I was mentioning us going apple and pumpkin picking in October. It reminded me of this guy that contacted me one day about writing gags for my comics. He was a gag writer. There’s a thing for cartoons and comics.
A few of us were headed upstate New York and this guy emails me just before we were to leave. He lived up where we were going – near Hudson, NY. He introduced himself and offered his services. He wanted to send me gags to buy for my Tomversation comic.
I emailed him back and thanked him for reaching out to me, but I explained that I don’t need that service because I write what I know and I express myself through the cartoons and I don’t think buying gags would be the same. Also, I strongly believe that 90% of a cartoon or comic strip is the writing. You’ve seen stick figure cartoons that have millions of followers – well, the people are there because of the writing, not the stick figures.
I told him I would keep him in mind, just in case and I mentioned the coincidence of us headed up his way that day. He invited us to stop by his house; of course we didn’t. But every time I think of us going upstate to pumpkin pick, I think of that incident.
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The quote, “And all at once, summer collapsed into fall,” is by Oscar Wilde.
Fall/Autumn is my favorite season. Again.
I say again, because I think most of my life Fall was my favorite, but for some years recently, summer ended up being my favorite. I don’t know how it became summer, but I’m glad it’s back to fall.
I live in Florida, and yes, we can feel the fall here, too. I was standing outside over the weekend and I could feel the fall. The light is different, there is a breeze in the air. It just feels different. There is less light and cooler temps.
This final quarter of the year is the best, as far as I am concerned. My favorite holidays have changed over the years, too. Of course Christmas has to be the best. And then I loved Halloween. Now my favorite is Thanksgiving. I don’t mind New Year’s Eve either. One of my friends always had New Year’s Eve as his favorite holiday, and I can see that now. I guess it’s the anticipation of a whole new year.
On Thanksgiving, I go to the Macy’s Parade, I stay about an hour, and then one of my cousins picks me up at the subway station in Queens and we go to her house and have brunch. Just three of us and Sara, their dog.
I get to the house before the parade is over, so we watch that and then the dog show which comes on tv afterwards. At 2 pm, we go to my other cousins not far away, and about 20 or more of us have Thanksgiving. We overeat, argue, laugh, just have a nice family time.
We sometimes do the Southampton Christmas Parade the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and it ends up being a perfect four day weekend. In between all that, I am in NYC and enjoying the buildup to Christmas, with all the holiday things the city has to offer.
Of course, October leads into this and upcoming in a few weeks in New York Comic Con and a few of us go upstate New York to apple and pumpkin pick. That’s a perfect things, too. I’m hoping the next few weeks go slow leading up to it all because I don’t want it to all happen and be over with. I want the whole season to last.
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I got my first paying subscriber on my Tomversation Substack account and I’m all excited. It’s $5.00 per month. The sad part is that it’s me. I signed up for my own subscription.
I was setting up the payment system and wanted to try it out to be sure it was working right. I don’t plan on charging for any of the stories until I build up a large subscriber base. I’m Substacking along.
Someone had asked me how I made money on my local news publication when I was editor and publisher. It would have been great to have Substack back then, I had thousands of subscribers, but there was no cost for reading. I made money through ads. The first year or so I didn’t take any ads, but people kept asking, so I eventually started running ads and I made quite a good living at it.
I turned down big developers though, even though there was a lot of money in their ads, but I couldn’t be a sellout. I wrote against over-development and greed all the time, there was no way I could make money off of the developments.
I did take ads from smaller building projects if they were in the same footprint as the buildings they were replacing. One time a very large condo building placed ads, we had discussed it for months, and I don’t know what I thought it was, but when the ad came in, it was for this humongous project, right at the entrance of Key Biscayne, it is still under development now and everyone who sees it can’t get over the size.
They were prepared to pay me a lot for a pretty large ad which would have run monthly. It would have been running over three years by this time. There’s a lot of money in development. That’s the problem.
I dream of moving up to the Hudson Valley one day, where nothing is really over-developed and those small little towns along the river look the same as they have for years. I’ll be up there in about a month doing the usual pumpkin and apple picking. So I’ll check out one of the small towns again to see if I feel a connection and feel at home there.
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For 15 years, I edited and published the local news in the village where I live. It was hard work, but I enjoyed it. I was the only source of news and information around here. People depended on it and read it daily. But after many years, I gave it up. I had to, I just burned out.
To this day, almost daily, people ask me when I’m coming back. It is sorely missed. It really was the voice of the village and everything that was happening was published. My stories were republished in the Miami Herald and the Huffington Post. I was interviewed by others about local issues.
I won awards over the years and I was given a great honor at the end of my run – the City of Miami made February 14 “Tom Falco Day.” All this is not to blow my own horn, it’s just to set up the next part of the story.
Well, a new publication started up a few years ago, I helped them start it by giving advice and explaining the ins and outs of publishing the news. I was all for it, as we needed a local news source. The publication has changed hands and I noticed they have a section called “Village People.” It’s where they talk about locals and what they are up to, etc. At the end of the article, they ask for submissions and provide an email address.
Well, since I started my new 10 With Tom blog (an extension of this blog) at Substack, I thought it would be a good opportunity to pick up some of my old subscribers. Also, people keep asking me what I am up to, so I figured it would be an interesting read.
I sent in a press release, not long, but informative and guess what? I was turned down. By someone I know! A guy who I know well is the new co-editor of the publication. And to add insult to injury, he asked if I would like to write for them – after turning my press release down! The irony of it all.
I told him, “I am writing for you. I just sent you a story. Publish it.”
He refused. He said it’s not what they are looking for. He said this, “We do not print submitted articles. The [last Village People profile] article is different from what you’ve proposed in that we (the editors) came up with the idea and we assigned (and paid) a writer to do it. We are always looking for talented writers to add to our stable but only for producing assigned content.” And in another email, he asked if I would be interested in writing for them.
Crickets.
Assigned content? Talk about a total idiot without a clue. If he was a news person, an editor, he would grasp at all news/articles that came in. That’s how news organizations work. They accept news tips, press releases and stories – newspapers, magazines, tv stations, especially online publications – that’s how it is done.
He might not publish them as-is, but he would get a story out of it some way. He would re-write it, he would call the person and do a fresh story, he would make something out of it. He would realize that unsolicited news coming into the office is where most news comes from. You take the news that is given to you and make it something. One one hand this moron is asking me to write for them, and on the other he says they don’t print submitted articles that I have written for them.
We live in a small village. Everything is a story. Joe Schmo painted a new portrait, that’s a story. Wilma opened a new bagel store, that’s a story. Ed bought a vintage house – that’s a story.
I published everything – I wanted everyone to be heard in the village. I published articles on subjects this guy was interested in. He would contact me and discuss issues and ask me to cover the event or the subject. And I did. Now I asked him and was told, “no.”
The one thing I would not post was lost animal notices. That would have turned into a 24/7 non-stop thing if I did that. One guy on the Village Council called me a prick once because I would not post his girlfriend’s lost cat. Ironically, I personally had to hand this guy an award a week later for winning “best car” in a classic car contest. Yes, I also covered the contest and his winning the award as news, pictures and all.
I got the idea for this cartoon from a guy talking on tv. He was the CEO or some bigshot with a restaurant chain like Applebee’s or TGI Fridays, one of those type places. They were talking about the $5.00 burger and chicken meals that all of a sudden popped up all over the place at the fast food places. Where were they all this time? Out of the blue these businesses are able to manage a decent price for food.
Anyway, this guy said, “We’re a sit down restaurant, we’re not one of these burger in a bag places.” And that stuck in my head, it made me laugh. That might be a term used in the restaurant world, but I thought it would be funny to have a fast food place named, “Burger in a a Bag.”
Some years back, not too long ago, there was a place in Hell’s Kitchen in NYC called Burgers and Cupcakes. It’s closed now, but I stopped in once as I was walking by, just to see what it was all about. It was all about burgers and cupcakes. It sort sort of fits in with the Burger in a bag theme, don’t you think?
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I’ve been publishing my work on Substack, since it seems like it’s the thing to do. I publish cartoons and my blog posts there and I also started publishing my 10 With Tom column there.
My 10 With Tom is now at Substack at substack.com/@10withtom . It started out at the Huffington Post some years back. I interviewed celebs and news people, athletes, all sorts of people you may know. I moved it to my own url at 10WithTom.com and now at Substack.
I interview people in 10 random questions. The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker and yes, a slew of folks you probably know. While I mainly covered famous people and celebs, I want to go back to my original purpose – interview people coming up in the world – everyday people. Everyone has a story, that’s what I would like to include in the publication – a new guitarist, a new author or artist; a teacher, the mailman!
I’m still working my way around Substack, but it’s a blogging, publishing platform, where you can make money from having people subscribe to your work, although at this point, everything I publish is free, even to subscribers.
There is a section called “Notes” which is sort of like Twitter/X, and there are long-form stories and published pieces. Many well-known people publish on Substack and they have thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of followers. It seems like every regular contributor on these cable news shows, now has their own writing space on Substack.
I mostly follow other cartoonists and artists. I like that community. I am all in with this project, I even have a t-shirt, which is for sale on the site (and here).
Substack is slow going at first, but that is to be expected until the algorithm notices you. But I have noticed famous people get lots of subscribers right away. Sort of like the rich getting richer. This one guy made believe he was Keanu Reeves, he didn’t post anything other than introducing himself, and he got so many followers just for that reason. And therein lies the rub . . . .
Hope to see you at my new Substack for 10 With Tom, hopefully you’ll subscribe, which is free, and every time I post a new interview, you’ll receive it via email.
The Cracker Jacks aren’t really the original, even though it says it on the bag. They don’t taste the same and there were barely any peanuts in the bag, which are my favorite part. I dumped them in a bowl and there were literally two peanuts in the whole package. Shrinkflation I guess. The box is more fun anway.
The prize inside the Cracker Jacks was some sort of small piece of paper. I don’t even know what it was, I threw it out. They didn’t taste like the original to me, but what do I know, the last time I had Cracker Jacks was when I was maybe 12-years-old.
The Devil Dogs seem to be regular size. If the shrank after all these years, it’s hard to tell. So many of the Drakes and other brands have shrunk the items. Like Yankee Doodles cupcakes are the size of cookies now. Unless I was so small at the time I’m remembering them being larger, but I don’t think so.
You know what I would love to find? These Nabisco chocolate cookies. I remember when I was very young we always had boxes of these in the house. We would get a box each to eat. I remember mashing them up in milk and eating them, which seems a bit disgusting now.
We only had the chocolate, I don’t remember every having the vanilla ones. But just looking at the box brings back the smell and taste instantly.
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I walked out of the doctor’s office yesterday and I don’t think they even know yet. I was in the waiting room for over two hours, almost three in fact. My appointment was over two hours before and as usual, they just had me sit in a crowded waiting room.
I hadn’t been for a couple of years, so I made an appointment to basically show my face. I would get my cholesterol checked, deal with the rude doctor, and swear to myself to never go back again. Well this time, I left for good.
This office makes appointments and when you show up, the tiny waiting room is full. Does everybody have an 11 am appointment? There is only one doctor, it’s not a large practice other doctors there. It’s the one guy. It almost reminds me of Doc Martin, where it seems like it’s first come, first serve. But if I lived in Portwenn, I don’t think I would mind having Doc Martin as my doctor, or Portwenn as my home.
My doctor’s waiting room looks like the free clinic. It has wall-to-wall people, taking up all the seats. Most speak on their phones very loudly, telling the person on the other end and the rest of us who overhear it all about their ailments and why they are at the doctor. Others have their phones ringing every two seconds, luckily they don’t answer, but they are too stupid to turn the ringer off. So it rings and rings. And others just chat with others across the room. All strangers, but still chatting away very loudly. This all takes place in Spanish, which I understand, so they sometimes include me in the conversations and I reply as to be polite.
The worst are those sitting listening to videos with the sound turned up, they never heard of earbuds I guess.
The doctor himself is rude and condescending. Not rude and condescending like Doc Martin. Worse. I remember during the pandemic, I put on a few pounds. By a few, I mean maybe 10 pounds on a muscular 186 lb. man’s frame. I don’t think that is a lot of weight to put on for my build. He would tell me in his calm, sickeningly sweet voice, “You have to push yourself away from the table.” And one time, he kept saying, “Half. Half” I asked him what that meant, he said it means only eat half of what is on my plate. Which is funny because I am known for leaving most of my plate and not finishing it. A friend asked me once why I never finish my food. “Are you trying to be polite? He asked, as he grabbed across the table for my leftovers. I told him, “No, I stop eating when I feel full.”
Anyway, I took the weight off and am back to my usual routine.
By the way, it’s been 24 hours since I walked out and I still have not heard from the inept doctor’s office. They probably think I was seen by the doctor and then charged my insurance company. But most likely, it’s a numbers game. Pack in as many as possible and keep the ones who don’t walk out.
But in the end, I think I willed it, you know, manifested not being there. I didn’t want to go because of all of the above, and I think i just manifested not having to be there, so I left and no one noticed I was there to begin with. It never happened.
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If you slide back and forth on today’s cartoon, you can see the difference in the two.
Originally, I had the one guy reading a book, which I liked lot, but I thought that maybe I should make it an ipad, which seems more in touch with today. I have to admit, I read books on my kindle, actually on my iphone.
I have a kindle and a tablet, but I prefer to use my phone. It’s more convenient. The fonts adjust to the size of the phone, so they aren’t tiny, and it’s easy to read.
I’ve tried getting into audiobooks, but I don’t like the voices or the speed of the voices as they read the content. As for printed or digital books, I prefer printed if it is a graphic novel or a book on comics or comic strips.
My cousin loves books, she almost opened an independent bookstore. There is one in Madison Connecticut where we always plan on visiting, but we never seem to make it there. On Sunday, I saw a story on CBS Sunday Morning, about a small town in upstate New York, where they have many independent bookstores. I sent my cousin the story and she was already planning out visit.
We were once in Barnes and Noble and as she was perusing the books, I was taking a few pictures of books. She asked me why I was taking pictures. I told her it was so I could remember them so I could order them on Amazon later. She was not amused.
One time she handed me a book, it was Roz Chast’s book, “Going into Town.” She asked me if I ever heard of Roz. Of course I had. I told her I went to see the Roz Chast exhibit in The Museum of the City of New York recently. I had never been to that museum before and I located it to see Roz’s exhibit. I’ve been back to the museum many times after that. I love that area of the city and the museum.
I have many books I’ve “borrowed” from my cousin and her husband over the years. I don’t think I ever returned any of them. I guess I should.
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This recent cartoon received a lot of talk lately. It seems another cartoonist did the same thing, a few weeks after mine was published and it might be a meme, too.
Over the years, so many cartoons have appeared that were the same or similar and it bothered me, but I’ve learned to get over it. There’s no way of knowing where the ideas come from, although this one particular cartoonist seems to have quite a few of my ideas pop up a week or two after mine are published. Coincidences, I guess?
I got this idea from a friend who actually asked me, “Are you ready for the fall?” And I laughed and said, “Of what, civilization?” And we both laughed. When he first said, “ready for the fall,” I thought of my favorite Madonna song, “Live to Tell.” In it she sings, “I was not ready for the fall.” I never saw the movie it’s from, “At Close Range,” but I’m assuming she isn’t singing about October.
The fall is special to me – Autumn, that is. In October and November, I’m in New York and there is a lot to do this time of year. I attend New York Comic Con in October and also in October, my cousins and I take our usual trip from NYC upstate to pumpkin and apple pick and to see the leaves changing.
In October, we sometimes go to the San Gennaro Feast in the Hamptons and also there’s an Oyster Festival, out east, too. This year, I see San Gennaro is in September. And of course, October is capped off with Halloween!
In November, we do Thanksgiving, and then the Saturday after Thanksgiving is the Southampton Christmas Parade, where all the small Hamptons towns get together for a light parade at dusk, then there is a tree lighting and fireworks afterwards. One of the best events of the year.
So yes – I am ready for the Fall – September, October and November.
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