My Life is a Comic Strip

On the phone with a girlfriend last night, she mentioned that she enjoyed how I compared myself to Garfield a while back. I enthusiastically launched into all the ways that I have seen parallels between my life and Garfield's - even when I was a young girl.

From Garfield, we moved on to characters in other comic strips and the characteristics that I share with them. She seemed to enjoy the conversation... then again, she always enjoys conversations when I make fun of myself.

So for you, Kat(i)e, here's a list of the top three comic strip characters that I identify with.

Number one has to be Garfield.

As mentioned previously, we were both born at around the same time (Garfield is actually five months and two days younger than I am) so we celebrate milestone birthdays together. We're both cynical and crotchety, and constantly battling with our diets. (Garfield informed me that diet is nothing but "die with a t.") Garfield hates spiders and Mondays with as much passion as I do, and is constantly trying to get rid of Nermal because he's adorable and sweet - pretty much the antithesis of what Garfield stands for. (Kat(i)e also mentioned that, like Garfield, I live with a dopey dog. She was thinking of Tyson. I was thinking that I probably beat up on the boyfriend the way Garfield beats up on Odie...)

Number two is Cathy.

I originally just thought that Cathy and I shared an all encompassing view of the world from the perspective of "daddy's girl." In fact, my mother sends me the Cathy comic strip each Father's day with "Emily" written over the title. The picture is the one that's been hanging in my office for the last couple of years. But in fact, Cathy and I share a lot more than just a hero-worship of our fathers. Cathy constantly struggles with food AND with the advice from her mom which is usually directly at odds with what she herself believes. (It's especially irritating to Cathy when her mom turns out to be correct.) Wikipedia says, "Cathy has a love/hate affair with food (especially carbohydrates). She loves it, but hates what it does to her thighs. She is often shown in a department store fitting room trying to stuff herself into a bathing suit. She is constantly on a diet, weighs herself maniacally and many mornings fears to get up, believing that she has ballooned overnight." and "Although well-meaning, Mom's advice often frustrates Cathy, especially when Mom is right. Cathy and her mother are from two different generations, of course. Cathy grew up in the era of feminism, women's rights and the sexual revolution. Mom is from an earlier, simpler time. Although an equal in her marriage to Cathy's Dad, Mom holds many old-fashioned ideas."

Number three is Lucy.

Bossy, sassy, evil, and a bit of a bully, Lucy and I share more traits than I care to admit. I mean, tell me you can't see me setting someone up to kick a football and then yanking it away at the last minute! I prey on the gullible. :-) I think that if my little brother had remained smaller than me (as is possible in the realm of comic strips) I would still be beating up on him today. He's lucky he grew to over six feet tall. In fact, I was in "ACT" in middle school when we were discussing the possibility of putting on a play about Peanuts. I was the unanimous choice to play Lucy. I guess some things never change.

Runners up include Dolly from the Family Circus, Ziggy, and the cat from Rose is Rose.