The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus

March 5, 2008

400

Filed under: Uncategorized — jonbirch @ 1:29 am

it’s a big 400. so, it’s a big cartoon. it’s a small tradition. :-)

insideout.jpg

60 Comments »

  1. all too often

    Comment by Jaybrams — March 5, 2008 @ 1:57 am

  2. It’s sometimes so much easier to hide the grey than to explain it.

    Comment by Heather — March 5, 2008 @ 2:41 am

  3. It’s sometimes so much easier to hide the grey than to explain it.

    Comment by Heather — March 5, 2008 @ 2:44 am

  4. Exactly, Heather.

    Comment by Lori — March 5, 2008 @ 3:13 am

  5. Wow, 400 and still relevant. Happy MMMilestone, Mr Birch! :)

    Comment by MMM — March 5, 2008 @ 5:07 am

  6. What happens if you look like the grey guy, but feel like… the grey guy too?

    Comment by One Salient Oversight — March 5, 2008 @ 5:20 am

  7. Sometimes I wish I could hide the gray. I wear my emotions on my face. Because I am usually so energetic and joyful, full of smiles and laughter; when I’m having a bad day I just want some peace and quiet, and most of the time I get questions every three seconds saying, “What’s wrong?” It’s sweet, but it makes it hard when you feel like you have to explain every unhappy memory or feeling to the world. I am blessed to be able to have most days where I smile, though, and days when I am full of laughter and sunshine. It’s just, the days I’m not . . . I want to be able to feel how I’m feeling in peace. I know it’s a weird complaint. Maybe my problem is a good one to have because I have so many loving people in my life.

    Comment by Jessica Denise — March 5, 2008 @ 6:55 am

  8. So true, I’ve seen several people who look fantastic while their life crumbles away beneath them, and I’ve been there myself. All my friends were shocked to discover I’ve suffered from depression for years, because I always look happy.

    Comment by Helen — March 5, 2008 @ 7:33 am

  9. Show your grey! What are friends for? They probably feel the same!

    Comment by steve — March 5, 2008 @ 7:33 am

  10. oh jessica I so know what you mean- I am so rubbish at hiding how I feel- when I am hacked off- the world knows!- although people don’t ask me what is wrong- more often stay away!!

    Comment by soniamain — March 5, 2008 @ 7:34 am

  11. Sonia - that’s what we all love about you coz we know you’re authentic!

    Comment by dadube — March 5, 2008 @ 7:45 am

  12. Alternative captions:

    Me before(and after) work…me at work. ;-)

    Before spending the day in L.A. After spending the day in L.A.

    Comment by Laura — March 5, 2008 @ 7:51 am

  13. Aww Baby xxx

    Love you - thanks for all the cartoons - good luck in your “daytime” work too (the one that rakes in the £££) - good Lad.

    God bless you.

    Comment by sarah — March 5, 2008 @ 7:56 am

  14. We ALL feel this don’t we - all the time, if we’re honest - a mixture.

    Love you Jon - you’re a good egg, and we’re all in the same boat.

    Love you.

    Sas x

    Comment by sarah — March 5, 2008 @ 7:57 am

  15. oso - you live with it,go through it, I was lucky enough to have my friends and family with me - until the day when there’s a chink of yellow in there.

    Life’s *always* a mix, always both, but we can get through it, with his help, with theirs, with ours.

    Much love to you,

    Sas x

    Comment by sarah — March 5, 2008 @ 8:00 am

  16. Oh an Jon, CONGRATS on number 400!!!!

    Well done mate!

    Comment by Laura — March 5, 2008 @ 8:00 am

  17. Jessica, don’t hide the grey, I pray you can get friends around you who let you be - probably your existing ones, you just have to tell them.

    We’re all a mix. In my experience, the older we get, the more of a mix we become.

    You’re alright girl.

    Welcome to asbojesus, by the way! ;-)

    Sas x

    Comment by sarah — March 5, 2008 @ 8:04 am

  18. Laurs, Isn’t LA supposed to make you feel sunny? ;-)

    You should tell us what it’s like, but don’t, if it’s too depressing.

    Sas x

    Comment by sarah — March 5, 2008 @ 8:06 am

  19. I don’t know Ssa. I’m not even in L.A. :oops: I was going to write in London (not there either) but thought L.A. had more of a reputation for being smoggy so I chose it instead.

    You know that saying…if you have to explain it, it’s not funny?

    Comment by Laura — March 5, 2008 @ 8:21 am

  20. Laura, it is funny…
    Jon, happy 400th birthday. What a lot of candles you will need.
    Ax

    Comment by AnneDroid — March 5, 2008 @ 8:41 am

  21. Happy 400!

    Being prophetic again!!!!

    Have just been pondering Martha…

    “Martha, Martha, you are upset and worried about many things…”

    How true. How often do we become grey slaves of the church trying to be shiny golden Christians?

    God’s Sophia has been nudging me on this (cos I’m dead grumpy inside at the mo) - and you are the voice of confirmation!!

    Thanks for all the wonderful cartoons…. live long and prosper!!

    Comment by Catriona — March 5, 2008 @ 9:11 am

  22. So why don’t councellors always get that. “But you are happy and smiling!”

    Comment by Robb — March 5, 2008 @ 9:25 am

  23. You’d think that people who are guaranteed an eternity of heaven would feel a bit brighter inside?

    Just a few decades of this nonsense to get through, then quite a lot of good times.

    Why doesn’t it work like that?

    Comment by JF — March 5, 2008 @ 10:08 am

  24. I hide my Grey because I know people don’t want to see it. Truth of it is this picture describes my Church as well. Happy and smiling on the surface but proper grey when you dig a bit deeper. Thing is I know my grey would just start to expose the truth of things.

    congrats on the big 400 Jon.

    Comment by whiteflash — March 5, 2008 @ 10:10 am

  25. Catriona- glad Sophia is nudging you. Ka’ pla yourself! ;-)

    Robb, JF. Robb maybe like the rest of us they crave easy answers from time to time.

    JF, thing is, THIS LIFE *IS* what it’s supposed to be about. We’re always pulled back to earth because we’re supposed to be here, shit though it is, and when we dwell in new earth it’ll be like this but with no more pain.

    For me, Jesus came to endorse *this* life, right now, because although it is awful, those times he helps us get through, and though it is wonderful, those times are meant for sharing.

    We were always meant to have this life, here. He’ll help us get through the shit and one day, it will all be made new.

    Sas x

    Comment by sarah — March 5, 2008 @ 10:59 am

  26. WF-sorry to hear it. Here’s to you on your journey.

    Sas x

    Comment by sarah — March 5, 2008 @ 11:00 am

  27. [...] Quelle: The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus [...]

    Pingback by 24 [twenty-four] » I feel good… — March 5, 2008 @ 11:39 am

  28. Jon - I love this one btw. I think I need it on a t-shirt lol!

    Big love to you on the 400th (I have genuinely looked at them all, I just prefer lurking to writing comments as I think everyone else makes far more intelligent ones than me!)

    C xxx

    Comment by dadube — March 5, 2008 @ 11:57 am

  29. Dadube- I wouldn’t say so!

    Your comments on sanctuary are pretty insightful.

    Sas x

    Comment by sarah — March 5, 2008 @ 12:15 pm

  30. Congrats on #400, my friend. Your cartoons are a daily stop for me, and alternately amuse, encourage, and challenge me. Thanks for sharing them with those of us across the pond!

    Comment by Rob — March 5, 2008 @ 1:14 pm

  31. Charlie, you sell yourself too short. Thanks for saying i/m authentic! :)

    Jon this would be a good one to use with children when doing work on emotional language/ expressions etc. Tried it with my kids this morning- worked brilliantly.

    Comment by soniamain — March 5, 2008 @ 1:29 pm

  32. Sonia,

    Looks like your work with children is really valuable - keep it up! :-)

    Yours,

    Sarah

    Comment by sarah — March 5, 2008 @ 1:58 pm

  33. Hey Robb, feel like I need to defend my profession… Most counsellors/therapists are more than aware that people don’t always reflect how they really feel - it’s a huge part of freudian theory (defence mechanisms, repression, denial, displacement, etc) and quite frankly is also just good common sense! The world we live in isn’t really set up to deal with feelings…

    Comment by doctor ruth — March 5, 2008 @ 2:19 pm

  34. hi dr ruth… “The world we live in isn’t really set up to deal with feelings…” or anything else we’re scared of really. :-(

    thanks for all the cracking comments, thoughts, thanks and congrats etc. everybody. very much appreciated. always nice to get comments from ‘lurkers’ too. :-) :-) :-)

    Comment by jonbirch — March 5, 2008 @ 2:27 pm

  35. Great crack birchy. Top banana. hope you can make a few bob from your talent. It’s amazing that your stuff gets everyone thinking and feeling. How about doing a book and cutting me in on the profits so i can go on a cruise around the med and drink a lot of beer?

    The dwarf

    Comment by Mark Roques — March 5, 2008 @ 2:48 pm

  36. My inside broke loose yesterday.
    Fortunately, my family is forgiving.
    They know it happens to them too. :)

    Comment by ron — March 5, 2008 @ 2:53 pm

  37. Hey Dr Ruth. I didn’t want to write “Dr Ruth would say…” so I was thinking about it. I was going to say something like what you said but that sometimes it swings both ways… “Stop hiding the real you” and then “You say you are suffering from X but you look like you are happy and smiling”. Sometimes when you talk to a Freud Dude they have you cornered whichever way you jump ;)

    Give me a good beating over dinner dear :lol:

    Comment by Robb — March 5, 2008 @ 3:23 pm

  38. … and I did say always….

    Comment by Robb — March 5, 2008 @ 3:23 pm

  39. Get a room you Guys!

    Comment by sarah — March 5, 2008 @ 3:29 pm

  40. Robb, Ruth, should have followed that with a ;-)

    xxx

    Ron - X

    Sas x

    Comment by sarah — March 5, 2008 @ 3:29 pm

  41. <3
    these ones are aweoms,e they make me feel less alone, i think you should do more on this sorta theme. i think this one and the teenager one, a media veiw of us, are my favourites.
    thankyou so much :)
    xxx

    Comment by émie — March 5, 2008 @ 5:36 pm

  42. bless you emie. :-)

    Comment by jonbirch — March 5, 2008 @ 5:39 pm

  43. shinny happy people - or so it seems till you remove the outer layer and it doens’t take much to do this.

    r

    Comment by rob — March 5, 2008 @ 6:12 pm

  44. So should you show your gray or what?

    Comment by Marcus — March 5, 2008 @ 6:29 pm

  45. hey robb… are ’shinny’ people the ones with big shins? :-)

    hey ron… your insides are as important as your outsides. ‘there’s a crack, a crack in everything. that is how the light gets in’ leonard cohen… it’s also how the dark gets out, he forgot to mention that. :-)

    Comment by jonbirch — March 5, 2008 @ 6:31 pm

  46. Aw! such a sad one for 400! I feel kinda outta the loop on this one. I used to have really black moods when I was a teenager but I seemed to grow out of them - must have been hormonal. But I have never suffered from proper depression and don’t have many glum moods. It must be horrible. Wish I could do something. Feel free to be real with me.

    But, just for me, can we reverse the captions cos it well pi***s me off when some smart a**e says “cheer up, it might never happen” and I am perfectly happy. I find myself coming out with utter crap like, “oh, I’m just a bit tired, that’s all,” just to justify their comment. Apparently its against the law these days to relax your facial muscles!

    Er…Sorry for that little outburst.

    Comment by Carole — March 5, 2008 @ 6:36 pm

  47. that outburst made me laugh!

    Comment by soniamain — March 5, 2008 @ 7:38 pm

  48. Thanks Jon for keeping them coming and keeping them relevant. Have missed viewing for a while due to holiday and illness in that order!

    This one got me thinking about all the permutations that could occur; smiley outside - sad inside, vice versa etc etc And then the visual of the cartoon strikes me with sun and clouds…. If we are grey and cloudy on the outside and the sun is shining within then that is full of hope because the light will permeate through the darkness and dispel it. If however we are sunny on the outside and there are dark clouds gathering within then there is a storm brewing! Perhaps such storms are a work of God in transforming us and causing us to face the darkness within….but then hey maybe its not so deep as all that maybe its just a smiley sad issue?!

    Comment by marcus — March 5, 2008 @ 8:07 pm

  49. Carole, I had someone do that to me today at work. I was fine. Just quietly working my way through the shift. Someone made a big deal about it in front of everyone and they all joined in about the happy smiley person being all serious. It made me laugh. But now I come to think of it what was all that about??? I was quite happy as I was!

    Maybe other people need us to be smiley. Keeps them from feeling even greyer??

    Comment by allatseawithabucketandspade — March 5, 2008 @ 8:08 pm

  50. Every word said with feeling, Sonia! ;-)

    Comment by Carole — March 5, 2008 @ 8:10 pm

  51. Shinny People come from the land of Shinook where they raise Shinlings as pets to feed to the inner beast of blargh!

    Comment by Robb — March 5, 2008 @ 8:14 pm

  52. Marcus, for me, they often are (transforming work).

    Sas x

    Comment by sarah — March 5, 2008 @ 8:18 pm

  53. That’s what smoking does to you folks!

    ;]

    Comment by kick-hat-snare — March 5, 2008 @ 11:50 pm

  54. Gray is my favorite colour!

    actually, I’m told gray is the most common favorite colour of people with schizophrenia.

    well that would explain why I forget a lot of the stuff my wife tells me….. she probably told the other me! lol

    ;]

    Comment by kick-hat-snare — March 5, 2008 @ 11:55 pm

  55. :lol:

    Sas x

    Comment by sarah — March 6, 2008 @ 12:17 am

  56. this is me today.
    thanks for a visual way to express it.

    Comment by Laura — March 7, 2008 @ 10:23 am

  57. cheers laura. hope things pick up. :-)

    Comment by jonbirch — March 7, 2008 @ 2:24 pm

  58. Laura - X

    Sas x

    Comment by sarah — March 7, 2008 @ 11:52 pm

  59. Better now, thanks. It’s amazing what a little sleep with do!

    Ta!

    Comment by Laura — March 8, 2008 @ 5:08 am

  60. :-)

    Sas x

    Comment by sarah — March 9, 2008 @ 11:18 pm

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