Dumbing of Age Book Twelve

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May 19, 2026

Sensory

by David M Willis on April 23, 2022 at 12:01 am
  • 04 – Don't Stop Billie-ving
└ Tags: becky, dina

Discussion (87) ¬

[ Comments RSS ]
  1. Ana Chronistic
    Ana Chronistic
    April 23, 2022 at 12:05 am | #

    what is this “full night’s” rest

    *cannot manage to sleep before 2-3a to wake up at 7:45a daily, cannot get through any day w/o at least a midday nap if not also an evening nap*

    • Yumi
      Yumi
      April 23, 2022 at 12:10 am | #

      I almost definitely have sleep apnea, so even when I get plenty of hours of sleep, it’s still all ~woooo, being chronically sleep deprived~

      • RassilonTDavros
        RassilonTDavros
        April 23, 2022 at 12:25 am | #

        Just looked up what a sleep apnea is and… wow, I should definitely see a doctor about that possibility.

        • Saida
          Saida
          April 23, 2022 at 8:12 am | #

          I had sleep apnea as a child, got my tonsils removed and that fixed it. But probably they were inflamed.

      • StClair
        StClair
        April 23, 2022 at 12:32 am | #

        Get yourself to a doctor as soon as practical and get yourself a CPAP. It made all the difference for me.

        • Concolor44
          Concolor44
          April 23, 2022 at 1:28 am | #

          I could not possibly agree more. I’d had apnea (undiagnosed) for at least a decade before getting a CPAP at age 35. Before, I was exhausted all the time, but thought it was normal. Any time I would sit still for more than 90 seconds, I’d nod off. My snoring was off the charts.

          My wife convinced me to have a sleep study. Turns out my O2 got so low a few times they considered waking me up, but I would eventually gasp and start breathing. They informed me I would NOT be sleeping another night without a CPAP.

          The second night of the study, wearing the CPAP, I crashed straight down into delta-level sleep and stayed there for nine hours. Didn’t so much as budge. When I awoke, the difference was just STARK. Felt like I’d been given a B12 shot. I was amazed that this was how I was supposed to feel normally.

          So, yeah. By all means, get a sleep study. Do it soon.

          • Bicycle Bill
            Bicycle Bill
            April 23, 2022 at 5:25 am | #

            Been there, done that.  Can’t imagine sleeping overnight without my mask on… although I have sometimes put up the footrest and rocked back the La-Z-Boy while watching TV, and next thing I know it’s a hour or so later.

            Suggest you try to get by with a nasal mask only rather than one that covers both the nose and the mouth, if possible.

          • Ethendel
            Ethendel
            April 23, 2022 at 7:44 pm | #

            Honestly best decision I ever made. Shame I’m on the downslope again. I’ve had adenoids and tonsils done, inferior turbinate reduction and septoplasty to try and make my face/nose more useful, plus the introduction of a CPAP. Worked great for about the first two years post-surgery, but now the soft palate is weaking again and the machine can’t always push through the apnea. But when we bump up the pressure, I instead wake up 3 times a night bloated with a stomach full of air and horrible cramping. Weak refluxy oseophagus valves, woo.

            Apparently it was just not in my design to live long lmao. I just miss sleep and energy D:

        • Yumi
          Yumi
          April 23, 2022 at 4:42 am | #

          I’m in the process. Sleep studies schedule out a ways.

          • Huttj
            Huttj
            April 23, 2022 at 6:32 am | #

            I know the feeling. Currently getting set up for a home sleep study to satisfy insurance so I can replace my 15 year old machine.

            Some things that were impresed upon me from my old study. My blood oxygen level was dropping to 87%. That’s…not good.

      • hof1991
        hof1991
        April 24, 2022 at 12:38 pm | #

        Endorse this. Get the test. It can change your life and prolong it. I waited 20 years too long.

    • DailyBrad
      DailyBrad
      April 23, 2022 at 12:11 am | #

      “Full night’s rest” is relative to college students, anyway. For all we know, they got 5 hours and called it a win.

    • Spencer
      Spencer
      April 23, 2022 at 12:28 am | #

      I had insomnia for five months and it turns out the way around it was to go back to doing the things that are “improper sleep hygiene” like stare bleary-eyed at my laptop in bed for an hour until I shut it off, roll over, and go to sleep.

      And also drugs, but those have been touch and go.

    • Kendra
      Kendra
      April 23, 2022 at 1:19 am | #

      I used to get consistent bouts of insane insomnia. I’m talking about 4 hours of sleep every 36 hours if it was good and about 4 hours of sleep every 72ish hours when it was bad. It got bad enough at one point that I started hallucinating. Not even double the normal dose of sleep meds would put me out. I don’t normally drink, but I tried to drink myself unconscious at one point. Fortunately 6 Mike’s Hard Lemonades didn’t do the trick =)

      I eventually eliminated most caffeine from my diet. No caffeinated soda, coffee only a few times a year, less tea, no change in chocolate. I’ve had a couple of bad weeks since, but never anything as extreme as before making the switch.

      Keeping a fairly consistent sleep/wake schedule has also helped a LOT. No sleeping in on weekends, I avoid napping. Getting a consistent dose of sunlight in the mornings has helped as well.

      • nightshade
        nightshade
        April 24, 2022 at 12:10 am | #

        I feel your pain I used to be on a sort of watch list from age 9 tp 1bout 30 where if I was out after 11 pm the local sheriffs would do a check to make sure I wasn’t walking around hallucinating because I was on little to no sleep ….. when I was 12 I was up for 6 days nd the er gave me a shot of something that I slept for 2 days …… the sad thing is now I’m so used 4 to maybe 5 hours a night I just stay up until I pass out …..

    • Marisa Mockery
      Marisa Mockery
      April 23, 2022 at 1:44 am | #

      Could be your thyroid. That was me before thyroid mediation.

      • Ana Chronistic
        Ana Chronistic
        April 26, 2022 at 3:23 am | #

        I’m on thyroid meds!

    • Yet_One_More_Idiot
      Yet_One_More_Idiot
      April 23, 2022 at 10:16 am | #

      Can’t fall asleep ’til after 2am typically, always wakes up for about 30 minutes around 4:30, and then gets up for work at 6:30.

      Also: *Cries in chronic fatigue syndrome*

    • Needfuldoer
      Needfuldoer
      April 23, 2022 at 10:47 am | #

      I wake up at 1 AM for work. Like the Bon Jovi song goes, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

    • Kazuma Taichi
      Kazuma Taichi
      April 23, 2022 at 11:51 am | #

      I’d recommend seeking a job where you don’t need to be waking up at 7:45, changes your life I tell ya

      • Yumi
        Yumi
        April 23, 2022 at 12:31 pm | #

        I look forward to a day I have a job where I can wake up thar late.

      • Needfuldoer
        Needfuldoer
        April 23, 2022 at 5:26 pm | #

        lol.

        LOL I SAY.

        My day’s half kaput by 7:45!

    • flake
      flake
      April 23, 2022 at 2:15 pm | #

      I read somewhere that bicyclic sleep was natural for human in a lot of scenarios so if it works for you there might not be anything wrong with that. Based on “something i read” at least. Could be worth looking into 🙂

      Also I think morning and night people is definitely a thing. I feel like heck if i sleep past 7am regardless of how much sleep i get whereas my partner will not function before 10am regardless of how much sleep they get.

  2. The Wellerman
    The Wellerman
    April 23, 2022 at 12:05 am | #

    Well, isn’t that a most marvelous, lovely sight to wake up to? 😍

    I sure hope we get to see dinosaur dreams in the comic some day!

    🦕🥚🦖

    *plays “Land Before Time Main Theme Medley” by James Horner on Hacked Muzak*

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      April 23, 2022 at 10:28 am | #

      That song gives me so much nostalgia.

  3. Doctor_Who
    Doctor_Who
    April 23, 2022 at 12:05 am | #

    Dina: Excellent, Becky believed my clever ruse, and does not suspect my unexpected discovery of a foot fetish.

    Becky: You just said that out loud.

    Dina: Curses.

    • The Wellerman
      The Wellerman
      April 23, 2022 at 12:08 am | #

      What does everyone else think of the matter?

      Let’s use the power of statistics!

      Do you think Dina has a foot fetish?

      https://strawpoll.com/polls/ajnENv1j0gW

      • Doctor_Who
        Doctor_Who
        April 23, 2022 at 12:12 am | #

        Becky gets out of bed and finds that for some reason she’s wearing a pair of these.

        Becky: Um, Dina?

  4. Kyrik Michalowski
    Kyrik Michalowski
    April 23, 2022 at 12:08 am | #

    I can never get a full night’s rest, but that’s probably for the best.

    If I did get a full night’s rest then I’d be unstoppable but, the earth wouldn’t be able handle it.

    • Kyrik Michalowski
      Kyrik Michalowski
      April 23, 2022 at 12:09 am | #

      Welp, I meant for this comment to be a reply to Ana. Guess it is stuck here now, oh well.

      • Yumi
        Yumi
        April 23, 2022 at 12:12 am | #

        If your comments always posted in the right places, you’d be unstoppable and the the earth wouldn’t be able to handle it.

        • Kyrik Michalowski
          Kyrik Michalowski
          April 23, 2022 at 2:09 am | #

          Accurate lol

  5. DailyBrad
    DailyBrad
    April 23, 2022 at 12:12 am | #

    Love these two, glad their sleep habits seem fairly compatible, enjoying a little bit of space.

  6. Thag Simmons
    Thag Simmons
    April 23, 2022 at 12:21 am | #

    This strip’s joke about dinosaur hand pronation reminded me of the Carnotaurus arm display in the recent prehistoric planet trailer, and I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out a clever joke to tie the two together but I am coming up short.

    Much like Abelisaurid arms.

    • The Wellerman
      The Wellerman
      April 23, 2022 at 12:33 am | #

      The T-rex may have had short arms that could lift over 400 pounds, but DAMN! 😲

      The Abelisaurid really got the middle finger from evolution!

      • Thag Simmons
        Thag Simmons
        April 23, 2022 at 12:41 am | #

        Eh, ‘s not so bad. Carnotaurus in particular was metal as hell and probably one of the fastest theropods out there.

        And y’know, they might have had uses for those arms. Would strongly recommend checking out the Prehistoric Planet trailer if you haven’t already seen it.

        • The Wellerman
          The Wellerman
          April 23, 2022 at 12:47 am | #

          Looks great, but I’d rather get my dino facts straight from the source. I mean SAUCE.

          Can anyone pull up a paper on Carnotaurus speed please?

          • Thag Simmons
            Thag Simmons
            April 23, 2022 at 12:52 am | #

            There may be more recent ones, but this is the one that I’m thinking about in regards to their speed

            • The Wellerman
              The Wellerman
              April 23, 2022 at 1:06 am | #

              Thanks! You sure know your stuff!

              I stand corrected! SPEED DEMON is right! 😈

              Also, LOVE the horns!!!! 😊

              *plays “Avarice” by David Fenn on Hacked Muzak*

              • Thag Simmons
                Thag Simmons
                April 23, 2022 at 1:13 am | #

                I mean I watched a YDAW video years back and remembered skimming the study they cited. I know more than most but I am still not anything resembling an expert.

                • The Wellerman
                  The Wellerman
                  April 23, 2022 at 1:30 am | #

                  Well you know a lot more than I do right now!

                  Is this a hobby of yours? For how long have you been studying dinosaurs like this?

            • The Wellerman
              The Wellerman
              April 23, 2022 at 1:07 am | #

              BTW Thag, I’m making a game featuring scientifically accurate dinosaurs in their glory, and the DOA cast too!

              Would you like to help?

              • Thag Simmons
                Thag Simmons
                April 23, 2022 at 1:14 am | #

                Can’t say I’m qualified to help much, and I doubt I’d be able to commit to any sort of serious project. Sorry.

                • The Wellerman
                  The Wellerman
                  April 23, 2022 at 1:16 am | #

                  Even a little help of some kind would mean the world to me! I mean that!

                  You know of an artist or 3D animator who’d be willing to collaborate on a passion project?

                  If not, just checking for scientific accuracy on one occasion while it’s in development would be vital too!

                • Thag Simmons
                  Thag Simmons
                  April 23, 2022 at 1:33 am | #

                  If you decide to share your designs I’d be more than happy to offer my two cents (although I’d recommend consulting a wider audience, there’s a lot of folks who know a lot more than me) but I’m afraid that’s all I can really offer at the moment.

                • The Wellerman
                  The Wellerman
                  April 23, 2022 at 1:36 am | #

                  😊

  7. BBCC
    BBCC
    April 23, 2022 at 12:23 am | #

    I love these two. They’re very cute and always seem very compatible.

    • Beck
      Beck
      April 23, 2022 at 7:40 pm | #

      Yes. if they ever break up i’m going to willis’ house and…idk, holding up a boombox outside of their window and playing the saddest song

  8. Jamie
    Jamie
    April 23, 2022 at 12:26 am | #

    I managed to load this comic with my mouse such that the hover text perfectly hid Becky’s mouth in panel 3 and turned it into a rectangle. It made her look extremely sad.

    Not ashamed to say I panicked a little until my brain caught up and I moved it.

  9. goggleman64
    goggleman64
    April 23, 2022 at 12:41 am | #

    I love these two so much

  10. Darkoneko
    Darkoneko
    April 23, 2022 at 12:44 am | #

    a vitruia..what

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      April 23, 2022 at 12:49 am | #

      The funny picture of the guy doing a snow angel

    • The Wellerman
      The Wellerman
      April 23, 2022 at 12:51 am | #

      It’s a marvelous drawing from my favorite gay neurodivergent creator, Leonardo da Vinci!!! 😊

      • Opus the Poet
        Opus the Poet
        April 23, 2022 at 5:15 am | #

        The physical proportions of my character in Shadowrun after he got new legs after the grenade went off in his lap and they had to do a $6 Million man to him (one new arm, two new legs, and extensive upgrades to the one remaining arm).

        • Opus the Poet
          Opus the Poet
          April 23, 2022 at 9:49 pm | #

          I should mention that IRL I have the proportions of Fred Flintstone, all torso and arms but almost no legs. Like for reals. I was 5’10” and had a 27-28 Inseam.

          And Dina is almost lethally cute in this page.

      • Jdorr
        Jdorr
        April 23, 2022 at 10:20 am | #

        Da Vinci was neurodivergent? Neat

    • Darkoneko
      Darkoneko
      April 23, 2022 at 1:19 am | #

      oooh

  11. brionl
    brionl
    April 23, 2022 at 1:10 am | #

    Speaking of doin’ the Vitruvian’ for some reason all of my cats end up laying across my feet/shins while I’m sleeping. Maybe I’m flailing my arms in my sleep? My wife hasn’t said anything about it though.
    Although one of them does sometimes snuggle up against my ribs. But usually only on the side right next to the edge of the bed so she has about a six inch ledge.

    • TheScreenJockey
      TheScreenJockey
      April 23, 2022 at 10:08 am | #

      It could just be a temperature thing. Might get uncomfortably warm for them up by your head/torso.

  12. Bagge
    Bagge
    April 23, 2022 at 1:15 am | #

    They just keep getting cuter

  13. Taffy
    Taffy
    April 23, 2022 at 1:40 am | #

    Sensory overload is right. While I love to cuddle at night, my partner is also way too warm for me to hold comfortably all night. So I gotta turn over after a while because it’s less information to process. Some people probably would view that as mistreatment, but a girl’s gotta be comfy.

    • Taffy
      Taffy
      April 23, 2022 at 1:41 am | #

      Sorry if this has a lot of typos. I’m a little high tonight and haven’t adapted to the coordination changes.

    • The Wellerman
      The Wellerman
      April 23, 2022 at 1:45 am | #

      At least you have a partner to cuddle with. All I have are pillows. *sigh* 😞

      • Taffy
        Taffy
        April 23, 2022 at 1:54 am | #

        There’s websites where you can buy sleeves for them pillows that got anime characters and Metal Gear characters on ’em. Big Boss is probably a better cuddler than any real man anyway.

        • The Wellerman
          The Wellerman
          April 23, 2022 at 11:30 pm | #

          Just wait till they’re automatically heated to 98.6 degrees.

    • Chris Phoenix
      Chris Phoenix
      April 23, 2022 at 2:53 am | #

      My opinion, after many relationships: If someone says you’re mistreating them because you’re sleeping comfortably, the problem is not you. Maybe they’re insecure. Or maybe they’re looking for something to blame you for. Or maybe some other reason.

      If someone tries to make you wrong because you aren’t giving your partner the kind of physical contact they want, whoever’s trying to make you wrong is putting an unhealthy kind of pressure on you, and they should stop. (That includes if the pressure is coming from you.)

      • Miri
        Miri
        April 23, 2022 at 4:21 am | #

        True this. I don’t generate body heat in my sleep. My husband is a radiator and ridiculously tall so his legs tend to end up on my side of the bed. Because my habit of trying to warm up the blocks of ice I was calling sleep on his legs made him scream and both of us wake up, his presents to me over the years have included two heated underblankets (coz those things don’t last forever) and a heated fleece blanket throw. (Also handwarmers, footwarmers, heated USB innersoles, jacket… I get cold easily and he helps me stay alive!)

        He is a good man and I like him.

        We also generally have more than one blanket on the bed because he tends to steal the main duvet in his sleep and when he does this then throw it off and lies on top of it I can’t get it back.

        • Miri
          Miri
          April 23, 2022 at 4:23 am | #

          (I also love him but you can love people without liking them and that tends to lead to a lot of emotional pain.)

          • Zaxares
            Zaxares
            April 23, 2022 at 6:42 am | #

            Oh now that is a mood I know well. XD You can also absolutely love someone (and they love you in return) yet still not be a good match for each other. Sometimes, love just isn’t enough. It was one of the hardest lessons I ever had to learn about relationships. :/

  14. Arian
    Arian
    April 23, 2022 at 4:35 am | #

    Agreed. Usually I can’t fall asleep at all while in physical contact with another person.

    On the rare occasions when I’ve been so tired that I fall asleep anyway, I always wake up again later and disentangle,

    • Autogatos
      Autogatos
      April 24, 2022 at 1:44 am | #

      My husband and I started sleeping in separate rooms a few years ago due to different schedules and my insomnia issues and tbh it has been fantastic. We tried to go back to sleeping in the same bed once because that’s what society says couples should do and we quickly realized nope, we sleep much better apart. I wish it were more normalized as a perfectly healthy thing that works for some couples.

      We see each other plenty during the day, we’re both introverts, and it’s just much easier for both of us to sleep well if we have our own space to ourselves.

  15. Amós Batista
    Amós Batista
    April 23, 2022 at 6:11 am | #

    Becky keep studying more and more. Doubt she could make a comment about Vitruvian Man if she were not interested in science. Left ignorance behind is a great thing.
    But I didn’t understood Dina. Is she talking about dinosaurs?

    • Keulen
      Keulen
      April 23, 2022 at 10:37 am | #

      With Dina, I think it’s safe to assume she’s talking about dinosaurs.

  16. Max
    Max
    April 23, 2022 at 6:28 am | #

    I had a rat that escaped once when I was young. When I woke up she was cuddling next to me in bed. That’s the closest I’m com to having a purty girl cuddle with me.

    • FaerwenOfValenwood
      FaerwenOfValenwood
      April 23, 2022 at 10:03 am | #

      Not gonna lie, as much as I love purty gurls surprise pet rat cuddles rank even higher

  17. Derek
    Derek
    April 23, 2022 at 7:25 am | #

    “palms facing” what? which way are they facing? this is an incomplete sentence??
    Also isn’t Dina the sort of person to use words like prone and supine specifically when describing things like arm/hand placement

    • James
      James
      April 23, 2022 at 9:12 am | #

      I think it is a dinosaur reference: many dinosaur species could not rotate their wrists, so they’d tend to hold their hands with the palms facing each other.

    • Thag Simmons
      Thag Simmons
      April 23, 2022 at 2:46 pm | #

      It’s a dinosaur joke. Dinosaurs couldn’t pronate their wrists (most of ’em couldn’t at least, may be an exception I’m not aware of) so all bipedal dinosaurs would have held their hands facing inwards.

      “Clappers not slappers” as the alt-text days

      • Derek
        Derek
        April 23, 2022 at 4:30 pm | #

        Facing inwards makes a lot more sense than just facing.

      • Leadsynth
        Leadsynth
        April 26, 2022 at 3:26 pm | #

        Thank you for explaining that this was a dinosaur joke. I thought it was some sort of oblique reference to praying? Like Dina joking about how pointless praying was? “Palms facing” seems like a description of how one would hold one’s hands in prayer.

  18. SafeYogurt
    SafeYogurt
    April 23, 2022 at 11:15 am | #

    I had a 20yo machine my family got off craigs list for me that I used for a few years before finally making the plunge to do all the studies.

  19. AlaninDC
    AlaninDC
    April 23, 2022 at 12:07 pm | #

    Is Amber still cooling her heels out in the lobby?

    • Rotunda
      Rotunda
      April 23, 2022 at 10:18 pm | #

      We don’t know, but Dina and Becky are in Becky and Dorothy’s room.

  20. Derek
    Derek
    April 23, 2022 at 4:29 pm | #

    Ah, so facing each other is the complete sentence.

    • Roborat
      Roborat
      April 25, 2022 at 4:04 pm | #

      How she worded it is unusual, but not incorrect.

  21. Knight of Whispers
    Knight of Whispers
    April 24, 2022 at 12:18 am | #

    This is so cute!

    Also, yeah, me too. I love cuddling. I love sleeping (when I can). The two sadly cannot coexist ^^;

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