[Seth Says] Wedding Bells Are Ringing!
Of course, I'm married to my work.
And not to the corporate work that brings in the big money (much to my father's dismay), but to the smaller, more personal things (insert joke here)(insert "insert here" joke here) like this newsletter and the occasional speech. (Literally, occasional speeches and occasional poetry; it's what I do.) I love writing wedding speeches. Next to pure humor, it's my favorite thing to write.
I always say, it's hard for me to get repeat business for Best Man speeches because very few people are invited to be the Best Man at multiple weddings. (Arguably I've been honored as the Worst Man at a wedding)(And I've certainly been the Wurst Man at a deli)(As a consumer, not a producer)(in spite of Alan Sherman's advice)
But this past week I had a client reach out for whom I had written a Best Man speech last year which was very well received, and lo and behold he has been asked to give a speech at another friend's upcoming wedding and asked if I'd write it for him -- which I was delighted to do.
Not just because I enjoy writing wedding speeches in general, but perhaps especially because in these proverbial (curseal!) INTERESTING TIMES, we are long on overwhelming bad news and short on joy, and so it's quite nice to be able to have a lend-lease program for joy (Lend love, not war!) and convey a best man's positive feelings to the couple to give them more positive feelings and share the love and humor with the attending crowd. And I get to borrow a bit of joy as well.
CAN I BORROW A CUP OF JOY?
Now that I've sent off my first draft, I can finally write this newsletter and tell you that sometimes you have to supplement with borrowed joy. Because it's not always another awesome best man speech for a good client. Sometimes you wake up tired and 200 of your bones hurt (right pinky feeling okay!) and the Internets are full of AI garbage and it's National Cruelty Week for the seventeenth time in a row.
But there is also joy. There are still friends sharing their creative triumphs, taking the stage with musicals and comedy shows and songs, and the metaphorical stage with artworks and poetry, and pulling themselves up (sometimes literally) to exist in the world as themselves for another day and make the world better by doing so.
And failing that sometimes you just pour yourself a Cup of Joy and a bowl of pad thai (do you pour pad thai?)(If you're not good at it you poor pad thai)(If you have it India Jaipur pad thai, and if it includes fried bread you poori pad thai)(I'm the poor man's Tim Kazurinsky)(Pour one out for Tim Kazurinsky)(I'll come in again.) and soak in the good.
I think a lot about Kurt Vonnegut's advice to notice when you are happy and to say or at least think, "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is." And I found myself saying it just the other night as I was enjoying a lovely dinner on our patio with Debbie, away from screens filled with bad news, just some charmingly noisy birds in the trees (and some less charmingly noisy motorcycles in the distance). Sometimes good food with good company is all you need.
SCREENS FILLED WITH BAD NEWS
I regret to inform you that I have once again written about the news. Hopefully I can be forgiven; it's a common enough sin for people whose writing appears in newspapers. But as usual I've added a dash of sarcasm (and a dot of nonsense)(with no reMorse), as this week we explore the various ways the administration's idiocy fits into their agenda, including not one but two ways in which dumping a series of jets into the ocean is all about fighting DEI:
And look, I'm not gonna tell you to read more news; I wish for more happiness for my friends and family and so if anything I'd probably encourage you to read slightly less news. I'm just saying that if you ignore that good advice and plan to read more news anyway, you may as well read it in a slightly funnier format, possibly even from me, the poor man's John Oliver.
IF I WERE A RICH MAN
All day long I'd biddy biddy bum (which I presume is some sort of high class billionaire gambling and prostitution combo)(with extra fries). But while obviously many miseries can be alleviated with sufficient funding and money can remove much unhappiness, it remains true that some of the wealthiest people in the world and country still seem like some of the most miserable bastards, so there's certainly something to be said for being rich in companionship (even if you can't afford a round of biddy biddy bum).
That's all for this week's edition of Fiddler on the Goof. As always, I thank you for reading, will be back in two weeks with another column, and encourage you to find a happy moment this week where you can say to yourself (or someone else), "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is."
(And to think people say my newsletters aren't Kurt enough.)
I Always Vonnegut Joke,
Seth