That is Priceless by Steve Melcher for August 13, 2024

Some of my 20 October 2021 responses:

/// Dorrie’s basket, made from rattan mesh,

contains fish which are no longer fresh.

It would have been nice

had she packed them in ice.

Now the stench fouls her clothes and her flesh.

/// Heavy weight from that large rattan pack

gives her pain which she needs to attack.

So she reaches behind

with a balled fist, to find

where to press in the small of her back.

/// Dirty laundry in public? Don’t air it!

But the adage did not say, “Don’t wear it.”

Dorrie dresses in layers

and asks in her prayers,

“It’s my body; can’t I grin and bare it?”

“Oh little brother, want to see what else I can do with my left elbow?” “NO”

And another group from 2021:

/// Is this painting confusing to you?

Look, it isn’t one woman— it’s two!!

One in back, (collar’s red),

one in front, (with no head).

Each one shows a left arm— that’s the clue!

/// Surely, decapitation is shocking,

but the living girl stands, calmly knocking.

Front goes left, back looks right

seeming stunned,

(not from fright).

In that basket, a noggin is mocking.

/// In her basket, should one care to snoop,

there’s not one body part, but a group.

The headless fish-lassie

had gotten too sassy

selling “Whitechapel Jack” fish-head soup.

/// In beheadings, it can be a perk

if nearby, with a basket, you lurk.

I hear Madame Tussaud

pays for models. You know,

that’s called getting ahead in your work.

I could couch a joke about a certain someone, but I won’t … need to … heh, heh

Yet another, this time commenting on Steve’s sofa gag with a “Friends” reference that was already dated back in 2021:

/// Ellie stood at her door with no cares

‘til the shouts took her all unawares.

Before she could give it

a knock, Pa yelled, “Pivot!”

“Why, I can do that with one arm behind my back. See.”

I think their playing westerns. Mommy’s going to be a cowgirl.

“Are you guys okay in there? Because it sounds like someone’s having an asthma attack.”

Both?

Sunday afternoon on the farm.

Ellie considers recreating the incident from when she was two. She silently walked in on her parents wrestling and tapped her father on the foot. It was so funny! Her dad hit the ceiling, and then her mom screamed and cried under the blanket.

Hello, Mistress Quigley? Avon calling.

The two aren’t mutually exclusive.

“Uhhh … uhhh … uhhh…” Well, yeah, it could go either way.

Both.

She’s finally learned to knock:/

She rememberers an earlier shock:/

Mom and Dad are a couple/

Who are strikingly supple/

And are posting new “moves” on TikTok…

Ellie was familiar with having sex in there….it is where she got pregnant!

very similar sounds for sure

A Newhaven Fish-Lassie: 

Paste (including the quote marks) 

"Category:Paintings of fishergirls" Wikimedia 

(syntax supported by the Google, Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo search engines) in the browser address bar (or search for it using one of those search engines) and choose the first Category: found, and once there find the text string Keeley, and click its link for info and links that point to more info about this roughly jumbo envelope size painting. 

Again, a larger strip image is also shown by merely clicking the image in Mr. Melcher’s MASTERPIECE #2812 (October 20, 2021) blog entry, accessible by the Check out the blog! box after the last comment. I have added a comment and reply there pointing to info about this artist I used to point to here. So far, only work by him used here (2 times total, including this repeat), the October 20, 2021, strip being its first use.

I guess her right arm is behind her back, but it sure looks awkward. It’s giving me the heebie jeebies.

“Mom, open up. I’ve got a grasshopper in my hand.”

Being a fish monger, all the boys came running whenever she cried

Tuna! Tuna! Get your fresh Tuna here!

It wasn’t until years later she understood why they kept asking if she accepted tips.

If it’s JD Vance, it’s both.

Some comments from 10/20/2021 (part 1 of 2):

BE THIS GUY: As the new girl on the Instacart crew, Kelly got stuck delivering fish.

Say What Now‽: Since Milly wears so many clothes she has to plan several minutes ahead of time to use the washroom. Hopefully it is unoccupied.

ronaldspence: Little Debbie having to sell door to door because of supply chain problems!

Call me Ishmael: They are moving the sofa, all right … / they’d been moving the dang thing all night – / in a vertical plane / and they won’t refrain / until one of them wins the fight /// Ellie’s dad was known as no slouch / when it came to “moving the couch”. / When solo, he’d lie / with his eyes on the sky / but with comp’ny he worked from a crouch … /// Her mom knew 200 positions / (she could work under any conditions) / and a sizable portion / of the family fortune / resulted from mom’s “intuitions”. /// So Elfrieda remains at the door / as she has so often before / and the sofa will move / in a vertical groove / til her folks have completed their “chore”.

Call me Ishmael: “Wake up, Herbie! We have to get married! Herbie? Herbie?? Dangit, Herbie !!!”

JH&Cats: I’m afraid that my eyes tend to glaze / when people talk football these days; / so till someone explains / about “moving the chains” / I’ll imagine it’s “moving the chaise.”

pcolli: “To the left a bit … up … back … no, that ain’t right.”

gopher gofer: You’ve heard of the trojan horse – this is the trojan fish lassie …

Reader: Nobody else would go trick-or-treating with Kelsey when she dressed up as a decapitated Siamese twin (see Solstice :) ).

Another Take: “HELLO? I’VE COME TO BRING YOU THE GOOD NEWS THAT YOU’VE BEEN SAVED. HELLO? ANYONE?”

Some comments from 10/20/2021 (part 2 of 2):

oldlady07: When I was a kid, I came into our living room to find my mother and my sister sitting on the couch shaking with tearful red faces. I immediately assumed something was very wrong. As I soon found out they were both laughing so hard they could barely talk and I eventually learned they had been trying to move the couch, but since there was a misunderstanding about where the couch was to go, they had both been pushing from opposite ends and the couch had not moved.

anomaly: All she has to do is open the door and check.

GoComicsGo!: “Sofa! Sofa! Sofa Darling! Mummy and Daddy just having some trouble moving the sofa. Don’t come in Darling! We’re fine!”

Running Buffalo: Sufficiently layered, she was ready to attend her first strip poker game … just the way her mom taught her.

Sneaking someone under petticoats into a place occurred a long time before movie theaters.

Aaah. But she really knew. As much oil as she had added to the floor … she knew.