Big Head Cure
I’m Dan Piraro, the creator of the Bizarro newspaper comic. Each week, I post my Sunday Bizarro comic, a short essay, and then the past week’s Monday-Saturday Bizarro comics written and drawn by my partner Wayno, whose weekly blog post I highly recommend.
And here’s this week’s ANSWER KEY to my Sunday comic’s Secret Symbols.
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Hi, gang. How are my Pickles today? Have you been to a headshrinker lately?
I’m a big fan of therapy but I haven’t been in a while. I’ve only gone when I’ve had a particularly tangled issue I needed help with, like whether I should break up with a woman who does not understand my humor, as was my conundrum once many years ago. After a lengthy explanation of the terrain, my therapist said, “What?! You ARE your humor! Break up with her!” And I did. (NOTE: Most therapists will not tell you what you should do, but she was a bit of a loose cannon. And she was right.)
Another question from my Psychotherapy Greatest Hits collection was asked way back in the 1980s: Should I keep the job that is making me miserable but has a guaranteed paycheck, or walk away and try something I find meaningful but may not be lucrative?
I encourage you to explore the answer to that question in your case with your own therapist. As for me, you are visiting a website that is evidence of the path I chose. (Note that I wrote that in a way that does not express which of the two paths Bizarro was.)
I’m an adherent to Socrates’ (supposed) opinion about an unexamined life not being worth living. That has been true for me. I read my first “self-help” book back in my early thirties when I was drowning in depression and did not know how to examine myself deeply enough to understand why. That was my first toe-dip into the world of psychotherapy and honest self-examination, and I’ve been a big fan ever since.
The expression “shrink” is short for “head shrinker,” which I suppose is a reference to certain cannibalistic tribes who shrunk the heads of their enemies. How that relates to psychotherapy is not clear to me. My hats fit a little more loosely all the time, but I’ve assumed that is because my hair is getting thinner and shorter. Perhaps I should have measured my skull before I started so I’d have a reference point.
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Let us now dive into the chuckle pit that is Wayno’s Bizarro cartoons from the week…
On our IG post of this one, I asked if readers could remember the name of the other violent stalker that Olive Oyl had. I was thinking of Brutus, of course, but a clever reader pointed out that Popeye could also qualify. I certainly can’t disagree.
It’s also worth noting that children’s shows about abusive relationships and violence are no longer considered appropriate. Despite the ongoing efforts of the radical right, we are progressing as a society.
Next week is our half-off sale.
I am not qualified to answer this because seafood of all kinds utterly disgusts me.
Speaking of gift-wrapped dung, my most recent article in The Naked Cartoonist is titled “Avoiding Pigeons, Iguanas, and the 9th Level of Hell.” Find out how to read it.
My favorite part of their costumes is how their hats spin around in the wind.
This is his profile pic on one of those farmers-only dating sites.
That’s it for this week’s Laugh Limbo; thanks for dancing under the bar with us. If you like that we’re giving this to you free of ads and paywalls, please consider helping us keep it that way via the links below. In gratitude, we will take your name off our dung beetle holiday gift list.
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