This is our friend Jef.

Although you might know Jef through his comic, Frazz.

Jef is a cartoonist and a triathlete, who is about to rappel down the side of a building in Michigan for a good cause with is wonderful wife, Patty.

Anyhoo, we made a donation to Jef and Patty's "Dope-on-a-Rope" cause, and he got in touch with us. Jef and MacTroll used to work at the same newspaper chain in Michigan. MacTroll digs Jef. Jef digs MacTroll. How do I know? In the land of Frazz, there's a Rennich Middle School. :-) In addition to working together, Jef and Patty and MacTroll and I are fans of all things furry. The day the number of cats and dogs in our house outnumbered theirs in our holiday card greetings, Jef had to send a message to congratulate us on being more crazy than they were. In addition, it's always strange to wake up to your friend's voice on the Bob and Tom show when the alarm goes off.

Unfortunately for MacTroll, Jef called the home phone first and got me, where I outed MacTroll as being registered for the "My First Triathlon" and me registering for "My Next Triathlon" in Lake Lanier, Ga., in June to Jef. Jef isn't a willy nilly athlete. He has freaking coaches for each of the three tri sports. And, he wrote a book on the subject. 

A few days later, a package arrived with a copy of the book... and a bunch of swim caps with Frazz drawings on them that are given to participants in Jef's triathlon (The Hawk Island Tri) in Michigan.  On one of the caps is one of my favorite Frazz cartoons, where Caufield, the extra uber smart little kid in the elementary school, is running next to Frazz (the song writing, triathlon participating janitor of the school) and asks, "What do they call the dude who finishes last?" And Frazz answers, "A Triathlete."

The caps are very brightly colored, which attracted X-man like a moth to a flame. He had to take one into the bath, and, of course, when MacTroll went in to take his picture he a) refused to turn so the comic showed forward, b) still had popsicle all over his mouth so he looked like a vampire and c) didn't want any help getting it on or off, so it took him a while to figure it out.

But it's always ever so nice to get the support, as a fitness or recreational athlete from those who compete like crazy but never lose sight of their enjoyment of the sport. So, a big thanks to Jef, for all of his support and for just generally being a nice guy.