david, age 4 comic strip page "If I Get Stuck In An Old Dryer, I Wonder How Long It Will Be Until Someone Notices That I Am Missing?"

     This comic strip came out today while I was at the cafe.  I can remember this stuff as if it was yesterday, even though the events of this strip took place in 1971.  I was bored as a kid, with not a lot to do.  I enjoyed my free time as a four year old, when all the other kids were at school.  Other neighborhood kids my age were in pre-school, so I had no one to play with, and no one to talk to.  My mother didn't pay much attention to me.  I would be gone for hours doing stuff, she didn't even know or care where I was.  I would try and disappear for as long as possible just to see if there was any acknowledgment of me being gone.  There never was.
     When I was 18, I disappeared for nine days without telling anyone where I was.  Then I just suddenly showed up, and my mother asked me where I was.  That was a surprise.  I should have called and let her know, but I don't think I cared at that point.  I should have called so the younger ones didn't have to be worried about me, because they cared.  I could have been a better older brother at times.  I try to be a good, older brother now, which is all that matters.  My siblings need a lot of attention.  They didn't get much attention growing up, either.
     My mother had low iron in her blood, and was over-weight for the remainder of her life.  She was only 5'4".  She used to play the piano, but my mother was always over-weight.  She used to read me stories, I liked that.  She would read me 'The Little Engine That Could'.  I liked that book.
     I loved my mom, and wanted to be close to her, but then I ended up resenting her about a lot of things.  Happens.  She is gone now.  Too bad.  She didn't take care of herself all that well.
     Meanwhile, her mother just turned 99.
     I don't know if I was a fucked up kid at that point.  I was just really bored at age 4, and I created things for myself to do to keep myself busy and occupied.

     I always made sure I could get out of the dryer before I got in, because I knew no one would come looking for me for quite some time.  That is why I never went into the old refrigerator and pulled the door closed, because I knew I could be stuck in there for at least a day before anyone would find me.  I knew it would take some time for them to even figure out that I was gone, much less go to the effort to start looking for me.

     I miss my dad cooking on his hibachi grill in the backyard.  That was fun, and the chicken came out real good.  He used to like to put A-1 sauce on the chicken.  It was real good.
     My dad cooked spinach omelettes for dinner a couple of times, and that was the only time I really liked spinach.  I couldn't figure out how Popeye ate so much spinach, which initially was the reason why I wanted to like spinach, but spinach was always an awful, soggy vegetable to eat.
   
     One time I stated to my Dad when I was five years in the backyard that I didn't have anything to do, so he said, "Why don't you spit in your shoe?"  He was trying to be funny, but I was really bored, and I really did not have anything to do.  I had no purpose to anything I was doing, and absolutely no direction.
     I didn't know what the fuck to do.  I was only four or five.
     I wasn't good at anything, but I liked to draw, that's about all I did.  I had no musical talent.  I liked comic books, Star Trek, and monster movies, and building models.  That was fun.

     I guess in a way, I still want to be found.  I am kind of lost.