Tag: humor

stinky wordplay

This is not quite how it happened, but an unreasonable facsimile thereof.

One day I was driving my kids around town (as I am apt to do), and a traffic scenario required deft reflexes. The kids enjoy being slung around in their car seats, so they laughed. When they asked what happened, I told them it was an “evasive maneuver”. They weren’t familiar with that term and were being silly, so they interpreted that as “invasive manure” and started saying that. It was funny. That’s one of those word combinations that I’ve never heard before. It might’ve been said at some point in history by someone*, but I’m not aware (and I’m not putting that in my Google search because I don’t want news articles about manure, nor do I want to know anything about such things — some rabbit holes aren’t worth going down, particularly ones filled with invasive manure). 🙂

* It’s amusing (to me, at least) when I hear a phrase that has possibly never been said before. Such events are rare, but with kids they do happen sometimes if you’re paying attention.

finding humor around you

Normally I write something that is (hopefully) amusing to you, but if I may, today I’ll write about finding amusement around you.

This morning I was riding my bicycle and drove through a pile of leaves that had fallen from a tree. It’s autumn here, so this is happening a lot. I enjoyed the sound of the leaves crunching under my tires. Made me feel like a kid again. I also enjoy seeing leaves scatter around the road after I drive through them with my truck. And it’s neat to see leaves falling from the trees. And I enjoy the fall colors.

That’s a lot of talk about leaves, but this isn’t about leaves. Rather, I found amusement in my surroundings. This is something I try to do every day. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with enjoying content created for YouTube or funny/silly videos promoted by the algorithms on social media (like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc.), I don’t want to lose the ability to enjoy everyday life in the natural.

That may sound absurd to think it’s even possible, but it could happen. I’ve noticed kids cry out “I’m bored!” instantly when denied time with a screen on an electronic device. That should not be! I’m certainly not against enjoying videos or video games, but if my amusement requires content to be spoon-fed to me by some algorithm, that’s not acceptable.

It’s also easy to pick on kids regarding screen time, but adults are susceptible to it, too. (And it doesn’t help that social media algorithms are using psychology to entice you to stay on their site so they can make more money showing you ads.) Notice how often you pick up your phone when you have a few minutes to wait. Many (if not most) adults now instinctively grab their phone when there’s a moment free that they can. You can see it at traffic lights (or even while they’re driving), at a restaurant with their friends, at a sports game, etc.

Again, it’s not wrong to enjoy online content. But are you missing out on your actual life? Are you enjoying your actual life, or mostly being entertained by social media? Do you regularly see the humor and joy in your family and friends and life in general? It’s worth thinking about what matters most to you.

Sorry for the serious rant there… at least it’s about humor, so not totally off-topic.

You may now return to your regularly-scheduled life. Try to enjoy it!

What is LOL supposed to mean?

Did you know some people type “lol” without actually laughing out loud? Crazy… Well, now there’s a device that ensures someone actually laughed when they typed it: the LOL Verifier. It’s a USB device that goes between your keyboard and computer and only lets you type “lol” if you truly laughed out loud. There’s a short TikTok video on the page that shows it in use, in a humorous way (by trying to not be humorous).

Does the world need this? No, not really. But the world does need to stop saying “LOL” if they aren’t actually laughing. I still remember the first time I experienced that nonsense. [cue flashback sequence] I was talking to a teenage girl, and I made a joke. She replied, “LOL”, but didn’t laugh. So what does that mean? Was I funny or not? (Probably not.) Was she trying to humor me? Perhaps. But it’s still ambiguous and illogical.

Rant aside, either way, people need to laugh more. It would make the world a better place. And it would make your life better. Well, perhaps the laughing itself isn’t the key factor here, but enjoying life enough that you are laughing is good for you. Although laughing does help you actually feel better. Some say that laughing is like jogging on the inside. 🙂 If you go through a day without laughing at all, ask yourself why and if you want to live that way. Just don’t say “LOL” outloud, please. Only authentic laughing helps.

Can Cheetos cure headaches? (part 2)

One of the most popular posts here is “Can Cheetos cure headaches?” And rightfully so — if true, that would be a huge scientific breakthrough. Plus, Cheetos are tasty. How awesome would it be if your doctor prescribed for you to eat more Cheetos? 🙂

I initially wrote that 15 years ago (which doesn’t seem possible, but the math says so somehow). Since then I’ve done more research*. (* I ate more Cheetos.) Seriously (or at least pseudo-seriously), since then I’ve had more headaches (I’m also now married with children, which the data seems to suggest a correlation there, but that’s a topic for another day), and I have indeed eaten more Cheetos.

So, rambling aside (not really), do Cheetos really cure headaches? Well, it depends on how you define “cure”. It doesn’t remove the source of the headache, but neither does aspirin / acetaminophen. However, it can help you feel better, like aspirin / acetaminophen. I don’t think doctors will be prescribing it anytime soon due to a lack of healthiness, but if it helps you be more productive in your day, it can be worth it. You have to take care of yourself. And sometimes taking care of yourself can be accomplished by not taking care of yourself, if that makes sense. 🙂

Now, I’m no important doctor, so take all this with a grain of salt. Wait, no, don’t. Salt should not be added to Cheetos. But a disclaimer is still in order. It’s important to know that Cheetos do not work in the same way as aspirin or acetaminophen and thus do not replace them. So perhaps you should take both! 🙂

It’s possible it works due to the placebo effect, which means it is more psychological than scientific. Either way, if it helps, it helps. Comfort food is called that for a reason. (I do realize that comfort food usually refers to things like fried chicken and biscuits & gravy, but if your head is hurting, you probably don’t feel like cooking or going to a restaurant. So you need something quick and easy to eat that is also delicious. Oreos and ice cream also fit in this category, of course.)

Really, though, just eating seems to help headaches somewhat (unless it goes into migraine territory). Well, eating something tasty helps. I’m pretty sure eating broccoli would NOT help my headache. I haven’t researched that, and I don’t plan to. Why would I try to reduce pain by eating something that causes more discomfort? Common sense applies here, if you happen to have it. 🙂

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by Cheetos in any way, though if they’d like to send me free bags of Cheetos, that would be okay.