Journeys of a Bent Mind

Several weeks ago I was asked by my publicist (I actually have a publicist for this soon to be printed book…!) to write a “Dedication” for the book – Not fully remembering exactly what a “Dedication” is compared to an “Introduction” or “Forward” I set to writing something for the book – Turns out a “Dedication” is a brief several sentence comment saying something about the person/persons to whom the book is “dedicated” – So, here is the original “tome” I submitted with the follow-up appropriately brief one that will be in the book…

Dedication I

This anthology is a tribute to dads everywhere who have taken on the task of bringing a smile and chuckle to their families through the time-honored medium, the play-on-words, or the “pun.” In this foray into the realm of humor we most often elicit the now familiar medical affliction, Ophthalomanic Distortion (rolling of the eyes) and “Self-inflicted Battery (slapping of the forehead), capped by a shrill, “Oh, Dad! Stop!”

Long have we persisted while suffering under the withering heat of our family’s mortification. Our spouses put up with us for better or worse; our kids are embarrassed and beside themselves. They both utter deep and pitiful groans, but are usually caught stifling a smile. Still we go on, dedicated and resolute. For some of us it as though it’s in our DNA; for others it;’s more of an inheritance left to us by our dads along with our grandfather’s pocket watch, an Indian Head Penny, and a nubbin of a yellow Crayon.

For us it is a righteous calling; its origins are deep within and we can’t help ourselves – we can do no other…

Dedication II

To all those fathers who are in love with the English language, who relish mangling words to extract a powerful and different meaning just to get a chuckle – Enjoy, you know who you are…

With the publication of my book of puns I have a positive story to tell of my experiences of working with the editors at Ulysses Press in Berkeley, CA. Being new to the whole process of “writing” a book and working with people at a publishing house who will be putting my works to print I had no idea what to expect – I did have some horror stories I’d heard over the years from authors who had some harrowing times getting past some editors to a final printing but nothing in the way of personal experiences. Continue reading →

There is a Chinese saying: “A picture is worth a thousand words.” I wonder if the opposite isn’t equally true: “A word is worth a thousand pictures.” Think on that for a moment: one word can stir memory traces of past experiences and flood you with vivid images, whether good or bad. We mostly prefer the former and eschew the latter (This is a perfect opportunity to play with a word. I said “eschew” and your natural response if you’ve been paying attention is, “Gesundheit!”) (Sorry…! I just can’t help myself!) Continue reading →

Humor: sudden, inexplicable whim or notion. The quality of being laughable or comical; drollery; farcicality; jocularity; ludicrousness; ridiculousness; wittiness; zaniness.

Someone once said, “laughter is the best medicine…” I don’t know what affliction they were referencing but it does seem to do a world of wonder for a great many things. Setting aside the major traumas and losses because of their scale in the emotional Continue reading →