On trying to be different
Calvin and Hobbes, to date, is my favorite comic strip (Anyone who knows where I can buy the complete series, please do tell.) Mr. Bill Watterson, the creator, ended this fantabulous work in 1995 but the heartprints of this duo remains up until now.
When I started reading C&B, I immediately saw myself in Calvin. The kid who's not popular in school, who spend his time rationalizing his existence and tried not to conform with the mainstream smile-plastered kids; the little brat who got lots of things to say but was dismissed because of his age; the one who flew from group to group trying to find his own niche who can understand him... but found none. Hobbes, who is only alive inside his world, was the one who truly understands and cares.
Like Calvin who got Hobbes, the one whom I consider my bestfriend in my formative years was inside my head--talking animatedly to a caricature of a thought while playing in the fields or watching the clouds on a summer's day...and somehow, that's all I need at that time.
And because of my reclusive personality, I've become accustomed to being independent--of not trying to cling to someone tangible. I tried to maintain a very small group of trusted friends and as much as I wanna change that attitude, I know I'm a loner by default.
As a fan pointed out, "Calvin was really quite an anomaly in popular entertainment -- not just in comics, but in anything, be it movies, TV, etc. He has no friends, and no extracurricular activities...the only person he ever has any real interaction with exists only in his head."
Many of us, for a certain extent, don’t fit in our social groups; we were being pressured to conform to what is accepted and later on, found out that we are not in any way a shadow of that person we are trying to become.
Calvin managed to live out that fact that it was OK to be different.
No matter who you are and where you came from, no one can be accepted by anybody... but far more people will be attracted to you if you have come to accept yourself.
posted by jef at 11:00 AM
wow what a coincidence. i have friend named jeff and he also loves calvin and hobbes. weird. lolz
indeed, the first step to a happy life is learning to accept ourselves. it's cool to be unique.
Calvin and hobbes is also a favourite of mine. Same as "For Better and For Worse". I guess I like family comedy most, especially when it explored a child's imagination, and how it captured "that" world.
Libararies here has many compilations of this book so I always borrow them aside from the graphic novels and the ocassional hardbounds.
Doesn't National book Store sell this? Me Borders na ba sa Pinas? Or B&N?
love ko rin iyan. mahilig rin kasi akong mag-imagine. lagi akong tulala noon. (hanggang ngayon)
i think you can find C&H in national and hard bound bookstore. will look for it this weekend and tell you.
"No matter who you are and where you came from, no one can be accepted by anybody... but far more people will be attracted to you if you have come to accept yourself" ---really hits me hard. Wsh I could figure out a lot of personal things that I'm faced up right now. Im longing to finally unload unecessary baggages.
everybody needs a friend. and you cannot please everyone. if you'll please everyone, you might might end up with none
Didn't really know much about Calvin and Hobbes, although I have heard of them. Now I know... Thanks, Jef.:-)
Use to be featured on my dailies before and comic strips they maybe, sometimes they are the reflections of ourselves. Like rey, I follow up "For Better or for Worse" because it is based on real time of the real life of a prairie family. Actually the creator Lynn Johnston loosely based the strip to her family. The triumps and tribulations and pains and joy of a Canadian family.
I also enjoy C&H when I get a chance to read it. Pero I follow more on "Buckles" and "Baby Blues" sa kingfeatures.com. Me nakita ata ako C&H sa NBS pati Powerooks. Check out mo n lng.
It's nice to be independent din but it can get really lonely. I think everybody's different and a true friend accepts you as who you are and try not change you but inspire you to be better.
You can buy the full and complete double hardcover Calvin & Hobbs set at Amazon.com I think. Or even at Borders.com.
Anyways, dude, that's so sad you talked to the voices in your head...awwww. Cuz I think you're a cool guy. Maybe not as cool as me, per se, but still, nonetheless cool. LOL...no, I'm just messing with you! But yeah, I think it's cool that you're able to be independent. Seriously.
I wish I could be more independent. It's a trait I never really caught on to, and lately I've realized I rely on people too much. I dont know how to be without people since I've always been surround by family and friends. Like, honestly, I have never had a meal without someone being there to talk to.
Which I guess is something I need to work on. Or maybe I should just accept the fact that I will never be an independent person because I will always have someone by my side...what do you think?
YMIR: Really, bro! I would like to meer my 'katukayo' hehe.
KUYA REY: I will try to look at NBS and I think(correct me if I'm wrong) wala pa atang "borders" dito.
By the way, I've never read any "For Better and For Worse"...that's something I will dig into these days.
ATTICUS: Hahaha! Ako rin, natutulala kapag nag iisa. Thanks for the thought of looking H&B for me :)
RHO: Thanks Ate Rho, I hope you will have a great week ahead.
SAM: I hope you will find the elusive peace you are trying to have. But whatever deep waters you are in now, just remember that you are loved by your families and friends. God bless, Sam and a promising week ahead for you.
TINTIN: A shining wisdom from ate Tin. Thanks for droppin in.
SNGLGUY: Really?!! Now you know :D Have a great week, S!
SIR VIC: I never thought that the creator was canadian. Thanks for the info. I dunno if that comic strip were published here though!
FERDZ: "It's nice to be independent din but it can get really lonely."
Yes! You are right. It's really hard to because by nature we are social animals and being a loner is fluke. Anyways, I do have "you" guys hehe!
DAVE: You are lucky that you are surrounded with people that cares for you. Not many people has that blessing. On my being independent and a loner, it doesn't in any way speaks of me having no one around. I know I am being loved by my family and friends but due to my choleric personality growing up, I tend to see things differently. I don't realate to many kids.
Anyhoo, being dependent has benefits as well as pitfalls. One pitfall I could think of is always measuring up to the expectations of other people. One good point, however, is knowing that you will always have someone when you need them most. :)
I always find pleasure in solitude. I guess it's not a problem, but just me thinking it is a problem not to be thought as a problem.
Now I made it more complicated.
Our genes made us never to be identical. We are unique in so many ways. I have my Calvin inside me ^_^
NEIL: Then my friend, welcome to the club hehe!
hiya jef!!! kamusta na? namiss ko blog mo! i love calvin and hobbes, too!
ey jef,
calvin and hobbes is also my ultimate favorite cartoon strip. I think i have five books somewhere. i bought all of them from page one at the power plant. they used to have the whole collection.
bong