Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for November 06, 2019

Who wants off Success Mountain? You set up a camp at the summit, and hope they carry you off toes first when the time comes.

Rat’s autobiography, except instead of falling off the edge of a mountain, he falls into the calderon of Kīlauea

Isn’t it more about sliding back the way you came?

I thought somebody else pushes you off that cliff.

So your first book was a success. But what have you done lately?

I think it’s right, with success many times you lose your step.

Only one way? I hear J. K. Rowling keeps busy giving money away.

Reminds me of the yodeling game from Price Is Right.

“I figure whenever you’re down and out/The only way is up!” has a flip side.

There are three ways:

1: You run out of gas and slide / fall down

2: Someone pushes you off

3: You retire at the top. (Yes, it happens… occasionally).

Of course, you can be more like the rest of us and only occasionally get to the top of a success molehill, from whence the fall is very short.

I’d happily take that way off the mountain, if I could just get ON the mountain!

That might be the only way off, but you can enjoy that feeling of weightlessness before you hit bottom.

It helps to look down and remember where you came from …. otherwise you get Rat results ;-) … Croc Power !

never been there myself.

Rat is not describing Pastis, since Rat does not think cartoonists are famous.

Selling a book, in most cases, makes you neither rich nor famous.

It seems to me that the secret to success is to know when to stop striving to achieve more of it and just enjoy the view.

You can die up there on the mountain at your peak.

That dirty rat.

success is an illusion, so is reality altho reality is a bit more pervasive

Sell it once, spend it thrice. That’s the fine arts way

Life’s ups and downs…

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains,

There’s a land that’s fair and bright,

Where the handouts grow on bushes

And you sleep out every night

Where the boxcars all are empty

And the sun shines every day

On the birds and the bees

And the cigarette trees

The lemonade springs

Where the bluebird sings

In the Big Rock Candy Mountains

I prefer writing books that sell very poorly.

Success Hillock is much easier to get down.

What are those little black things all over Rat’s face most of the time? Could it be a real rat like someone did to Steve Bannon’s face in a photo op?

https://politics.theonion.com/rodent-clearly-making-its-way-through-steve-bannon-s-bo-1819579702

One hit wonders are as sadly true in publishing as it is in the music industry.

You can get halfway up that mountain and have a very good life.

“For in the writing of many books there is no end, and in the abundance of knowledge is the abundance of vexation.”

I’m concerned. Is this a cry for help? Steph? RUOK mate?

Rat as an artiste is using a touch of hyperbole, Pig. But the basic trajectory of his Success Story is true….

im making this to round off the nice cool 100 comments