People have asked me who models for my cartoons, and where do I get the ideas?  It seems that the ideas come from whatever my wife asks me to draw!  It may take a day or two for the idea to form a mental image of a cartoon, but by the third day after Yoko’s suggestion to illustrate her blog or essay, there is usually a completed drawing on her desk.  I know in two seconds if the sketch is good. How?  Well, if Yoko hasn’t laughed or said something nice within a heartbeat of seeing the cartoon, I know it’s not very good!  So, back to the drawing board

Who models for me?  That depends.  Most of the time it’s the animal in the story. . . if there is no animal, it’s usually a squirrel.  We have a lot of squirrels in our back yard. They’re always doing something comical.  The expressions on their faces usually come from my wife. She does not look like a squirrel, but she is beginning to act like one!  If you’ve ever read any stories by Murakami Haruki, you know what I mean!

I have two other favorite models:  the most honorable founders of NACOS, Michiko-sama and Shuzo-sama, in Hawaii.  Even though they are thousands of miles away, I remember their faces very well.  Michiko-san has implied that the haird-doos of my Japanese girls look like her–on a bad hair day!  Shuzo-san "poses" for Spring-time allergy season!

Yoko and I enjoy the wit and humour posted on Nagaya  and hope, one day, to master the Flickr application so we can send you some of our views of the world.  Squirrels included.

Sore-dewa, mata ato-de

Norman