Still Figurin' Out Who I Think I Am

This one's about comedy, cake, and Christmas.

"'Comedy is tragedy plus time.' Do you find this to be true?"

Hey everyone! Interesting prompts...ahhh, the old quote from Carol Burnett, who is very funny in her own right. I'll enjoy talking about this for a few minutes.

If you're viewing comedy from the perspective of "someday we're gonna look back and laugh about this", then yes, the quote directly applies. There's all the cliches about time in play also...that it heals all wounds, etc. And of course what is "the end of the world" today often becomes humorous biographical fodder among those closely tied in to certain situations later on. That, my friends, is what is referred to as "life".

That's not to say things can't be funny in the now, because we know humor can lie in the surface of almost anything if you know how to find it. Personally I try to do that whenever I can, almost to a fault...not everyone shares the same sense of humor, especially in circumstances that require more of a sense of urgency or quiet humility. While some people can handle the ice of an unfortunate situation being broken by a well-timed or good-natured wisecrack, there's always those Serious Sallies who think it's in poor taste to do anything but sob, whine, and generally show a restrained sadness. But that's probably another blog entry unto itself for another day.

One of my favorite stories of unintentional comedy that's still funny to this day and gets laughs when it's retold involves the wake for my boy DMFM's mom, who passed away nearly 20 years ago from cancer. She was beloved by everyone, and her illness shook a lot of us because (I know for me) it was the first real death we had to deal with as adults that involved someone in our inner circle. Tons of Dave's friends came to the afternoon viewing and were planning on coming back for the evening one as well...someone had mentioned going down the street to Ponderosa for dinner in between. As we were gathering around discussing this, Dave came over and someone in the group told him what we were planning on doing. My boy Adam chimed in with "Yeah Dave, you should come. Everybody and their mother is gonna be there!" We all knew what he meant, and like I said, it was completely unintentional...but we collectively went dropped-jaw silent. It's funny now, because so much time has passed, but in the midst of actual tragedy, it was awkward at best.

I'll leave you with this...try to find the funny in as much as you can while you can. Even in the worst moments. Everything's better with some laughs involved, and being able to look back and say something was funny in retrospect can change the light and perspective of the moment in question.

"Someone is baking a cake for you in the shape of six books. Name the books you would choose for the cake."

Dude...cake! Yeah! A six-friggin'-layer cake! Don't worry; I'll share . Six books though...off the top of my head? Random. Here goes...

1) One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
2) Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger
3) In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan
4} If At First: A Season With The Mets by Keith Hernandez with Mike Bryan
5) To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
6) On The Road by Jack Kerouac

Those were the first to come to mind, mainly because they're favorites. I don't know why anyone would bake me a cake and go so far as to decorate it with my reading preferences, but hey, I've had worse things cross in front of me before so I wouldn't complain.

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And now, as part of the "12 Days of "Christmas""  playlist, allow me to bring the mood down just a little bit. Everyone knows Jimmy Eat World's big Christmas song (their great cover of Wham's "Last Christmas"), but they, well, I dunno...I'm not sure if you can consider "12.23.95" a Christmas song. It's more like a story that has no details other than a sad soundtrack with somber vocals. It veers toward soft techno blips and bleeps at times after the short lyrical stretch, drawing this song out to over six minutes even though the vocals are minimal. The "Merry Christmas baby" sounds hopeful, almost remorseful...and it somehow nicely fits right in during the middle of their "Clarity" album.

"I didn't mean to leave you hanging on.
I didn't mean to leave you all alone."
Lyrics.  

Who's ready for the traditional 24-hour marathon of "A Christmas Story"   on Christmas Day? Gear up for it with these 18 facts about the movie  . I actually tried to visit Ralphie's house   while coming home from a trip to Cleveland, but it was a Monday and there aren't any tours on Mondays.

That's all I've got for you people tonight...gonna go watch some football now and see what you cats have been up to. Peace, <tugs earlobe>, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!