Raise your hand if you like to sleep a lot. Everyone? That’s what we thought. And who also likes to eat a lot? (Keep in mind that we’re not asking you if you feel guilty after eating a lot — that’s a whole other story.) Just admit to both of them. You enjoy eating and sleeping, just like the rest of us. And nobody — not even your kid — enjoys those activities more than Garfield the Cat. And, funnily enough, it’s his birthday. We won’t tell you how old he is because that’s just depressing. He’s 35. Oops. Garfield the Cat is apparently taking that whole nine-lives thing to a new level.
Thanks to Jim Davis, the creator of Garfield, households across the world are familiar with the orange tabby cat and his owner, Jon Arbuckle. In fact, according to Garfield’s own website — because, naturally, he has his own website — about 263,000,000 people read the comic strip every day. And here you were thinking you had a lot of Facebook friends. Think again. A fat cat with a bad attitude is a lot more popular that we are, and we’re okay with that. We’re not sure what that says about us and our level of self-esteem, but we’re willing to let it slide.
Jim Davis’s first attempt at a cartoon was with Gnom Gnat. Yes, Jim Davis originally wrote about bugs. Surprisingly, Gnom Gnat didn’t take off. We say surprisingly because we’re being sarcastic and Jim Davis was writing about bugs. Being the smart man that he is, Davis came to his senses and decided to switch to mammals. Namely, cats. Namely, Garfield the Cat. And now here we are 35 years later, still reading about the adventures of the short-tempered ball of fur. And not just reading: Garfield’s popularity has led to the creation of a television show and two movies. Apparently there are a lot more “cat people” out there than we thought.
Now, in order to celebrate Garfield the Cat’s birthday properly, you have a few options. You can read a few comics online or in the paper. You can rent Garfield: The Movie to watch with your kids. You can eat a giant plate of lasagna (Garfield’s favorite food). You can take an extra long nap. Honestly, you can do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t require a lot of effort. You see, the best way to honor a lazy cat is to act like a lazy cat. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Go! Imitate! You won’t regret it.
