Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Sock! Theater


I don't recall off the top of my head more than a couple instances of Jon's personal hygiene being the butt of jokes. There is more supporting evidence that Jon takes good care of his sock drawer, for instance. I always like when Jon realizes/ foolishly believes that he should make a behavioral change for Liz. Jon will put on a jacket, try to be suave, lie about his personal life, anything to impress Dr. Wilson. Anything except stop letting his walking heart-disease-risk cat from eating bacon and eggs for breakfast. Is the lady vet going to put up with that around the house?

I'm not sure where else Garfield's thought balloon could have gone without tipping off the joke, but it doesn't really complete the thought preceding it.

You know what's awesome? These are installments about how Jon has a girlfriend, and I see him saying words indicating everything has changed, and they're still just stories about him sitting around, talking to the cat. No matter how hard you consciously try, no matter how extreme you think fate, the universe or God is treating you, no matter what order or chaos you perceive in the cosmos... the center holds, because it is a straight line across a blank field, and it represents your kitchen table. Whether you want to change it or not, the only reality you can know consists in majority of the empty moments when you're wondering if you should change your socks.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This blog ended quite profoundly. I think this is the point where you made me no longer able to just see and dismiss a garfield cartoon. I won't get into it, but will simply say, "Bravo."

Anonymous said...

panel 3: does that mean liz noticed it?

Nyperold said...

1) I think the post-date excitement pushed Jon's sock-changing schedule aside for a while, and he didn't change them when he otherwise might have.

2) Well, I haven't seen a lot of the more recent strips, but there is one where she says "As a vet, I can tell you that cats really shouldn't drink coffee," and Garfield just smiles and thinks, "You're funny." I don't know what happens yet, but I think she will continually see Jon's struggle firsthand, and come to know that any attempt to advise or control Garfield, particularly with regard to food, will ultimately end in failure, and that he's pushing 40 anyway -- that's right, as of this comment, Garfield is older than the current real-life record holder, Creme Puff -- so why bother?