The three avocados


One of my neighbors was a grumpy old man. When I first moved into the building, I was sort of afraid of him. I tried to avoid him and we never really saw eye-to-eye.

I became the president of the condo board and had to deal with him and we clashed. He never wanted to spend a dime. He would ask me, “Why do we have to paint the building? We don’t see it; people from the outside see it!” I had to explain it was mainly to protect the building from the elements.

We had nasty emails go back and forth and it was a mess for years. But thanks to him, I got off the board. I tried to quit so many times, but they wouldn’t let me. I didn’t want to just leave people stranded so I stayed on as president, but one time he got me so angry at a meeting, I did just that, I stormed off and just left and never looked back.

Over the years we became friendly and spoke on the phone almost daily about this or that. I think he was lonely and just wanted to talk.

We don’t do it anymore, but for a long time, the whole condo building bought Christmas gifts for each other, and we would send them back and forth in the elevator, using it as a dumb waiter. This particular neighbor grew avocados and citrus and he would gift each of us with a carton of fresh grapefruits, something we all looked forward to each year.

I asked him how they could possibly be so fresh and he said they were fresh because only one had had touched them – guy who picked them off the tree and put them in the box. He told me that in the supermarket, by the time the avocados reached there, they had gone through 20 hands!

Anyway, he would always promote the avocados. He ended every text to with three avocado emojis. Always.

He passed away a couple of years ago, the building is not the same without him, but every time someone group texts one of his daughters or mentions him in a text, they add the avocados as periods to the text. It puts a smile on all our faces.

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Enjoying making them happy

The Thinker – Me.

When I’m creating a cartoon, I usually have one or two people in mind. I wonder, “Will they think this is funny? Will they like it?”

I don’t know why them. Probably because they are more vocal about my work and they have sent me cartoon ideas over the years, so I feel they are paying attention, even thought I might use 1 in 100 of their ideas – but they are being involved.

When I was publishing the daily news, there is one person who I would think of, too. I would wonder if she thought I was doing a good job. I wondered if she thought the article I was writing made sense and wondered if she would approve. She was always in my head as I was writing.

This person is gone now, but I always admired her and cared how she felt about issues. I admired her as I was growing up, she was always saying what I was thinking she was a fighter and protester. She cared about life and history. One time I saw her in person and was so excited. I didn’t say anything to her, but it was like seeing one’s favorite movie star in person.

Years later, I ran into her at a protest, and she knew my name. She literally knew who I was, she approached me and introduced herself and said my name! We eventually became friendly over the years. She wrote a book on Miami history one time and included me!

Are there people who you try to impress? But I think impress is not the right word, I don’t know what the word would be. Make happy? Entertain? Not sure.

One of my favs from quarantine time. Via TomFalco.com

I think in my cases, I just admired these people and the way they felt about things, so I wanted to try to entertain them with my work and put a smile on their faces when they see my cartoons and writings. I don’t want to lose them as an audience.

To be honest, I don’t think I ever changed an article or cartoon because “they” wouldn’t approve, but I just hoped they would enjoy what I was doing.

Does any of this make sense?

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Why does Whole Foods have the rudest shoppers?


Over the weekend I went to Whole Foods. The parking garage was full as usual so I parked far away from the store. As I walked toward the store, I peeked around the columns because drivers at this particular location drive like it’s a racetrack – in the small garage.

As I walked by one column, a black car came barreling toward me. The guy made a turn from the main lane, into the parking lane. I jumped back. It reminded me of Charlie Brown at the end of the Christmas special – where he sees the little Christmas tree all decked out and he jumps back.

The car came to a screeching stop. I just stood there and looked at the guy. I put my arms out as if to say, “What was that?” As I walked out from in front of the car, the guy pulls up and I am expecting him to apologize, but he starts yelling at me. He yells, “I wasn’t even speeding!” Did I say a word? Guilty conscious, I guess.

He was speeding. Everybody does in that garage, I still haven’t figured out why.

So I yelled at the guy, “This isn’t a racetrack!” And he started screaming at me from his car again. And we started yelling back and forth for a bit and I finally walked away.

The funny part is that he seemed like a nice guy. But he was upset and so was I.

I was hoping to see him in the store so I could tease him and call him “Speed Racer.” But I never did see him. He seemed like the type you could tease, I don’t know why, I just got that feeling. His yelling I think was out of embarrassment.

This particular Whole Foods is known for its rude shoppers. Driving like maniacs, blocking aisles while screaming to someone on their phones, walking around the open food with dogs (and a pig one time), hitting you with their shopping cart. Very rude, entitled people in this particular store.

People block things with their shopping carts, and they know they are wrong, because I usually push the carts far away from them and they just look, but don’t say anything. What could they say?

The other day, a family of six blocked every aisle with their shopping cart. Ever time I turned round, there they were taking over the aisles.

I only notice this when I return from being in NY for a long time, usually I guess I have nothing to compare it with. But when I come home and visit Whole Foods for the first time, it’s glaring. I live among animals.

Just another first world experience, I guess.

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Time flies and other times it doesn’t

Pumpkin picking last October in Upstate NY.

September is half over. October is almost here. I think that’s my favorite month.

Autumn was always my favorite season, but for some reason Summer crept in and that was my favorite for a few years, but now we are back to Autumn as being my favorite.

The cool weather, the colorful leaves, Autumn is really the best time of year.

Cartoon via TomFalco.com

I’ll be in New York City soon for Comic Con and for pumpkin and apple picking upstate New York. The city is always so great with so much going on – the green market, of course, museums, musicians on the streets and in the parks.

Last year, a bunch of us were at a restaurant in Brooklyn, talking about a cousin’s upcoming wedding in the summer, which recently passed. And now it’s a year later. Time flies and other times it doesn’t. That’s a good headline for this post.

I often think about spending time in New England for an extended period. You know, like get an Airbnb for a couple of months, maybe three months. In my head, I often think summer would be best, but I bet fall would be even better.

The Lake House we stayed in this past summer.


The lake house we stayed in during the summer would be a perfect spot. It’s not too far from the New England border of Vermont and Massachusetts. And I can get to all of New England from there on day trips. I can work while I’m there, do my cartoons, get a different creative spirit from being there, get ideas for cartoons that I wouldn’t otherwise think while home in Miami.

A friend just left for Italy. She is meeting up with other friends next week, but she went early to immerse herself in the culture. She takes Italian classes and lives with a family in a room in their house, an Airbnb situation. So she wanders around along, takes it all in, and then meets up with friends and does that.

I envy that. Not that she’s in Italy, although I would love to spend months in Tuscany, but because she gets out and immerses herself in a different place, sort of like I would like to do in Upstate New York or New England.

Speaking of pumpkin picking, I saw this in Target the other day – fresh pumpkins for $4.00 each! So it’s either this or Hudson Valley. I joked about having to make a choice, but of course Hudson Valley is the way!

This is the way!

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Why I’m ambivalent about Nancy and Sluggo

Nancy and Sluggo

Nancy the comic strip is going through some changes.

You remember Nancy, don’t you? Well, it has been in production all this time.

The Ernie Bushmiller comic, started in 1925, went on until 1982, when he passed away. Mr. Bushmiller wrote and drew the comic. It started out as Fritzi Ritz, who is Nancy’s aunt and then morphed into Nancy when she was introduced in 1933. So yes, it goes way back.

 From 1982 to 2018, after Bushmiller’s death, the strip was written and drawn by various people.

Mr. Bushmiller took Fritzi Ritz over from a cartoonist named Larry Whittington, who started it in 1922. I only mention it because it’s been in quite a few hands over the years. For the last seven, it’s been written and drawn by the mysterious Olivia Jaimes, but currently it’s in reruns.

Another change. And therein lies the rub.

I remember reading Nancy when I was a kid. I mostly remember it at my grandmother’s house, so maybe it wasn’t in the newspapers we got at home and was in something she subscribed to.

Since 2018, there was a “new” Nancy. It was the same old Nancy and Sluggo, but in a new way. As I mentioned, cartoonist Olivia Jaimes wrote and drew the strip, now she is retiring from that and Caroline Cash is taking over. New strips will appear in the new year. Currently old Ernie Bushmiller strips are running.

When Olivia first took over, I tried to interview her for my 10 With Tom column, but I received no response. Olivia Jaimes is a pseudonym and she, or is it a he? likes to remain unknown.

Ernie Bushmiller’s work.

I find it quite careless to just take on a well-known strip, make it your own for a few years and just “retire.” But I guess that was the case from 1982 to 2018 when the strip was run by others, sort of passing it around until Olivia took it over in 2018. And now she is passing it on. And who knows, perhaps she needs to leave for personal or health reasons.

I know that if I was given a legacy strip, I would guard it and cherish it like so many other cartoonists do.

I was reading comments on The Daily Cartoonist blog, where I found out about this Nancy change and there are those for it, and those against it.

One commentor feels as I do, saying, “I find it highly insulting that Andrews McMeel just passes this classic comic strip over to others willy nilly. And Olivia had a plum position that people would kill for. She just went through the motions. Didn’t she take off a long period of time last year, having others fill in for her?” He went on to call her “blasé” about it.

Andrews McMeel runs GoComics.com – they syndicate the strip along with so many others.

But again, since we don’t know who Olivia is, perhaps she was ill in the summer and needed the break and maybe that’s the case now.

One guy says in the comments at The Daily Cartoonist that it isn’t a “plum” assignment. But I beg to differ. As a cartoonist myself, I think having a nationally syndicated comic strip is a “plum” assignment. He called it a “zombie strip,” but it was alive when Olivia produced it. And thousands, if not millions of people read it over the past seven years.

Another comment on the Daily Cartoonist: “I miss the original Bushmiller style Nancy. I shudder to think what would have happened if Peanuts had been continued after Schulz’s death. I guess, however, things change and time marches on. And maybe I’m a little envious of a working cartoonist.”

Other strips have changed hands and changed the look and feel, which sort of makes it the cartoonists’ own. In the beginning, Ernie Bushmiller took Fritzi Ritz over from Larry Whittington, so there right there it shows that a person can take over a feature and really put their stamp on it.

Anyway, the new Nancy starts in January, we’ll have to check it out.

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Sole heirs and easter eggs

Charles Edwards and Rebecca Gibney from “Under the Vines”


I came upon this new show (new to me), called “Under the Vines“. It’s a drama-comedy from New Zealand. It just started showing on one of our PBS channels here in Miami, but I think it’s a few years old.

I had seen the commercial and it looked good, almost a Green Acres sort of thing – a fish out of water plot line.

Two people, a step daughter and a nephew inherit a vineyard. They don’t know each other and are told they are “sole heirs” of the vineyard.

To make a long story short, they meet each other and find out the quandry, of both being owners, but they end up both wanting to sell the place and get out asap. But it’s such a charming place, that by the end of episode one, they stay and attempt to work it out, and therein lies the show. I’ve only seen the one episode, but I love it.

I guess there are not many actors in New Zealand because the actors seem to move from show to show. One guy, Pana Hema-Taylor, I’ve seen on “Under the Vines”, “800 Words” and “Brokenwood Mysteries.” He has small parts on every show, and I laugh whenever I see him pop up. It’s almost a requisite to have him on a show based in New Zealand.

Anyway, I got the idea for this cartoon from the show. When the barrister told the characters they were the “sole heir” of the vineyard, the cartoon is what popped into my head.

In my head, my cartoon had a different scene – they were in a lawyers office and were being read the will, but it ended up being this.

I like to put little Easter eggs in my cartoons – things that regular fans would notice.

In this case I just reused the storefront and “redressed it.”


I’ve used scenery from other cartoons over, sort of like they do in tv and movies – just redressing the scene and using the same sets. And I’ve used the same people at times – just giving them different dialogue.

In this case, you can see the storefront, redressed, and used in two cartoons.

Sure, I can easily redraw the scene, but I think it’s fun to do this, just to give the audience something to enjoy if they find the “Easter egg.”

Here’s a quick little video of the single panel cartoon. There’s no sound.

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Remembering the 1970s

Via TomFalco.com

This cartoon ran last week and it got a lot of interest – from people who remember this and from those who think it’s an exaggeration.

Unfortunately, it was a thing – when we were kids, we had orange shag carpet all over the house. Our nextdoor neighbors had red. I can also remember houses having green. Weird.

And kitchens were harvest gold or green – green appliances, etc. We had harvest gold. The odd part is that our house was built from scratch and my parents chose the styles and colors – so that was what was chosen – that was the style.

The house was redone after Hurricane Andrew’s wrath in 1992 and it’s being renovated right now. My two brothers are contractors, and they are handling the job. I’ve seen photos and it seems like they knocked the whole inside of the house down – kitchens, bathrooms, walls, and so much more.

I haven’t been by, because I want to be surprised at the finished product. I’ve seen the work they do, so I know it will be a modern (for today) white kitchen, all open concept, with a large island in the middle, which of course will be old and haggard in 20 years and of course, out of style; but it will be the utmost in fashion today.

Welcome to the 1970s

The 1970s were a unique decade in terms of cultural, technological, and social change. Some things that were common then are either obsolete, outdated, or have evolved in some way.

Here are a few things from the ’70s that are no longer around or have been replaced along with brightly colored shag carpet:

8-Track Tapes

  • The 8-track was a popular way to listen to music on the go. They were large, clunky, and prone to malfunction, and they were eventually overtaken by cassettes and later, CDs and digital formats. I read recently that cassettes are making a comeback.

Wood Paneling in Homes

  • In the ’70s, wood paneling was a dominant feature in homes, especially in living rooms and basements. It was considered stylish at the time, but it quickly fell out of favor, giving way to lighter, more neutral colors and modern finishes.

Bell-Bottom Pants

  • These pants, which flared out from the knee downward, were a major fashion statement in the ’70s. Though they’ve had minor comebacks, they aren’t the mainstream trend they once were.

Polaroid Instant Cameras

  • While Polaroid cameras still exist, the instant cameras of the 1970s are far different. Today, we have digital cameras and smartphones with instant printing options that are more advanced, and Polaroid’s original models are now considered nostalgic.

Pong (and Early Arcade Games)

  • The first commercially successful video game, Pong, was released in the ’70s, and it set the stage for modern video games. But the original hardware and arcade game style have long been replaced by more advanced gaming systems and consoles.

Cigarette Ads on TV

  • Cigarette advertisements were common everywhere – on billboards, newspapers, magazine ads and so much more, so many ads ran on TV in the ’70s, but by the early 80s, health concerns and government regulations led to a ban on tobacco ads.

VHS Tapes (Early Video Tape Formats)

  • The VHS was a major home entertainment format, but digital media like DVDs, Blu-rays, and streaming have rendered it nearly obsolete.

Soda in Glass Bottles (Like Coca-Cola in CONTAINERS)

  • While glass bottles for soda still exist, they’ve largely been replaced by cans and plastic bottles, mainly because they’re easier to manufacture, transport, and store.

The CB Radio Craze

  • The CB (Citizens Band) radio was a big thing in the ’70s, especially among truckers, and it even sparked a pop culture moment with songs like “Convoy.” I remember one of my cousins had a CB radio in her car and so did her friends. I drove into the city one time with them and they were on the CB discussing the traffic on the upper level of the 59th street bridge in Manhattan with other CB radio enthusiasts who were stuck in traffic as well.

Some of these items are still fondly remembered in pop culture, while others are almost completely forgotten.

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Alex Katz’s ‘Painting Energy’

Artist Alex Katz has been painting for over 75 years. He turned 98 this past July. This is a short piece I saw on CBS Sunday Morning this past weekend, so enjoyable to see and hear Alex speak about his life and work.

A collection of over 100 pieces from the Alex Katz Foundation Collection are on display at the Portland Museum of Art in Maine. I only just found out about it, unfortunately, it’s been there since May. It ends in just a few weeks – on September 14. I know I have a lot of New England readers, so this is your chance!

Alex Katz, 2004. Photograph by Vivien Bittencourt.

The exhibit is called, “Painting Energy.” These are pieces of art that Alex owns, pieces he purchased because he loved them and wanted to support other established and emerging artists purchasing their art. He’s paying it forward.

Alex is one of those people who you just like to listen to when they speak. The Guggenheim Museum had an exhibit of his work in 2022, which I regret missing.

The paintings he chose for the Maine exhibit have to have a “pow” as he calls it. It’s sort of like an elevator pitch or shorter. He says it’s like an elevator door opening, seeing the painting, having the elevator door closing and “getting it,” from that one short moment.

“Alex Katz is a leader in contemporary art, but in the state of Maine, he’s king, and we all look up to him,” said fellow artist Katherine Bradford, whose work is part of the “Painting Energy” show.

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Where everybody knows my name

A recent Tomversation cartoon via TomFalco.com

I was at the Starbucks in our village the other day with a few friends. I hadn’t been there in a while. It was strange to see that they are promoting Pumpkin Spice Lattes already – it’s still summer, isn’t it?

When I’m in NYC I am in and out of all the Starbucks around the city all day, especially in the summer, getting cold brew coffee. There aren’t as many Starbucks in the city as there used to be, but still, they are all over.

I remember years ago, there literally were four Starbucks on certain intersections in NYC. I mean at a busy intersection, there would be one Starbucks on every corner, so you didn’t have to cross the street to get coffee. Obnoxious, I know. But it’s not like that now.

STAYING IN THE LOOP:

What I do like is that they seem to know you at the Starbucks if you go often enough. Even in NYC where I don’t live, when I order at certain locations, they don’t call my name when the order is ready – they just hand it to me, knowing who I am, which is nice.

At my local Starbucks, at home, everyone knows everyone, so that’s very nice.

I usually order using the phone app, it makes it very fast and easy. A few years ago, I was in our village and I ordered a hot coffee on the app. As I was walking, I ran into someone I knew. We talked for a bit, possibly 20 minutes to half an hour. We parted, and I went across the street to pick up the coffee.

To my surprise, the coffee was still hot. I asked them how the coffee stayed hot for so long. The girl behind the counter said, I saw you talking across the street so I held off making the coffee until I saw you start walking over. I was thinking to myself,” she said , “Is he ever going to cross over?”

I thought that was so great and thoughtful. And no, I don’t order Pumpkin Spice Latte’s there. I don’t like the taste.

I know we should be using mom and pop local places but for some reason, Starbucks has this homey feel when they know who you are and treat you well. No, this isn’t a commercial for them.

The pocket telephone

This cartoon is from 1919 – 106 years ago. It’s about “pocket telephones,” which of course were not a thing back then. Regular landline telephones were barely a thing, so it’s amazing that cartoonist W.K. Haselden came up with this concept.

And the thing is, all of these scenarios have happened to us at one time or other with cell phones today. So Haselden was really predicting the future.

When cell phones first became popular, I used to think of what a Seinfeld episode would be like with cell phones, you know, how would it fit into the show. I’m not sure why I thought of Seinfeld, because it could be interesting with any show from the past.

I pictured the characters in a store or something and a bunch of phones would ring at the same time and everyone would grab their phones and hilarity would ensue.

These days, most people text. I gave up answering my business phone years ago, which sounds strange, but I own an online business and most of the questions people ask need to be in writing – quotes, things like that. So I don’t answer the phone, I have a message that says, please email us at this address . . . “

A couple of people in my life, one of my cousins and one of my sisters-in-law will call me if I text them. I can text either one of them, “What time is the party on Saturday,” and they’ll call me back, rather than text me the time. So whenever I am going to text them, I make sure I am available to take their phone call which invariably is two seconds after I send the text.

When I text, I usually do it with one or two words. I’m quite famous for my, “OK.” For instance I’ll get a text telling me to meet so-and-so at 1 pm, I respond, “OK.” Or I get a text telling me not to forget the milk, and I’ll respond, “OK.” People didn’t like the one word answers, but they are used to it by now.

One of my brothers texts back “Okay” for “OK.” I asked him why he fully spelled it out. He said it’s because it just auto fills that in as he is typing.

I’m on a lot of text chains with family, friends, my condo neighbors, etc. Some of them are on silent, because once a text starts, it goes on and on and the beeping alerting me of next texts is non-stop.

At our building, someone will text, “I’m looking for my Amazon package, has anyone seen it?” And you get a dozen, “not me,” “not me,” “not me.” People feel the need to respond.

One friend sends out about 20 or more photos at a time. If it’s someone’s birthday or the Miami Dolphins scores or something to do with The Beatles, who he loves, he sends out images and text by the dozens. I have that alert sound off, so when I look at the phone and see 40 new text messages, it alarming, no pun intended, until I see it’s him sending us 20 Paul McCartney photos on Paul’s birthday, and the other 20 messages are from people responding.

I left my house without my phone one time. I felt totally naked and lost, but after a while, it turned out to be one of the most peaceful days I had in a long time. It’s hard to remember back to a time before we had cell phones.

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