Doesn’t this seem to be the case? Even before Halloween was over, McDonald’s was already touting their Peppermint Mocha as a “Taste of the Season!” Feels like they see November as this speed bump between October’s Candy-palooza and December’s Gimme-Gimme-Fest.

And all I wanted was some pumpkin cream cheese for my bagels. (sigh)

Yes, this is based on real life. Well, except for the psychotherapy part.

Ever wonder if a pet of yours was depressed? How far would you go to help them out?

Oh, and if anyone’s got a good method for getting the smell of cat urine out of carpet padding, let me know…

Now, to be fair, I became a coffee drinker myself shortly after I married The Eponymous Neaner (13 years ago from this date!), so I’ve been firmly set on both sides of this situation. I’ve seen the terrible, terrible things that over-caffeination does to people…and experienced them anyway.

Where do you stand on the coffee sitch? Drinker? Non-drinker? Maxwell House? Starbucks? Or do you prefer to eschew all those for a hand-ground espresso using a mortar and pestle, with a precisely set temperature of water and a hand-sewn reusable filter? Or are you a tea person? South American maté? Tang? Sound off in the comments!

Yes, for those of you who follow my other strips, today’s strip features all of my main female comic strip characters: Jane from Zoidland, Linh from The Social Life of Frank and Linh, and a first for Zoidland: Elle from The Ouro Bros. and the Neverending Tour! We’re celebrating our first anniversary over at The Ouro Bros all this week, so please stop on over and see what’s cracking! And if you’re curious about the process behind it, head on over to Ken Mueller’s blog and hear all about the behind-the-scenes stuff on The Ouro Bros!

Oh, and yes, panel 2 is precisely why Jeremy draws The Ouro Bros and not me. Ahem.

The other day, I stopped at my local coffeeshop for coffee and a bagel (french toast with pumpkin spice cream cheese, awesome!). Unfortunately, after I had prepped the coffee and all, I found out that their credit card machine was down. I hardly ever carry cash, so I was kinda up a creek. Fortunately, the guys there recognized me and offered to let me pay the next day. Which I did, and gave them a stonkin’ big tip for their trouble.

That night, I got myself a caramel macchiato from Starbucks. To get there, I have to drive past the local shop, thus evincing a great deal of guilt. Of course, if the local one was open in the evenings, then I probably wouldn’t go to Starbucks.

At least not as often.

The other day for dinner, we had pumpkin lasagna from scratch, homemade spiced apple cider, and gingerbread with lemon sauce for dessert. Never mind the fact that it was actually the warmest day in a week; we knew in our hearts that Autumn had arrived, and boldly declared it to be so with our meal! Om nom nom.

More to the point of the comic, while I complain about the encroachment of the Christmas retail season on everything, the arrival of pumpkin and/or gingerbread-related beverages quickly silences my complaints. Don’t judge me!

Ladies and Gentlemen: the story you have just read is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

And stupid.

Really, not at all innocent. Just stupid.

I should throw out the rest of that pot.

This comic came out of the Eponymous Neaner’s frustration that there aren’t more recurring female characters in Zoidland. (I tried to argue that I had one: the pushy, blonde woman from a year or two ago, but that didn’t go over well.) Yes, I’m aware that one appearance doesn’t yet make a recurrence, but I plan to bring this girl back. Jane needs a friend.