Discussion (126) ¬
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Ph03n1x24 @ph03n1x24.bsky.social ⋅ 1d
Sheryl Weikal (The Leftist Lawyer) @leftistlawyer.com ⋅ 11h
Polling USA @usapolling.bsky.social ⋅ 12h
onion person @junlper.beer ⋅ 15h
David M Willis! @damnyouwillis.bsky.social ⋅ 3d
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Joyce’s family must be so poor by now if she’s been down that hallway a million times. Those vending machine snacks are not fucking cheap.
Yeah, much better buying that stuff in bulk. Last you all semester at a fraction of the price.
Only for people with good self-control….
You mean, lasts you all week with a multiple of the indigestion
#college
they’re kids, they’re indestructible.
right up until they aren’t.
And isn’t college for finding that limit?
Wouldn’t have survived college if it weren’t for vending machine burritos and those greasy twisty donuts! Mmmm. Then again, the fact that they didn’t totally destroy my digestive tract is a miracle – especially since I took a lot longer than 4 years to get out.
Dam straight. I would never had survived without the milk in Elliot Block. Nearest shop was a 40 min round hike once Campus shop was closed.
“Giant Mutant FROSTED Honey Buns!”
of COURSE that’s the alt-text tho
i think
we were all
gonna make that joke
It’s okay, I did the same, had it CTRL-C’d and everything. Pure luck led me to check the alt text first.
I’m half surprised it wasn’t tagged.
I thought Kellogs recalled them after they almost ate someone in Newark.
Now in Mutant Frosted™
It’s amazing how easily your eyes can just slide over something in plain sight.
AKA the Dina Principle.
…You sure that’s the term you wanna use?
For maybe 10 min I was convinced you wrote “AKA the Dina Pineapple”. I was so confused XD
Need more coffee …
Coffee- now in Dina Pineapple flavor.
For that subtle, surprising fruit taste!
Inattentional blindness is the other name for it.
Like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9aUseqgCiY
It’s why eyewitnesses are so useless.
Firemen call it “scripted behaviour” (IIRC). People go to a shop, stand in a queue, ignore the fire on the shelves to the right.
Joyce’s powers of perception are amazing
Studying instead of exercising and vending machine food: the two sides of the freshman fifteen.t
I lost seven kilograms in first year.
But was it due to malnutrition? Or let’s say, lots of bad food? Or because of stress. Because if unintended, and if you were of a healthy weight before that, losing seven kilograms is pretty extreme. Not in the time span, that’d be normal, but if you were of normal weight before…
What I am aiming at (personal story time): I lost like a quarter of my body weight in the course of two years (still in school, though – and no worries, I was overweight, so losing that much wasn’t unhealthy, just the way I lost it). I still ate fast food etc, but just much less than before, counting calories (inlcuding being sick in between and just not being able to eat anything other than clear soup for the better of a week). So I lost weight pretty fast, but in a very bad way. Like, I ate a pack of crisps and maybe an apple and that was my calorie intake for one day. Much too little to keep my body healthy. Sill lost fat, but also most of my muscle tissue, which I’ve been trying to increase for the past five years. About after two years I finally regained on muscles what I had lost in the other years, but it’s hard work to even keep them.
Moral of the story: don’t (even involuntarily) diet without knowing the basics of nutrition and your minimum intake.
I also lost like 15 pounds during my first year of university. I was eating reasonably healthy food, just not enough. I also made myself anemic!
Oh that sounds bad!!
For me it didn’t go that far (thankfully – or at least that’s what I remember, it has been about 10-8 years since then), but I do hope you’re back healthier now!
A friend of mine always had phases of healthy eating, but ate much too little for her body height and weight, so she always suffered phases of binge eating sweet things (because the body craved energy, fast, and sweets provide that), so instead of losing any weight, she just gained more, until she got professional support. Eating too little, even if one intends to lose weight is just plain unhealthy. And as in my case, I mostly lost healthy parts of my body (muscles) :/
I lost 30 pounds in my freshman year, unintentionally at first, because I kept forgetting to eat and didn’t have anyone to remind me. But then people started complimenting my appearance a lot, being nicer, asking if I’ve been working out, people saying I was more attractive, and I suddenly felt insecure about how I looked before, even though I never did when I was at a higher weight. I went from the high end of healthy bmi to the low end of healthy bmi. I’ve never gained the weight back; I’m in my junior year now.
As long as you’re in the healthy range, everything’s fine
(And as long as your diet’s healthy now) – though it can be stressful for the body (especially with not eating enough), losing weight like that – but everyone’s different and it all depends on metabolism etc. too.
I can understand feeling more confident with the compliments, I felt like that too – at least they gave me a small confidence boost. Didn’t help with deeper issues, but supported me a bit while losing those 25-28 kg (about 55-60 pounds, I think). Sport, especially running, helped me gain more confidence though, though I personally still don’t really look my weight (unproportional fat distribution)
I lost a ton of weight because my dorm room was freezing. I ate 5 meals a day and I went around picking as high calorie food as possible. I have never been so skinny in my life. My parents were pretty alarmed that Christmas…
Though I had that Bridget Jones moment where you hit your ideal body (“wow I’m thin!”) and everyone around you is like “what happened are you OK?” That was a wake up call. I went back to normal once I moved somewhere with functional heating.
Having known people like Dorothy during my time in college, she’s going to get a whole lot worse before things get better, and it kind of hurts to know she’ll probably be incredibly resistant to anyone who tries to help her
Freshman burnout is real.
Most definitely, and Dorothy’s going to hit it hard if she keeps this up. I’m not the biggest fan of her as a character, but it’s still going to suck to see her crash :/
Walky, your GF needs a TON of chill, STAT!
Quick, someone wave a study about exercise being correlated to academic performance in front of Dorothy before she implodes.
Or at least a study about studying all the time not working. Girl needs a break like woah.
Or a study about the myriad effects of sleep deprivation. If she’s doing this every night, it’d go a long way to explaining the grades spiral.
I doubt studies would have an effect on Dorothy right now. She’s right about being in a spiral, but what she’s doing will only accelerate the process.
My friend who’s having a similar breakdown had to go back home awhile ago, and at best may return to school after Thanksgiving. We’ll see. It’s hard to watch, but seeing some of the same warning signs in Dorothy shows this situation is all too real.
Something tells me Dorothy’s been up all night studying.
Well it’s 5 AM and past the equinox, so she hasn’t been up all night YET.
Apparently getting a new computer and new browser means my comments end up in moderation again here and at It’s Walky even though I’m using the same name and email address as before.
That can also happen if you include more than two hyperlinks, or use way too much repetition.
You mean like saying “like” a lot like I’m doing like right now?
Well, that didn’t end up moderated, guess I need to repeat more before it happens.
No I’m not going to test it further.
Nah, it has to be the same text repeated over and over again.
I made a reference to the typewriter scene in The Shining somewhere around here, it got swallowed up by the auto-filter.
i realize this is a joke fun comic on the internet but there are vending machines right next to my school’s exercise room and i’ve approached that area multiple times with the intention of working out but bought a honey bun instead. i don’t know whether i should feel called out or spied on
Both! How could you be called out if you were not first spied upon?
Good logic! Have an internet
Oh sweet! A whole Internet! Thank you
Yeah it’s like that at my college too. Vending machines right next to the gym. Plus the cafeteria is the building right across from it also.
They’re for exercising your willpower.
Or just to make money. It can happen that someone thinks “Oh, now that I’ve run half an hour I can eat something of that.”
I thankfully work in a totally different way. Anytime I work out (and may it be just a little), I lose appetite for unhealthy stuff, sweets, salty snacks etc.
On the other hand, if I don’t work out and have a lot of stress (emotional or something else) and/or am inactive for some time, I can tend to stuff my face like there’s no tomorrow. Even if I’m not really hungry, I just have the appetite. Not that healthy, I know.
Ha, my dorm (well, technically the dorm next door, but our cards allowed access to it, so) had an exercise room at the end of an underused basement hallway. It was often empty, which was nice because I hate people.
empty gyms are so nice.
nobody doing curls in the squat rack, or making disturbing grunts, or adjusting equipment that makes horrible screeching noises…
…or training on the machine you want to use, and once they leave, they don’t clear up their weights, so you have to carry the double of your own weight off the machine, because they’re too lazy and don’t imagine someone off smaller statute would like to use the same machine as well (I’m talking of a leg press, btw, but it usually happens with all kinds of machines I’m trying to use in my gym). At least now I’m strong enough to do that, a few years ago, I had to ask other people whether they could help me clear the weights off.
Dorothy’s been up all night. Oh damn I feel that.
*plays The Great Luke Ski’s “Candybars” on the hacked Muzak*
It only just occurred to me to wonder if the Mutant Frosted Honey Bun was a Frosted Honey Bun that was a mutant, or a Honey Bun that was frosted with Mutant.
Yes.
I’m really happy for Joyce in panel three, that right now she’s at a place where she can admit that to another person (even if Dorothy’s already in the know so it’s not as big a step) while staying mostly calm.
And for saying “yet”.
Uh, Dorothy, pretty sure the reason Joyce wants to go jogging with you is not the “jogging” part…
Oh, Dorothy
While it’s perfectly possibly to live a good life without jogging in the morning, it’s clearly something Dorothy enjoys, takes pride in and is part of a healthy routine. Skipping it for studying… is possible once in awhile while cramming for an exam or something, but in her case I fear it’s part of an overreaction to her bad grades. “MUST STUDY ALL THE TIME, NO PLAY”.
On the other hand, Dorothy DID take time to movie-cuddle with Joyce and Walky some nights ago, so this might be seen as a decent compromise. Still, I’m worried about her.
I love Joyce’s whiny-little-kid-puppy-eyes in the first panel. “Wanna have Dorothy-time NOW”. Sorry Joyce, not even that works right now.
I’m a weird mixture of Dorothy and Walky when it comes to academic practice – generally taking it easy, naturally curious and interested in my subject, overperforming most of the time, unused to failure. What’s happening to Dorothy is too, too real. I can see that in my future, maybe it’s happening right now and I’m in some denial about it idk. I still have enough awareness about myself to know I’ll be okay but.. it’s a strange foggy state of not feeling like you’re in control, and unlike Dotty, I think I’m reacting with paralysis and inability to act. We’ll get through it though, the Dorothys of the world usually do. It’s hard is all.
paralysis fucking sucks. :/ hopefully you, like Dorothy, have a therapist to talk to about it?
it’s been a long time since I’ve had to try to study. I never did get the hang of it, and I’m not sure how much that was an adhd thing or a dissociative or anxiety thing.
That hallway is home to a different form of predatory scumminess.
uh, that’s a nice basement facility there.
Jackpot !
Studying? Exercising? Waking up early?
I don’t understand any of these concepts.
Oh, dear. So smart, yet so foolish. She’s gonna burn out, isn’t she?
Those who burn twice as bright.
Dorothyyyyy. All work and no play :/ you’re gonna burn out if you don’t take five minutes off.
I feel like there’s may be a very sweaty Jacob in that exercise room!
Doesn’t he work out in his own room?
He lifts there, but I doubt he has room for cardio.
…If this arc leads to Joyce becoming Quite Buff, I am approximately 126.92% down for it.
If this arc leads to Joyce wearing her hair in a ponytail all the time, I am a similar percentage of down for it. (I am also 133.33% cool with that.)
Dorothy, I know you’re concerned about your grades, but not sleeping is going to make the spiral worse!!
Methinks this is counterproductive to fitness.
Fitness aside, I think that Dorothy’s general health may be at risk.
I was referring to the vending machine, but yes, that too.
Well they’re there for a quick energy boost for the silly people who’re so focused on workouts that they forget to refuel. That’s also why energy drinks are usually within spitting distance of one.
I’m in the same boat as Dorothy, but with my grad school thesis. Not a day goes by that I longingly think of the gym. *eats slice of cake*
Could set up your books at a treadmill and read while you run
Oh, the reading part’s over. Now it’s all about carrying out the study (psych tests) and related things.
Okay, now I’m a bit worried about Dorothy. Is she starting to neglect her health because she’s worried about her grades?
Now, is it me or is this the first time that Willis has even suggested that there is something that you can use to introduce an ‘Ooh! Shiny!” interrupt into Joyce’s life?
Just got released. Nasty stomach bug massively dehydrated me but otherwise fine. Pretty woozy so my comic reaction is as follows:
Dorothy, noooo, that’s the revipe for burnout.
Well, it’s good to have you back and I hope that recovery does not involve too many noxious-tasting medications or life-sucking diet restrictions.
Also, YAY!!!
Slightly longer response: As a teacher and a former insomniac, I can say folks and especially students underestimate the importance of a good night’s sleep.
The urge is to push and push in all nighters and I’ve been there, but your work suffers for it and you end up in holes like this where you feel like you’re drowning and can’t get out.
Dorothy needs to talk to some teachers about her work load and worst case may need to drop a class to save her overall GPA.
Yay, it’s a Cerberus!
And yeah, sleep is important. The quality matters, too I got away with all sorts of crazy sleep patterns as a teenager, but in my later 20’s, I didn’t realise how often I was getting up to go to the bathroom at night was not normal, and I suspect that contributed to triggering the migraine of doom. And it was such an easy thing to fix once I actually mentioned it to the doctor, I had it 90% done while waiting for the specialist appointment.
The migraine, OTOH, might not be as fixable as I’d hoped. :/ I was planning to try another medication reduction in a week or so, but I’ve been getting pain again. :/ I have been doing a few too many chores this week, I guess, but, that was so I could make time for gym… Sorta… :/
I feel obligated to say “take care of yourself” with the unintended yet obvious implication that you don’t already know that and aren’t already doing so.
…..
….. we have some really messed up customs. But regardless, take care of yourself.
Oh no! That sounds terrible!
I hope you still have at least some of your bones on the inside of you after that
Hey Cerberus, so good to see you commenting again ! Your illness looks nasty, recover well !
Glad to have you back – now not be a Dorothy, get plenty of sleep and take care of yourself
Welcome back! Glad to learn it was nothing serious! Drink your fluids! Don’t MAKE ME come over there (seriously, don’t – the airfare wouldn’t be cheap and people over there have guns O_o).
OMG Dorothy, if you even don’t react to Joyce’s guilt tripping …
Drop some of your volunteer stuff and get some decent sleep!
Later:
D: “So did you get some time on the treadmills.’
J: “How many times do i have to tell you. There is no exercise room in the basement!”
Ha! I love your use of unorthodox composition in the last panel ! It really enhances the gag. God, I love comics.
I wonder if Dorothy really understands how much Joyce needs her? She’s the sensible one that helps Joyce look at things with a degree of dispassion and separation from her emotions.
Is Joyce dependent on her? When she’s feeling insecure, yes. Actually, I do think that she wanted to discuss Jacob with her, specifically on the ethics of her attraction to him. However… well, honey cakes also heal many wounds. I wonder if Joyce will run into Carla, Amber or Sal in the gym; it strikes me as the sort of place they’d frequent.
They put the snacks there by the exercise room on purpose you know. So you don’t notice that there’s an exercise room. So you don’t break their already-almost-broken equipment.
I’m really worried about Dorothy :/
But real talk, I’ve had some mental health spirals going on in my life and the most important lesson I’ve learned is that self care is extremely important if you want to keep dealing with stressful parts of your life. That includes in indulging sometimes, have downtime with your friends, and sacred no work allowed time. If not, you start walking around everywhere with a guilty conscience all the time.
But sometimes you need to crash and burn a little before realizing how damaging it is to constantly pressure yourself to work.
Dorothy nooooooo you’re going to wreck yourself if you keep going this way
hell that might even be why your grades are starting to slip
I hope she’s talking to her therapist about this too and not just the stabbening. :C
Distracted by the buns. Understandable.
Well, as long as it’s in the same building as the showers are, this is great! (as opposed to let’s say, what I heard about some rooms on campus at the Trinity college, which don’t or at least didn’t have any showers, so you’d have to go outside to the community showers and wait in line. At least that’s what I remember from the tour)
But back to the topic: I hope Dorothy can relax a bit after her next test. It’s unlikely that unless she gets a better (meaning an A) at her next test she’ll let people talk her a bit down. Losing sleep over learning is an essential part of studying at college, as I came to know it. So is losing sleep over worrying you didn’t learn enough… (not to say it’s healthy, but it kinda feels essential to the student life)
Which Trinity?
In my area “Trinity College” means one place, but I don’t want to assume that’s the one you refer to.
Ah, sorry, visited Dublin some time ago, so I’m referring to the Trinity College in Dublin; should’ve specified that (one sometimes doesn’t think detailed enough) – I did a tour of the college during which I learnt the bit of info mentioned above.
This has nothing to do with the current strip, and surely does not imply that I’ve just started rereading the whole series, but hey, Willis. Did you know that this strip is missing from the archive? http://www.dumbingofage.com/2010/comic/book-1/02-uphill-from-here/twitter/
Goddammit, now I want a frosted honey bun.
More accurately, she should have smelled the exercise room by now.
Did someone turn up the cute in here?
It’s Joyce; she can’t help it. She’s just a natural cuteness generator.
I’m betting Jacob will be there.
Hotter than the usual.
Because, you know, body temperature increases when you are doing physical activity.
Joyce is getting a dose of what Ethan had when he walked in on shirtless Jacob working a dumbbell.
Really, Dorothy? Excerise for me is essential when I study or work on assignments. It releases chemical into the bloodstream which can stimulate the mind and get those neurons firing.
It also helps me avoid spelling mistakes like “exerise”, though that could also be a combination of exercise and rising, as in early morning exercise, so maybe it works?
This is totally a 30 Rock joke/reference (“What? This building has a gym?” “Yeah,it’s the door right next to the vending machines.” Jackie Jormp-Jomp)
Of all the characters I’d expect to turn into Liz Lemon…. Joyce would not have been at the top of my list.
You know Dorothy, there is another luxury you can afford to get rid of that would really open up a lot of time for you. It’s named Walky.
Willis, my comment is still in moderation over at It’s Walky. Apparently getting a new computer and browser means it thinks I’m someone new, even though I’m using the exact same name and email as I did yesterday.
A *million* times
Disappointed Joyce face: I was about to ask “Who’s the new girl?”
Get some of those TMNT Pies. They’re fresh from the sewers!!!
One hundred and one pounds of fun,
That’s my little Honey-Bun!
DOROTHY NO JFC
just… no.