Occasionally, Roy can be quite thoughtful, which generally comes as a shock to me. We like to joke that he’s a robot, or that he’s dead inside, but on occasion, he remembers the other people around him like a reminder of his humanity. Or, in this case, his sense of humor.

I have no idea what the Chinese in this comic says. I copied and pasted it in from a sweet looking Chinese action/martial arts comic I had sitting around. It’s all probably highly inappropriate for the shown situations

I’m a Chinese guy born in America and I wasn’t forced to go to Chinese school, so my understanding of the language is sub-par. Actually, it’s pretty terrible. I speak Cantonese to the level of, perhaps, a six-year old, cannot speak or understand Mandarin at all, and am completely illiterate.

For some reason, I had assumed that many people in China spoke both Mandarin and Cantonese, but my trip showed that to be far from the case. Almost everyone I spoke (or tried to speak to) in Beijing only spoke Mandarin, and even in southern China and Hong Kong, where Cantonese is more prevalent, I still encountered many people I could not converse with, sadly. After spending a long time there, I began to relish every opportunity to speak a few sentences with any fellow English-speaking tourists I encountered.

In all my years of baseball and softball I’ve been fortunate to not pull any particularly wide splits. But, when diving into bags feet first, especially on the defensive side of the ball, it’s an unfortunate inevitability.

For what it’s worth, the opposing shortstop was fine.

Portlanders! We’re having an official release party at Bridge City Comics this Friday! Come out for books, beer, jubilation, and contests featuring Official (not actually official) Roy’s Boys Shake Weights! Two lucky winners will go home with these beauties right here:

Honestly, I like grapes quite a bit, but a Chinese specialty they are not. All of our hosts and guides were actually very kind, and  I did get to try many delicious foods, some of which were distinctly new to my palate, and others familiar but delicious nonetheless.

When we’re out doing the convention scene – all two of them – it’s often hard to gauge who may or may not be a potential Roy’s Boys reader. Sometimes a dispersed flyer will incite a brief chuckle, or even the occasional guffaw. However, once in a while, there is surprise and disgust; and in this case, they were not mutually exclusive.

Yes, I forcefully choked an old man, and I might have liked it a little. Nothing against the guy, really, but it’s kind of difficult to practice BJJ techniques when your training partner is trying to have a full (and really strange) conversation with you, you know?

First, I feel like I must address drawing myself for a third consecutive week without a shirt. Actually, I got nothing, other than enjoying the fine rendering of my Zangief patch of chest hair.

Okay, as for the comic itself, this is one of those strips where I didn’t take much artistic license. This happened, exactly as such. Sometimes I make bad choices in the heat of the moment. I’m human, but I can live with it.

Apparently, not everybody knows what their birthstone is. I was, mistakenly, under the impression that that sort of thing was general knowledge. I’ve always known that mine was amethyst, and that it was purple. Is that weird? I think it may be due to the science store at OMSI that I have such strong feelings on this. They had large collections of gemstones, birthstones, geodes, and agates that one could peruse and purchase, and let me tell you: young Roy liked shiny things.