Achoo
Hey, Jazz Pickles, how are you holding up? Inhabiting these meat bodies as they shuffle around on this floating rock has always been a weird experience but ¡DAMN! it’s been especially weird lately. More for some than for others.
A lot of us are just hanging out, doing our thing, and wishing we could go out more. It’s a drag but it’s not the end of the world. But I think it’s good to remember that a hell of a lot of people aren’t so lucky. A metric shitload of folks are standing in line at food banks, getting evicted, escaping wildfires or crazy-ass storms and hoping their neighborhood will still be there when they return. Black folks are worried they’ll get shot during a traffic stop, and certain White folks are worried that if America lets Black lives actually matter, White people might get paid back for the way they’ve been treating them. And pretty much everyone not addicted to Trump TV or propaganda on FB is worrying that the only hope the U.S. has for a return to some form of sanity is an election that will definitely be rigged against Dems in numerous ways, from the electoral college to vote suppression. And those who are addicted to Trump TV and propaganda on FB are terrified that if the election isn’t stolen from the majority of voters, sexually-deviant atheist commies are going to take away their guns and force their children to be Muslims. So no matter where you sit, it’s tough being made of meat these days. It’s enough to make a normally chill person develop an unacceptable amount of anxiety and depression.
It is said that a good way to fight anxiety and depression is to do something for someone else. Helping others makes you feel good and is an excellent way to realize you’re not the only one with problems. I’ve always found that creative projects help alleviate anxiety and depression, too, but it occurs to me it might be a branch of the same concept. When I work on a creative project of any kind, I look forward to sharing it with the public, hoping they’ll enjoy it, be amused by it, be moved by it, or provoked to thought, whatever. In that sense, it makes me feel as though I’m doing something for others and I get a little dopamine hit from that.
Working on my graphic novel has kept me busy and helped me a lot in recent months. I’ll be sharing it with the public via my new website very soon, possibly this week. My experience writing it literally changed my view of how the universe and this meat body I’m temporarily camping out in works. I used to think all of my art and ideas came from somewhere in my brain, but now I’m leaning heavily away from that theory. The idea for this story came to me in bits and pieces, day by day, month by month, and seemingly from nowhere. When I sat down to write each day, I never knew what I was going to do or where the story was going to go. I would just sit quietly and think about the story so far, then wait for something to come. When it did, I started typing and was often moved to tears or laughter by the scenes I was writing as though I was watching it unfold in a film. I had a very distinct feeling that the story was coming through me from somewhere else and all I had to do was get out of the way and listen for it. It was powerful, thrilling, and humbling.
As a result, I now consciously apply those same listening skills to all of my creative projects: art, stories, cartoons, you name it. I’ve realized that the trick is to resist trying to make it happen and instead, let it come to you. It’s a subtle thing, kind of like the difference between trying really hard to sleep as opposed to just letting yourself fall asleep.
I’ll be talking more about this in future chats, I’m sure. My site is almost ready to go and when it is, I’ll send out an email to all of you who are on this Bizarro email list. If you’d like to be on it but aren’t yet, toss your email addy into the form at the bottom of this page. It will never cost you a thing and I’ll never share your address. In the meantime, I hope you’ll follow Peyote Cowboy on Instagram… @peyotecowboycomic
And now let’s point our meaty, anxious eyes at what sort of Bizarro comics Wayno crafted this week with his sausage fingers…
I’m not comfortable with cats urinating so close to my pie.
Without the eye patches, pandas look like polar bears wearing a black jacket and matching earmuffs.
I’ve been lobbying for karaoke to be featured in the Olympics for years. It’s much more athletic than golf, for instance. (If golf was exercise, the Cheeto Mussolini would be as ripped as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.)
Since we’re talking about things old people miss, I miss elaborate, full-sized album covers with cool art and all the lyrics from the album. I literally memorized the lyrics and booklet that came with Quadrophenia.
I hope that guy is smoking an invisible cigar and not answering the question, “How many of this pizza’s ingredients are fresh?”
Wayno has some interesting factoids and a backstory about this pizza box cartoon on his weekly blog post. Check it out now, then come on back. Bring a hot pie back with you while you’re at it.
I’m a big fan of Nerf bowling, by the way—foam rubber pins and a standard, 12 lbs. bowling ball.
We’ve come to the end of our comedy escape tunnel, Jazz Pickles. Thanks for helping us dig. If you enjoy what we do and that we offer it for free, without paywalls or ads, please consider thanking us with a shiny, new coin or two via the links below. Your generosity will be greatly appreciated and we’ll plant a cactus in your name at Rancho Bizarro.
Until next time, be grateful, do something nice for someone less fortunate, laugh every day, and vote like your way of life depends on it.
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