My Own Far Side

Today's hero is the first of the lot that is still alive, lucky him. His is Gary Larson born this day in 1950 in Tacoma Washington. He is the fellow behind one of the great "comic strips" of all time the Far Side. The one above is the one he was requested to draw for the New Yorker. That such a snobby, pseudo-intellectual, rag like the New Yorker would request a mere "cartoonist" to do there cover is a sign of this man's ability. We all have our favorite Far Side strips, ones with cows smoking, and drinking martinis, and doing other "human" acts. One of his most famous strips got him into trouble with the Jane Goodall institute it is detailed in his Wikipedia article. I encourage you to go read it. It shows that sometimes people just take shit too seriously. Sort of like the New Yorker pretending to be something it isn't. Mr. Larson's great gift to show the surreal nature of life, and to point out that taking it too seriously means you miss out on a great deal of laughter. Of course, I hate him for this talent, because I can not draw a proper stick man. If I were to actually get a stick man drawing correctly done, I believe my mother would put in on her refrigerator in a place of pride. "Look at what my boy drew! Isn't it fantastic." I can just her the pride in her voice, sadly it is not to be. The skill of drawing has passed me by forever I believe. However, the gift of looking at life as a bit of a surreal journey, and the ability to think that at some level everything is funny, I still possess in great quantity. Mr. Larson's drawings and captions have made that journey much more pleasant, and put many a smile on my (and millions of other people's) face, and for that, he is my hero of the day.