Oh say can you seeee, by the dawn’s early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming…
Are you feeling that freedom pulsing through your veins?
Ah, the United States of America. Land of the free, home of the brave and inspiration for some hilarious memes. We love the good ole USA here at Bored Panda, as many of our favorite readers are from there. (As am I! Shoutout to you, Texas!) But as pandas, we're also great at poking fun at ourselves and making light of our quirks, so if you’re in the mood for some down home American jokes, buckle up and enjoy this list!
Below, we’ve gathered some of our favorite posts from the American Memes Facebook page, which is dedicated to sharing hilarious and painfully true jokes about the land of stars and stripes. Keep reading to also find an interview with travel blogger Victoria B, or Pommie Travels, to hear her thoughts on the United States. Be sure to upvote the pics you can relate to, and let us know in the comments below what you love most about that glorious country. Then if you’re looking for even more funny posts that might help you channer your inner bald eagle, you can find our last article featuring memes about ‘Merica right here!
As the fourth largest country in the world in terms of landmass and the third largest country in the world by population, the United States is a pretty well known place. But we haven't all had the chance to spend some time there ourselves, so to gain more insight on this fascinating place, we reached out to someone who does have experience in the land of red, white and blue. We spoke with Victoria B, or Pommie Travels, a blogger and experienced traveler originally from Manchester, England. First, we wanted to know how she eventually ended up in the United States.
"I had always dreamed of moving to the United States ever since I was a kid," Victoria told Bored Panda. "I'd watch Hollywood movies and dream of visiting places like New York and LA... It seemed so glamorous compared to my life back home in the Manchester suburbs. Eventually, in my 20s, I finally traveled to the US and fell in love with the country. One day some travel blogger friends posted that they were approved for the O1 visa so I contacted them and they put me in touch with their immigration lawyer. He conducted a Skype interview with me to discuss my options and helped me to get both my O1 visa and eventually the EB-1 green card."
We also asked Victoria about some of the cultural differences she observed after moving from England to the United States. "There are a lot of words I'd say back home that people don't use here, so I've had to adapt my language," she shared. "For example 'bin' is 'trash', 'flat' is 'apartment', 'holiday' is 'vacation'. Another obvious cultural difference is football - in the UK, we have soccer whereas in the US the main sport is American football."
"One of the biggest cultural differences I've noticed is portion sizes - the food portions are just so much bigger over here and people often take the leftovers to go," Victoria told Bored Panda. "Back home, people don't usually take food home they'll just leave it on their plate. You also have to tip all the time in the US, whereas tipping isn't expected in the UK. In London, some restaurants will add a gratuity charge to the bill, but it's just not as common. In the UK, tipping is only reserved for restaurants, whereas in the US you have to tip at the hairdressers and for all manner of services."
We were also curious what Victoria's favorite things about the United States are. "I love how friendly the people are in the US, and if you go to restaurants or stores, people usually greet you with a smile. In the UK, people can be quite reserved and love to complain about things, especially the weather!" Victoria shared. "I found it quite difficult to make friends in London, whereas I made friends very quickly in New York. People over here just seem to be more outgoing and down for an adventure."
"I also love that it's so easy to rack up air miles in the US," she added. "Credit cards usually come with big sign up bonuses, and you can easily earn points through eating out or shopping. There are air miles credit cards in the UK, but there are fewer options and the bonuses aren't great."
And when it comes to things Victoria doesn't love about the United States, she says, "Groceries here are SO expensive compared to the UK and Europe. Paying $8 for a block of cheese seems ludicrous to me. Things like car insurance and cell phone plans are also crazy expensive in the US compared to back home. I used to pay around £30 per month for car insurance. Here I pay around $110 per month."
But despite the high prices for food and interesting vocabulary, Victoria has no plans of leaving the US any time soon. "I like the fact that the summers are usually pretty hot and sunny here, and it's so easy to make friends. I also just love how there's always stuff going on in New York, and the city has an energy like no other place on earth. Maybe eventually I'll move to a different city within the US, but I don't plan on moving to a different country."
If you'd like to keep up with Victoria's adventures in the US and all over the world, be sure to visit her site Pommie Travels right here!
As an American who has lived abroad for a couple of years now, in a few different places, I feel thankful that I’ve been able to put my Americanism into perspective. For example, I love the fact that I have been able to get around perfectly fine without a car since I moved out of the United States, as I drove one almost every single day between the ages of 16 and 23. I also am so grateful to have a job with excellent healthcare. After spending a week in a European hospital last summer, my total bill was less than 2,000 euros, and I was immediately reimbursed for all of it from my insurance company. If I decide to have a child, I’ll be provided 2 years of maternity leave and be able to return to my job after that. There are plenty of luxuries that I now have access to living in another country, but that does not mean there’s nothing I miss about the United States.
When it comes to the things I miss most about the United States, I have to admit that a lot of them revolve around food. First of all, the grocery stores are massive, and I miss being overwhelmed with choice. There are some “big” stores where I live, but not super close to me, and they still pail in comparison to an American HEB, Walmart, Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods. After my last trip back to the states, I left with a suitcase full of 8 cartons of coffee creamer (If you’re American, no it’s not a thing in Europe. And if you’re not American, it’s the best thing ever.), 2 jars of the world’s best peanut butter (Trader Joe’s creamy salted, if you know you know), and various bags of snacks, including some Costco sized bags because it’s just not as easy to find huge packages here. These may seem like silly things to miss, but they just make me feel like home. (And don’t even get me started on how it’s impossible to find corn tortillas or authentic Tex-Mex where I live!)
On my last trip to Texas, I was also taken aback by how friendly everyone was. I know that’s a stereotype Texans have, but it really takes living in a different place to fully appreciate that Southern hospitality. Servers at restaurants tell you their name and ask how your day is going. The person ringing up your groceries will strike up a conversation, and customers passing by will say, “Excuse me” when they weren’t actually in your way at all. People passing by at the park will say hello and compliment your dog on how cute she is, and nobody is afraid to start a conversation. I can see how this friendliness would be exhausting for someone coming from a country where you don’t acknowledge strangers, but I actually really enjoyed it. It’s nice to engage with the people around you.
No nation is perfect, and believe me, I can recognize the flaws that the United States has. It still has a very long way to go in terms of equality, access to healthcare, infrastructure like public transportation and making healthy lifestyles more accessible to its citizens. I find these memes just as funny as the next person, but I’m not here to bash on the good ole USA. It’s still a very young country, and I’m sure it will do lots of growing up as time goes on. (Well, I’m hopeful it will. All of those friendly people deserve healthcare and an excellent quality of life!)
Whatever your opinions on the United States may be, I understand. I’m sure you have a right to feel that way. But as we all know, bad publicity tends to gain much more traction than good news these days. So if the first things that come to your mind when you think of the US are Donald Trump and guns, I urge you to try to think of something positive. Do you enjoy films and music from American artists? Have you ever seen the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone National Park? Do you love chowing down on Tex-Mex or American BBQ? Or perhaps it’s the friendly people that you love the most. Whatever it is, feel free to share your favorite thing about ‘Merica in the comments down below. Then if you’re looking for our last article featuring American Memes, you can find that right here!
If you’re anything like us, you might randomly start daydreaming about just how awesome things would be if life were more like our favorite video games. The plotlines would be better, we’d feel empowered, and it’d be extremely convenient to see our stats and abilities whenever we want. And if things get too tough—our rent increases a bunch or we find ourselves frequently ill—we could simply type in a ‘cheat code’ and find our problems disappear, effortlessly.
Though real life is as far from video gamey as things can get (look, I really want my own personal starship), cheat codes actually do exist in real life. It’s small things that you can do throughout your day that drastically improve the quality of your life. And though it’s not actually ‘cheating,’ the positive results can make you feel as though you’ve got an angel or a wizard in your corner, backing you up.
The insightful folks over on r/AskReddit have shared a whole bunch of cheat codes for life in a series of fun and informative threads. Bored Panda has compiled the very best posts to give you a boost in whatever part of your life that might feel lacking, dear Readers. From relationships and cooking to parenting and health, there's a hack for pretty much every situation. Upvote your fave tips and tricks, and pop by the comment section to share your own advice that’s so powerful, you can’t keep the secret all to yourself.
Oh, and in case you’d like a crash course on excelling at work and navigating tense job situations, we’ve got you covered. Check out Bored Panda’s recent list of workplace cheat codes right over here, when you’re done reading through this article.
Bored Panda reached out to fitness coach Anna Armagno Toussaint for her advice and 'cheat codes' when it comes to taking care of our physical and mental health. Read on our full interview with the fitness expert below.
#1
Cutting toxic people out of your life has zero consequences and will make your life 100% better.
#2
My big cheat code is always compliment. Not their eyes or weight, but something that they chose. An unnatural hair color, a dope a** backpack, or some wicked Chucks they're rocking.
#3
Be polite to people who can help you over the phone. I’ve had people bend over backwards to help me just because I was nice.
Bored Panda wanted to get fitness coach Anna's opinion about the type of mindset that helps pursue fitness goals, what we can do if we feel that we hate exercise, and how to get ourselves to drink more water throughout the day. She highlighted the fact that when we move in a way that we thoroughly enjoy, it doesn't feel like we're forcing ourselves to exercise.
"When I first got into exercise I did a dance cardio program because I didn't want to feel like I was working out. That plus the goal of one serving of veggies per day (I wasn't always getting that) and I lost about 5 pounds after 3 weeks. That was enough proof for me to push a little harder," coach Anna told us.
"But setting small goals is a great start. So even if it is a 10-minute workout from YouTube or stretching or 10 squats and lunges. Any small step in the right direction is still progress," she pointed out that every tiny little step really does count. No matter how small the step might seem, you're making progress, and that's what's important.
#4
People don't think about you as much as you think they do.
#5
If you're a parent and want to enjoy some time undisturbed use the cheat code "I'm gonna take a nap and when I wake up we'll all do chores together" on your kids. They'll want to let you sleep as long as possible to avoid doing housework, so they'll leave you alone to actually nap or do other things like read.
Odds are that you probably don't drink enough water. Many of our friends, coworkers, relatives, and acquaintances aren't staying hydrated enough.
"I think most people in general don't drink enough water. The American goal is half your body weight (measured in pounds) in ounces of water, so a 200-pound man should drink 100 ounces of water," she said. So, someone who weighs 90.7kg should aim to drink around 3 liters of water each day. Obviously, with how busy our lives are, we can forget to hydrate. And nobody enjoys feeling forced to do something.
#7
Books, they are the real cheat codes for life. in a few hours reading you get information that took years for the author to get.
My favorite books are 'A brief history of nearly everything' by Bill Bryson, 'And then there were none' by Agatha Christie and 'A brief history of time' by Stephen Hawking
When you are really angry at someone, write why you are down on a piece of paper and sleep on it. If you are still angry about it in the morning talk to them about it. This has saved me from making a big deal out of relatively small things.
If you want an answer to something, don't just ask. No one answers. Instead you deliberately put in the wrong answer: "Is THIS how you do something? xyz". People just love to correct you. They just hate answering straight questions for unknown reasons..
Anna's tip for getting around this conundrum is to not just drink plain, "boring" water. She explained that tea, electrolyte powder, and seltzer all count toward your fluid intake. Though if you're using any flavorings, be sure to watch the amount of sugar you ingest. What's more, eating fresh fruits and veggies will help hydrate you.
We were also curious about the type of mindset that can help get the best physical and mental health results. "You have to love yourself enough to want to do better. Punishing yourself or starving yourself will not last and it will be so bad for your mental health," the fitness coach said.
"One thing that helped me was the recommendation to read personal development books, which is usually 200 pages of telling you you're great," she added.
#10
Playing dumb has gotten me out of trouble more than once.
Respond with a friendly and polite attitude when someone is being an [jerk]. It shuts them down 90% of the time.
Eventually you develop a reputation for being calm and consistently friendly with assholes, so if you DO decide to cuss out or be rude to that last 10%, your coworkers and boss won't believe the complaints. :)
Whatcha gonna do about it, customers?
#12
Count to 5 before opening your mouth, does magic, sometimes you'll discover that you don't even have to open it.
We’ve picked up a few pearls of wisdom over the years circling the sun on this blue-and-green rock we call home. In short, what helps you lead a happy, high-quality life includes taking good care of your body and mind, learning how to communicate with others, and recognizing what emotions you feel without shying away from them and without being controlled by them.
A lot of misunderstandings and arguments happen because of breakdowns in communication. When not everyone is on the same page, someone might end up hurting someone else by unintentionally crossing their boundaries, setting up wildly different expectations, or accidentally hurting their feelings in a hundred tiny ways.
People tend to avoid conflicts and don’t necessarily like to gamble with their social reputation. That’s why you see so many folks being passive bystanders in tense situations, whether at work, school, or at home.
#13
Plant food, but focus on perennials.
Spring hits, food just starts growing. Everyone is starting seeds, and I will have asparagus in about a week. My garage is filled with Jerusalem Artichokes. I have thousands of strawberry plants out of the 4 that I bought.
Given everything that's going on right now, I think a lot of people would really benefit to having food growing on their land instead of just useless grass lawns. Keep some lawn, sure, but maybe also plant some potatoes or something. Everyone's freaking out about a food crisis and I just keep giving food away to neighbours. I also just do this as a hobby, I work full time. I just decided to replace some lawn with food, and it's been really helping out people around me as they panic about being locked up and having nothing to eat.
Now imagine if everyone did this. Not a ton, just a little here and there. How much less stressful would this crisis be if everyone had 6 months of stored food at all times - kinda like their grandparents lived. It's actually not that hard either. Some stuff is hard, but some stuff is stupid easy, like Jerusalem Artichokes, strawberries, fruit trees, etc.
When it looks like someone isn't going to give you space on the side walk, I stop walking and pretend I've stopped walking because something on my phone caught my attention.
We're now no longer playing king of the side walk. They're faced with the choice of walking into someone standing still, or moving to their side. I've never had someone not give me appropriate room doing this.
#15
If you want food to taste good, butter.
I used to think there was something restaurants did to make food so delicious and they must be amazing cooks. I'm sure some of them are.
But when my daughter was a toddler, she was underweight and the doctor told me to add twice as much butter to my cooking for her to get extra calories. Turns out, butter is amazing. Half the time when you eat something that is just heavenly, it isn't magic or crazy skills or exotic ingredients. It's just butter, and lots of it.
Edit: This isn't to discredit people who are actually great cooks! Butter isnt the end-all of good cooking. But it is really difficult to make good food with only minimal fat and it is really easy to make good food with a lot of fat. If you want to be a 10/10 cook, go to culinary school. If you want to take your cooking from 3/10 to 7/10, add butter.
In our experience, the best antidote for anxiety, anger, and angst is the humble, friendly-yet-honest conversation. Sit down, have an open chat about how you’re feeling, what your expectations are, and try to get the other person’s side of the story if there’s a disagreement. Look for common ground, consider compromises. There are very few people who are genuinely evil in this world. Misguided, confused, sometimes incompetent, with different goals, aspirations, and worldviews than yours—but rarely evil.
So your go-to approach when dealing with social conflicts should be diplomacy, setting clear boundaries (without forgetting to enforce them), and, well, taking steps to address the problem in the first place.
People tend to think about themselves and only themselves first and foremost, so what might be an issue that’s making your life hell might not be something that your friend, boss, or family member might even be aware of. It takes courage to actively work on fixing your problems instead of hiding from them. It might be uncomfortable, but it’s always well worth it in the end.
#16
Give a customer a longer estimate knowing it wont take that long, and then that way it impresses and pleases them when you gets the results more quickly. This is a "cheat code," because it gives the impression that you've worked harder or faster, when really you're just manipulating expectations.
This can apply to most any timetable or deadline. The easiest example would be a hostess at a restaurant. Tell a party it will take 30min to be seated, knowing it will take actually take 10-15min.
IIRC, this technique was mentioned on Star Trek as a ploy the engineers would often use to impress the captain.
If anything seems too big or too difficult break it down into small steps.
#18
Use your local area code + 867-5309 as the membership id at almost every grocery store and it will work. You get the discount without having to sign up because someone else already signed up with that number.
Another major piece of wisdom that we can share is learning to deal with your emotions. They’re what make us human. However, constantly being at the mercy of what you feel can make life far more difficult. Embarrassment and failure are integral parts of life on Planet Earth. One of the best things you can do is to learn to embrace these feelings and admit to your mistakes, instead of running away from them.
That way, you’ll be far fitter, emotionally. And if people see you act in a humble way, they’re much more likely to respond positively to you.
#19
For college kids: if you need a bunch of sources for a paper just go to the Wikipedia page and go to the bottom where the sources are. There’s usually more than 50 PROPER sources in citation format.
Please, make sure to at least briefly read over the source to make sure it’s relevant to your topic.
Brushing your teeth when you're young and continuing to do so throughout your life will save you a lot of money after 30.
#21
Buy ingredients and cook for yourself. I started recently, and I’ve spent 30$ for over 10 meals. A fast food burger and fries is around $7-8, and bad for you too. Not only that, but cooking for yourself is an excellent skill that earns brownie points.
Meanwhile, it’s paramount that you do not live in constant anger. With the amount of injustice each and every one of us sees both near and far, it’s easy to fall prey to outrage about the state of the world. However, being constantly angry erodes your health and does more harm than good.
Above everything else, prioritize your physical and mental health. That means getting enough movement, eating nutritious food, and getting enough sunlight. It means drinking plenty of water and getting enough sleep at night. All the while, you have to draw clear boundaries between your work life and your leisure, spend time building genuine emotional connections with others, and know when to disconnect from the internet. Sure, we’ve got plenty of cat memes here, but often, it’s better to go for a walk and see a cat in person.
#22
Everyone in these comments is calling buffs and starting traits "cheat codes." It's like they've never played video games. I'll give you a couple real ones.
Compliment your friends behind their back, your relationships will improve magically.
If you ask someone you don't know well for something small, like to borrow a pen, they will actually like you just a bit more. (for best results, return pen) (does not stack)
For getting people to like you: be genuinely interested in their personal life. Not embarrassing things, but things they enjoy about their own life. Ask about their kids, dog, etc. And (this is key) remember details for the next time you talk. If they tell you they are potty training, then ask how it's coming along. Only offer advice if it is truly helpful, not for the satisfaction of giving advice.
Also, learn their name as quick as possible. For many people, their favorite word is their name.
Realize that life isn't fair. It never will be. Once you accept that, you're on the first step to success. That guy driving a Porsche, sipping Starbucks and living in a huge house? Odds are, he busted is ass to get that. If he didn't, he's either lucky or inherited the results of someone else's labour.
Life. Is. Not. Fair. The sooner you realize that and divert your time and energy to getting educated, getting trained, doing SOMETHING to improve yourself instead of protesting the 1%, the sooner you'll be on the road to a life of comfort. Luxury? Maybe not. Comfort? Yes.
Repeat after me:
LIFE. IS. NOT. FAIR.
#25
Dont ask your wife what she wants 2 eat, instead, tell her to guess where you're taking her then take her to the first place she guesses.
#26
Be kind to people, and don't be a douchebag. You don't know how many favors or help I've received in my life by not being a d**k
#27
Write it down. Whatever it is. Then you don't have to focus on remembering it or worrying about it. The simple act of writing it down makes it more real. I always have a pen on me and paper close at hand. Make lists, keep a budget, tell someone you love them, jot a reminder, doodle.
#28
You can sneak into pretty much anywhere if you wear business casual and stand up straight and talk on your phone about business-related things.
Also, you can wear a blue-collar getup and bring a cooler full of beer, no one stop the beer guy, works with bags of ice too.
Very important that you act and look like this is just another shi**y day in your shi**y job, don't look in a rush either.
I find that if I drink water when I wake up, and then drink coffee later, that I feel better and have more energy throughout the day
#30
Give children a choice when you want them to do something, like instead of saying “can you clean up your mess?” Say “would you like to either clean up your mess or do the dishes?” Make the second one a lot more likely for them not to choose.
#31
Cooking bacon in the microwave. Quick, no mess, crispy and perfect. Is like using a cheat code to get extra lives/energy.
Pay daily expenses and bills with a rewards credit card and pay it all off each month. No interest that way but you keep the rewards. Just make sure you can pay your bills and daily spending.
#33
If you get a bloody nose, you can stop it by stomping the heel of your foot on the same side that your nose is bleeding on. I know it sounds absurd, but I swear to you it works. I get heavy nosebleeds, and nothing would stop the damn things. That is, until I learned the heel trick. It works every time without fail.
If you need to remember something but don't have anything to remind you (like you don't have time to set an alarm), visualize yourself remembering. For example, if you don't want to forget to bring your hat when you go out, imagine yourself about to walk through the door, and imagine yourself thinking, "oh, my hat!" Bad example maybe, but the point is that just visualizing is quick, easy, and effective.
I always ask for a romantic table when making a reservation at a restaurant for a date. Usually my date and I get seated at the restaurant's quietest or "best" table. I've also occasionally received a free drink or dessert, probably in an effort to help me impress my date. Highly recommend!
#36
Press 0 to get a human.
Ever have to dial a hotline and have to go through Press 1 for, Press 2 for, Press 3 for, etc? A lot of time when you want to speak immediately to someone on those prerecorded telephone hotlines you can just hit 0 for a human. Now some places they are really smart. Hitting 0 just ends the call, which by then you mentally implode.
When you go to Chipotle wait until after they’ve scooped your first scoop of meat to ask for double meat. That way they’ve shown their hand on what a single scoop is
There's hundreds of free certifications you can get online and add to your resume. Throw a few on your resume that are relevant to your career and they'll become a conversation piece during the interview. They won't land you the job by themselves, but they'll make you stand out among other candidates.
Under promise, over deliver. People will be pretty impressed and even if they know your good at something you come off as modest
#40
Start a savings account when you turn 16(or sooner)
put 10% of EVERY paycheck into it and DO NOT TOUCH IT. once you turn 18, you can put that money into a retirement account(preferably one that can utilize investments) and again, do not touch it. once a year, transfer the money from the dedicated savings account into the retirement account. continue until retirement.
also, USE your credit card. use it as soon as you can, but unless you can afford to pay it off in full at the end of the month, dont get too much into credit card debt. been using my credit card this way for the past 15 years, and recently found out i am sitting on an 830 credit score. i dont even have a house yet, but when i start looking soon i will be very well qualified.
#41
Actually sleeping 8 plus hours a night. Trying sleeping at 10 pm to to no less than 4 am every night. This is when your body has enough melatonin and get the sleep it needs.
Most people wait till they are literally falling asleep while watching tv or their smartphone.. by then you have already messed up your natural sleep cycle
#42
Don't drink or do drugs. You will find that you have more time and money, a clear mind, you will feel better, and have very few problems.
#43
If you fake confidence long enough, you become good enough for people to believe it hence you will become confident.
#44
Shredded parm inside the breading. chicken parm gets that sexy crunchy outside this way
Save and invest early. If you didn't start early, start now. Compounding returns are incredible.
#46
I have a tendency to break out in acne and feel really sluggish after I eat ANY kind of junk food, any dairy, eggs, or anything with a ton of unnatural sugars in them. (But....I love chocolate, and cheese especially.)
My personal cheat code for this is, if I eat some of any of that, when I get home or wake up, I put two teabags of green tea in a mug and I drink that.
Green tea is great for clearing toxins out of your body and for helping boost your energy, so my face clears up faster and I don't feel the effects of the foods I'm not used to as much.
It may be a bitter tea with a kind of a sharp tang, but it is so worth it not to look like a pepperoni face.
#47
If you use code: "no salt" when ordering mcdonalds fries you can annoy the mcdonalds staff. Oh and you get fresh fries.
#48
Reverse psychology in children. Tell them not to do something you secretly want them to do, and they'll do it almost every time.
If you say you are a social worker most companies will just tell you any information you need, believing you are helping someone.
I actually am a social worker so you know, I can abuse this power for good.
#50
Being conventionally hot. I recently lost 20 pounds and people treat me so differently, and it wasn’t even that dramatic of a change (though I’m 5’1 so it does make a difference on a small body)! When I’m in a crop top, and my hair and makeup are done it’s like all social interactions go on easy mode.
When it comes to the big cities, thousands of private conversations are happening on the streets every single day. While many say that listening in on these dialogues is a nosy thing to do, sometimes you just can’t help it. Especially when you hear something bizarre and entirely out of context.
This Instagram account is dedicated to some of the most hilarious chit-chats taking place in the Windy City. More than 148K Chicagoans do not mess around, eavesdropping and unapologetically discussing the good, the bad and the ridiculous things happening around them.
Bored Panda has collected the best conversations from this account, so continue scrolling and upvote your favorite ones! And after you’re done, be sure to check out our previous posts on numerous Overheard spinoffs including some spicy whispers from LA, New York and San Francisco.
Say you want to be a comic artist, but you don't know where to start. You see all of the pros with cool tablets, MacBooks, etc., and you think: there's no way I'm gonna start if I need all of this. But the good thing is that you don't need all of that fancy stuff to create a comic. In fact, you can just draw doodles and do fine.
You don't have to take my word for it. Here, listen to this: "I always wanted to create and comics have the lowest barrier to entry. You just need pen and paper." Who's the person behind those words? It's Martin Rosner, the creator of Hot Paper Comics. If you look at how he has progressed through the years, you'll realize that he knows what he's talking about. He started with the most simple graphics, but graduated to shading, coloring, and thousands of fans on his social media.
Who knows, maybe he would've dropped creating comics by this point if it weren't for his philosophy. "I treat the creative process as a job. I sit down, write out three drafts that don't have to be funny, good or make sense and work from there. It gets me over the roadbump that everything I make has to be perfect." He's right; he doesn't need them to be perfect in order to be funny and entertaining. And they don't have to be perfect to enjoy them. So enjoy! And in case you've missed the first part, you may find it here.
But who is Martin, and what are his motivations for making this comic? Luckily, he told us that in an interview in the previous post. “This whole thing started because I decided to make a weird comic a day for two months straight. I was severely depressed for two years and failed two colleges but thanks to therapy, meds, and a lot of work on myself I'm doing much better. Making these dark comics to me is like being able to say to my depression, ‘even with you in the way I am still able to make something."
As per usual, in Martin's case, an awesome sense of humor is preceded by darkness and depression. But he doesn't shy away from it. “I try to be open about depression, I know it always helps to know that you're not the only one struggling,” he told us. “Getting it out of my system is a great help. People reacting positively to me sharing my feelings and these funny drawings is even better. I feel like I make a tiny connection with others. Just a tiny one but it is there.”
“I don't have an end goal in mind but several smaller ones. I try not to focus too much on the number and statistics because I know that's the best way to make yourself miserable.”
Martin's also experimenting with stand-up, another thing he's been into to overcome the anxiety of being the focus of people’s attention. “I would love to improve to a level where I can sell tickets for a show,” he said.
Stand-up comedy is still alive and well. Funny people can still be funny. You just have to tell jokes outside. Away from the audience. Or inside a room via your computer. Away from everyone. But, it's still...sort of around?
After months of sitting in a dark room watching funny stuff on a screen, my big dream is to go to a different dark room, and watch funny stuff near other human beings. My second goal is to get back on stage and do comedy myself again.
I devoted 15 years of my life to a medium that all but disappeared in March of 2020. The only silver lining is that comedians all turned to the internet at the same time, and continued to write jokes.
Here are the funniest standupshots I had time to find this month:
It's widely known that Donald Trump hasn't followed many of the traditions that come with being the president of the United States but before officially leaving office he did decide to participate by leaving a note for Joe Biden.
These letters are usually words of encouragement and wisdom for the next president but people on Twitter are taking funny guesses at what the note Donald Trump left for Joe Biden says. I hope we get to read it someday, but for now, I'll settle for these funny tweets.
Wow, no thank you. That's what I have to say about all these pics. Some are funny. Some are weird. Some make me want to crawl into a tiny hole and never see the light of day again.
Please, I beg you. Look at these photos and tell me everything is going to be all right. I'm scared.
Help.
Help me.
Maybe if we all look at the funny pictures we can laugh off what we're seeing. Likely, we'll be on our deathbeds, thinking of these images. Perhaps, the memory will bring a smile to our faces. Perhaps, we will shuffle off this mortal coil thinking of the photos of Michael Jackson photoshopped to look like Buffy.
Here are some funny and creepy photos that made me say "NOPE":
"Nailed it!" is what I say each time I see photos like this. I have to do it out loud because then I can finally feel like I'm socializing. It's not "talking to yourself" if you're responding to a picture of something awful and funny happening. It's called empathy.
I empathize with the people in these pictures. They were trying their best? Maybe not. Maybe now that Nailed It is a show on Netflix, some of these people are purposefully not trying at all.
Either way, it's funny. I'm happy they tried.
Here are people out in the world who said "today is the day I'm going to shout 'nailed it!'" and they did, in fact, nail it:
Whenever you tell someone you're thinking about getting a tattoo, the response is always the same: "won't you regret it when you're older?"
To those people, I say: "Who cares?"
But then I qualify it with this list of hilarious tattoo fails, because, well, because a tattoo of Ronald McDonald's pubes (#12) is just gonna be something you look at, someday, and say "Hmm. Maybe should have stuck with a rose or a tribal mark?"
In any event, thankfully there never seems to be a shortage of people sharing bad tattoos on the web. From bad artists who didn't quite get it right to people who should have used spellcheck first, scroll down below to see the worst tattoos ever.
We are almost there—the end of the year 2020. This year will go down as the biggest dumpster fire of a year in our lifetime (hopefully).
We had a global pandemic that quarantined us to our homes for almost a year and exposed which of our friends and relatives are truly idiotic assholes. Then summer of global protests for social, economic, and environmental change.
Then a highly anticipated, completely chaotic, socially distant general election season. We also lost Kobe, Chadwick Boseman, RBG, and Alex Trebek. 2020 has been one cruel son of a b*tch.
But if you're one of the lucky ones who's alive with a roof over your head and still has access to the internet—congratulations! The survival of a year like this has granted us the ultimate shaming rights when our grandkids start acting up in 30 somethin' years.
We're all hoping 2021 brings a new and better vibe but before we get too ahead of ourselves, there's still time for 2020 to land one final blow.
So in anticipation of whatever worse thing could possibly happen before the end of this year, let's go ahead and honor these twelve months in the only way it deserves—a list of memes.
h/t r/standupshots
But if you're one of the lucky ones who's alive with a roof over your head and still has access to the internet—congratulations! The survival of a year like this has granted us the ultimate shaming rights when our grandkids start acting up in 30 somethin' years.
We're all hoping 2021 brings a new and better vibe but before we get too ahead of ourselves, there's still time for 2020 to land one final blow.
So in anticipation of whatever worse thing could possibly happen before the end of this year, let's go ahead and honor these twelve months in the only way it deserves—a list of memes.
