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Posts Tagged ‘humor’

Story for a Monday

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , on December 8, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Emily Bressler is helping you recognize, reflect on, and reject hypocrisy with this story at McSweeney’s:

I Work For an Evil Company, but Outside Work, I’m Actually a Really Good Person

I love my job. I make a great salary, there’s a clear path to promotion, and a never-ending supply of cold brew in the office. And even though my job requires me to commit sociopathic acts of evil that directly contribute to making the world a measurably worse place from Monday through Friday, five days a week, from morning to night, outside work, I’m actually a really good person.

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Photo by Joeyy Lee on Unsplash

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Welcome to the School Year

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , on August 29, 2025| Leave a Comment »

As the run-up to back-to-school time is starting up again, I’m thinking about students and teachers and technology.

With that in mind, I share this short in the tongue-in-cheek spirit in which it was written:

How I Learned to Stop Teaching and Love AI by Brian Michael Murphy

All students, for all assignments, should use ChatGPT to complete each task. Why would you waste your time writing a paper? We now have a tool that can do that for you. And all professors will save massive amounts of time and energy by using ChatGPT to grade all those papers. Isn’t that great? I mean, what an educational revolution.

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Photo by Lasse Jensen on Unsplash

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Laughing Too

Posted in Science!, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »

First let me make clear that what I’m about to share is 100% not safe for work. Or delicate ears. I mean, yeah, there’s a lot of swearing. That said, the subject matter is one of those topics that almost requires strong language.

This series of videos pairs climate scientists with comedians who translate for us regular folks.

Again, there’s definitely swearing!

Here’s an article about what they’re doing and why with a link to the main site.

And here’s an example:

David Cross Meets Prof Michael Oppenheimer | NSFW – YouTube

Watch Emmy Award-winning comedian David Cross and Professor Michael Oppenheimer pretty much fix the climate crisis between them, in the first US pilot of the hit “Climate Science Translated” series. What’s the gist? Most Americans (74%) actually want more climate action from government. What no one wants is sky-high insurance bills, a home destroyed by extreme weather, or to pass on a ruined planet to their kids. 

The films use humor (and profuse swearing) to translate the urgency of the problem, and bring it back down to Earth. 

For more, check out the playlist. They even made PG versions, if that’s your thing!

And yes, climate change is something to cry about. But we can laugh too.

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Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

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No Joke

Posted in Holidays, tagged , , , , , on April 1, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Happy April Fools’ Day, everyone. In case you were wondering about the origins of today’s wacky “holiday”:

April Fools: The Roots of an International Tradition

But where do we get the strange custom of playing pranks on April 1? The short answer is that nobody knows for sure. All we know is that the custom was known in Renaissance Europe, and probably has roots older than that.

The article goes into detail (a lot more detail), but if you just want to get into the spirit of things, here’s one outlet’s list of the 30 Best April Fools’ Pranks 2025.

And if this is your kind of thing, go forth and be funny!

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Photo by John Cardamone on Unsplash

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Crazy Days

Posted in Other, tagged , , , , on March 6, 2025| Leave a Comment »

This week has been a little nuts, work wise, and I’m missing the time and energy to write. I was working on a draft for today’s post but it’s not ready, so here’s a helping of fun animal news:

“I have seen what a laugh can do. It can transform almost unbearable tears into something bearable, even hopeful.”

— Bob Hope

Hope the week is treating you well!

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Photo by Elvir K on Unsplash

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A Quick Bit of Fun

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , on December 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »

A fun short story from Andrew Jensen in Stupefying Stories:

“Chapter 7”

The display of Screwdrivers I was admiring wasn’t the problem. The talking alien was.

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Photo by Jonathan Martin Pisfil on Unsplash

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Humor, That’s the Ticket

Posted in Funny, Other, tagged , , , , , on November 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Updates on the Arc of the Moral Universe – McSweeney’s Internet Tendency

The arc of the moral universe is running very late. It’s sitting in standstill traffic behind a fleet of Amazon delivery vans, a burning Tesla, and a stretch limousine with Truck Nuts.

The arc of the moral universe is leaning on the horn.

The arc of the moral universe shouldn’t have stopped for that latte.

The arc of the moral universe owes you an apology.

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Photo by Kyle Wagner on Unsplash

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Lighter Reads

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on May 30, 2024| Leave a Comment »

The news, man, it can be heavy. If you’re in the market for lighter reads, put these short stories from Reactor (f.k.a. Tor.com, why are so many sites changing their names these days? like we don’t all have enough to keep track of) on your list. 

Six Seriously Funny Speculative Short Stories – Reactor

Haven’t read them all yet but I’m looking forward to it. For even more recommendations, scroll down to the page’s comment section. Readers have thoughts.

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Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash

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Taxes and the (Not So) Grim Reaper

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on April 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

It’s that time again for Americans: Tax Day. Fun? Not really, although my taxes are done and I can rest easy knowing that I have contributed to the collective project that is civilization, and also won’t get a disturbing letter from the IRS.

It’s also a day when a lot of us could use more humor in our lives, which makes it a perfect excuse to promote my friend David Hankins’ new book, out today!

Death and the Taxman | Universal Book Links Help You Find Books at Your Favorite Store!

Allies are few and hijinks are many in this hilarious race against time as the Grim Reaper himself tries to cheat death and avoid an audit by Hell’s Auditor and the Office of Micromanagement.

After sharing an ill-advised cup of tea with IRS auditor Frank Totmann, Grim finds himself trapped in Frank’s life amid a world of dangers: love, betrayal, reckless cabbies, implacable demon hunters, and the incessant needs that keep his body ticking . . . for now.

David’s writing is terrific, and this book is based on his award-winning short story of the same name. It’s great to see humorous fantasy done so well. Want a sample of his writing? Preview a chapter here.

Because when it comes to taxes, who doesn’t appreciate a laugh?

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Photo by Yomex Owo on Unsplash

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The Answer

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 18, 2021| Leave a Comment »

Forty-two years ago this month, we learned the answer to life, the universe and everything. Even if humorous sci-fi isn’t your thing, Douglas Adams’ work has permeated pop culture.

42 years later, how ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’ has endured

The influence of the Hitchhiker’s Guide “is everywhere,” says Marcus O’Dair, author of The Rough Guide to the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

“We can see it in culture, where Adams’ story is rumoured to have inspired everything from the band Level 42 to comedy show The Kumars at No. 42,” he says. “We can see it in tech: in the real-life ‘knife that toasts,’ for instance, or in-ear translation services reminiscent of the Babel fish. The most visible sign of its ubiquity, though, might be the fact that we can celebrate its anniversary not at 40 or 50 years but at 42 — and everyone knows why.”

This book let me know that there was a place for humorous absurdities in writing, and that it really doesn’t pay to take yourself too seriously.

“The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is an indispensable companion to all those who are keen to make sense of life in an infinitely complex and confusing Universe, for though it cannot hope to be useful or informative on all matters, it does at least make the reassuring claim, that where it is inaccurate it is at least definitively inaccurate. In cases of major discrepancy it’s always reality that’s got it wrong.

This was the gist of the notice. It said “The Guide is definitive. Reality is frequently inaccurate.”

― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

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Cake with bypass, made by me. To scale.

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