Pearls Before Swine by Stephan Pastis for May 06, 2024

DANG! Rat goes far deeper than I thought of him being capable!

We can thank the writers of the television show, House, M.D., for giving our friend, Stephan Pastis, the “seed” of an idea that blossomed into that wonderful metaphor!!!! Dr. House would be so proud!!!! Dan aka…

I hope he has a good grip on the grass, because falling into orbit isn’t fun.

Pretty much.

That’s why I took a nude with fig-leaf selfie on Saturday night for World Naked Gardening Day at age 83 in my garden.

To live to please others makes you their slave!

Reality is a concept. Normality doubly so.

Rock on, Pig!

The World is your Oyster Pig Go for it !

Pig’s brains are going into his feet, and he didn’t need ‘ludicrous speed’!

Feynman citation needed…

Just call it Yoga Pig!

The world is yours until they lock you up. Try using the backyard after dark.

Define “Normal” for me, in five words or less

Dude, you’re a talking pig. You can’t be more abnormal than that.

Every now and then, but not too often, Rat comes up with a sage piece of advice. Good one today Pastis!

What the heck is “normal”?! No one should give a rat’s @ss what the neighbors think. This is one of those seldom occasions when I agree with Rat.

Did Rat just give some true and helpful advice??

I’ve heard of many yoga poses, but Downward Pig is a new one for me.

Who wants the *&%#! world.

Good morning Steph, that is very good advice for everyone.

You just turned world upside down, Pig.

Seems almost too insightful for Rat.

Look Mildred! That abnormal pig next door is doing it again!

Neighbor: “That boy ain’t right!”

Pig & Rat have a big yard, huh?

In gym, there’s the tripod position. You can stay at it a LOT longer, but not at my age;).

The Wise Rat on the Hill… only he isn’t on the hill at the moment but just sayin’.

Now, this is good thinking Pig!!!

I suppose that if you grabbed pig and forced him to be upright, you would have pulled pork.

And now we have a happy Pig.

Pig, have any of you ever been normal?

Favorite saying about normal I have, I saw years ago. “Normal is a dryer setting.”

I like it! But there’s reasons for SOME standards of behavior. But then there’s things like “Lawns should look like manicured carpets” and “Adults shouldn’t watch cartoons.”

Every once in awhile Rat comes up with something profound.

Change your name to Abbie…

I’m just gonna say it… I love Rat!

I am not normal, at least according to society. I DON’T CARE! EMBRACE YOUR WEIRDNESS!

Normal is 90 degrees to the plane or within two standard deviations of the mean. Yes, it is also used unfairly to stigmatize. This is a case where you do need to be able to hold two ideas in mind at the same time rather than pretending one of them doesn’t exist.

We will be returning to normal just as soon as we figure out what normal is.

The “imaginary lasso” that Rat mentions is called culture and it’s amazing how much influence it has on all of us.

Socrates Quote: “What screws us up the most in life is the picture in our head of what it’s supposed to be.”

Yes, this pale boy caved to high school peer pressure to get a tan and beginning about 30 years after major sunburns began my 25 years of semiannual dermatologist treatments for skin cancers.

Thanks for not sharing that photo…and good morning y’all!

Huh! and all these years I thought it was the restraining jacket of abnormally that was used.

A talking pig and rat, that’s not abnormal enough?

you go, Pig!

Rat’s not entirely wrong here, but I would ask what the benefit Pig hopes to get here might be. If you’re going against norms just for the sake of shock value or whatever, you’re still not being your own person. If you turn left specifically because you were expected to turn right, you’re still reacting to what other people want from you rather than doing things your own way.

That mouse better stay out of New Brunswick, NJ!

“Normal” is what other people think other people are thinking.

Now we know Pig’s real name: William!

People think I’m weird whether or not I try to acr “normal.” I gave up trying.

Revenge of the Sixth!

When it comes to normalcy, I have often struggled with what that means as I have had my problems. Then I think about how since the COVID pandemic we have wanted to get back to normal. First, there’s a lot before the pandemic that I doubt we want to return to. Second, it’s likely too much time has passed to return to that. And third, we can do better than normal.

That is the most profound thing I’ve ever heard Rat say. I’d expect that more from Goat than from him. Just goes to show: even a blind rat finds a piece of cheese every once in a while.

When I finally came to the realization that nothing was ever “normal” to begin with and that waiting for things to get back to normal was futile, my life changed for the better.

Yes! This!

It’s not a lasso, it’s a pair of concrete boots!

This is one of those rare times when Rat gives decent advice.