If you don’t have your happy thought...
you can’t fly.
Old J.M. Barrie had a point. I don’t know how desirable it would be to never grow up, to spend your days forever 11 years old, chasing pirates and hoping that some young girl might show up to play mommy for you. But he did know his aeronautics. Oh, you can have your Bernoulli, your Wright Brothers and Leonardo, all your jets and models and wind tunnels…
At the end of the day, it’s our happy thoughts that let us fly.
And quite frankly, I’ve been in a bit of a dive lately, spinning out and approaching terminal velocity. (A engineer friend of mine famously described “terminal velocity” as “the speed at which you die.” Amazingly, he passed the course.) If I’ve hung on, it’s only because of my happy thoughts. So presented herewith, a few of them:
Neil Gaiman, for running a really very good blog.
More specifically, for bringing me the news of William Shatner’s new album. Oh, I know what you’re thinking. We’ve been down this road before. Trust me. Take a page from George Michael and listen without prejudice. Imagine perhaps that it’s Lou Reed or Liz Phair talking over the music. Tell me he’s not bringing something special to the table.
You can’t do it.
Avenue Q. What a great idea: Gen Xers are imprinted on Muppets, so let’s write an adult musical with puppets. Perfect. Pity tickets cost a billion dollars each, but hey, I got the soundtrack. I had to: it had numbers called Schadenfreude and The Internet Is For Porn, for crying out loud!
iTunes. One of my colleagues, a Windows programmer, asked me “what the big deal was about iTunes.” The answer is simple. It works. It’s the only damn program I have which works right pretty much all the time. No, it’s not making me more productive, smarter, better looking, more successful, more talented (which is all good, because Rupert Everett doesn’t need the competition). But it works right, the first time, and when computer support is half-plus of your job, that’s more than enough.
And StrongBad. Just for being StrongBad. (And this recent one is particularly good.)
Old J.M. Barrie had a point. I don’t know how desirable it would be to never grow up, to spend your days forever 11 years old, chasing pirates and hoping that some young girl might show up to play mommy for you. But he did know his aeronautics. Oh, you can have your Bernoulli, your Wright Brothers and Leonardo, all your jets and models and wind tunnels…
At the end of the day, it’s our happy thoughts that let us fly.
And quite frankly, I’ve been in a bit of a dive lately, spinning out and approaching terminal velocity. (A engineer friend of mine famously described “terminal velocity” as “the speed at which you die.” Amazingly, he passed the course.) If I’ve hung on, it’s only because of my happy thoughts. So presented herewith, a few of them:
Neil Gaiman, for running a really very good blog.
More specifically, for bringing me the news of William Shatner’s new album. Oh, I know what you’re thinking. We’ve been down this road before. Trust me. Take a page from George Michael and listen without prejudice. Imagine perhaps that it’s Lou Reed or Liz Phair talking over the music. Tell me he’s not bringing something special to the table.
You can’t do it.
Avenue Q. What a great idea: Gen Xers are imprinted on Muppets, so let’s write an adult musical with puppets. Perfect. Pity tickets cost a billion dollars each, but hey, I got the soundtrack. I had to: it had numbers called Schadenfreude and The Internet Is For Porn, for crying out loud!
iTunes. One of my colleagues, a Windows programmer, asked me “what the big deal was about iTunes.” The answer is simple. It works. It’s the only damn program I have which works right pretty much all the time. No, it’s not making me more productive, smarter, better looking, more successful, more talented (which is all good, because Rupert Everett doesn’t need the competition). But it works right, the first time, and when computer support is half-plus of your job, that’s more than enough.
And StrongBad. Just for being StrongBad. (And this recent one is particularly good.)
posted by Joe at 7:57 PM
4 Comments:
Note that "Expecto Patronum" only works with an exceptionally happy thought.
Thanks to itunes, I now know that my computer is ooverly fond of Liza Minnelli.
Joe,
Sorry to hear about the dive. The cool thing about dives is that, once you get to the end of the dive, those who've watched will think you were a stuntman and in control all along.
No, I don't have a blog...just the silly website. I signed up for LiveJournal just so I can post to yours and to the lovely Michelle's.
Did Dan or Casey make the pie comment? Man, do I ever miss that show. "The Local Weather" remains, in my opinion, possibly the best single episode of a show ever aired.
--PH
The line is from the episode "Dana and the Deep Blue Sea." Dan is the one who is saying that sometimes it's worth it; Casey is the one hip deep in pie.
I firmly believe that one of the best lines of dialogue in all of TV history is "You're wearing my shirt, Gordon."
Good friends, it's hard to be self-pitying when you're picturing Harry Potter being defended from the Dementors by a 12-foot high StrongBad...
Thanks for the info on that. I'll simply never forget the moment in "The Local Weather" when that Austrian long jumper broke the record. I was at home literally shouting "No WAY!!!" Ah, sports and life...
And, about two hours after saying I don't have a blog, I now do. Go ahead and check teacherrefpoet out. Bring the family.
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