI 39 oz, and pouring the whole thing into a bowl. I think that's the side of a microwave next to the bowl, because cold ravioli is icky. The drawing is pretty good except for the Plugger himself, but since we don't see much of him, the only bad part is the hand holding the bowl.



Only male Pluggers get to do that - a lady must watch her figure, after all!

I can't be too mad, he looks happy. And food is good. It keeps you alive.

And you should eat what fills you up. Serving suggestions are jokes and they're mostly used for misleading advertising - only 5 calories in a bottle of our soda! (5 calories per serving and how many servings?)

I want some canned ravioli. That sounds good. (College student with chronic pain condition whose pain is slowly going away. Ten minutes from now, this would be a dissertation length and make no damn sense to anyone but me, and not even me come the morning.)

Monday March 29th

The comic:

The caption says "When a plugger opens her mailbox, it's more pills and bills." It shows a monstrosity opening a mailbox, holding boxes as envelopes fall to the ground. It is poorly drawn. It was sent in by Robert Webb of Gainesville, Georgia.

Uh... what? It rhymes, so that's why? I expected "more pills THAN bills" and when copying the caption, I typed that and had to go back and put it right.

So Pluggers get their prescriptions through the mail. Bully for them. Well, only female ones. Wait - Robert is a male name. Why is it a woman? Why is it "her" mailbox? Who picked the gender - the artist or the real life Plugger?

And what is the point?!

*Trying to make this blog more accessible. My HTML-fu is a bit rusty, so I won't mess with ALT text and just describe (to the best of my abilities) the comic. I will probably use the words "monstrosity" and "poorly drawn" every day. If you didn't know, blind people can use the internet. Text based websites are the most accessible, and describing the image helps a lot.

Saturday March 27th

The comic:

That sick Plugger drawing is scary.

How is it true love? It's only true love if you believe that MILs will fight with their DILs until one dies, but that's a tired old stereotype oh never mind.

Friday March 26th

The comic:

Oh no, my roommate and I are Pluggers. My "bedside table" is my microwave on top of my fridge and hers is two big containers stacked together.

Of course, we're not pretentious and don't call them "end tables" or table of any kind - just a place for our shit.

And why would you keep the dog cage/carrier - open - in the living room? If it's open, the dog can come and go, so why have a carrier? Does he like to sleep in there? If so, it should be in the bedroom, because dogs are clingy little monkeys.

This makes no sense. I just think an overturned milk crate would work better.

This - while serving two purposes - just doesn't make sense. The second purpose is bizarre. For a while, Dixie slept in a carrier (she was a puppy, it was a way to make sure she didn't pee everywhere while I slept) and Mikey slept in the one he came in for a bit before graduating to sleeping on mom's bed and growling at me. No, he growled at me while in the carrier. Ironically, we never used the carrier to take him to the vet. When all the 3 had to go, we used a big cage, the same one we used when we went camping. Sometimes they'd sleep in it while we were camping (with the door shut tight), but we weren't indoors, we were camping.

So this still makes no damn sense.

Thursday March 25th

The comic:

Yes, it's so funny when you don't remember things.

Or when walking up the stairs (though if it's 40 times in a row, maybe) is exhausting.

No, it's not funny, it's "touching". The hell? Okay, so we "identify" with the exhausted Plugger.

It's sad, and we're supposed to (as comic mockers) go ha ha, he's fat and old. Ha ha.

I do have a solution - keep all the glasses in a box, and keep said box with you. Or keep multiple pairs, if you got the money. And computer glasses are different from reading glasses? Lordy. I have my one pair because I'm near-sighted. I never leave them on a different floor. Different room, yes.

And ha - the glasses are on his head! I've tried that, not comfortable.

And an extra dose of knee-slapping hilarity - he forgot what he wanted to do, in addition to bad eyesight. It's so fun to make fun of people's illnesses and infirmities. I know I do. I go to St. Jude weekly and point at the girls and laugh because they are bald.

I won't go back and edit my own posts, but as a chronically ill overweight person who forgets things and wears glasses, I don't think I've been too cruel in the past. If I am mean in the future, it will be towards Brookins, to the genuine fans who think this tripe is worth money. Eh, I'm contributing - no such thing as bad press! But sometimes the comic disgusts me, and not because it's really objectionable, but just because what's the point. They're old. They have illnesses. They're fat (or drawn that way). It's not funny.

Wednesday March 24th

The comic:

Oh they're so foolish. Today's non-Junior Pluggers were never young and carefree, never listened to rock and roll, no no. They were born stereotypes.