Choose Laughter

For the last several years, it truly has been one thing after another, after another, after another, after another, after another, after another...you get the picture.  But that is life, isn't it?

It really is the way that things go -- you climb the side of the moat, only to find that there is another hurdle waiting just around the next turn, so you jump it and then find another moat or mountain.  The key is to keep going, and to find a way to enjoy the journey regardless of the next obstacle that leaps out into the path.

Finding the funny in every miserable situation is the answer.

You keep going, and enjoy the challenges anyway, by finding a way to laugh in the face of all that life throws at you.  That is the answer.

It is an answer that I have discovered in all of this seemingly endless slog over the last few years.  As I keep telling myself, though, it could be so much worse, because there are so many people on this little planet of ours who have lives so steeped in misery and hardship that finding laughter is seemingly impossible.

But that is sometimes where you find some seriously genuine enjoyment of life, laughter at the little things, and an ability to truly appreciate and focus on the individual moments of joy in such a concentrated fashion that the laughter that roars out is incredibly genuine.  Laughter is such a gift -- to yourself and to the folks around you -- and it is one that we would all do well to cultivate a little more.

It is a festival of angry and cranky all around us far too often.  Especially in this country where pundits and politicians stoke divisions and nastiness for personal gain, we can choose to turn it off, turn away and turn to laughter instead.

Laughter unites us.  It warms the soul and brings joy into the room.  Speaking from experience, especially over my last year of cancer treatment, laughter heals in ways we cannot even quantify:  the light that enters the darkest corners after a good laugh is worth more than you can possibly imagine in terms of healing and hope.

So when you are feeling blue or ill or in need of a pick-me-up, choose laughter.  You'll be glad you did.

The Monty Python folks have had it right all along.

C Is For Cookie

Love this so much.

Pay special attention to the drummer who manages to maintain this air of "yawn, just doing my thing" the entire time that Cookie Monster is singing.  Too adorable.

Bless you, Sesame Workshop.  I needed that giggle this morning.

The Best Thing Ever!

A friend who knows my love of all things Peter Dinklage sent me the link to this, and I couldn't help but share.

This is the best thing I have seen all day.

A song about Simon Says, Peter Dinklage, and a sitar.  Genius!

Bless You, Swedish Chef

Oh, Swedish Chef, how do I love thee?

Let me count the laughs...

Muppet Mayhem

Animal.

The gloriously gorgeous and amusing Rita Moreno.

Hilarity ensues.  Starting your day with the Muppets is awesome.

Muppets + Steve Martin = Pure Bliss

Enjoy a portion of one of my favorite The Muppet Show episodes of all time: Steve Martin, guest starring, with the Muppets.

No matter how many times I have watched this through the years, it still makes me collapse in giggles.  Steve Martin is just a genius.  Love him.

Truly, this is pure bliss.  Enjoy.

Prepare To Giggle: Minions, Ahoy!

We took The Peanut and our niece, Hannah, to see Despicable Me 2 the other day.  Hilarious.

I will not spoil it for you if you haven't seen it, but the end is gloriously funny.  So much so that I had tears streaming down my face and I was holding my belly because I was laughing so hard.  It was that point that you get to when you utterly and completely lose it while you are laughing -- that kind of belly laugh.

At the very, very end, Gru's minions do a version of YMCA that is too fun.  Perfect for an end of the week giggle.

Enjoy!

If you have children, or if you are really a big kid at heart, Despicable Me 2 is worth seeing just for the end of the movie laughing.  (It also helps if you are old enough to remember Boyz to Men videos on MTV back in the day...I'm just saying.)

PS -- A big THANK YOU to folks who have been using my Amazon search link (in the column at the right) or Amazon links on this blog to order things.  Your purchases help me to get new books for my school library -- so a big, big thank you from me and on behalf of the kids who get new awesome stories through your generosity!

A Little History Humor

Prepare to giggle.  A lot.

Video spoof of "Too Late To Apologize," featuring the Founding Fathers and an enormous amount of punk attitude in the back-up band.

I needed that laugh today.

What Are Your Favorite Funny Movies?

Something tells me that the days ahead are going to require some serious infusions of laughter.   That is certainly the case this morning, as I begin the packing to go to my Aunt Mary Ann's funeral and also try to get my "chemo bag" together for Wednesday's first treatment.

Good lord, I could use a belly laugh.

I feel a watching of Groundhog Day or something Monty Python-esque or the campy goodness of Galaxy Quest or even the gloriousness that is The Princess Bride in my future today.

If you had to list your top 5 favorite comedy movies, what would they be?  Not just something that is a bit pithy or droll -- I mean the ones that make you laugh until you almost pee your pants, wiping away tears that are rolling down your cheeks and holding your belly because you cannot catch your breath from laughing so loudly.

If you had a friend who needed a pick-me-up, which funny movie would you bring over to watch?

Do tell...because I am in need of a serious pick me up.

Your Daily Dose Of Beaker

Ahhhh, Muppet Labs.

Beaker +  Copying machine = Hilarity

Enjoy!

Early Muppet Awesomeness

Early childhood memories aplenty here.  Watch this and just try not to have a smile on your face -- I dare you.

Can we have more Muppets, please?

The world really would be better off with more Muppets.  We'd all be a lot more smiley inside and out, don't you think?

When The Emotional Reality Hits You Smack In The Face

Yesterday, I received a package in the mail from a very kind and well-meaning lady from the local branch of the American Cancer Society.  It was filled with all sorts of pamphlets, informational booklets, and bits and pieces of useful stuff for someone who happens to be battling breast cancer at the moment.

The package included an especially intriguing and thick guidebook entitled "Sexuality for the Woman with Cancer."  I wish that I could say it is a naughty romp on 50 Shades of the C Word, but, alas, it is not.  Just scientific information which will likely prove useful, if not nearly as fun in the reading, and I shouldn't mock it because I'm certain that there are useful nuggets of wisdom within, especially in talking about side effects of various treatment options and how to manage them and not kill your marital intimacy altogether in one fell swoop.

However, that isn't all.

As I flipped through the materials inside the envelope, I found a glossy, printed catalog of wigs and turbans and various bra and other rebuilding accessories for the lady with her formerly cancerous boobs a'kilter.

I am here to tell you that it is one thing to intellectually try to come to terms with something in the abstract as a potential future bridge you may have to cross.  You can mull it over in your mind as a walled-off "a patient in this situation could do A, B or C, and these would all be good options if I have to deal with this" all you want, and should because planning and thinking about this sort of thing is important in a know your plan for a worst case scenario sort of way.

The emotional reality of these possibilities lowers itself like an elephant on steroids, hurtling its rear end toward the ground with you pinned underneath and no means to stop the oncoming, crushing mass when you get a visual that first time.

Beaker, A Goat, And Some Dust In The Wind

Sounds like someone punched a goat. 

Plz don't blame the goat.

Beaker and a guitar?  Priceless. 

Needed that laugh this morning.

How Did I Miss This?

A friend sent me a link to a scene from Laura Linney's show "The Big C." I laughed until I had tears streaming down my face and then some.

How did I miss this show?

And, more importantly, why am I not watching it right this second???!!??

Doggie Devotion: You Have To Laugh

Much to my dismay, and near constant need to collapse in a fit of giggles, our westie, Roxie, has decided that the cure for whatever ails me must be found in her sticking to me like glue.  She knows something is wrong, because I'm bandaged up, moving slowly and with occasional moans of pain, and sleeping a lot.

But her little dog brain cannot grok it any further than "must fix mom and guard her obsessively."

This morning, as I sit here in my desk chair typing away, she has repeatedly thrown herself at the sun room windows to ward off the scary birdies on the feeder so that they do not get too close to me inside the house, even though they cannot get in here through the windows and she knows it.  Then she began barking incessantly at the UPS truck as it trundled by on Main Street nowhere near our house.

Although, to be fair, she barks at the rumbly UPS truck that way every day, despite the extra helping of doggie lunacy in today's pitch and timbre.  Something in the sound of the truck's engine rattle drives her bonzer yo yo every single day.

Heaven help us if a squirrel shows up on the feeder this morning.    The coming of the four horsemen of the apocalypse would be nothing compared to "operation save hurt mom from the fiendish squirrel" lunacy, I can tell you that.

Funniest. Interview. EVAH.

Ryan Lochte.  Bless his heart.

Does he have no friends or family who care enough about him to tell him no? 

Honestly???!!!??

(H/T to Jezebel.  I laughed until I had tears streaming down my cheeks, too.  Holy cow!)

No Spring Chicken

This is just so wrong.  In so many ways.

But the Gonzo "Sound of Music" moment and the Kermit "angry Swede" jokes are not to be missed.

Enjoy a little Muppet hilarity!

PS -- My breast cancer surgery will be next Friday, on the 19th of April.  Good thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

Cookie Giggles

Laughing so hard, I snorted coffee through my nose a little bit.

Holy moly, this is belly laugh inducing splendor.  Enjoy.

Just put down liquids before you push play.

Bless you, geniuses at Sesame Street.  Bless you.

It's Friday, Time For Carven Der Poompkin

It's time for carven der poomkin at our house.

Honestly, who could possibly resist the Swedish Chef and talking food?  Hilarious!

Fever

The oh so hot and amazingly talented Rita Moreno.

Animal. His drum set.

Hilarity ensues.

Laugh my butt off every time.  Enjoy!