About Tails From The Backyard

	I am quite obviously not formally trained to draw. I've just been troubled by horrible visions when I'm within arms length of napkins and a pen for the last thirty years or so. Many years ago, I filled a book with drawings and called it the Yippee Book, because I liked the word 'yippee' and it was, in fact, a book. These drawings troubled some people, but I continued to hone my nonexistent skills and entertain members of my family, who may have only laughed because they didn't want me to draw them. Since then, I've managed to take up several packages of napkins chronicling the past few years of my life. Someday, I will scan those too, but for now, you get Monkey, the evolution of my comic.
	There is me, I've been called monkey by doctors and adults. I live on peanut butter, black coffee and moisturized hand soap. I begin to smolder when exposed to sunlight and I'm itchy. I wear a headset radio to make life more entertaining and a braid to remind me of things that are not so much fun. I started drawing this strip in 2004 and unfortunately appear in much of it. As in real life, I sit around trying to figure out how to hit the big time and complaining about things. I'm happiest when watching small furry creatures and drinking coffee.
	The Ninja Twins were sprung from the North Shore Animal League after promising not to let them out of the house under any circumstances. Before that they arrived here from their home planet and immediately took on the mafia in search of fishy. The Fluffy One is a lawyer, doctor, and philosopher. Skilled in Jo stick fighting, he loves outtie time and explaning the unknown. The Slinky One is fascinated by nature and hot things. He doesn't talk as much as his brother, but when he does he usually tells it like it is.
	The Puppy arrived mysteriously in April 2006, after The Woman and Grand Funk pulled some strings from beyond and had her placed directly in our path. She likes to taste everything, struggles with trust issues, loves flowers, and gets nervous around technology.
	The Woman also spent some time at NSAL after touring with a rock band for a while. It wasn't long before she used her hypnotic gaze to herd us into the car with her. We have been her flock ever since. She likes squeaky stars, singing songs she's written, and sports of all sorts. &nsbp; In March of 2006 The Woman took on the second job of helping Jesus out with his shepherding duties. She appears--sometimes with M'Man--to give advice or comment on some calamity she's happy to have avoided.
	M'man is currently a spirit that comes to visit me when he feels like it. He was not always so, my left arm and he were quite the item for the better part of 15 years. He tends to hang out under shade plants and surprises birds by appearing in the sky next to them. In recent years he tends to hit on The Twins, mistaking them for hot, sexy, fluffy girls. He also appears as Space Glitter Cat, a fun- and flannel-loving apparition in the sky.
	The spider lives over the window. Not much is known about him as I tend to stay as far away from all insects as is possible. He isn't much of a hunter, has a "pet" called Flydo, and lives solely on poly-fill, coffee, and swing music. Bitten by an angry, radio-wearing human in 2007, he became Homo-Arachnid, a humanoid creature with no special powers whatsoever aside from the ability to win non-stop at backgammon.
	Jesus likes to appear in webcomics, and does so several times in this one. He was first seen guiding a sleigh led by a team of flying apostles, and then wrote a rap about his birthday. He loves animals and is frequently seen playing get the string or advising the hopelessly clueless.
	Galactic Idol was an excursion from the usual type of strip, based on my rabid devotion to Star Wars, and bizarre attraction to American Idol. As a result, it became one of the more well-recieved story arcs only because I knew exactly what I was doing with the plot. It began April 18th, 2005, and ended the same week as the premiere of Revenge of the Sith and season 5 of American Idol. My crush on the character of Jek Porkins and the actor who played him, William Hootkins, also comes up from time to time. I apologize for nothing, Porkins is my daddy. Porkins is the daddy of all who appreciate a good sandwich and can hold it.
	Other recurring characters in the strip include the mantids, birds and random rodents who share the backyard and occasionally the house with us. Tom Waits, Mr. T, Yoko Ono, Gary Oldman, and the disembodied voice of Johnny Cash have all made appearances in the strip over the years, as do The Puppy's boyfriend Buddha, and The Spider's hero Peggy Sue The Spider Fairy, who is very real, and very cool.