Our cartoon is based on a quote from Steve Jobs, in an interview published in Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple, 1987.

I was reading many quotes by Steve this week.  Having spent most of my adult life in software design and development, I was struck by his constant insistence on staying true to his design principles and striving for quality.

So Steve inspired me yet again this week, as I have had similar feelings most of my life.  He reminded me that my experiences striving for quality design (none of which come close to his) have ALWAYS yielded unintended benefits down the road, many I couldn’t even imagine at the time.

And I was reminded of another inspirational man who spoke of quality and truth — he is Henry David Thoreau, the American philosopher who wrote the book Walden.  I have read it for decades, and have kept a copy of it by my bedside all these years.  It is book worn, dog-eared, and underlined with page corners turned down throughout.

And there is a passage, a long paragraph, I thought of when I heard of Steve’s passing.

I have read and reread it many times.  It speaks to the timelessness of quality and staying true to ourselves.

In honor of Steve Jobs, here it is … J. Daniel

There was an artist in the city of Kouroo who was disposed to strive after perfection. One day it came into his mind to make a staff. Having considered that in an imperfect work time is an ingredient, but into a perfect work time does not enter, he said to himself, It shall be perfect in all respects, though I should do nothing else in my life. He proceeded instantly to the forest for wood, being resolved that it should not be made of unsuitable material; and as he searched for and rejected stick after stick, his friends gradually deserted him, for they grew old in their works and died, but he grew not older by a moment. His singleness of purpose and resolution, and his elevated piety, endowed him, without his knowledge, with perennial youth. As he made no compromise with Time, Time kept out of his way, and only sighed at a distance because he could not overcome him. Before he had found a stock in all respects suitable the city of Kouroo was a hoary ruin, and he sat on one of its mounds to peel the stick. Before he had given it the proper shape the dynasty of the Candahars was at an end, and with the point of the stick he wrote the name of the last of that race in the sand, and then resumed his work. By the time he had smoothed and polished the staff Kalpa was no longer the pole-star; and ere he had put on the ferule and the head adorned with precious stones, Brahma had awoke and slumbered many times. But why do I stay to mention these things? When the finishing stroke was put to his work, it suddenly expanded before the eyes of the astonished artist into the fairest of all the creations of Brahma.  He made a new system in making a staff, a world with full and fair proportions, in which, though the old cities and dynasties had passed away, fairer and more glorious ones had taken their places. And now he saw by the heap of shavings still fresh at his feet, that, for him and his work, the former lapse of time had been an illusion, and that no more time had elapsed than is required for a single scintillation from the brain of Brahma to fall on and inflame the tinder of a mortal brain. The material was pure, and his art was pure; how could the result be other than wonderful?

Sometimes I go back and change a cartoon.  And this one is a good example.

The first cartoon had Woody asking Mimosa if she had thought about writing an autobiography, and the punch line was her asking, “about what?”  Click here for original Autobiography cartoon.

That works – Mimosa is not the sharpest chip in the forest, although she’s smart in her own way, but the joke is on her, i.e. not knowing what an autobiography is.

But the whole thing is a bit out of character.  Mimosa is all heartwood and no ego, so the idea she would write an autobiography is just not in character.

Woody, on the other hand, has more ego than any five trees in the forest.  So it’s much more in character for him to be saying (bragging) that he is going to write HIS autobiography.  And the scene is more believable too.  Let’s see … guy in a bar, had a few barley pops, talking to a pretty gal behind the bar, and … ummm … kind of feeling a little braggadocio coming on.  I mean, not that ANY of us have ever acted this way … I’m just sayin’.

And when Mimosa asks, “about what,”  is she really all that dumb … or is she having him on?  And she might be poking fun at him, like, what have you ever done, Mister — that’s worth an autobiography?  That Mimosa, she has her ways … and may be a whole lot smarter than folks give her credit for.  Not to mention, of course, that she’s heard it all.

So what do you think?  Is this better than the first cartoon?  Are you voting for Mimosa spoofing Woody about his autobiography?

Just click the title of this post and leave your reply in the comment box that appears below.

And have a nice day – J. Daniel

Good news for those of you following the status of brave little penguin Happy Feet, who became ill after swimming thousands of miles from Antarctica to New Zealand.  Happy Feet has been released and is swimming back home.

We reported that he seemed to be getting better back in June – see Happy Feet Getting Better.  You’ll recall he got sick because he thought the beach sand in New Zealand was ice and he ate some of it to cool off after a long swim from Antarctica.   Clearly this was just a lack of tourist information that got him in trouble.

But he seemed fit as a fiddle on board the research vessel Tangaroa as it was plowing through 21 foot swells in the ocean to take him to a release point.  None of this seemed to bother Happy Feet, who took to sleeping standing up in his crate as the vessel battled the rough seas.

He seemed impatient with the crew to be released as they neared his home waters, giving them some squawks as they passed by.  He was accompanied on his trip by Wellington Zoo vet Lisa Argilla.

We have just learned he was released into the ocean from a jury-rigged slide attached to the side of the boat.

We wish you all the best, Happy Feet.  And next time you take a trip, remember to read up on local tourist information first, particularly in the areas of beach sand and ice.

In one of their many office gossip sessions Hazel is telling Maple how she got busted for going over the bosses head.

Ummmm … you might not want to post this one in your cubicle … just a thought

Have a great day – J. Daniel

So there’s Woody, having a barley pop down at the Bark ‘n Barley Bar and talking to the bartender Mimosa.  He’s telling her how he got pulled over by the police the other night.  When she asks what happened he says, “Let’s just say I had the right to remain silent but not the ability.”