How to Pose for an ID Photo

I have this theory that you should never smile in your ID photo.

Think about when your ID photo gets used. It’s usually when you’ve been pulled over by the police, or when you’re working your way through the line at the TSA checkpoint*. Neither of those are situations in which you’re in a great mood. If the idea is for the picture to help someone identify you by sight, when you pose for the picture you should try to look like you would in those situations: irritated, inconvenienced, and slightly worried.

If you look at it that way, the civil servants responsible for the miserable experience you have when you go to the DMV are doing you a favor.

Note from Missy: ERIK ESTRADA! (We met him once. Whitest teeth I’ve ever seen.)

*Yes, I know that ID photos also get used when you prove you’re old enough to buy alcohol. Often, young people are excited to be old enough to buy a beer, and smile. Also, older people are sometimes flattered to think that they look young enough to get carded. These are edge cases. I’ve been a few places and seen a few things, and I’m here to tell you that most people are not smiling when they’re buying booze. After consuming it, maybe, but not while buying it.

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How to Pose for an ID Photo

I have this theory that you should never smile in your ID photo.

Think about when your ID photo gets used. It’s usually when you’ve been pulled over by the police, or when you’re working your way through the line at the TSA checkpoint*. Neither of those are situations in which you’re in a great mood. If the idea is for the picture to help someone identify you by sight, when you pose for the picture you should try to look like you would in those situations: irritated, inconvenienced, and slightly worried.

If you look at it that way, the civil servants responsible for the miserable experience you have when you go to the DMV are doing you a favor.

Note from Missy: ERIK ESTRADA! (We met him once. Whitest teeth I’ve ever seen.)

*Yes, I know that ID photos also get used when you prove you’re old enough to buy alcohol. Often, young people are excited to be old enough to buy a beer, and smile. Also, older people are sometimes flattered to think that they look young enough to get carded. These are edge cases. I’ve been a few places and seen a few things, and I’m here to tell you that most people are not smiling when they’re buying booze. After consuming it, maybe, but not while buying it.

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As always, thanks for using my Amazon Affiliate links (US, UK, Canada).

How to Have a Guest Artist Draw Your Comic Strip

Missy wrote and drew this one. I think she did a great job. She made my shirt charcoal gray, which means you can see wrinkles in the fabric and get a better idea of the shape of my body, which is exactly why I always made my shirt jet black.

Note from Missy: It definitely has a different look; I learned when I did my second guest strip to not draw the lines underneath the eyes (among other things). In panel 2 here, Scott looks like he’s wearing eyeliner. The way he drew the strip (or rotoscoped, or photocartooned, or whatever you want to call it) really was a balancing act of knowing which lines to draw, and which ones to not draw.

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As always, thanks for using my Amazon Affiliate links (US, UK, Canada).

How to Have a Guest Artist Draw Your Comic Strip

Missy wrote and drew this one. I think she did a great job. She made my shirt charcoal gray, which means you can see wrinkles in the fabric and get a better idea of the shape of my body, which is exactly why I always made my shirt jet black.

Note from Missy: It definitely has a different look; I learned when I did my second guest strip to not draw the lines underneath the eyes (among other things). In panel 2 here, Scott looks like he’s wearing eyeliner. The way he drew the strip (or rotoscoped, or photocartooned, or whatever you want to call it) really was a balancing act of knowing which lines to draw, and which ones to not draw.

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As always, thanks for using my Amazon Affiliate links (US, UK, Canada).

How to Master Your Fear

I can out-fear any bear. I’m still proud of that idea.

I’m also pretty proud of that bear drawing! It’s a shame I never used it again. I could have had the Emperor of the Moon mistake the bear for Rocket Hat. That’s something he would do.

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As always, thanks for using my Amazon Affiliate links (US, UK, Canada).

How to Master Your Fear

I can out-fear any bear. I’m still proud of that idea.

I’m also pretty proud of that bear drawing! It’s a shame I never used it again. I could have had the Emperor of the Moon mistake the bear for Rocket Hat. That’s something he would do.

You can comment on this comic on Facebook.

As always, thanks for using my Amazon Affiliate links (US, UK, Canada).

How to Drastically Change Your Appearance

One time I shaved my beard as a surprise for Missy.

Actually, my hand slipped and I took off part of my moustache. My options were to cut the other side the same way and tell people I was pioneering a new look (a goatee paired with a Hitler moustache), or just shave it all off and start over. I chose to shave it off.

Missy came home from work, took one look at me, and said, “Grow it back.”

Note from Missy: the facial hair rules were one of the worst parts of working for Disney. They allowed a mustache, and Scott tried that, but … most guys with just a mustache look like Swedish porn stars. So he spent five years bare-faced and Elmer Fuddish until Disney changed the rules and allowed beards. He had his facial hair back within a month.

You can comment on this comic on Facebook.

As always, thanks for using my Amazon Affiliate links (US, UK, Canada).

How to Drastically Change Your Appearance

One time I shaved my beard as a surprise for Missy.

Actually, my hand slipped and I took off part of my moustache. My options were to cut the other side the same way and tell people I was pioneering a new look (a goatee paired with a Hitler moustache), or just shave it all off and start over. I chose to shave it off.

Missy came home from work, took one look at me, and said, “Grow it back.”

Note from Missy: the facial hair rules were one of the worst parts of working for Disney. They allowed a mustache, and Scott tried that, but … most guys with just a mustache look like Swedish porn stars. So he spent five years bare-faced and Elmer Fuddish until Disney changed the rules and allowed beards. He had his facial hair back within a month.

You can comment on this comic on Facebook.

As always, thanks for using my Amazon Affiliate links (US, UK, Canada).

How to Train Your Back-Up

This is the first mention of the RJ-17 form!

I never did specify what it is the company in the comic strip actually does. Probably because when I created the comic I worked for a company where I had only vague ideas about what it did. It was a group of various people with disparate job titles working together for a company that’s name was a nonsense word. In other words, COMEDY GOLD!

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As always, thanks for using my Amazon Affiliate links (US, UK, Canada).

How to Train Your Back-Up

This is the first mention of the RJ-17 form!

I never did specify what it is the company in the comic strip actually does. Probably because when I created the comic I worked for a company where I had only vague ideas about what it did. It was a group of various people with disparate job titles working together for a company that’s name was a nonsense word. In other words, COMEDY GOLD!

You can comment on this comic on Facebook.

As always, thanks for using my Amazon Affiliate links (US, UK, Canada).