I recently finished reading Jim Gaffigan's Dad is Fat, which chronicles his own follies, fails, and funny experiences.  Gaffigan's gaffes include stealing his kids' candy and hjfjkldsahfjklsdahfjksalhfkljsad.  Jim is often plagued by his balding head, and his kids' unique minds.

While at a party, Jim was appalled to hear a friend compare having a baby to getting a dog, and gave the following reasons why that was so wrong:

“1. Dogs come when you call their name.2. The absence of birth control does not lead to pet ownership.3. You don’t have to worry about your dog ever becoming addicted to meth.4. You do not have to save so your dog can go to college and then find out after they graduate that they want to be an actor.5. If someone is pushing a baby in a stroller, they are probably a parent or a caregiver. If someone is pushing a dog in a stroller, they are probably insane.”

I'm not sure I totally agree with Gaffigan, especially with number 3.  My dog has been hanging around with the wrong crowd lately.

I have continued to read Jim Gaffigan's Dad is Fat, which has the most eloquent title ever written, one that sends a valuable message.  Jim talks about troubles with a child and troubles he had as a child.  An example of the latter is his extreme paleness (which you can witness here, in his classic stand-up routine "Hot Pockets") and the moderate bullying that resulted.  He describes his appearance here:

"If you have no idea what I look like, I am a very pale person. My photo on the book cover was retouched to make the glare from my skin easier on your eyes. Hey, the publisher wanted to sell books. Trust me, I am a very pale person. No, I’m paler than that. Yes, that pale. Even when I look in the mirror, I think, 'Wow, I’m pale!' I’ve never tanned. Growing up, I hated being pale. I was the whitest kid in an all-white community. Ironically, in a way I was the minority. As a kid, I was called 'Whitey,' 'Casper,' and 'Albino.'"

Jim faced adversity, and he overcame it.  We can all learn a message from this man, who over came a skin abnormality to become a famous mainstream comedian.