Turning painful situations into jokes

Today's Cartoon, and Some Humour Cartoon by John Callahan, 'the winner within'- nous l'avons choisi pour son parcours incroyablement courageux! - see a new cartoon tomorrow or so ! Callahan cartoons © copyright 1997, 1998. All rights reserved. With kind permission. John Callahan's life is the kind that makes people hard-bitten. His mother abandoned him. He was adopted by an Oregonian couple who thought they were infertile, but subsequently had several children of their own. Callahan felt like an outsider in his own family, so he developed a wicked sense of humor as his defense. Another defense he developed was wiping out his bitter feelings with alcohol. One night (July 22, 1972) shortly after his twenty-first birthday, after drinking an inordinate amount of beer, he handed the keys to his Volkswagen Bug to a drinking buddy. They went speeding out onto a freeway south of L.A. The next thing Callahan knew, his VW was wrapped around a billboard, collapsed by a ninety-mile-an-hour impact. The crash severed his spine. He could scarcely use his hands. The drinking buddy got out okay and was never heard from again. Months and years of alcoholism and self-pity went by. One night he spent a solid hour trying to open a bottle with his teeth. It slipped out of his grip, then rolled across the floor, out of reach. He stared at it awhile. Then he started yelling at it. Then he started cursing God for the crippled state of his body. He yelled until he was exhausted, then he burst into tears and cried for an hour. Finally, an eerie but comforting sensation came over him, as if a hand were soothing him. When his attendant got back, Callahan said, "Hey, Alex, something really profound happened to me here, I don't think I'm gonna drink anymore." Callahan's humor has a savage quality. It offends some people, but lots of others -- especially among the 43 million Americans who are classified as handicapped -- find that something liberating happens when you laugh about your adversities. One of his extended pieces is even called The Lighter Side of Being Paralyzed for Life. He'd rather turn painful situations into jokes than be indulged by a pitying, patronizing attitude. - Pat Riley, NBA Coach, from his book 'The Winner Within', pages 266-268.

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Other cartoon sources The Cartoon Bank Sample cartoons that have previously appeared in The New Yorker on different topics such as politics, relationships, and so on. Read brief interviews with cartoonists. The buttons, featuring old James Thurber cartoon characters, are fun to look at, too. Another fine list of cartoon sites "The consultant has confirmed that half of our strategic decisions have been wrong but they are still wondering ... which half?" Management Cartoons by Priya Raj, A Professional Manager! On Saturday, Feb. 12, 2,000 Peanuts creator Charles Schulz died in his sleep at age 77. Official Peanuts site - archive, history of the comic strip, profiles of the characters... Remembering Charles Schulz (voir dans les archives de TFK).

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"How I met my wife" by Jack Winter - you could have fun with this passage with a strong English class. It had been a rough day, so when I walked into the party I was very chalant, despite my efforts to appear gruntled and consolate. I was furling my wieldy umbrella for the coat check when I saw her standing alone in a corner. She was a descript person, a woman in a state of total array. Her hair was kempt, her clothing shevelled, and she moved in a gainly way. I wanted desperately to meet her, but I knew I'd have to make bones about it since I was travelling cognito. Beknownst to me, the hostess, whom I could see both hide and hair of, was very proper, so it would be skin off my nose if anything bad happened. And even though I had only swerving loyalty to her, my manners couldn't be peccable. Only toward and heard-of behavior would do. Fortunately, the embarrassment that my maculate appearance might cause was evitable.There were two ways about it, but the chances that someone as flappable as I would be ept enough to become persona grata or a sung hero were slim. I was, after all, something to sneeze at, someone you could easily hold a candle to, someone who usually aroused bridled passion. So I decided not to risk it. But then, all at once, for some apparent reason, she looked in my direction and smiled in a way that I could make heads or tails of. I was plussed. It was concerting to see that she was communicado, and it nerved me that she was interested in a pareil like me, sight seen. Normally, I had a domitable spirit, but, being corrigible, I felt capacitated--as if this were something I was great shakes at--and forgot that I had succeeded in situations like this only a told number of times. So, after a terminable delay, I acted with mitigated gall and made my way through the ruly crowd with strong givings. Nevertheless, since this was all new hat to me and I had no time to prepare a promptu speech, I was petuous. Wanting to make only called-for remarks, I started talking about the hors d'oeuvres, trying to abuse her of the notion that I was sipid, and perhaps even bunk a few myths about myself. She responded well, and I was mayed that she considered me a savory character who was up to some good. She told me who she was. "What a perfect nomer," I said, advertently. The conversation become more and more choate, and we spoke at length to much avail. But I was defatigable, so I had to leave at a godly hour. I asked if she wanted to come with me. To my delight, she was committal. We left the party together and have been together ever since I have given her my love, and she has requited it. Published 25 July 1994 in The New Yorker Magazine.

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