Comics...

I'm the person sitting beside you at Starbucks laughing out loud. I'm the person that covers the kitchen cabinets in clipped comic strips, yellowing from age. To say I love the comic section of the newspaper is an understatement. I enjoy the blunt honesty that makes them funny. It comforts me to know that someone else out there is going through the same silly stuff as I am! One of my most favorite comics is For Better or Worse. This comic strip has been around for a long time, so long that it now depicts the original children as adults, raising their own families. The family is very similar to my own, the husband is oblivious yet caring, and the wife is back in school trying to earn a degree. They have two children, a boy and a girl, just like me. The children are even about the same age as my own children who are six and two. The annoying little sister is always getting into someone's hair. The big brother is beginning to see the world from his own perspective, instead of through the eyes of his parents. As I said, this fictional family is much like my real family. Sometimes I joke with my husband that there's a hidden camera set up in our house filming our daily lives, and someone is using the footage as inspiration for this comic strip. In addition to For Better or Worse, I enjoy reading Baby Blues, Zits,The Lockhorns and Dennis the Menace. If I had to pick my top three favorite comic strips, I would say Zits is good, Baby Blues is better, but For Better or Worse is best. As much as I look forward to reading the daily comics, I don't read them all. In fact, I read less than half. I'm drawn to a specific topic, family life. I read a little about animals, I read less about dating, and I read the least about office life. We are drawn to the topics that most closely resemble our own lives. Isn't it the most fun to laugh at ourselves?
Here's a link to For Better or Worse, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

FOR BETTER OR WORSE

Vocabulary:

beside (preposition or adverb) by or at the side of; near; next to 
clipped (verb) to cut something
blunt (adjective) outspoken; direct and to the point; straightforward and uncomplicated
depict (verb) portray; to represent in words; describe; to represent by drawing, sculpture, painting
oblivious (adjective) unaware, forgetful, absent-minded
annoying (adjective) bothersome, irritating
perspective (noun) a way of regarding situations, facts, etc, and judging their relative importance; your point of view
fictional (noun) invented or imagined 
resemble (verb) to be like or similar to

Vocabulary Practice
Fill in the blanks with the correct vocabulary word:

Dan was ______________________ to the childrens commotion down the hall. 
My son __________________ his father but my daughter looks like me.
Mickey Mouse is a famous _________________ character.
I see the world from a new _____________________ since the birth of my children.
Do you find it very _____________________ when people drive slowly in the left lane?
Chelsea Handler is known for being ________________, she tells it like it is.
Hollywood is known to _________________ certain ethnic groups in a negative way.
Do you keep a  lamp _________________ your bed to help read at night?
I _______________ some pictures from a magazine so I could show my husband exactly what I wanted.


Grammar Point:
Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

Click here to view a great, vintage video about comparative and superlative adjectives...

·         Comparative adjectives are used to describe two nouns. 

• The trick to forming the comparative adjective is to add 'er' to the end of the adjective. The exception is when the adjective is three syllables or more, and then you use the word 'more' before the adjective and do not mark the end of it with 'er'.  
• Tom is fast but Beth is faster.

·         Superlative adjectives are used to describe three or more nouns.  

• The trick to forming the superlative adjective is to add 'est' to the end of the adjective. The exception is when the adjective is three syllables or more, and then you use the word 'most' before the adjective and do not mark the end of it with 'est'.
•  Tom is fast, Beth is faster but Sean is fastest.

-Can you write a sentence comparing two tall people? Now add a third person to the list.

***Watch out for the irregular forms of comparative and superlative adjectives.***
I used two examples in the blog above. Can you identify them?

Here's a list of the most common irregular adjectives. These should be memorized.
http://www.stickyball.net/grammar/111.html

Ready to test your skills at identifying and forming comparative and superlative adjectives? Visit:
Interactive quiz on comparative and superlative adjectives
OR
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/330/grammar/regcom.htm