Category Archives: Whimsical

Win One For the Quipper

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I disguised one of my jokes in a picture of myself, having a Ted Cruz moment with my cat.

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The power of ‘no’ is too often tempered by the ‘maybe’ of not wanting to anger your friends or family.
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In an ongoing dislike of sports, I re-named jump rope to ‘jump nope.’
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“It’s only negativity when other people are saying it.”
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One of Richard Nixon’s actual campaign slogans was this: “They can’t lick our Dick.” Absolutely true historical observation – nothing dirty about it.
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“Don’t sweat the small stuff.” While this statement is great, it is equally true that it is passive-aggressive as hell, as it allows disengaged or unfamiliar people to judge the largely hidden issues you are experiencing.
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“I wouldn’t ask you to engage with the horse you rode in. Animal cruelty is where I draw the line. And who is to say the horse has no standards?” – Best opening line for a new comedy movie I have no interest in writing.
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“Focus on the positive.” Another great cliché. But sometimes, you must shout your irritation and/or disagreement when it isn’t convenient for bystanders, even if the pastor is just getting started.
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“It could be worse.” Yes, that’s true. And I will gleefully remind you of that when I’ve yanked off your yellow $70 scarf and asphyxiated you with it. It could definitely be worse – for you.
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When the boss says, “We’ll figure it out,” in case you haven’t noticed, this is management code for “I have no idea. Let’s wing it and see which side of the bread lands on the floor.”
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It was a sad day for Batman. But not for Gloveman, Baseman, or Flyballman.
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In a mad rush to get away from work and all the anguish he suffered there, he found himself standing in an open field, half-naked, laughing, and joyous. It took the police four tasers to get him handcuffed.
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This world is not the worst of all possible imaginable worlds. I know this because in this world, Adam Sandler at least makes fewer movies than he could.
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“Work hard and work will be its own reward.” Another quote from that guy. You know the one, the asshole.
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Monday’s Amusing Musings

 

 

I got credit for insisting that we call the usual mantra of objections to sensible policies “stalking points” instead of “talking points.”

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I had a nightmare I went to prison. As part of my punishment, the warden told me I had to choose between losing a foot by amputation or watching Fox News. Even in my nightmare, I looked him in the eye and told him I looked forward to saving money on socks.

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Believe it or not, I almost got arrested again at the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. I got into a terrible fight. Punches were thrown, blood and tears fell, elbows hit the ground. The good news is that I won. But one thing I’ve learned is that you can’t let 74 year-old ladies push you around.

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It is easy to be too good at one’s job. I worked one day as a photographer’s assistant in 1999. The photographer couldn’t get one quarrelsome child to smile, frown or make any reaction. Looking menacingly my way, my new boss glanced over at me and muttered, “Get a reaction out of the kid while I try to take his picture.” I went up to the child and whispered, “Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and The Tooth Fairy aren’t real.” Getting punched by the child’s mom was certainly a reaction.

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Whether you tend to say “See the good in everyone” or “See the God in everyone,” know in your heart that most of us aren’t intending to cause harm.
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Have you ever noticed that those people who claim not to be prejudiced are the worst? At least I assume they are claiming innocence. It’s hard to tell when their hoods are so tangled up in their mouths like that.
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I also worked for 4 days as a cook in one of those horrid grease pit diners that are always conveniently located next to the mortician or the interstate. One of the regulars came in, sat down and hollered at me across the counter in a voice saturated in cigarette rasp: “Hey, cook, do you know how to make waffles?” Without missing a beat I hollered back, “Make them do what?” He may not have had much sense – or sense of humor, but he certainly knew how to get someone to go through a plate glass window without straining himself.
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The American Sexual Studies Institute has announced it will save $3,000,000 annually by cancelling its yearly comprehensive sexual behavior questionnaires contract. Instead, they will now solely employ bakers in the South, who all now require a full explanation of their customer’s sexual habits prior to selling them custom pastries. ‪#‎freeinformation‬
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A uniform is what you put on to go to work, while a costume is something you wear to entertain. If people pay to watch you work, that is entertainment, not work, even if someone is paying you. FYI…
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I’m not good with sports. I mistakenly voted for “Conch of The Year” at a sport award event I was dragged to. I was thinking, “What’s up with the marine theme this year?” but voted anyway. It was fun watching the Sports Association Director read out all the votes for nomination. PS: Sports fans are largely characterized by their complete lack of appreciation for the ridiculous, even though most sports look like the costumes are designed by the production staff for the “Wizard of Oz,” and a failed OSHA inspector
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Just to confuse those with no sense of society, I’m going to create my own version of Cracker Barrel. I’m going to call it Cracker Barél, using the same signage and everything. Except my version is going to be staffed by Nathan Lane sound-alikes, decorated by Barbara Streisand, and the camouflage inside is going to be pink paisley-colored. I’ll serve only brunch and afternoon tea. “Mimosas for everyone. Cue the confusion,” will be the initial slogan.
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You know you’re old when you hear Prince’s song and wish you could potty like it was 1999.
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Methelaneous: A variation of ‘miscellaneous’ that people using meth sometimes use to describe when they do everything at once. That’s what it would sound like if the whistle in their teeth wasn’t so deafening.
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I discovered that my humor was starting to bother people. Andy walked up to me this morning and asked “Do you know how to write a Last Will & Testament?” Oblivious to his real intentions, I replied, “Sure, I can do that.” Andy pointed his finger in my face and angrily whispered, “Then I’ll give you 30 minutes to get yours done.”
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I never understood the concept of slamming the door to communicate anger. Why not lick the door from bottom to top as the other person watches? That would be a MUCH clearer sign that you guys need to talk.
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One great way to decide if you are a good writer? Ask people. The trouble is that you are inevitably going to get both ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ Even the best writers, regardless of standards, are despised by a wide variety of people. Whether it is Shakespeare, Stephen King or Pat Conroy, all have legions of haters.
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A specialized vocabulary when one isn’t required is a sure sign of snobbery. Accusations of bad grammar or syntax have always flourished. Those occupying the castle rarely wish those below to join them in the favored vantage point in the towers. Demanding perfection in syntax when prose is capable of so much poetry without perfection is the same as expecting bloodless childbirth – no one focuses on the mess, just the baby.
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One of these days, I’m going to enter a party and say something really clever in Klingon and someone is going to understand me. That person will be my friend for life. I guess first I had better go to a party.
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If your business mission statement has the word “compassion” in it, chances are you don’t have any.
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Mark Twain said that a classic is a book which everyone praises but no one reads. I’ll add: The best restaurant is sometimes the one always on the verge of failing. And, not only is honesty not the best policy, but the deductible for using it is usually a loss a job or friends.
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Would Eric Clapton have been famous if he had been really, really awesome on the ukulele instead?

Fingerprints and Finger Prince

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Posted on my social media…

“Hey y’all, I got arrested last night. Evidently, the Springdale Police are Prince fans, too. Instead of inking me, they made me do Finger Prince! (I couldn’t believe no one else had thought of this… )

#Prince

As you would imagine, this dumb idea of mine got a lot of play. I pointed that while others were engaged in such nefarious activities as sleeping, I spent my early Sunday morning printing off really small pictures of Prince and taping them to my fingers for this joke.

I was printing little prints of Prince for my prints.”

X

Quips and Thoughts For This Morning

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Someone sneered and asked me, “X, do you think you are funny?” After a moment, I replied, “No, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to take a few notes about the way you are dressed to give me a better idea of ridiculous.” -X #oblivious

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“Many conservatives won’t object to Obama’s face on Mt. Rushmore, as it will finally be carved in white.” – X

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“Gomer Homer:” New term to describe when a racist white guy says something so patently prejudiced that he earns a free meal at the nearest Waffle Hut and an automatic bid to the Hick Hall of Flame.
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10 people shot and killed in Wisconsin. In a surprise twist, authorities now say they are looking for someone with a gun as the suspect.
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“Human beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they’re finished.” (Dan Gilbert) This is one of favorite reminders – avoiding that tendency toward certainty, especially where people are involved. It’s also a variation of another favorite sentiment of mine: “My opinions change with new information.”
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Forget “Cake By the Ocean,” I will take a Snickers Bar by the pond any day of the week.
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Why is syrup mainly limited to coughs and pancakes?
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I went to buy a Gregorian Chant CD and picked up the Gregarious Chant CD by mistake.
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I stopped stopped smoking. Doesn’t that sound better than “I started smoking again?”
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We need clever, less obvious ways to communicate to people that they aren’t pleasant to be around. Once a week, everyone in the office should vote. The person who has been the biggest pain in the ass the last few days should have to wear a Disney costume of our choosing for the entire day. ‪#‎disneyday‬
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If I were going to open a cubic zirconium store, it would be called Sham-Rock.
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I’ve wondered how much money I could make if I started selling autographed pictures of myself on Ebay.
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Lottery Reaction Rule: We will be glad that we are rich. But we will be happier that we can now look anyone dead in the eye and tell them they are behaving stupidly without fear of consequence.

Do me a favor, instead of imagining all the t-h-i-n-g-s you could buy with your lottery winnings, imagine all the cretins you can direct to the nearest lake for an impromptu bath. The boss who wouldn’t recognize logic if he were a roommate with Spock? Buy him a going-away present and ask him to do his part by going away. That sanctimonious guy in the next cubicle who thinks he talks directly to God? Buy him an Ouija board and some séance paraphernalia.

I think the fantasy of sudden wealth is the ability to be who you already are, able to stop pretending that the clowns deserve your time, to be as weird and literal as you would ever want to be.

The joke is on all of us, as we already have this magical power. We are just typically so fearful or risk-averse that we have convinced ourselves to swallow words, to avoid the footsteps that await us. I don’t need a mansion or sports car: I need the ability to hand out “Here’s your sign” placards like Xmas candy to the people are earning them.
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Sitting in the doctor’s office, I couldn’t help but notice a young affluent mother, trying to watch Fox News on the television while her energetic and inquisitive son ran from one interesting niche to the other. I’d guess he was around 8 years old.

A story filled the screen, conveying images of a youthful black man and the word “Arrested” emblazoned above his neckline with fierce graphics. The mother shook her head, clucked in disapproval and turned to her left, about to comment to another mother watching the TV as well.

“Stealing? There’s a shocker,” the first mother intoned, as if her words were stuffed with surprised wisdom.

The little boy scampered up to his mother’s knee and tapped her until she looked down at him.

“…But, mom,” he stuttered. “Didn’t we steal black people and bring them over here?”

I burst out in laughter, silently thanking Amy Schumer for the joke.
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Friday Madness

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It is dangerous to assume people will recognize humor, that is for certain.

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fsdfsd

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rwerwewerwwewerwerwerwer

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“Some detractors are telling Bruce Springsteen he should take his music off the radio, as he’s letting bigots hear it there. His reply: “What are you talking about? They never listen to anyone.” – X

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“If you operate a store, unless you can see the person’s genitals, you should never comment or change how you do business based on what they might or might not do with them. Unless you live in Alabama or Mississippi, this should address the problem.” – X

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I was walking near St. Bernard in New Orleans. My friends warned me to be careful before I went out. It was about 9 p.m. on a late August day. A sketchy-looking guy wearing dirty and ripped clothing leaned away from a dark building and asked me how I felt about dog fighting. I looked at him quietly for a moment and then replied, “I’ll do it so long as I don’t have to stay on all fours again.” That guy ran from ME.

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Sheriff Chuck Wright does have a point – the one on top of his pinhead. But it sells well to that certain crowd – you know which one – those who seem like they’ve just experienced a surprise lobotomy.

( “No one mentioned in that article is racist, but they are waiting for a sale on pillowcases and scissors.” – X)

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Ponder If You Will…

 

If I were granted the ability to create a machine (fantastical or confined to real possibility) capable of defying physics, I wouldn’t opt for a car which runs on water or a teleportation device, excellent choices that they may be.

My device would be a telephone, one that would allow anyone, once a year, to call their most beloved person in the world, dead or alive, and talk to them.

While we love our accomplishments, exotic trips to Mexico or Disneyland, or even our Lexus in the cold concrete driveway, when we lie down at night, tired and contemplative, we hearken to those we knew and loved. The past is not behind as so much as it is embedded into the grooves our hearts and minds, sometimes for us to replay lovingly. Many times, we would humbly and gladly offer up all our luxuries and bells and whistles, if we could just hear someone’s voice one more time.

Time tends to quietly rob of us of our deepest connections, the trivial memories which, when combined, create a longing greater than the sum of their parts. This desire to recall vividly our shared moments is as much of our humanity as any other need or desire. While we love our adventurous lives, none of the distractions compare to being loved and listening to the voices ingrained in our memories.

As you finish your day today and pull down the covers of your intimate bed, stop and ponder the idea of picking up the phone and calling your mom, your sister, the friend from high school who didn’t come home one night, or even the childhood friend who populated your imagination and time so many summer nights of your youth.

The still, surprised voices on the other end, waiting to share memories with you once more. Imagine that voice now, as he or she whispers, “Hello, is that you?” Your heart both soars and drops simultaneously.

 

 

 

A Few Quips to Make Pies

“If you attempt to sell products on Facebook by not telling us what you are selling, it’s tantamount to ringing our doorbell wearing black pants and a white shirt, attempting to hand us pamphlets. Don’t be alarmed if you see the curtains move and hear the TV blaring but no one answers the door.” – x

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Corollary to the above: “And if you do tell us, don’t be alarmed if you see us turn off the lights, hit ‘mute’ on the TV, and no one answers the door.” -x

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“If you want to understand the concept of forever, go through the Drive-Through at the Springdale Whataburger location.” – x

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The common greeting or goodbye isn’t something I’m fond on. In a pinch, I will resign myself to a perfunctory “Happy Birthday” or signature on a card. For me, this sometimes serves as a surprise, as many of my friends and family are so accustomed to my unconventional ways. Being normal sometimes can surprise people, too.

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Wolf-Brand-Chili-No-Beans-871x1024

(Eye-roll alert) I’m not clear on who exactly is going to eat wolf chili…  Imagine how loud it is going to be when we get the new “Wolf Chili” canning plant here. I wonder if PETA is going to protest – and if so, will there be ‘howls’ of protest?

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If I owned a convertible dealership in Springdale, I would locate it directly across from the weight scales of the nearest poultry company. You can enjoy owning a convertible – just be sure that you know what you’re getting into.

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As I sit here pitying those with jobs best described as “needing Charmin,” I casually glance to my right and see a fellow human looking at ME with the same look of pity. The “Circle of Strife” continues unabated.

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“It’s easy to be too helpful – as when you are about to drown & someone throws you BOTH ends of the rope.” At least, that’s how the cliché goes. But sometimes, once you’ve seen who is already in the boat, drowning might seem more reasonable.

A List of Thoughts…

Not only do I bite the hand that feeds me, I kick the shins of those who clothe me.
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It is true that you will never read this headline: “Agnostics declared war on South America today.” But it is equally true that you will also not read this headline, either: “Religious group had no comment on the topic.”
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The greatest super-power imaginable is the ability to keep one’s trap closed in the presence of ridiculous.
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They kept telling me not to bite my fingernails. Man, were they angry when I started biting theirs.
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When I get confounded about the crazy stuff others might believe, I turn the TV on and see that golf is still televised. Case closed.
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I’ve decided that I am going to preface every fifth comment I utter with this opener: “As the voice of unreason….
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Is it wrong that each time I drive by the now-defunct Mary Maestri’s restaurant that I giggle?
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“Most people don’t mind getting slapped if they deserve it. If you do it too often or without cause, you had better sleep with your doors locked and with your dog indoors.” –Old Man Chronicles
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A friend recommended that I start wearing a ponytail. He didn’t understand when I replied, “Are you going to be able to sneak up behind the horse with a pair of scissors?”
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“If your mom or your religion tries to teach you to hate a group of people, change churches and don’t argue with your mom. She’s supposed to be rolling her eyes at you.” – Old Man Chronicles
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When people ask me, “X, what have you done today to make the world better?” I now reply, “I don’t ask rhetorical questions.”
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Forget the “ring the bell for excellent service” thing. I want a place that sets a buzzer that when pressed will mimic the sound of agonized pain from a terrible experience. I guarantee that thing will get a lot of usage. (We can use Buffalo Wild Wings or Jose’s as a baseline for sheer unadulterated agony.)
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I get asked, “Why do you enjoy British TV so much?” Despite the great writing and better pacing, the real reason is I like to watch characters living in a world where universal health care is always in the background, waiting.
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Forget drug testing for welfare. Let’s drug test everyone who votes. And anyone wearing black socks.
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“A work ethic is too often misused to make people work when they should be at home getting better. Or looking after their family when they need it. Work has its place at the table but it shouldn’t be the only guest sitting there.” -Old Man Chronicles
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“Ignore what the government takes. You can spend your life watching and worrying or you can spend it down by the river, enjoying life. Government’s going to do what it does, whether you are at the river or not.” -Old Man Chronicles
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Don’t argue with anyone about the difference between a ‘living wage’ and the ‘minimum wage.’ Those making above the former don’t understand the latter.
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Over 2 years later, I still can’t even imagine eating eggs without having to control my gag reflex. It is amazing how one bad experience can change one’s preferences. I still manage to eat one every so often, but only by convincing myself that I’m living in the Matrix and that Neo is telling me everything tastes like chicken, anyway.
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You will go far in your career if you remind yourself from time to time that your manager probably doesn’t understand what the phrase ‘big fish in a small pond’ means. Or that he is the goldfish.
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If a baseball player hits a home run, I vote that we make them run the base once as is traditionally done and then make them do ANOTHER lap around the bases with style, as if they were a specific character that the crowd yells out.
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As for golf, I think that 1 in every 200 balls should be explosive.
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Young people are not the problem. They haven’t had time to mess up the world we are trying to hand them. Anything that’s wrong is on us, not them.
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I’ve noticed that the people most in favor of mandatory military service tend to be the ones I would recommend to be deployed immediately?
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Best April Fools’ Day Story Ever

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A Bill Qualls Baseball Story as told by X

I remember this day as if it were thirteen Thursday ago. It was the perfect late-April day for tomfoolery. That day was one of the best pranks ever perpetrated by any person in the history of the world. April Fools’ Day comes and inevitably evokes memories of this epic day. Had I not been there, I would have never believed such a prank was even possible.

Bill Qualls (top row, first on right) had come by and picked me up to go watch his friends and family play ball. Even though their jerseys all had “A’s” emblazoned on them, judging by their apparent prowess, I would have opted to name them the “B’s” or “C’s.”

Since all the adults were tired from working, they voted that I should be the pitcher for both teams. Because Miller Lite had interfered with a few of the adult’s speed and balance, they had moved me to within 15 feet of home plate. I felt like the Germans must have when the Allied Forces burst into Berlin, facing the barrels of a million rifles.

I decided to play a prank on the batting team, given the volume of ridicule and mockery they were lobbing my way. As I gestured to those playing the field to come up for a conference near the mound, everyone in the infield and outfield ran up to me and I told them my plan. We never imagined it would possibly work. We were like a motley group of idiot savants, embarking on a road trip in which no one knew how to read a map.

Kenny went up to bat and at my signal, I threw the ball as fast as I could. Or I pretended to. Like a game of distract-the-dog at the park, Kenny didn’t realize that I had in fact not thrown the ball at all. Jake, who was the catcher, hit his fist into his glove as if the ball had landed there. Bill yelled “Strike 1” from the side and then laughed. I reared back and threw another pretend fastball. (The batter should have noted that no one had the thrown the first ball back to me. I guess Miller Lite had loosened his reasoning skills enough already.) Kenny swung with all his might, spinning around home plate dizzily. Bill again yelled and shouted “Strike 2.” Kenny then demonstrated his command of every dirty word in the English language and several from Central America. He had already bragged that his batting average was “7,” whatever that meant.

As I threw the ball the third time, Bill was ready and waiting behind the plate and to the left, next to a wooden utility pole holding the electrical wire leading to the box behind the bleachers. As Kenny swung, Bill solidly hit the wooden pole with his own bat, mimicking the echo of a hit at home plate.

Everyone in the outfield starting screaming “Home Run,” or “Fly Ball.” Kenny, who hadn’t hit anything at all, couldn’t tell where the ball was. (It was still in my glove.) His own team hollering “Idiot” was drowned out by ‘my’ team, all of whom were running back and forth, looking upward to the sky, trying to get a bead on the nonexistent ball that was both going over the fence for a home run AND about to be caught for an out against Kenny. The guys looking skyward and prancing around under the invisible baseball now remind me of a ballet company being slightly electrocuted.

Kenny threw his bat and started running the bases. Even as he rounded second base, he didn’t seem to notice that the ball must be in Earth’s orbit at this point, given that so many seconds had passed since he ‘hit’ the ball. He ran even faster, although his idea of a straight line looked more like the stream of water coming out of a hose on a summer afternoon – that is to say, all over the place.

I stood between the pitcher’s mound and home plate, amazed at the spectacle of a grown man being duped into believing that he had hit a home run just by the sound of a bat thumping on a wooden pole.

In what seemed to be two minutes of Kenny running the bases, he rounded home plate. As his foot touched the base, I noticed that Bill had been standing near the utility pole along the fence, holding another baseball in one hand and a lighter glowing red with flame in the other. (This was not part of my plan.) The flame was burning the side of the baseball against his glove. He then quickly hurled the burned baseball as far as he could to right field. John caught it lazily and shouted, “I caught it. My god that thing must have been half a mile in space.”

Kenny stopped a few feet away from home and turned toward John, who was now running toward him, waving the ball he had just ‘caught’ after about two minutes in the air. John started excitedly shouting, “Look, I caught it! It went so high it got burned in the atmosphere.”

Kenny just stared at him, unable to comprehend what was happening. John tossed him the ball as he jogged past me and neared home.

Kenny caught the ball and stared in wonder at the white ball, now covered with black streaks and feeling extremely warm. He sniffed it and said “No way, man!” in a voice resembling both that of Rod Serling from “The Twilight Zone” and Cheech Marin.

We watched in awe as Kenny turned the ball over and over in his hand, his head turned slightly sideways, as if he were holding a chicken with four heads.

In unison, we all burst out in laughter, watching as Kenny admired his “Ball From Outer Space.”

Bill took a bow and smiled.

 

April Fools’s Day Should Be More Often

Sometimes, I wish every day were April Fools’ Day. With enough creativity, hilarity becomes infectious and we fall into our respective pillows filled with shaving cream, believe fantastical stories without regard to reason, and remember that life itself is one continuous prank on each of us. It is the best thumb-in-the-eye to this stuffed-shirt world.

The world would be both more interesting and tolerable if tomfoolery flourished with greater frequency. I’m not just saying this because I evidently am built with nothing except goofiness in mind.

I don’t usually do much, but I admire any attempt to catch someone off guard.

Earlier, I called the warranty manager for my home-builder and slowly told her I had an awkward situation. “Well, the heating technician who came to our house was outside without protective eye-wear and got his face full of dust from the unit. He came inside to use our bathroom and flush his face clean. He left his glass eye in a cup next to the sink. And I think he forgot he left it there when he was done.” It wasn’t until she started typing that it hit her that she probably ought to reconsider sending that email. It was good fun and she laughed.

Everyone should get a laugh like that one.