Luann by Greg Evans and Karen Evans for January 05, 2024

Pretty sure Luann is mind_less_ about most things.

If Luann wants to “be mindful of my shortcomings,” she’s sure doing a great job of it all by herself.

I suppose she is not going to give the honest answer that New Years resolutions have been comic fodder for cartoonists for decades and she it not going to change that now.

Did the laptop just disappear?

Bernice bought all of Steve Job’s old turtlenecks. Means she’s th boss

Did Nancy just tell Luann to get Bernice some cookies or snacks?

I don’t do resolutions either. I try to better myself all year around. I succeed maybe one thing per year. I choose what I feel I can do. If you raise the bar too high you set yourself to fail. A list? Yikes. That’d be a good way to set yourself for failure.

We are at the shallow end of the pool this week.

Is this where Bernice tells Luann, “I know how you feel. I thought Puddles was missing you all, and Puddles really needed to go out and pee.”?

Puddles is waiting for food!!!!!

Luann appears not to understand the definition of “resolutions”, nor their purpose. She describes her purpose in writing them as a sort of personal evaluation or stock-taking. She doesn’t seem to have taken it so far as actual soul-searching, nor as an exercise in repentance for her shortcomings. The latter would demand that she formulate some program of steps to pursue which might actually help her to change and overcome them. Such a lack of actual resolution denies the very purpose of such an exercise, as well as the purpose of posting them on the refrigerator for the family to read. She is just not taking the exercise seriously, rendering it meaningless and empty. Why do it at all? Surely it can’t make her feel better about herself to thus set herself up for another year of failure.

Or, to describe it in terms of the Santa Clause mythology: It is she who is making a list, but not checking it twice, showing herself as naughty not nice. What then should she expect when Santa Clause is coming to town? Should not fear of “the Clause” now make her to pause, because, because, of what she was?

The only redeeming aspect of all this is that Luann hereby illustrates a common human behavior which may allow a reader to consider his or her own moral condition and avoid doing as she is shown to have done. One may only wonder if that is the reason why G&K almost never let their characters “grow up”.

If I had any shortcomings, I know I would probably want to be mindful of them. Maybe someday I will find out.

Why can’t whoever’s hollering feed Puddles? IMHO, Luann should seriously consider moving out; maybe then, she’ll finally grow up.

Resolve to take care of your pet first, Luann.

Looks like that the concept of “being mindful of her own shortcomings” is totally unknown to Bernice. She has always avoided this awareness, probably because it hurts her. Let’s hope this arc is about Bernice thinking about how she treats her friends and family, finally realizing how unbearable she can be and decides to write resolutions to try to be better. Luann would be happy to help her and they could look at each other, like true friends.

I guess that New Years Resolution of not having these two in a week long arc and their meaningless meanderings hasn’t kicked in yet.

I find the annual New Year’s arcs not all that funny because I personally do what I set out to do on New Year’s, with the exception of years when there have been severe life-altering circumstances. The key is goals, not resolutions.

I grew up my mom who spent her whole life “on a diet” without ever losing meaningful weight. She was like Luann. Saying she was on a diet was a way of saying she felt like changes should be a priority, but they really weren’t. Then she would torture herself eating too many calories of food she didn’t really like because getting the giant overdressed cheese filled salad at a restaurant looked like she was making an effort or something, whereas just getting the steak she wanted would have looked like she wasn’t punishing herself enough for being fat. No. Just no. Either do it or shut up about it.

It’s days like this when I really miss Delta. She was a much better friend than Bernice could ever be.

Come on Frank or Nancy. The “DOG” has a name and is a family member. Sheesh!

I don’t know why folks are so down on Bernice. Her character has provided this function from the very first. She (the character in a comic strip) has always and I mean always provided a mirror for the Luann character to point out Luann’s traits which are short comings and keep her from progressing out of her banal life. The Creators, consciously or subconsciously put Bernice in a psychology track to maintain her ability as a young adult to provide a more sophisticated mirror. But Bernice as a character is flawed and will never (IMHO) get Luann to move.

Interestingly, every time Luann does escape banal valley lately she gets burned by the Creators. First Quill. She got doubly burned because there was no fall back guy. Jack and Gunther had moved on. She had two teaching positions; one in Zébo’s art class and one with Principal Pergus. Both times she got burned by Tara. And again with Tara depending upon how you read the parachute arc.

So I think we will continue to see the two characters behaving in such a manner essentially throughout the life of the strip. Even iif they get married and have kids of their own, Bernice will be the neighbor/psychologist next door.

Wow, Bernice really hates Luann!

Bern doesn’t need to make resolutions, just ask her.

Parents are commonly called upon to care for their kids pets.

Luann doesn’t really want to be mindful of her shortcomings – she wants everyone else to be mindful of them, and then, (1) remind her of what to do, or (2) just take care of whatever it is themselves. I’m not sure what this story was supposed to be about, but if G&K are finally going to admit that Luann is developmentally challenged, they should start including the steps that are being taken to help her obtain some independence. Having amateur psych Bernice living with them works as a sort of babysitter, but it doesn’t provide the coaching and productive counseling that Luann would need to enter adulthood. They need to develop a new character that can actually help her.

Wow Bernie. Way to act like a mom and not a friend.

I couldn’t handle Bernice. Not at all…why I live alone!

Bern is the MOST annoying person alive. She loves to point out other people’s shortcomings, but denies that that she has any.

I think that saying you plan to do something with no real intention of doing it, and knowing you won’t really do it when you’re saying it, makes you a worse person actually.

Sick and tired of PIA Bernice

In another reality the comic strip is showing the poor, frozen characters being loaded into the medical examiners vehicle after their unfortunate passing in an unheated cabin.

The poor dog that depends on Luann………….

Don’t lie on the bed,Luann, Bernice will mistake you for a patient!!

A meeting between Berniece and Hermione could be interesting

Bernice you are a tedious soul.

Greg is working very hard to ensure we dislike Bernice.

What happened with the snowed in at the cabin story??

I borrowed this from Fargo, one of the cats in the Tavicat cartoon.

“My New Year’s Resolution——-is to remember to do a resolution.”

I’m with him! :D :D :P

Can you believe a dog as neglected as Puddles could be 38 years old?

Just kidding. He’s not neglected.

How about if Bernice makes some resolutions? “I will stop psychoanalyzing my friends” would be a good start.

Ennui…

A couple of days ago I went back to the beginning of the archives and started reading everything again (a completely different comic btw). And on this second read, a few things jumped out, that I had never noticed before; for example, how differently Brad and Luann were being treated.

One question that arose was this: Puddles is the family dog, sent to them by some aunt. And yet, we always see Luann being yelled at for not taking care of “her” dog. Meanwhile, we always see Luann taking care of him – especially the walking, which is the main hassle about having a dog. I doubt it’s a matter of Puddles being really hungry because Luann forgot to feed him; he’s a dog, not a fish, he’d be right next to Luann whining, as we’ve seen him do countless times! More likely it’s around feeding time, he saw one of the parents in the kitchen, and he started the opportunistic whining (we’ve also seen him whine to multiple people despite having been fed; again, like dogs/cats do)! But in this household/comic, it has to be made into an issue about how Luann is lacking!

Is Bernice aware of HER shortcomings? Probably not. She doesn’t seem to belive in the old saying “Judge not lest ye be judged.”

We have NewfieLabs and never have to remember to feed them as they will tell us. Every second of every day.

Do your household chores with a smile, Luann, and you will feel better about yourself….