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Marigold's OOPS!

0 (0%)

The entire internet is mad at me!

1 (2.2%)

Only one thing to do: Cat GIFs? LOTS of Cat GIFs.

2 (4.4%)

Here, Marten! Open it and see! Tee hee!

1 (2.2%)

Oh, hey, Emily invited you too!

0 (0%)

Yeah, what'd you think it was, a love letter?

0 (0%)

OH MY GOD YOU ARE PRECIOUS (Sh-shut up! Shut it all the way up!)

10 (22.2%)

Party at Emily Azuma's parent's lake house! (And Cristi's handwriting!)

2 (4.4%)

You should invite all your friends, too! There's plenty of room!

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A thousand people would probably be too many. (How big is your parents' lake house?)

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Faye with the watiress outfit - "Hey, Buttass, what's up?"

2 (4.4%)

Emily the intern is throwing a party, wanna come?

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Dora: Am I invited? Marten: Oh yeah, def- (Tai: AAH! AAAAH!)

1 (2.2%)

Tai: One of my interns is throwing a party. Wanna come?

1 (2.2%)

Marigold walks by. (DAT A$$)

15 (33.3%)

Angus gets caught "peeking"

3 (6.7%)

GIBBS-SMACK!

5 (11.1%)

What was that? NOTHING!

2 (4.4%)

Total Members Voted: 43

[FunkyTuba]

yes... definitely looking forward to what Emily thinks is a party

[Border Reiver]

The Rovers Wasn't That a Party" just went into my head with that for some reason.

[DSL]

Emily isn't weird. Or if she is, she's the sort of weird that I tend to seek out in friends -- she simply thinks about different things than do most people.

[Kugai]

Plot Twist:  Padma turns up at the party

[celticgeek]

A lake house party sounds like fun. 

[karlibell22]

Am I reading Emily's surname right as "Ayume?" Doesn't that make her Japanese? ...how does she NOT know what anime is?

[Method of Madness]

Azuma. And it makes her...I don't know, someone who likes banana smoothies.

Plot Twist:  Padma turns up at the party

That'd make less sense than her showing up in space.

[PthariensFlame]

Cristi is very good at stylized cursive!  I (and I think most people) are in Jeph's category, having forgotten it almost entirely.

[PthariensFlame]

Azuma. And it makes her...I don't know, someone who likes banana smoothies.

Plot Twist:  Padma turns up at the party

That'd make less sense than her showing up in space.

Plot Twist:  Emily's parents' lake house is in space.  It's a space lake house!

[WAYF]

Plot Twist: It actually turns out to be a completely normal party with no lasting repercussions for anyone.


Incidentally, this party sounds amazingly fun.

I like the cut of Marten's GY!BE... [/terriblepun]

[Method of Madness]

Azuma. And it makes her...I don't know, someone who likes banana smoothies.

Plot Twist:  Padma turns up at the party

That'd make less sense than her showing up in space.

Plot Twist:  Emily's parents' lake house is in space.  It's a space lake house!

In space, no one can hear you splash.

[cesariojpn]

Plot twist: there is a love letter inside the invitation.

Plot Twist: The invitation is to a place where she can give him a love letter

Double Twist: The love letter is the second clue in the SMIF Annual Scavenger Hunt. Marten remains, however, clueless.

Will this involve fixing up motorcycles and a swimsuit contest?

[Torlek]

So how long is the weekend at the lake house going to last in real time? Two weeks? A month? I've got money on two and a half weeks.

[Tova]

Am I reading Emily's surname right as "Ayume?" Doesn't that make her Japanese? ...how does she NOT know what anime is?

Still this!? Still!

[cesariojpn]

Am I reading Emily's surname right as "Ayume?" Doesn't that make her Japanese? ...how does she NOT know what anime is?

Ayame.

[0kamisama]

I'm, for one, LOVING Emily!

She's odd, silly, sugar-coatedly sweet and that pony tail... squeee~ ♥

[GroovyKinda]

Can't wait to see the lake house and all the partyers. Will we see some folks we haven't seen in a while, maybe in the background? Or cameos?
It's funny you did a strip with cursive. I did one a couple of weeks ago, and was pleasantly surprised at how much cursive I remembered: http://groovykinda.org/2012/09/03/cursive-foiled-again/

[Is it cold in here?]

I had a terrible thought.

If Marten invites all his friends, that would have to include Pintsize.

Introducing Emily and Pintsize would, as the old IBM 360 manuals said, "produce unpredictable results".

Does Marten have a lot of friends? We've only seen a few.

[Carl-E]

As the central character, inviting all his friends becomes a grand excuse to get the whole cast together at once...


I'm hoping Steve shows up.  And maybe the band can play their first gig...

[Is it cold in here?]

Question for the people who dispute that Emily is weird:

Do you think that "weird" is something bad?

Emily is by all indications not bad. We haven't seen a mean bone in her body. I wouldn't feel comfortable calling her "weird" if I thought there was something wrong with being weird.

I'm comfortable calling her "weird".

[TheoGB]

Err, I can't read the cursive stuff properly:

What: ????, swimming, ???? & other fun things!

Is that first one 'Games'? Looks more like a D at the start. The other one might be Croquet, I guess. Or Cocktails?

[Schmorgluck]

I read it as "cookout" but I'm not sure it makes sense.

[Carl-E]

I guess cursive really is dieing...  Where's the line for reading this easily?  25?  30?  42? 

[Near Lurker]

...I thought it was "Azuma."

And looking, it is Azuma in the comic, fairly obviously.  See that little peak in the Z?  Although I will say that final A could easily be an E.

Besides, I think we all know if it were "Ay-" anything, it would be "Ayumu."  (Yes I know its her first name shut up.)

[Aegir]

Looks like "Arjona" to me... I came here specifically to see a translation and it looks like there's no consensus yet.

[CrowFairy]

I didn't have trouble reading it, and I got "Games" and "cookout" for the words in question. Bearing that in mind, here's the whole invitation, for those who can't really read cursive. Also, I'm going with the Twitter last name, since I too had trouble reading it. It looked like "Ayune" to me. In the text below, I preserved capitalization, punctuation, and line breaks.

You are invited to a Party!

When: This Saturday night
to this Sunday morning!

Where: My parents' lake house!

What: Games, Swimming, a cookout
& other fun things!

I hope you are able to come!

Emily Azuma

[pwhodges]

We know it's Azuma (from Twitter, etc) - and since Jeph has acknowledged Azumanga Daioh as a major influence, using the name of its author is no big surprise.

Clearly some people are not familiar with the cursive style of small z that has a tail; I used it myself for a while.

I separated out the letters for you, and added a cursive z from somewhere for comparison:

   

I read it as "cookout" but I'm not sure it makes sense.

It took it to mean barbecue.

[pendrake]

For comic #2288...


1. @Is it cold in here?... To hell with "weird," I still have not found a satisfactory social definition of "normal."

2. I find it funny that quite a number of Jeph's girl-creations look so much better with ponytails than hair-down.  Evolution & refinement of art-styles, I guess.  Makes me wonder how the central QC-girls would look with ponytails?  (with appropriately longer hair too, of course)

3. My interpretation of Cristi's handwritten comic debut...

You are invited to a Party!

When: This Saturday night to Sunday morning!

Where: My parents' lake house!

What: Games, Swimming, a cookout & other fun things!

I hope you are able to come!

Emily Azuma


4. My misinterpretation of Cristi's handwritten comic debut...

You are invited to a Party!

When: This Saturday "might" to Sunday morning!

Where: My parent's lake house!

What: "Dames," Swimming, a "cookoret" & other fun things! ("dames" at a party would certainly be motivating incentive for me to go )

I hope you are able to come!

"Enuily Aryume"


5. Warning - While you were typing, your intended response became outdated & obsolete faster than an iPhone [X-number].  You may wish to revise your post before having to visit the Apple Store.

[DSL]

Is cursive really *that* difficult to read?

[TheoGB]

I guess cursive really is dieing...  Where's the line for reading this easily?  25?  30?  42?

And spelling is definitely dying...

(I'm 39, and initially read it as "Dames" but otherwise it was no bother).

To anyone debating Emily's last name, remember there's https://twitter.com/EmilyAzuma

I'm 37 but 'cookout' isn't something we have in Britain so that would explain why I had no idea what it was. What is it? A US term for barbeque?  This is partly why I wasn't sure if that was 'games' either, since for all I knew there was some D____ word you guys over the pond are big fans of.  And it's by a lake so maybe 'dives'.

And the idea that there's one sort of 'cursive' script is a bit odd. People have been having trouble reading others' handwriting for CENTURIES, guys! I guess Jeph's wife writes a capital G like a 'g' but higher up because otherwise that bears no resemblance to a capital G that I've ever seen.

[Akima]

I guess cursive really is dieing...  Where's the line for reading this easily?  25?  30?  42?

Emily's handwriting is better than mine. I had no problems with reading it, except for the G at the beginning of Games, which I got from the context. I am bad at cursive capital letters, and I confess that I print the initial letter of capitalised words, and write the rest cursively. English is way easier to read than cursive Chinese. See below the word cǎo​shū ("grass script" or cursive writing) which is written once in standard Traditional Characters and once in cursive:


Is cursive really dying? Even if you type your homework, what do you use to answer essay-questions in exams? Block printing? I suppose there might be people who can print faster than they can write cursively, but it certainly is not true for me. Sheer speed is the main advantage of cursive I think, though that might explain why my handwriting is ugly...

[cesariojpn]

As the central character, inviting all his friends becomes a grand excuse to get the whole cast together at once...


I'm hoping Steve shows up.  And maybe the band can play their first gig...

Jeph is gonna have a mental breakdown if he has to include every single friend from Marten's background that theoretically could make it (aside from the folks on the Station and perhaps Padma). 

[cesariojpn]

I separated out the letters for you:

Now that you did it that way......It looks like Ayuma, which if IIRC, means Foolish or Stupid Girl in Japanese.

[Sorflakne]

The last time I had to write cursive beyond my signature was when I took the GRE, where you have to copy a statement of understanding in cursive.  When I heard that instruction, I just looked at the lady handling my registration forms and said, "Um, I haven't written cursive in years...can't I just print it?"  But no, the requirement stood.  It took me almost five minutes to write four or five sentences. 

The last time I wrote cursive regularly was in 5th grade...so that SoU came out...barely readable.

[dr. nervioso]

Looking at you all trying to read cursive is funny. I can read cursive very well actually, and I write in it sometimes

But that's because cursive is just so much more fancy than regular print

[Border Reiver]

I suppose there might be people who can print faster than they can write cursively, but it certainly is not true for me. Sheer speed is the main advantage of cursive I think, though that might explain why my handwriting is ugly...

I print much faster than I can use cursive legibly (for other people anyway).  That may have something to do with the years I spent as an army communicator where transmissions have to be written down completely, and MUST be printed.  Frankly though, Christi's writing isn't that hard to read - except for the fact that it's a light purple on a white background....

[Tai Fanboi]

I'll be honest, she's quickly becoming one of my new favorites, but I've always enjoyed people who are random and unexpected, balances out my usual demeanor which is most like what's his face from Secret Bakery.  Large guy who had the crush on Padma (See even I can't remember who he is)   

As far as the whole cursive debate...  I read it no problem, but take that with a grain of salt for the simple fact that I can not write in print.  No I don't have any objection to print or think it's slower...  I just have been writing in script since I was in middle school, and after so long if I try to write in print the first 2 letters of the word will come out ok but the rest will be in the flowing arcs that is cursive. 

Only thing that seems to re-wire my brain is if I write in capital regular letters    But I often have to type out a transcript of my reports and paperwork for co-workers because, as the age of them becomes younger, they do find it difficult to get certain words I use in script.  I find words with Z's like Hazard or beginning with them, like zircofluoride to be the most troublesome for them.

Script is first to go.  Next will be regular spelling.  One day the new written language will be text speak I fear 

2b or nt 2b, dats d Q
*shudder*

[Throg]

How many more Azumanga Daioh references do you need here people? Now, if someone drives like a maniac in a beat-up car, and if Emily's parents have a big white Pyrennes dog, that'll take the cake. 

[Mr_Rose]

How many more Azumanga Daioh references do you need here people? Now, if someone drives like a maniac in a beat-up car, and if Emily's parents have a big white Pyrennes dog, that'll take the cake. 

But they do… Jeph and Cristi have a big ol' fluffball called Shebly.

[Madmartigan]

I'm, for one, LOVING Emily!

She's odd, silly, sugar-coatedly sweet and that pony tail... squeee~ ♥

Don't forget being a cute Asian.  Gotta love cute Asians.

That aside, it also sounds like Emily's family is loaded. 

I still wonder if Emily gave hearts to everyones names.

I predict more instances of Marten thinking Emily is flirting with him at the party or that Marten finally meets a new love interest.  Big party. Lakehouse.  Booze.  Logical deduction.

[Border Reiver]

Friday will show a couple of cast members shamelessly flirting at the party with plently of drunk bubbles in evidence.

Cut to Monday, 2 panels of the other cast members looking at one or the other of the pair, obviously in rough shape from the weekend, the last panel will be a split panel focusing in on the pair who will utter one sentence in a joint speech bubble - "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Rest of the week is Yelling Bird and guest strips while Jeph scripts out the rest of the arc.

[Black Sword]

It took a while, but I now officially like Emily. Huzzah!

[TheEvilDog]

Emily is still my favourite of the the three libterns, and this party should definitely be interesting. (And I imagine that Claire is going to have some sort of freakout)

[Madmartigan]

Friday will show a couple of cast members shamelessly flirting at the party with plently of drunk bubbles in evidence.

Cut to Monday, 2 panels of the other cast members looking at one or the other of the pair, obviously in rough shape from the weekend, the last panel will be a split panel focusing in on the pair who will utter one sentence in a joint speech bubble - "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Rest of the week is Yelling Bird and guest strips while Jeph scripts out the rest of the arc.

I just hope for Tai not trying to seduce Dora into bed.  That still needs to be put off while.

That said, I'm hoping for a post drunken haze strip where you have people all over the lake house.  Hanging from chandeliers, passed out over railings, etc.

I'd really love to see a case of mistaken happenings of Marten waking up in his boxers in bed with Emily solely to see what Emily would say in such a circumstance that'd likely make Marten scream like a little girl.

[cesium133]

How many more Azumanga Daioh references do you need here people? Now, if someone drives like a maniac in a beat-up car, and if Emily's parents have a big white Pyrennes dog, that'll take the cake. 

But they do… Jeph and Cristi have a big ol' fluffball called Shebly.

Wait... so you're saying Jeph and Cristi are Emily's parents? 

Friday will show a couple of cast members shamelessly flirting at the party with plently of drunk bubbles in evidence.

Cut to Monday, 2 panels of the other cast members looking at one or the other of the pair, obviously in rough shape from the weekend, the last panel will be a split panel focusing in on the pair who will utter one sentence in a joint speech bubble - "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Rest of the week is Yelling Bird and guest strips while Jeph scripts out the rest of the arc.

I just hope for Tai not trying to seduce Dora into bed.  That still needs to be put off while.

That said, I'm hoping for a post drunken haze strip where you have people all over the lake house.  Hanging from chandeliers, passed out over railings, etc.

I'd really love to see a case of mistaken happenings of Marten waking up in his boxers in bed with Emily solely to see what Emily would say in such a circumstance that'd likely make Marten scream like a little girl.

"Happy birthday, Grandma!"

[Method of Madness]

Where's the line for reading this easily?  25?

Probably no more than this, since I had no issues and was amused to see so many confused by what it said.  That being said, I never write in cursive because I almost never write anything.  I've typed almost all of my assignments since high school.  It was weird, they taught us cursive in third grade, made us always use it third through fifth, insisting that it was because in middle school and high school you had to use it so you might as well get used to it.

First day of sixth grade, we got an assignment.  Someone asked the teacher "do we have to do this in cursive?" The teacher replied "either is fine, as long as I can read it."  Never wrote cursive for an assignment again.

Although I actually write my name in cursive for my signature*, as opposed to the random scribbles a lot of people do.  I figured I learned how to write in cursive, I might as well use it for something.

*unless it's one of those credit card machine readers that never read the pen properly, then I basically draw a line and hit ok.

[Is it cold in here?]

"Cookout" is a typical American word for a barbecue.

[Near Lurker]

Oh, no... you've summoned them... those who'll tell you what a real barbecue is.

[Hypster]

How many more Azumanga Daioh references do you need here people? Now, if someone drives like a maniac in a beat-up car, and if Emily's parents have a big white Pyrennes dog, that'll take the cake.

I don't know what kind of car Tai drives, but she does drive like a maniac.

[Schmorgluck]

Oh, no... you've summoned them... those who'll tell you what a real barbecue is.

Well, in theory, only the Arawaks of the Taíno and Timucua tribes would know what a real real barbecue is. But they are extinct.
</smartass>