All posts tagged: Comedy Relief

What’s buried in your backyard?

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It’s during times like these that those of us who are End-of-The-Worlders can hold our heads up high and walk with a little dignity, for once, instead of sulking in the corners of cafes, hiding out in the gloom and glum of darkened basement rooms, except of course for the briefest of appearances which typically take the form of alarmist Jeremiads or wild-eyed apocalyptic rants. While we share wildly diverse backgrounds we all recognize the inherent fragility of the system.

Bare and bear

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Long day of hiking yesterday, then back home to the cabin, late, where I took a sponge bath. Not a stitch on my bare back and wouldn’t you know it? One of the locals came around for a visit, right up to the porch. I ducked down and peaked at her though the window, a mama bear with a cub, the cub playing in one of the (many) trees in my yard. I snapped a quick pic while she ambled away. Then I quickly put some pants on.

No mamacita, adventures at the urinal

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The other night I went to the restroom to pee. It was sometime after six, I think, and I was winding down my work day. I rounded the corner, and came to the restroom door and saw that it was being cleaned by an older gentleman. I said that I could come back later, which basically meant that I would just hold it until I got home, but he was gracious and pleasant and told me to use the restroom, please.

Savoring life’s little Kafka moments

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I sent an email to a client recently, sending them some forms that I had completed and requesting their approval. It was a small project that, upon the client’s approval, we would then file with the appropriate agencies, etc. The response was prompt, “Excellent, thank you.” Being new to the firm and quite unfamiliar with our clients, I was confused: was the reply message approving the forms and the filing? Or was the client merely acknowledging receipt of the forms? I wasn’t sure, so I forwarded the message to the partner who handles this client and asked her whether this was an approval or an acknowledgement. Her response: Excellent, thank you!

Swap Columbus Day for Democracy Day?

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic Socialist heading to Congress after that yuge and most excellent didn’t-see-that-coming grassroots victory, had a bit of a snarky exchange with a conservative over the weekend. It started with a Tweet by Ocasio-Cartez: how is Columbus Day a holiday but Election Day not? The Daily Mail’s U.S. political editor David Martosko quote tweeted Ocasio-Cortez and wrote that she “hasn’t even started the job yet and she’s already angling for more vacation days.”

A heck of a word

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It’s getting a bit cold in my tent, these September mornings. I wake up, I feel a blast of cold air hitting my face as my head pokes itself out from my cocoon of sleeping bag and blankets, and then I glance at the thermometer next to my bed. If it shows 40 degrees or higher, it’s a warm morning. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to warm Cali weather and Santa Cruz sun, coming in just a few short weeks. But I’m not the only one traveling to California. Our classy Ex-Prex is kicking off a tour around California, as regards that hoped-for “Blue Wave” victory in the November Midterms. However, this is not a political post. It’s about words, and on that count I have to question Obama’s choice of words.

Happy Belated Tax Day! “We Absolutely Blew It!”

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John Oliver had a fantastic bit on taxes, and I meant to post it on April 15th. I forgot, somehow, but then resolved to post it anyway, albeit a few days late. Now we are well into May, and I realize that I completely spaced this post. So even though this post may not have the same punch as it does on tax day, when we lament the amount of money that we have to pay to fund Trump’s increased security needs or Jeff Sessions’ quixotic renewal of the absurd “war on drugs,” it’s still worth taking a look.

The Writer’s Ransack

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Take anything — my passport, my coin collection, and my money (if you can find any) — just don’t mess with my character development…On second thought, sometimes a good ransacking is good for a writer, especially when stuck, perhaps when slugging through the middle of a project. And maybe that’s why we have readers and editors, to shake things up, to shake up our mentality, to use a bit of dynamite to open a new tunnel that leads to a new view.