So last week, I was scheduled to get my second Pfizer shot, but I had to cancel because I had a fever that went on for days. I got tested - a drugstore near me has drive-through testing - and am covid-free, and I ended up getting my shot early this week instead.

I initially drew this when I had a fever, and it's weird how I just sort of forget how to draw. Faces just came out wrong, and that's normal - but then I couldn't fix them, and that's not normal. I ended up redrawing almost every figure after my fever broke.

I haven't been having bad aftereffects of the shot, happily - except that I'm really tired. Seriously, I am literally nodding off between sentences as I type this note. But, of course, it's totally worth it.

* * *

In June 2020, after demonstrators tore down a statue of Andrew Jackson, then-President Trump  “We should learn from the history. And if you don’t understand your history, you will go back to it again.” U.S. Senator Josh Hawley, objecting to renaming military bases named after Confederate figures, said “I just don’t think that Congress mandating that these be renamed and attempting to erase that part of our history is a way that you deal with that history."

This idea - that removing statues and renaming bases is the same as forgetting history - is bizarrely commonplace. Apparently if a Republican is wealthy enough, they teach their children history through statues rather than using schools and books like the common folk do?

The gag in this cartoon is, I admit, pretty obvious. But I hope it'll give some of you a chuckle, just as it did for me when I thought of it.

* * *

I tried using a different "brush" (since I draw on computer, the "brushes" are all virtual) to draw this one, hoping to end up with a looser, freer line. But I think it had the opposite effect, making the lines tighter than usual. The truth is, I'm just too much of a control freak about my lines, and it makes it hard for me to loosen up. 

Of course, constantly trying to get an effect that I rarely achieve is part of what makes my job continually interesting to me. So that's a silver lining, I guess. (Looks at the lively inkwork in a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon, sighs.)

* * *

Patreon has automatic filters set up to detect posts that might contain "pornographic content." If the filter is set off while I'm writing a post, I get a warning that the Trust and Safety team will review my post (and, presumably, determine that it's not pornographic).

This happens often enough that I've made a game of trying to guess what word set off the filter. In this post, I suspect the word "bust" is the culprit. 

* * *

Pardon me, took a little nap there.  (I hope this note isn't incoherent! Or at least, that it's only as incoherent as they usually are).

Thank you, as always, for supporting these cartoons. A new patron (hi!) wrote today saying she's sorry she can't contribute more. But actually, I love all the contributions, including the smallest ones. (There are folks here still giving at the fifty cent level! They've been grandfathered in from the early days - Patron no longer allows donation amounts below one dollar). 

There's something so appealing about being supported by a group of fans, with no one giving more than they're comfortable giving, and it all adds up to me earning a living and paying my collaborators. These cartoons are written and drawn by me and a small number of chosen collaborators, but all the help from patrons makes it feel like a big group project instead. We're all making these cartoons possible.

To thank you, patrons are seeing this cartoon way before I make it public - probably a month or two early. But if you're supporting at the $5 level or above, feel free to show it to folks anytime you'd like.

Becky's been drawing a new cartoon, as well - she's just got to finish up the coloring, so if nothing goes wrong I'll be showing y'all that cartoon tomorrow. Have a good night!

* * *

TRANSCRIPT OF CARTOON

This cartoon has four panels. Two people, a woman wearing a hair band and a man with a mustache and a checkered shirt, are talking in some sort of sculpture gallery with arched doorways. All of the sculptures we see are "busts" - that is, sculptures of just the head and shoulders of various people, on pedestals. In panel one, we can make out sculptures of Lincoln and Washington.

PANEL 1

Headband and Checkered are talking angrily at each other. But they're not angry at each other - they're sharing their mutual anger at things happening in the world.

HAIRBAND: Removing "racist" statues is terrible. We shouldn't forget the past!

CHECKERED: Exactly!

PANEL 2

The man in the checkered shirt waves his arms as he makes a point. His hand bumps a bust of George Washington, knocking it over.

CHECKERED: They're not just removing statues - they're erasing history!

PANEL 3

The two of them both flinch away from the statue as it crashes to the floor. We can see little  shattered pieces of the statue, including a nose and mouth, bouncing up from the floor. The checkered shirt man looks especially distressed, holding his hands to either side of his face.

CHECKERED: Oh no! The bust of George Washington!

PANEL 4

The two of them are looking down at the floor - presumably at the shattered remains of the statue - and looking puzzled. 

HAIRBAND: George who?

CHECKERED: Um... I don't know.