Comedy...

I had been shredding old paperwork preparing for our taxes when I came across a PBS special American Masters featuring Bob Newhart. I received the best gift...laughter! It was great seeing older clips, having former costars discuss the family like working conditions on set and hearing from his wife on what life was like behind the scenes.

It made me think...who makes me laugh? Why do some things hit our funny bones and some things fall flat? I recognized in myself that I like day to day humor, not potty humor where comedians go for the 'cheap' laugh. Ellen Degeneres is one of my favorites...clean relatable humor. Carol Burnett,Totie Fields,Gilda Radner,Steve Martin,Lily Tomlin,Mel Brooks, Jerry Seinfeld, Elaine Boosler, Tracey Uhlman,Wanda Sikes, to name a few, clean humor...even Hugh Grant's wit makes me laugh like nobodies business!!!

Then I have a few that I call my hit-n-misses, they can make me laugh here and there, Kathy Griffin, Chris Rock, Bill Maher, George Carlin, Joan Rivers & Lewis Black: (although anything that is mean spirited I shy away from). I used to love Robin Williams, but I feel like I have outgrown his frenetic zaniness.

I still love to watch old Saturday Night live skits covering the years from 1976-1989, some humor is timeless like, "I Love Lucy," other humor is good for a particular era...perhaps like Lenny Bruce.
SO, who makes you laugh and why??????

Reverent Reunion

In the last 2 weeks we have attended two funerals. The first for a friend of Bob's family and the second for a friend/former coworker. It is odd that we tend to feel more comforted it the person is older, I think because if the person in young (as was the case of our friend/former coworker-Ken), you feel as though there was much more of a contribution that could have been made, more lives touched, more good times ahead.

The service for our friend Ken had 30% of the entire congregation of people represented by Farmers employees or former employees of Farmers. It was a reunion of sorts, it reminded me of the movie, "Four Weddings & A Funeral," where people were reunited only on such occasions. It was odd in the respect we were so delighted to see one another and on the other hand were so detached due to the situation. It felt as though an entire group of people were moving through a fog and our visit's were cursory, although, we collectively vowed to get together under difference circumstances sometime soon.

What I noticed and what was brought up in conversation(s):

1. I wonder who would attend my funeral?

2. Who would I be most surprised that attended and didn't attend?

3. I would hope that my service would include [Fill in the blank ]...

4. The music I would like is [Fill in the blank ]...

5. I hope at my funeral they wouldn't [Fill in the blank ]...

6. What I really would like is [Fill in the blank ]...

So, do you have a preference? Have you ever asked these questions of yourself? Do you even want a funeral or memorial service?

To sum it all up it was a reverent reunion, sad & happy all in one shot.

Valentine's Day

Shocked, surprised and dismayed...

My favorite holiday...Valentine's Day!

Not because of the commercialized gimme,gimme,gimme through jewelry, lingerie, candy, and flowers, (not that they aren't nice, just not required), I prefer to have a card, phone call, an E-mail, a love note, and plenty of hugs.

I can appreciate that there is a holiday set aside as a reminder to let those closest to you know how much they are cherished,valued, appreciated and loved! Here we have a day singled out that promotes kindess,caring, and affection...all endorphin enhancers...this is why some of the articles in our newspaper had me scratching my head. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm...

1. SEX SELLS, EVEN AT ZOOS


2. VALENTINE HATERS FIND HAVEN


3. READERS NOT STINGY ON VALENTINE'S DAY

ZOO: People visiting zoos so they can watch in voyeuristic delight as they consume champagne, chocolate-covered strawberries, and dine by candlelight as the animals "do the wild thing".

Okay, I just have to know a couple of things

(1) How does the zoo orchestrate the animals passions so they will be amourous for the adoring public?

(2) Doesn't this just creep you out a little bit...people getting frisky watching animals "do it"...Ewwwwwwwwww!

VALENTINE HATERS: This article states that there is a growing trend in the anti-Valetine's Day card market. American Greetings, for one, has started a new line of Valentine's that are humor based and lack sentimentality Example: On the outside of the card there is a Heart under the "no" with a circle and slash symbol and on the inside it reads, Valentine's Day, when hell & holidays collide.

Okay, again, is it just me?! Isn't this a discouraging trend? Where people seem less focused on the positive's of a nice holiday and it would appear to be riding on the band wagon of hostility, anger, & distain. Where is the love I ask you? Where... is.... the love? [ tee,hee,tee, hee ]

NOT STINGY ON VALENTINE'S DAY: A newly married staff writer for our local paper posed the question to online Bloggers whether he should adhere to the $3.00 rule his wife and he agreed upon for Valentine's Day. He didn't feel 'right' about investing so little, because of years of conditioning. Here are some condensed comments for your opinion(s):

"Don't do it right and it will cost you half your stuff..."

"It's about time someone waged war on this holiday!"

"...This annoying holiday comes around just like Christmas. How about a break? Once every 5 years should be sufficient!"

There was only one comment that was positive and that was written by the one female blogger, no one offered him any advice to his question, and these 'men' seem to perceive themselves as prey to women's ways. Whaaaaaaaaat? Seriously, What the heck is going on?!

When I finished reading the paper I felt like my "love-balloon" had been deflated, then Bob came home from his morning meeting and I got a hug and a kiss....ahhhhhhhh, I found the love!

DNA helps with your family tree...

I had watched on PBS a documentary on tracing Oprah Winfrey's family lineage. Because there was very little traceable documentation, (due to the fact that her great grandparents were slaves), they are able to take some DNA from a swab and genetically trace the origins of the places your ancestors established residence and how they migrated to different areas.

If you are interested in this topic, you will see I have included on my noteworthy Blogs the website that supplies this service if you are curious about your family origins tracing both your paternal and maternal origins should you so choose.