When We Become Cartoons

This cracked me up, and I have to share.  Today I got a stray email from a lady whom I haven't talked to since my mom died maybe five years ago.  She was one of my mom's very dearest friends and I feel terrible that I haven't kept in touch, so I was kind of glad to get the stray email, even though I knew it wasn't for me.  It was titled CHOWDER in the header, and I thought perhaps she was having some type of food gathering in her home for her friends.
Then I realized it was a blog post from her son, who is all grown up now (my fondest memories of Carl are when he was a tiny child in the backseat, and every time we passed a Burger King, his little finger would go up and he would say, "One, pease Berber Ding, no onions?" in such a cute little boy voice!  It was irresistible.  Oh, that translated is, "One hamburger, please, from Burger King, with no onions."

Anyway, he was a darling child and so was his sister.  Well, apparently he's grown up to lampoon his mother!!  So cute!  I had heard of Chowder but had no idea he was one of the writers or storyboarders or whatever you call them.  The whole creative process of cartooning baffles me because I struggle to put words on paper, much less drawing.  Ugh, I cannot draw.  I'm going to attach the post here--hope I'm allowed--to share what happens when our kids grow up.    And sometimes make cartoons of us.  The little plump cartoon lady in the blog with the wild breasts is apparently Carl's mom, Janet.  I do not remember her being shaped quite like that!  Too funny!

Mahjongg Night

This Friday night's Chowder episode is a very personal one. I wanted to do this story from the moment I pitched the show. Every Tuesday night since I was a little kid, my mom would gather with four of her friends and play Mahjongg, a Chinese tile game that's sort of like bridge. (Jewish women love it!) Four play at once, one rotates out each hand.

Each week, the ladies gather at a different person's house, and the hostess serves up yummy snacks for the rest. So when it came to our house, my mom would set out goodies that we rarely got to have (candies and such). She made egg salad too, and while I'm told it's awesome, I'm not terribly partial to egg salad. Of course, I'd get a handful of peanut M&M's then be banished from the kitchen as they played. As I laid in bed, I could hear the clacking of the tiles and a stream of expletives as the women yelled at each other for taking their money. They weren't big rollers. I think they usually played for something like 35 cents a game, and a big winner would walk away with $5 for the night.

So when you watch it, think of chubby little me, dozing off to the thoughts of chocolate while the sounds of "You bitch! You took my money!" ring in my ears.

(And yes, Truffles is based on my mom. She doesn't really have the accent, but everyone is actually scared of her. And she's tiny.)

(Some random women having their own Mahjongg night. This is what it looks like for real. Notice the snacks on the table!)

About Me

C H Greenblatt Currently I'm the creator/executive producer of an animated show called "Chowder." I've written and storyboarded on "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy" and "SpongeBob Squarepants." I'm the voice of Fred Fredburger. I own fish.