Christmas Holiday Greetings 1984
(Adam Blatner's Autobiographical Notes)

Posted December 29, 2008     To see Holiday Greetings 1979    1980    1981    1982,      1983        1985   etc

This cartoon is less elaborate than the others, but much was happening. Living first in Austin, in August I took a job at the San Marcos Treatment Center as their Unit 2 Medical Director (as a child and adolescent psychiatrist). Earlier in the eventful year, several things: Allee moved her father to a nursing home in Austin where he died soon thereafter.
We looked around and found a residence for her mother where she moved in a while afterwards---and her mom still lives there at Westminster Manor!---a very lovely residence indeed!  I offered some psychodrama workshops in Austin. We looked for and moved from Austin to an apartment in San Marcos. Meanwhile, always there were new characters emerging:

Celebrate Life! Singin' little ra-da-da songs represents my entourage, a group of little guys who give me back-up moves.
On the right in this figure are the Shmarfarfels, a goofy clown act that resonates with the silliness generated in the everyday activities of the Adam n Allee show.

   Also early in the year I attended one of the last workshops about the latest discoveries in the decipherment of the central ancient Mayan civilization offered by Linda Schele, who died a few years later from cancer. It stimulated my interest in different writing systems, and in the writing system of the Mayans, which is kinda like cartooning. I really resonated with these little forms, as they connect with my style of cartooning. It seemed to me that they also had their elf-like resonant energy beings.

There were also groups associated with the Unitarian Church, and follow-up visits with my philosophy mentor, Professor Charles Hartshorne. This was a special time for my own philosophy thickening up.

Let's give a little attention to two characters: First, there's Batty-Man and his sidekick, Guano.  Batty man is not exactly a super-hero.
   Indeed, he's not exactly a hero.

But he can pretend that he flies.
   And having a sidekick helps.
But when is an assistant or companion merit becoming a  sidekick---but not a henchman, or even  worse, one of the hero's "minions"? 
    Batty-man has a fanged bat, but not exactly a vampire-bat or a vampire. It's just a popular hunky-do logo.
   Batty-ness requires a bit of practice in the field of silly-ology.  


   Now, let's consider on the right another character, Bully Vardieyay. The name is a take-off from the French term "boulevardier" as a sophisticated fellow. I feel a resonance with  Maurice Chevalier, the Hollywood character actor.