Last weekend, I was in that big ole' town, Chicago for the first time! (Okay, the first time where I actually LEFT the O'Hare or Midway airport). And what fun it was! I didn't get to see much of the non-touristy parts of town and only got to see one museum, but I was left impressed by how clean it was and all the cool art and architecture they had there. Also big ups to the nice folks at the Fairmont Hotel -- I felt like a visiting dignitary the entire time.

And no, not everyone in Chicago was fat. But boy, I don't see how people stay skinny in that town -- lots of really rib-stickin' food, I tell ya. Actually, next week's strip is about the famous stuffed pizza they serve there, so stay tuned for that!

Once upon a time, we, the Aokis, only had one or two cats at a time. So naming cats was a pretty simple thing -- they were either Rusty, Blackie, Whitey or some variation on that theme, like "Shiro" (white in Japanese) or "Kuro" (black in Japanese).

Yeah, we're not a very creative bunch -- except for my brother, who seems to have a knack for naming pets. And yes, we did have a grey cat named Offramp -- my all-time favorite cat.

Ah, it's been way too long since I've last updated. Why? Well, lots of travel (Honolulu, Calistoga, Portland and next week Chicago), getting laid off from my Art.com job and taking care of all the things associated with being unemployed, working on my new manga site for About.com and just being easily distracted.

Anyhow, here's this week's strip. As I do every year 'round this time, I poke a little fun at my dad. Now, thanks to TSA regulations, he's actually made me almost 4 hours too early for flights sometimes. Thanks, Pop -- You da man.