Well, here’s me taking bad jokes to a whole new low. But what do you expect from an older brother? Heather did end up being hospitalized after our trip to Laos. The last theory was that she’d contracted something nasty called chikungunya, which I thought the doctor was just making up until I saw it referenced in the Muppet Show comic book. Alas, due to the incompetency of the hospital staff and technicians who lost her last test results, we’ll never know…
I’m particularly proud of this strip, as I think that it best exemplifies our relationship more than any other strip I’ve yet to produce.
Welcome to the ‘new’ LKB! Ever since I started drawing this strip, I had the idea in mind that I would experiment with different styles and approaches to drawing, so I figured that the beginning of a new chapter in the lives of Laura and Brett was as good a time as any to change things up. Let me know what you think!
This week also saw LKB receiving its 51st subscriber! I just wanted to thank everyone who has supported this strip – your comments and ‘likes’ go a long way in keeping me motivated. If you’ve liked what you’ve seen so far, than I guarantee that the next few months will blow your mind!
I debated for some time whether or not I would devote a series of strips depicting our three-week trip through Southeast Asia, but ultimately I felt the need to move on and try and catch up to the present (which hasn’t worked out anyway!). Besides, those stories have already been told. You can check out my old blog, “The World According to B,” to find out what happened in Laos, Hoi An, and Myanmar.
Next week: Laura and Brett return to Canada, as a bold new chapter in their lives is set to begin!
Of course, there are many things I do miss, like the paycheque, the travel, greasy hawker food, Special Indonesian Chicken, reasonable movie ticket prices, and people stopping abruptly at the top of an escalator. Alas, all good thing must come to an end.
One of the things I enjoy doing when drawing these strips is inserting a few Easter eggs into the background. Depending on what the situation calls for, I do my best to include some factual details in relation to the characters’ environment. I’m sure there are a few readers who might recognize the building where Brett and Laura are reminiscing over the past few years. Let’s just say, it’s no School of the Future.
That wraps up the most recent ‘Laura Knows Best’ mini-epic! Naturally, the only way to recover from dealing with a Singaporean real estate agent is to curl up into the fetal position and hope against all hope that you didn’t do anything you’d regret when you succumbed to the hot flash of rage that clouded your judgement and memory in those last few moments when the agent was still in the house.
This is one of my personal favourites from the series thus far. For me, certain things started to click in terms of storytelling and I really enjoyed the challenge of telling a story without words (you’ll have to let me know if I was successful or not!).
For those interested, Panel One features a glimpse of Teng Tong Road, where we lived during our last year in Singapore. There were about two taxi drivers in Singapore familiar with Teng Tong Road, and the rest just laughed whenever we told them where we lived. Turns out that ‘Teng Tong’ is slang for ‘screw loose,’ which kind of explained why many of our neighbours acted the way they did.
That last panel could easily be applied to a number of different situations I experienced on an almost daily basis. It was also one of my favourite things to draw up to this point!
This chapter of the story (and the next), were lifted directly from a friend of mine who is still recovering from the blast through his skull.
This sequence of strips is really a composite of stories taken from my experiences and those of others who had dealings with real estate agents like Jean. Luckily, the agent we actually had to deal with when we were leaving Singapore was fantastic and incredibly professional (which probably explains why he wasn’t hired by my employer). Sadly, that wouldn’t have made an interesting story…
As if Laura would ever leave me alone to deal with a real estate agent in Singapore. She knows better. She knows that I’d probably flip and do something that I would later regret, such as murder. You see, dealing with real estate agents in Singapore is probably the most stressful experience one could have, even worse than the people who stop suddenly at the top of an escalator to check their phone for messages.
Therefore, I’ve decided to commit myself to a five-part examination of this particular incident in order to fully capture the depths of depravity that one is likely to endure in this type of circumstance. Enjoy.
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