I know how hard it is to put food on your family

My good friend Marc from Paris sent me this e-mail in which he told me how he laughed so much about something he read on my blog that his work colleagues became a bit concerned about his mental state. Thanks Marc, God bless you.

His story made me realise that lately I have been having these unusual laughing attacks quite often- the ones where you quite legitimately start laughing about something genuinely funny, but then you can't stop giggling and sniggering to yourself for another couple of hours. Although you realise it's kind of inapropriate and you've got some important clients standing in your office. It reminds me of school- the more you try to stop it, the less you can. It's great fun, and completely drug-free. (Well, it can be done on drugs as well and probably works quite well, but it's certainly cheaper without.)

I'm thinking the fact that I have been having these laughing attacks quite regularly indicates one of the following options: a) I am taking too many drugs. b) I am not taking enough drugs. c) My mental health is deteriorating and I am slowly but surely going loopy. d) I am a simple soul who is getting increasingly simpler and is satisfied with lame jokes. No matter which option is true, I have no doubt laughing is extremely healthy and the best medicine for my soul, so I'm definitely planning on keeping the laughing attacks going. It's the best feeling- laughing can turn the whole world around.

Speaking of funny things. I probably love the accidental joke the most. And being or becoming a journalist, double-meaning headlines crack me up. One of the funniest ones I've seen in a while was the one below. It appeared in the Sunday Mail after Prime Minister John Howard had made comments about terrorism, which he said was an "evil that we have to face." I thought it was hilarious and I'm almost certain the subs there had a bit of fun and were quite aware of the pun. I loved it.

There's a few more examples of great headlines, as one of our lecturers pointed out. Apparantly, they are all real- which is hard to believe.

There's the one about the female student who is delighted at her father’s appointment as head coach of a university football team:

"Student excited Dad got head job" (from the University Daily Kansas)

Or how about those ones:

"Iraqi head seeks arms"
"March planned for next August"
"Prostitutes appeal to Pope"
"Never withhold herpes infection from loved one"
"Eye drops off shelf"
"Squad helps dog bite victim"
"Dealers will hear car talk at noon"
"Enraged cow injures farmer with ax"
"Miners refuse to work after death"
"Two Soviet ships collide - one dies"
"Two sisters reunite after eighteen years at checkout counter"

I'm a bit obsessed with language, so I love stuff like that. I can laugh about it endlessly. (Yeah, it doesn't take much to make me happy.)

And just before I'll let you go, I would like to share with you a few quotes straight from the master. When we talk about accidental jokes, we just cannot go past our dear Dubuya. Here's some of my favourites:

"This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. And having said that, all options are on the table." --George W. Bush, Brussels, Belgium, Feb. 22, 2005

"They misunderestimated me." - George W. Bush, November 6, 2000 in Bentonville, Arkansas

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." -- George W. Bush, August 5, 2004

"We shouldn't fear a world that is more interacted." --George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., June 27, 2006

"I aim to be a competitive nation." --George W. Bush, San Jose, Calif., April 21, 2006

"If you choose to do so, when Iraq is liberated, you will be treated, tried and persecuted as a war criminal." -- George W. Bush in St. Louis on January 22, 2003

"I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family." -- George W. Bush, January 27, 2000 in New Hampshire

He's quite the comedian, good old Dubuya. Always good for a joke.