Cringer

Today’s new Dustinland comic is about a dad trying to relate to his kid and getting shot down multiple times. I think most dads can relate. Maybe moms too. You know, once they even approach those teenage years they just turn into little weasels. But I do think they may in some ways think you’re cool — they just won’t let you know it.

Bring Your Dad To Work Day

This week’s new Dustinland comic is a true story about what happened when my son joined me for a work meeting a couple of weeks ago. It’s funny — he really did a great job and enjoyed it… so I’m trying to encourage that initiative while simultaneously ensure he doesn’t follow me into advertising (in case you weren’t aware, that’s what I do to make money because it sure am hard paying the bills with comics).

Not that marketing hasn’t provided me with a wonderful life I appreciate every day. It’s just that the kid has his whole life ahead of him. I think my reco for him — or any young person — is to strive for a career where you care about the end result. And I mean you care because it means something to you as a person, your values, your artistic sensibilities, your vision of how earth and mankind can be — not because you want to succeed or make money or you simply have self-respect that requires you to do a great job at whatever you do. Now, of course most of us don’t get to do what we want and get paid for it… but that’s what being young is all about. You have the chance to strive for something special, and if that doesn’t pan out, you can fall in line like the rest of us and still have a satisfying life.

Don’t Camp My Style

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about camping and my mixed feelings toward it. Which is tough, because it feels like you’re SUPPOSED to like camping. And I do… sometimes. I think I liked it more when I was younger, really. The simpler, the better. The more stuff, the more people, the more whining, the less fun.

Also peeing in the night is really annoying. Man, that tent zipper feels as loud as an electric guitar set to 11 when you unzip it in the middle of the night, waking up everyone around you with your dumb constant peeing. Damn small bladder and light, drinkable beers.

I Left My Heart

I’ve posted a new comic every week for pretty much the last 20 years or so… except when I go on vacation. Last week I was in San Francisco, which is what this week’s new Dustinland comic is about. And as I say in the comic, there’s something nice about going on vacation as a parent. You can unabashedly partake in the most cliche tourist activities possible… which often actually wind up being a lot of fun, even if you feel like a dork at first.

But San Francisco really is a great place. If it weren’t for the incredibly high rents and real estate, and the very real threat of mega earthquakes, droughts, fires and other natural disasters, I just might want to move there. Great food, fun stuff to do, beautiful architecture, a relief from the brutal heat of NYC in late summer… not to mention the trolleys, sea lions, Alcatraz, Golden Gate bridge and park, the botanical garden, the museums etc… As you can see, I did a lot. And now I’m back and not necessarily rested, although perhaps mentally refreshed. My wallet on the other hand…

Daditude

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about how us dads can’t help but annoy our kids. I don’t know what it is, but I just feel compelled to do so. But I’m not as bad as the dad from Calvin & Hobbes. He just straight up lied to his kid constantly, and I would feel bad if I made my son go to school believing there were 75 planets in the solar system or that tigers were really just house cats given too much food. Yeah, I’m not the “tricked you” kinda dad, I’m the “oh my god that joke again stop it please” kinda dad. Good times.

Another Day

After starting my day by having to tell my son about what happened in Texas, I felt compelled to create this new Dustinland comic.

Not much more to say here than what I already said in the comic. It’s just a harsh reality we live in. Very hard not to think humans are just generally shitty and hopeless, even though most of us are nice (maybe). As a whole… it just seems we are doomed to stand in our own way. Hard not to feel hopeless, but still gotta wake up and give it your best every day.

Domestic Flights… of Rage

I’ve been pretty busy lately so this week’s new Dustinland comic is just a quick two-panel strip about… well basically what happens just about every day at home. And you know, I think a big part of having a family is being able to not fly off the handle at stupid little things, like the way the dishwasher is loaded. Just chill, because half the time the thing that wasn’t put back in the right place… it’s something you did and just forgot. Except for when the kids don’t close the cabinet doors DAMMIT HOW HARD IS IT?!

The Point

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about the point of life, more or less. I think when you’re a parent, these sort of things take on a new urgency, because it’s one thing to stumble through life believing whatever you believe, doing what you can to stay sane, but it’s another thing to teach a new human what to believe and what ideas should guide their life.

As I say in the comic, I don’t really know what the point of it all is, obviously. I’m not religious, so I don’t have that to guide me. And I try to be a good person and all that, I try to live in the moment. It’s just hard. These days, the more information I receive, the more depressed I get. And yet a life of blissful ignorance also feels irresponsible. So I’m really not sure what to do or think these days, and that certainly makes it hard to be responsible for someone else’s life. But kids grow up and figure things out and adopt their own beliefs. The best I think we can do is make sure they turn out to be good people, kind, nice, grateful, insert positive adjective here, you get the picture.

Man, now I’m bumming myself out as usual. Sorry! Next week I’ll go back to wacky zany honk honk clown horn.

Drunk With Power

I’ve covered this topic before, but in this week’s new Dustinland comic I discuss what happens when parents try to crack down on their kids’ entitled behaviors. I think a lot of this is an age thing. Unless you raise your kids all strict and stuff (which is probably awesome), they reach a certain age where they are in the middle — old enough to want to do stuff on their own, but young enough to still cling to the convenience of childhood when mommy gets them what they need because if they try to do it on their own it will just create a huge disaster for everyone. Either way though, I wind up drinking by the end.

Parent Interrupted

This week’s new Dustinland comic is about how my kid is always interrupting me when I’m in the middle of a sentence, and then about how I just know there will be two kinds of comments. Older folks whose kids are grown or younger people who don’t have kids will tell me what I’m doing wrong. And people with kids around the same age as mine will comment in agreement. However… now that I called that out in a preemptive strike, the comments will now include offended people from the former group.

Also, two new Birdys.