Laughter

Lately I have noticed that I've been watching a lot of comedies. Netflix keeps track of everything I watch, whether or DVD or instant viewing - and the majority of them have been under the category "comedy". With the notable exception of Jesus Camp. Perhaps it is because I watched Jesus Camp that I have been watching so much comedy lately - to balance things out.

Anyway, I have realized that I don't really laugh out loud at movies very much. In fact, I haven't laughed out loud a whole lot lately. Thinking back on it, the last time I laughed out loud was when I was still in SD. Granted I haven't been here all that long, but a person should laugh out loud frequently - I think.

Two separate episodes that I remember laughing out loud while I was in South Dakota. My apologies for the people involved in these stories because I am not going to ask for your permission nor disguise your identities. These scenarios bring me great joy to think about them and I want you to know that!

The first involves my mother. I love my mother - couldn't even conceive what a better mother would be like because I'm pretty sure none exist. (Yes, I know father's day is coming up, but he'll get his own post soon.) Back to Mom. Whenever we are together - we get a little silly. A couple of years ago - oh I guess about 5 years ago now - we both decided to play in the Arlington All-School reunion band. We tried rehearsing together in the living room only to take one look at each other and start laughing until we were crying. Needless to say it was a good thing French Horns and Trombones don't sit near each other in band!

Not the story I was going to tell. This one is: Mom and I were in the car driving back from my Grandma Henry's house. Dad had driven separately, but he was just ahead of us in the pickup. Grandma Henry lives about 4 or 5 blocks from our house - takes all of 2 minutes to drive the distance. As Mom pulled in the alley she was explaining some construction on the apartment building next to our house. As she approached the garage she turns on her blinker and keeps talking. Finally I asked her as she's about to turn into the garage if she was going to open the door first. She looked down realizing that she had turned on her blinker instead of hitting the garage door opener. The sad thing was - neither of us realized it until that point. Sure enough, by the time we pulled into the garage and met up with Dad again we were in hysterics. The story doesn't sound all that funny - but believe me - every time we came home I asked mom if she signaled before she turned into the garage. :)

My other major laughing memory comes courtesy of my good friend Emily. Emily came to visit me late one night the weekend before I came back to MA. We were sitting on my bed and she was telling me a story of what happened to her that morning. Emily wears contacts, but since she was only home for a short while, she had forgotten her contact solution. Her contacts were giving her some trouble so she took the bottle on the bathroom sink (a bottle she thought to be her sister's contact solution) and doused her contact and put it in her eye. Her eye burned - it turned out that she had put disinfectant on her contact instead of contact solution. I haven't even gotten to the funny part yet. Apparently, at the very moment that she put the contact in her eye her father had asked her a question. Emily, feeling the need to let her father know why she wasn't answering yelled "I'm in distress! I'm in distress!" You know, I still laugh when I think of that. Who says that? Most people just say "Ow."

My encouragement to you this summer is work hard, but let yourself laugh a lot. Watch a funny movie. Here are some suggestions:

Underdog (Unexpected)
The Emperor's New Groove (one of the funniest movies ever.)
Spaceballs (May the schwarz be with you)
Death at a Funeral (British Dark Comedy - but stinkin' hilarious)
License to Wed (It's got Robin Williams and John Krasinski - which means both punchlines and awkward situational humor - pretty good!)

And if movies aren't your thing -

The Office
30 Rock
Seinfeld
Psych

I could go on, but it is really late and I need to get to bed. Have a good night!