Month: January 2017

Unity through Diversity

There’s been a whole lot of commentary this week (if you don’t know that, then I salute you for finding the best hiding place in the world). One of the oft repeated words in this communal diatribe has been variations of the word “unity”: we need to unite, to unify, to come together. This word means different things to different people, a truth made clear by the discussion, but still, unity isn’t a bad idea.

I participated in the inaccurately titled “Women’s March” (there were men, children and dogs at mine) in my home city this past weekend where I saw perhaps the best ever idea of how to understand the unity we need (not to mention the best use of Barbies ever). I’m going to put it here and let all of you take from it what you will. My kudos to the person who put this together:

dollsinflagedit

 

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The Week That Was

“I have six locks on my door, all in a row. When I go out, I lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three.”  – Elayne Boosler

And it was certainly a week. Normally I’m not a person to panic when home alone at night. I figure I have three yippy little dogs, so I’ll know if someone’s breaking in long before they get to me. What I didn’t plan on was their yipping being the source of my panic.

The other night, after finally getting to bed at an unreasonable hour, I’d hardly drifted off before all three dogs started barking. Since I thought I’d heard a noise to, I didn’t shush them. Instead, I got up, checked things out, found nothing, so attempted to go back to sleep. I’d barely drifted off again when they started back up. This time I hadn’t heard anything. It was getting closer to time to wake up than to go to sleep so I needed at least a couple of hours. I got them calmed down but before I even calmed myself down, a strange video started somewhere in the house. A video that was some girl talking about a stalker with a knife. My granddaugher, who likes to fall asleep to the TV, had left it playing. Needless to say, I wasn’t at my best the next day. Panic and no sleep will do that to me.

From the “Wow, somebody paid attention in science class” category:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/massoudhassani/mine-kafon

I do my best to donate to Kickstarter campaigns that blow me away. This one really did.

I’m Gonna Keep Laughing

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

About ten years ago, my daughter and I sat down to watch a Billy Connelly movie. It was about a man who sued God for a natural disaster (I think that might have been the name of it too). The movie was passably good, nothing to get too excited about. But there was one scene we kept replaying over and over again because it made us laugh till we cried. It was a silly, pratfall scene with Billy in a restaurant, but each time we watched it, we thought it more hilarious than the last.

My daughter was going through a difficult pregnancy and a hard time all around. We really didn’t have much to laugh about. I realized then how much we need laughter during the hardest times of our lives. There are so many things in this crazy world to be stressed about. We worry not only about the future, but the present as well. Many of us are angry, and rightfully so. Many of us are scared, and rightfully so. A good laugh could help all of us.

The other movie I keep thinking of these days is the scene in one of the Harry Potter films, where Lupin teaches the students to look at their greatest fears and use the “Ridikulous” spell. What they fear is reduced to something silly and not so frightening. I look around me and see a whole lot of Ridikulous things today. Maybe I need to brush up on that spell.

If you’re interested in how some folks who found themselves under a really oppressive regime turned to humor for their fight, check out my post on the Gnomes of Wroclaw:

http://hubpages.com/travel/The-Gnomes-of-Wroclaw

It’s a New Year!!!

I’m back!!! Time and life had me going there for a while, but the new year, and my vision for it, brought me back. There’s enough ego in me to feel I have some things to say to the state of the world. Hopefully, most of them will make you laugh. Or feel a bit proud of us.

I’ve thought a lot about what to wish for this year. There’s no lack of things to make me worry, or get angry. The problem is those don’t feed my soul. Give me something to laugh about. Or a reason to think “thank God, somebody was paying attention in science class.” Once we were innovators, problem solvers, people who found the humor, and the joy in life. Let’s see if we can get back to that in 2017, okay?

P.S. The tree in the background fits my new path. It’s like a giant eyeball, sort of like 2017 is watching you!