the only decent part of the papes

Francis is sitting on my lap. She’s warm.

Remember that comic strip Cathy? I’m pretty sure that Cathy said something about how good a warm cat sitting in your lap is.

I tried to be very thorough when reading the comics page when I was a kid. My family got the Tribune, and I’d read every strip in the funnies, even the ones I didn’t particularly like. I’d give them a chance, anyway. My favorites were probably Alley Oop (remember the time-traveling caveman?) and the Peanuts. I also liked Hagar the Horrible, The Wizard of Id, B.C., Shoe, and, when the Tribune started carrying it a bit later, Calvin and Hobbes. But I read Rex Morgan M.D., Cathy, and a couple others just out of an anti-prejudicial attitude…or more likely it was something along the lines of wanting to be complete and leaving nothing undone. You know, being a bit obsessional. Is that a word?

As I got a little bit older, I remember understanding Cathy a little bit better, and I think in retrospect I actually kinda like it.