Tag / Grand Avenue

by zbicyclist

How Did Those Resolutions Work Out?

According to this article in The Guardian, ” In the US, 44% of new year resolutions last two to three months; only 6% last a year..”

The most common resolutions:

About 40% of Americans make resolutions, but this varies by age. Younger adults (59% of those ages 18 to 34 versus 19% of those older than 55), which I would ascribe to the optimism of youth versus the resignation of those whose past resolutions haven’t really improved their fitness or finances.

by zbicyclist

It’s the 4th of July!

[2024-07-04 note: This post was originally from last year, 2023, but now bumped up as a republish. One or two strips added to the post proper as of the 2024 republish. Previous comments are retained, and current readers are encouraged to continue the comments thread!]

July 4th is zbicyclist’s wife’s birthday. She had to age a few years before she realized the fireworks weren’t for her.

But that’s not all of the story: On July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams also died. His last words included an acknowledgement of his longtime friend and rival: “Thomas Jefferson survives.” Adams was unaware that Jefferson had died several hours before. At 90, Adams was the longest-lived U.S. president until Ronald Reagan surpassed him in 2001. (and now Jimmy Carter, born October 1, 1924) Source: Wikipedia.

[This Mutts strip added for 2024. It was just too sweet to resist.]

[This Peanuts is from 1964]

by multipleciduers

“The government taking us for a ride – the Rides of April”

The short form deserves a geezer alert, as it was discontinued years ago. There’s a 1040-SR now for seniors — the only difference is that it’s printed in larger type.

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/extension-of-time-to-file-your-tax-return , the instructions to file an extension, might come in handy if you’re like this woman.

It’s not going to work, Larry.

Actual error message from IRS.gov on the day tax forms (and estimated payments) were due, April 17, 2018. Not funny. Note the difference in the set of dates cited for the outage.

Actual IRS tax tips, if you need last minute help: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-tax-tips including, for example, ways to pay over time.

by Kilby

Stupor Bowl LoL

This cartoon by Travor Spaulding was originally published in The New Yorker four years ago, but it is still appropriate for today:

Jeff Millar wrote, and Bill Hinds drew this Tank McNamara strip as part of a widespread tribute to Charles Schulz on 27-May-2000:


Coincidentally, this year’s event (LVIII) will be the first ever held in (or at least near) Las Vegas, Nevada. 

by zbicyclist

Deadly thoughts

It’s Halloween! It’s one of the set of similar days with very different tones: There’s the Day of the Dead, with reverence for the departed. There’s Halloween, where in theory the evil spirits have power, but has evolved into a chance to meet the neighbor kids, if only briefly. There’s All Saints Day on November 1, a day of celebration. Following that, on November 2, is All Souls Day, which I remember in particular for that scary sequence in the old Latin liturgy:

O wrath, O day of mourning,

O hear the fateful prophet’s warning,

Heaven and earth in ashes burning. …

When the Judge his seat attaineth,
And each hidden deed arraigneth,
Nothing unavenged remaineth.

What shall I, frail man, be pleading?
Who for me be interceding,
When the just are mercy needing? …

The general tone is aptly captured in Verdi’s or Mozart’s Dies Irae, from their Requiem Masses.

Of course, you might also mistranslate “Dies Irae” as “Day of the Iras”, and listen to Ira Glass’s This American Life, or some of those great songs from George and Ira Gershwin. Or not.