Happy News!!!
Congratulations, Kathy Reel, you are the winner of the Leslie Wheeler's Shuntoll Road!!! Please send your mailing address to her at: lesliewheeler at comcast dot net and she'll pop your book in the mail!!!
Saturday, at 2 PM PST, all of the Reds - yes, it's unprecedented, I know! - will be virtually visiting the Poisoned Pen Bookstore for a live chat moderated by our very own Hank.
To join us, here's the link: www.facebook.com/thepoisonedpenbookstore/live
Jenn McKinlay: Okay, since it's Friday, I'm going to run with the happy news theme and make this post a #FeelGoodFriday post. 2020 has been a struggle. For me personally, it's the hardest year I've known to date (Universe, that is NOT a dare!) and finding joy has been a challenge.
That being said, I always try to double down on the gratitudes and since humor is my coping mechanism, I've been fortunate to have a few things crop up that have made me laugh pretty darn hard. I know humor is subjective, and you might not find what I find funny as hilarious as I do, so feel free to share links to your own LOLs of the year in the comments below.
And now, here's some Feel Good Friday from Jenn:
1. A meme that was 100% me with my lovebirds and sunflowers this summer. The drama...truly, it was epic. LOL.
2. Apparently, this is the year that everything is made out of cake
- if only! How crazy cool is this trend? Check out every day objects as cake on Youtube - there are some amazing cakes out there.
3. This is seriously the only 1 star review I have ever agreed with and - bonus point - it made me laugh. Although I will admit that up until mid-March, I was having a great time.
(This is from a shop on etsy.com called StrikeaChordClothing)
4. Yeah, this seems about right. My wine loving friends
understand. Let's hope the last quarter of the year mellows the heck out (it should with all that wine).
This is from the #2020Challenge on Instagram
5. And lastly, celebrating my AZ home, a javelina running through Tucson to Queen's Don't Stop Me Now!, which went viral. I have watched this an embarrassing number of times.
So, those are just a few items that have crossed my feed and made me smile or laugh during these difficult days. What about you, Reds and Readers, what crazy things have you seen/heard/read that have given you a good chuckle this year?
These are too funny, Jenn. I love the one star coffee mug!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorites is a picture of Rod Serling titled “Historians in 2070 Introducing a Documentary About 2020” . . . and Mr. Serling says, “What you’re about to watch is a nightmare.”
Another one: “2020 is a unique leap year. It has 29 days in February, 300 days in March, and 5 years in April.”
I like the one about leap year, Joan.
DeleteMarch was eternity!!!
DeleteI wish I could post some photos and memes. Here is one: Do men’s ears actually work or are they just for show? Asking for a friend.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, what did you say? ;)
DeleteGood one, Mark!
DeleteI know why doesn't blogger let us post photos/videos in the comments. LOL, Mark. Very quick!
DeleteLOL, Mark!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCovid-19 has finally reach Neverland. There, they are calling it the Peter Pandemic.
ReplyDeleteNurse: This man was stabbed, shot, hit with a grenade, run over by a truck, and thrown out of a plane. How did he survive and make it to the hospital?
Doctor: Check his chart.
Nurse: *checks chart* What the heck is a protagonist?
Good one, Mark!
DeleteMark, that made me laugh. The girls and I were watching a Fast and Furious movie (we've newly discovered them) and we were sawing the same thing - Vin Deisel gets thrown off a roof, is in a car crash, has a violent fist fight... and emerges without a single bruise. We decided the films take place in a parallel universe where physics and biology don't work the way they do here.
DeleteMark!! Hilarious on all counts.
DeleteAnd my favorite political sign is posted in a yard a couple of blocks away.
ReplyDeleteAny Functioning Adult
2020
Oh honey, at this point I'd vote for a post with a face painted on it.
DeleteI was thinking the very same thing last night, Flora!
DeleteI’m thrilled to have won Shuntoll Road. It really intrigued me, and I had it on my Amazon wish list.
ReplyDeleteJenn, your funnies made me laugh. The one about the alcohol increasing was hilarious. I saw a meme today that said “It takes a village to raise a child, but it’s going to take a vineyard for me to homeschool mine.” I so enjoy when FB friends post funny pics and jokes. I need to do more of that.
Ha! I know my friends with younger children are definitely feeling that.
DeleteLove the javelina running!
ReplyDeleteI laughed out loud yesterday at the Zits comic. The teen comes up behind his dad, who is washing the car, and says, "You shouldn't wear socks with sandals. It looks stupid." Next frame we see that the socks are actually PLAID and Dad is wearing them with a different plaid shorts. Without even looking behind him, Dad turns the hose and sprays the teen with a Splort sound effect, knocking him backward. Last frame, teen is bedraggled and unhappy. Dad says, "You shouldn't insult a comfortable old man. It looks wet."
Also, the cases of wine? Guilty!
Ha ha ha! I have teenagers. I can relate.
DeleteI love love love the javelina!! what's keeping me laughing is Lottie and Tbone playing. Except for the waking up at 5, she's been a joy.
ReplyDeletePuppies and kittens can cheer up even the darkest day. Thanks for sharing them with us.
DeleteThe javelina is priceless. I've been chuckling along with FB funnies.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot - gives me hope for my fellow man.
DeleteNot tons to laugh about this year, not even much to make me smile. But there are a few.
ReplyDelete1. First great grandson due in December, Griffin Alexander Allaun.
2. Sergeant Pepper, our new little black dog, a miniature poodle. He is brilliant and I'm wiped.
3. The distinct possibility that we will vote out the current squatter in the WH
4. All the virtual launches Julie and I are attending. What fun!
5. Looking forward to Virtual Bouchercon with my favorite emcee, Catriona McPherson.
6. The response of Andrew Cuomo and the state of New York to Covid 19. Incredible.
7. Watching Lawrence Welk on Saturday night, virtually, with our friends Tim and Victor, with hysterical commentary that outdoes MST3000. Not meant for the ears of children.
Lawrence Welk does not hold up well!
DeleteI'll bet the MST3000 version of Lawrence Welk is hysterical.
DeleteLove MST3000 - can imagine how funny paired with Welk - LOL!
DeleteAnn, you need to tape the Lawrence Welk commentary for us!
DeleteHmmm. Only if you cover your children’s ears. It gets a bit rough. Sadly T and V are moving to the west coast so we haven’t many chances left. But sometime turn it on and check Rose Weiss’s costuming. It looks like she got screwed by a rainbow and regurgitated polyester and Qiana.
DeleteI've only ever read about javelinas before and I had no idea they could be so amusing!
ReplyDeleteI think they're scary (grumpy) up close but one that's running is okay with me.
DeleteThey are so destructive (and aggressive) They dig up plants to eat the roots. In the mountain-side development that is our winter home we were sent a warning that javelinas were in the neighborhood. And the warning said, "please note, they can run faster than you."
DeleteA composer friend who lives out in Arizona was attacked by javelinas a couple of years ago. He made a complete recovery, but it was scary.
DeleteLove the javelina! Our standard poodles are loving our being at home 24/7 except when we're pounding the pavements. Chewy Louie (11 months old) hit a personal best this week, snatching six pens off two work surfaces and chewing them to bits.
ReplyDeleteI had a standard poodle named Lucy - she ate an entire couch. Still, a great dog.
DeleteI loved the javelina as well. (Though I didn't previously know what a javelina was.) I have also been amused by the responses to various bizarre news stories framed as "OK, who had ________ on their 2020 bingo card?"
ReplyDeleteBut absolutely my best source of smiles this year is the 2 1/2 year old who lives next door. His parents have not yet had his hair cut, and it hangs in long, lovely ringlets. He exudes joy in that way of children who know they are loved, and I cannot see him (or hear his giggles) without smiling myself. They went away for a few days last week and I felt bereft!
Happy little ones are always good a smile
DeleteYes, the bingo cards are a hoot!
DeleteI love the wine meme and javelina video! A high school friend messages LOTS of funny-but-not-necessarily-for-public-consumption memes and videos concerning certain politicians that make me laugh and feel better about our country's situation. Like Ann said, there isn't much to smile about, so I cling to the things that do make me feel better. I read this blog and the comments first thing every morning. I know it will make me smile and, very often, it makes me laugh out loud! Thank you, JRW, for your books, your blogs, your thoughts - both serious and silly.
ReplyDelete(Just in case anyone thinks things might be easing up a little, there are 2 tropical systems in the Atlantic, currently expected to strengthen and arrive AT THE SAME TIME on the Gulf Coast next week. Mobile (where I live) is in the center of one "cone of uncertainty", and the Houston area is in the center of the other. This is "unprecedented" (of course). I'm really ready for some precedented things! Keep the laughs coming!)
I saw two storms are entering the Gulf, I hope me it turns out better than it appears! I am in the Bay Area, southern end if Santa Clara County. We are literally surrounded by large fires, caused by heat and lightening. Thousands are evacuated, and it is still very hot. You literally cannot breathe the air outside. I’m fine where I am for now, but my house is on a hill and fires llove to jump from hill to hill.
DeleteOh, no! We were hit last night by a surprise storm and found our patio furniture blown out into the yard. I hope those storms fizzle to a drizzle.
DeleteNo rain with ours just wind and lightening. The lightning was last Sunday. Rain at least would have minimized the problem. We have been near 110 for the last two weeks. One hundred is not unusual, but 119 for several weeks is unusual. Our air is unhealthy, no one should go outside.
DeleteSusan, that's horrible in Santa Clara. We're up in Marin and it has never been hotter than normal. The nights have been quite chilly as fog comes in from the ocean. But our air smells of smoke today from the Point Reyes fires.
DeleteThat lightning was something I've never seen here in 40 years. On and on all night.
Your lucky on the temperatures. We don’t get fog here, the Santa Cruz mountains stop it, even though we are only twenty minutes from the coast. The lightening show Sunday night was like nothing I have experienced here in California. I am a native and I have never seen weather like this in California. We are fifty miles south of San Francisco but our temperatures are more like the Central Valley. We normally are at least thirty degrees warmer than San Francisco in the summer. Marin seems to be escaping the smoke and misery, I’m glad!
DeleteI love me a good meme or gif or anything truly funny these days. For me, Pluto Living is at the top of the list. She's a four-legged (Schnauzer) who has been giving us two-leggeds remarkably sage advice during the pandemic. I 'met' her on Facebook, but she now has her own YouTube page/channel/site and, yesterday, she announced that she's going to launch her own university this fall. Pluto Living is lively, cute and really wise. Worth a watch, for sure.
ReplyDeleteSchnauzers are the best (just ask my Otto). I'll definitely check out Pluto Living!
DeleteJavelina of my heart! Would that I could run like that.
ReplyDeleteWhatever else you can say about this year it's inspired fabulous political satire. Witness Sarah Cooper's lip synchs... I just about fell out of my chair when she was featured as part of the Democratic convention. Randy (oh so) Rainbow.
But my all time favorite thing this year isn't political. Ali Hoffman and her dad dancing in their kitchen to Jess Glynne's HOLD MY HAND. Watch it to the end! I truly identify. https://youtu.be/SOjwAL9Docg
Thank you so much for the link to the Hoffmans' YouTube video. Absolutely loved it--just what I needed today!
DeleteIs it going to make me cry? I can't do that.
DeleteLOVED this, Hallie!!!! We should all be doing this every day!!!!
DeleteLove Randy Rainbow, Hallie. He's so good at what he does.
DeleteThanks for the javelina, Jenn! A friend in Scottsdale puts out veggie kitchen scraps for them every morning, and they get a small herd coming for chow, but despite visiting there five times I've never seen them.
ReplyDeleteSeveral young friends, daughters and sons of our friends, my brother, and several cousins, have little ones, all utterly adorable. Thanks to social media I have been able to see all these darling children from afar. Seeing their smiling faces, and knowing they will grow up with much love, helps soothe my wounded heart these days.
A baby (not my own) would certainly cheer me up!
DeleteThe best thing I've seen lately is a video of Chris Hemsworth offering nearly a minute's worth of affirmations. It should be ridiculous, but somehow it's nice to hear. https://bit.ly/3j4Tjd8
ReplyDeleteAlso, whenever I need a smile, and to get up and move, there is "She Just Wants to Dance,: by the excellent blues guy, Keb' Mo. Listen to it here and see if you don't at least sway along in your chair. https://youtu.be/m43MfixAIq4
Thanks, Gigi! I've been listening to Keb'Mo ever since you posted this.
DeleteI'm glad, Karen. Keb' Mo is one of those guys who is a brilliant guitar player, and has a voice that just soothes my soul.
DeleteYou had me at Chris Hemsworth. Hub (musician) loves Keb'Mo.
DeleteSome stuff I've been noticing, as time goes (slowly) by....
ReplyDelete1. I get excited when garbage day comes round
2. I am--astoundingly--writing in my journal EVERY NIGHT.
3. I keep rereading my journal just to see what's changed since last week/last month/yesterday/January/2019 (OMG...I went through a sourdough phase???)
Sigh.
I've been journaling a lot, too, Susan. I figure we need to put it all in there--all the daily thoughts and coping strategies. And then we need to organize a push to send all those journals to a research library somewhere, so there will be an archive for future historians to access when they want to study this remarkable time in America. Anybody have any suggestions on where that archive should be?
DeleteI've been journaling, too. Sadly, mostly since my brother passed. So many feelings to process but it does help.
DeleteGigi: I have submitted my series of COVID-19 collages to this online archive, which is a fabulous initiative. https://covid-19archive.org/s/archive/page/Share
DeleteVery cool, Amanda!
DeleteOh, Gigi: I'm glad you checked back! ...kinda' cool to have my work in an international archive! I wrote about other archives on my blog back in May https://fiveyearsawriter.blogspot.com/2020/05/a-post-day-in-may-5-covid-19-diaries.html
DeleteWe have a five-year-old in residence--he adds joy and funny moments nearly every day. Have you ever interviewed a walking, talking box? Name of 'Box', by the way. Add in four cats and an elderly though spry mini-dachshund. For more grown-up humor, I check out a friend's facebook page, where many political memes are posted, I regularly check JRW, natch, and yes, search out funny cat and dog photos, videos. Two personal faves first mentioned here (I believe) are Henri the existential cat and Mabel and Olive and now a third personal fave, our own Lottie and Tbone show, courtesy of Lucy :-)
ReplyDeleteOh, a five year old will keep you moving! Such a fun age.
DeleteI'm glad you're still enjoying Henri, Flora! And I'm sharing Lucy's pics and videos of TBone and Lotte every day with my girls. We all love them.
DeleteThanks for the giggles, Jenn! I had seen the cakes but not the others. The wine meme totally cracks me up! My daily feel goods have been watching Lottie, T-Bone, Sgt. Pepper, and Edith's Ganesh.
ReplyDeleteLast week I ran across a book called Love, Nina, by Nina Stibbe. I.t's a compilation of letters she wrote home to her sister while working as a nanny in London in the early 1980s. She looked after nine-year-old Will and ten-year-old Sam, sons of Mary Kay Wilmers, editor of the The London Review of Books. I laughed out loud all the way through the book--something that's not happening very often these days. And it was so refreshing to feel in the midst of normal, everyday, non-pandemic life.
And now I'm going to be listening to Chris Hemsworth telling me I'm "crushing it" every morning!! Plus a little Keb'Mo!
I think Gigi should give us a weekly music selection:-)
I agree. Gigi, are you up for that? I'll look for that book, Debs. Laughs always move to the top of my TBR.
DeleteOh, maybe, but my musical tastes skew to the weird. And Deb, I want to borrow that book when you're done.
DeleteJenn, Stibbe is so funny--she has a brilliant knack for dialogue-- and the two boys are hysterical. Alan Bennett, actor, writer, and playwright, was a neighbor and good friend and often around. The book is also charming and touching, but not in a "make you cry" way.
DeleteGigi, I trust your musical weird absolutely! And book coming your way.
I can get behind the cakes that look like wood, or a strawberry, or even the cup of late, but if you put a bag of Doritos and a White Claw in front of me, I'd better be enjoying some cheesy nacho goodness and a lightly alcoholic spritzer, or heads are going to roll.
ReplyDeleteLOL!!! Now I know what to send for your birthday :) Dorito cake, obvy.
DeleteJenn, I had a good chuckle yesterday when one of my bookstagram friends posted in her stories about people who REFUSE to wear masks during this pandemic. The coined word is not a word for polite company. I laughed and laughed.
ReplyDeleteWe need to laugh during these sad times. Because of antibiotics, I am extra sensitive so I decided that the last thing I did before bedtime was to watch funny movies or funny tv programmes. We watched Despicable Me. We watched 10 things I hate about you. We watched a British comedy - As Time Goes By.
And your mention of the hooligans and their antics yesterday made me chuckle. Luckily the postman is forgiving.
Diana
LOL, Diana. Their shenanigans have lessened over the years, thankfully. Now they're just sassy.
DeleteKathy Reel, congratulations on winning the book!
ReplyDeleteHoping that the Facebook chat with the Jungle Reds tomorrow will have Captions or maybe a transcript? Would love to watch the chat tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteJust watchEd the javelina. That is either hilarious or… I don’t know. Who shot that video, and how? I’m trying to figure out how the photographer did that…
ReplyDeleteOK, this is so weird, but the thing that made me laugh with this. As a reporter, I get a lot of tips. A woman emailed to complain that when the television repair people came to fix her TV, they inadvertently unplugged her husband’s oxygen machine, but she did not notice it until he started having trouble breathing. Then he died. She wrote to complain that her television was still broken.
ReplyDelete