Archive for the ‘Ditties’ Category
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Schizophrenia: Two Views
- It’s Sheila: On Discovering the Name of the Horse You Rode through the Desert on. Y’know, the One You Thought Had No Name
- Too Short for the Low-hanging Fruit: The Kevin Hart Story
- Schoolroom Horror Avoided: My English Teacher Wants Me to Use “Intoxicants,” But Only in a Sentence. Phew!
- Schoolroom Revelation: It’s Not the School I hate. It’s the Principal of the Thing
- Why Can’t All Pools Just Be Heated for Christ’s Sake?
- God’s Broken System of Reincarnation: On Coping with People Who Were Cows or Other Livestock in Their Last Lifetime.
- Feelin’ Very Caucasian: The Mike Pence Story
- You Can’t Get There from Here: On Pushing String and Planting Cut Flowers
- “Ha Ha. Look Everybody. Breana Says She’s This Many Fingers”: Fighting Ageism in Toddlers
- How My Sister and I Became Attached at the Hip: On Choosing to Become Conjoined Twins
- Ice Cream Truck Jingles You Never Forget: Sweet Baby Jesus I Beg You, Get Them Out My Head!
- Epileptic Fit Bit: Least Loved Wheel of Fortune “Before and Afters”
- The Great American Navel
- I’m So Dumb and I Don’t Even Know It: Admitting You’re Stupid is the First Step on the Road to Recovery
- “Van Gogh”: What Babies Say When the Dodge Caravan Drives Away
- Life: A Preexisting Condition Covered Only by the Sky
- One Can + One Can = Toucan: The Story of Kellogg’s Froot Loops
- “Cargo”: What Babies of Federal Express Employees Say When the Dodge Caravan Drives Away
- Thinner: The David Hardiman Story
- Thinner: What I Use to Dilute Oil-based Paints
- Thinner: How People with Lisps Pronounce “sinner”
- “Escargot”: What French Babies Say When the Dodge Caravan Drives Away
Top Ten Most Popular Items Sold at the Dollar Tree
- No-Ply Toilet Paper – For eco-friendly people with time, and other stuff, on their hands.
- Rescue Hamsters – Only $1 a dozen. Remember: The difference between a hamster and a gerbil is that a hamster has more dark meat.
- Sorta Depends – Sorta work for the sorta incontinent
- One Cheek Fanny Cleaner – Another half-ass product from the Dollar Tree
- Shadow Puppets – So flimsy they don’t even cast shadows
- Ventriloquist Dummies – Really dumb. Their mouths don’t open. No wonder they only cost a dollar
- Reconditioned Kleenex – Pre-owned facial tissues for the phlegmishly frugal
- Plant-based Iguana Filets – For those who cannot afford actual iguana filets
- Meat-based Plants – Turnabout is fair play. Try the surprisingly affordable Hot Dogwood tree.
- Sarah Huckabee’s Beauty Mask – Sold in the Halloween section
- Pumpkin Spice Catheters – Combining everything you don’t like, in something you don’t need, for one low price
- Bristleless Toothbrush for Denture Wearers – Brush like no one’s watching. At least I hope not.
Failed Candy Bars
- York Peppermint Waldo – Really good candy…if you can find it
- Almond Mellows – Available at marijuana dispensaries. Simultaneously causes and satisfies the Munchies
- Reese’s Feces – Ummm, maybe it’s filled with peanut butter, and maybe it’s not
- Really, Really Hilarious Ranchers – Regular Jolly Ranchers infused with THC
- Good-n-Linty – Sometimes candy is where you find it
- Arm Candy – Initially very popular with men, but they soon discovered they just couldn’t afford it
- 2 Musketeers Bar – A low budget 3 Musketeers. No chocolate. Just solid nougat. Sold at the Dollar Store.
- Almond Sad – Actually an Almond Joy for the clinically depressed
- Toddler Ruth’s – Baby Ruth bars that we’re left out too long
- Juvenile Ruth’s – Baby Ruth bars that we’re left out way too long
- Floater Ruth’s – Great for emptying pools
- Twits – Twix for stupid people
- DITS – Telegraphic sister candy to DOTS. People found the whole Dit-Dot thing too old-fashioned.
- Sweet Farts – In test markets all agreed: They absolutely stunk.
- Herschel’s Chocolate – Not from Hershey, but from nearby Bethlehem, PA most found this Semitic chocolate “too Jewish”
- Bit Bats – A knock-off version of Kit Kats. It’s the first candy bar that bites you.
- Claire Danes – Maybe a candy, maybe an actress. Bite it and find out.
- Charleston pre-Chewed – Popular candy in nursing homes where fatigued senior jaws can use a little help
- $28,000 Bar – A deep discount $100,000 Bar. 72% smaller than the original. Popular with dieters.
- Clusterf*cks – Too many snafus relegated this problematic candy to the dustbin of history
- M’s – Rejected M&Ms from the Mars candy factory. Available in Plain and Stupid.
- Shittles – A don’t ask, don’t tell version of Skittles
- Goodbar – A stay at home candy that never really caught on
- Goodbar – This candy bar was very popular early on, but eventually became Mrs. Goodbar and candy eaters began to lose interest,
- Payday Bar – Discontinued as Paydays kept getting smaller and smaller every year.
- Bit of Honey – A grammatically corrected version of Bit-O-Honey. Popular at book fairs.
- Lot-O-Honey – What happens when you remember her birthday. (yeah I know – It’s not a candy bar. It’s called being an artist!)
- Bitter Honey – What happens when there’s nothing under the tree for wifey. (yeah I know – It’s not a candy bar. It’s still called being an artist!)
- Honey, Honey – An Early ABBA hit (Still taking artistic license here. OK. Now back to the candy bars)
- Cracker Jills – A female version of Cracker Jack. Discontinued after a recurrent psychological manufacturing flaw, where they could never get the peanuts to come out of their shells
- Gummi Dares – Made from bear secretions. I dare you to eat one.
- Coconut Coated Tootsie Rolls – A Halloween favorite. Especially when you substitute clumped cat litter.
- Chortles – If you like to Snicker, you’ll love to Chortle. “Chortles really satisfies,” he guffawed.
- Gecko Wafers – It’s how Necco Wafers are sold in Hawaii. If you leave them out they migrate to the ceiling.
- Milky Whey – “Not enough curds doomed this well-intentioned candy,” he snickered
- Butterfinger – Sales really picked up after they finally put the letters “er’ between the “t” and “f”.
- Duds – Milk Duds that bombed
- Mentals – Strange substance. If you place a Mental in a Coke bottle, you foam at the ears.
- 2M – Mathematicians version of M&Ms. Strangely enough 2Ms are made by 3M.
- Candy Corn – A lot like Fruitcake. People own it. Give it as gifts, but never actually sit down and eat it.
- Senior Mints – A more mature version of Junior Mints. These geriatric mints enter your mouth and then forget why they went in there in the first place
Faustian Bargain Struck: Truths I Must Publicly Admit to, in Order to Gain Entrance Into Heaven
I David Hardiman, being of mind and body, and in order to become heaven-worthy, do hereby declare, stipulate and admit the following:
- I believe a corn maize is redundant
- I Try to be Humble: I only use the word “oomph” only when I want to speak with pizzazz.
- I believe it’s important to “dance like no one’s watching.” And I believe this is doubly important when it comes to showering.
- Cheap Thrills: I admit I have chewed aluminum foil just to experience the low-level tingle of voltage running through my teeth. This measly oral quiver also works by connecting the poles of a 9-volt battery with your tongue
- I secretly hope that Yahoo! purchases Yoo-Hoo. You do too?
- I once made the mistake of staying at a hotel whose sign read: “Mucous-friendly.” It’s snot true. Really
- I admit I once hacked into the Denny’s wireless ordering system and ordered 50 Cheese Omelets. I then nonchalantly walked in just to watch them scramble.
- I used to pray with my fingers crossed. These days I pray with my eyes crossed
- I shamefully admit, I’ve gone to an AM/PM mini market…just to buy my dinner. Who doesn’t like one (or more) of those high-mileage hot dogs rotated to perfection? Dinner at an AM/PM mini market is kind of like eating at a filling station (a restaurant) within a filling station (a gas station).
- I’ve both given and received loincloths as gifts. Heck, when I walk my dog we each wear one. That’s why when traveling I always look for “Loincloth-friendly” hotels. It’s true I’m not trying to cover up anything.
- I’ve gnever gnawed gnocchi. Gnot once. Who gnu?
- Confused Senses: I have a special talent: I’m a non-lip reader. Without ever looking at someone’s lips I can understand exactly what they’re saying, just by listening. Strangely enough I can only understand sign language by listening to the person next to them speak the words they’re signing. And when I try to explain this to language signers, it falls on deaf ears. Maybe it’s because I wear a mask now and they can only read lips.
- Everything I ever needed to learn, I learned in…oh, wait, I still haven’t learned everything I’ve needed to learn
- I marvel at how rearranging letters in a certain pattern causes people to think of what the words symbolize. It’s like some kind of code or something. I understand principle, but I don’t know how it works.
- I spend too much time wondering what a Caitlyn Jenner gender reveal party would be like
- When I dine out at a fancy restaurant (other than an AM/PM mini market) I invariably order the “charcuterie.” Not because I like charcuterie, but because I feel so smugly continental when I say, “Ah yes garcon, I’ll start with the charcuterie and then perhaps a nice nom de plume, with a side of eminence grise and noblesse oblige
- I admit, that in a recently created “Faustian Bargain” list I’ve used the term nom de plume and have not really known what I meant: My pen name is Daveed Hardrama and I approved this message
- I’ve eaten lunch by going to Costco and getting in line 3 times at the free samples stations. Costco is known for its filling stations…and they sell gas there too.
- People have asked me why I dance in front of my bathroom mirror? And the simple answer is, “Because it’s too hard to dance behind my bathroom mirror. And anyway, how did you know I was dancing in front of my bathroom mirror? Now I’m going to have to dance like someone is Damn you!”
- If at the drive-thru I’m shortchanged an order of fries, I sure as hell circle back, alert them to their error, and get made whole. If, on the other hand, I’ve mistakenly received an extra cheeseburger, well, I don’t really need to stand on principle do I? And I drive away with my bun-filled bonanza.
- I once walked across a troubled bridge over serene water – Simon says
- I can recite all 17 alphanumerics in my VIN#. I know. Pretty good right? And I easily accomplish this when I’m reading it right off the registration.
- Every time I try to go egg candling, I always end up glass blowing instead. You too? It’s the same with my volunteer work. Every time I start to drive down to volunteer at the soup kitchen, I wind up at Figaro’s Bistro in front of a charcuterie plate with a side of nom de plume. I’m hoping it’s the thought that counts here.
- I admit I have tried a combover – but it wasn’t on my head.
- (If this admission doesn’t get me into heaven, nothing will) When I was a teenager and no one was home, under cover of darkness I used to get naked, sneak out the back door and see how far I could get from the house before my inner voice warned “This is not a good time to be running through the neighbors’ backyards buck naked. Since when did Mr. Johnson get a motion detector spot light? I feel like a prisoner trapped in the yard. And why couldn’t the widow Jenkins pick-up just some of Fido’s poop. Smushy, smushy, smushy. If I’m caught this will not look good on a police blotter or my resume for that matter. But this being the mid-70’s my defense would be, ‘I was sleepstreaking’.”
- I once had my ear lobes pressurized to 30 lbs. psi so I could float down the Erie Canal. It was a very eerie Erie ear experience, but I lobed it.Although I don’t have a prehensile tail, I do have prehensile nostrils. It’s snot true. And whenever Frank Sinatra had a cold he was called Frank Snot True.
- I think the entire premise of this piece could use a little more oomph. Maybe Wonka can spare some Oompa Loompas.
Me: OK Guardian Angel. I held up my end of the bargain, can I get into heaven now?
Guardian Angel: Well David don’t you know? You’re already in heaven?
Me: You mean I didn’t have to admit any of that stuff?
Guardian Angel: That’s right Dorothy. You were there all along.
Me: Now listen here angel behind the curtain – first of all, you can just stop with the Wizard of Oz reference and second of all, If you’ve ever had a dog throw up into your mouth like I have (details available upon request), you’ll always feel like you’re playing with house money. So the jokes on you.
Magazines for Micro-niche Markets
- Ultra-Marathon Runner – Voted best marathon magazine 5 years running
- Con Appetit – Eat just like a convict with this sister publication to Bon Appetit. Try all these gruel and unusual recipes and you’ll be asking for, “More Sir!” Recipes include:
- A Salted and Battered Chicken
- Prisoner Pot Pie
- Felonious Monk…Fish
- Perpetrator Pepper Sprayed Tater Tots
- Maybe It’s Peanut Butter, Maybe It’s Not
- Stair Master Magazine – Offers tips on mastering its sobering 32,000 Step Program. Remember, the first step to getting in shape is admitting you don’t have a Stair Master.
- Stare Master Monthly – Stare like nobody’s watching. Master the Stare Master’s no-step program. This Zen-like periodical deals with focusing on a single object so intently you become the object you’re staring at. A figure-ground reversal for the ages. Caution: Do not attempt this with Picasso paintings.
- Architects’ Digest – Sister publication to Architectural Digest. It’s more gastronomically oriented than design oriented. This high-gloss, 4-color publication endoscopically tracks the movement of foodstuffs through the alimentary canals of noted architects – from mastication to defecation, it’s all about the journey in this no holes barred gastrozine
- Vanity Good – A less literary version of Vanity Fair marketed to a “more better class of reader.”
- Advanced Web Design – Not for humans, but for spiders looking for new web-based layouts instead of the boring old preprogrammed genetic ones we’re all too familiar with. An advice column advises spiders how to cope with systemic arachnophobia.
- Popular Mechanics II – Celebrating well-liked laborers and other popular mechanics.
- Field & Stream II – Focuses on how Sally Field is coping with her streaming services.
- Chair Massage Monthly – For sedentary people who want to “give back” to their chairs. Why someone would want to massage their chair is beyond me, but, apparently many chairs yearn to have their arms, legs, chairbacks and even seats massaged. I know I like my seat massage, so I won’t sit in judgment of chairs. What’s next? Bread massage. Who kneads that?
- Who’s a Good Boy? magazine – Sister publication to Well Yes You Are. It’s a magazine claiming to be designed by dogs for dogs, but you can see the American Kennel Club’s paw prints all over this puppy. Dog POV articles include:
- If the Tables Were Turned I’d Gladly Scoop My Master’s Poop
- Overcoming the Stigma of Dog Shaming
- If Only Hitler was Given a Puppy Instead of a Swastika, Things Would’ve Been a Lot Different
- Slow Fly magazine – This very limited appeal periodical offers emotional support to sluggish flies who, through no fault of their own, fly very, very slowly and are likely doomed to a life of an early flattening. Phlegmatic flies are identified early (usually in the maggot stage) and told this publication is their last best hope to cope. Articles include: How I Survived a SWAT Team and the truculent So yeah, I’m in the buttermilk. Go shoo yourself.
- 4-Ply Toilet Paper Gazette – A magazine geared to rich assh*les. It bills itself as “Soft as a kittens belly.” At the Charmin Softness Awards Ceremony, 4-Ply Toilet Paper managed a clean sweep of all honors – and as we all know, a clean sweep is a rarity for this kind of thing.
- Recycled Towel Magazine – This old rag has been wiping up the competition for years with absorbing stories wrung from the fabric of society…OK. I’ll just stop there.
- Invisible People Magazine – A magazine for the faceless masses who subscribe to it – the Silent and Unseen Majority. This publication has a short shelf life because it’s written in disappearing ink. The cartoon page is boffo. Shows a busy doctor informing his nurse, “Tell the invisible man I can’t possibly see him today.” And the whole time the invisible patient is standing right there…completely naked.
- Bedsore Illustrated – Sports Illustrated rude attempt to parlay their success in the sporting field into the medical field. The February swimsuit edition was a disaster. And after many reader complaints, the scratch and sniff page was discontinued.
- Fine Print Aficionado – For people who think small
- AARP for Kids – For the pre-retirement demographic of ages 0-12. Prepares youngsters for a rigorous life of early bird dinners, entitlement programs, reverse mortgages and participation trophies in the form of senior discounts you’ve earned simply because you can still fog a mirror. Inaugural issue has Shawn Mendes on the cover. Yeah, I didn’t know who he was either till I Googled him.
- Microwave Aficionado – Again, not what you think. This specialized publication glorifies, celebrates and demonstrates methods of very tiny handwaving.
- Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific Magazine – Originally published as: I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Magazine. For some reason this publication melts in your mouth, not in your hands. Anyway if you’re considering subscribing – Just Do It.
- Playman…of a Certain Age – Playboy publication geared for older men. The centerfold is really hard to unfold, like those produce bags at the grocery store. Articles include: How do I Know if She’s Blonde or Brunette if All Her Hair is Gray? And Do Walk-in Bathtubs Ruin the Mood?
- Playlady…of a Certain Age – A Playboy publication for women who no longer have to worry about birth control. Features include: How to Gently Suggest to Your Partner It’s Time for a Scrotal Bra and What to Do When the Grandkids Find the Vibrator
- Highlights for Dull Normals – A simplified version of Highlights for Children. Sections include: Which Hand is Missing Thumb? and Should You Take It Personally When a Monkey Throws Feces at You?
- Better Huts and Gardens – For the paleo-man who prefers to party like it’s 22,000 BC. This instructive periodical informs natives how to make “grub sushi”, how to hollow out a trre trunk to create a very personal commode and what to do when a beaver overstays its welcome.
- Them – A semantic hybrid of Us and People, Them magazine focuses on social alienation because you’re you, and not Them. As always each issue of Them is printed in the 3rd person.
- Tissue Magazine – I have every issue of Tissue ever issued, and if I have an issue with Tissue, it’s that I don’t know if it’s about Kleenex (tissue) or sinew (tissue).
- You’re Way Too Interested in My Armpits So Get the Hell Away From Me You Creep…Magazine – Whether your armpits are convex or concave this self-defense publication will keep them right where they belong; safely concealed under your shoulders and away from the prying eyes of armpit fetishists. Articles include:
- Vegas Pit Boss Tosses Oglers from Caesar’s Who Were Eyeing Women with Arms Akimbo
- Is that Museum Visitor Appreciating the Art or Just Staring at the Venus de Milo’s Armpits?
- Pharm Living – This Big Pharma publication highlights methods of improving crop yields through the use of non-FDA approved, Vegetable Enhancing Drugs (VEDs). Articles include:
- Garnish Industry Rocked by 80 lb. Radishes and 9-foot Parsley Sprigs
- Dwarf Fruit Trees Now Dwarf Regular Fruit Trees
- Auto Industry Reports a Bumper Crop of Bumpers
- Aviation Hour – Companion publication to Aviation Week. Why wait a whole week for aviation news when you can receive hourly updates stuffed directly into your mailbox? A lifeline for OCD pilots. Subscription comes with a complimentary hangar to store all your magazines delivered every hour 24/7. Largest carbon footprint of anything ever printed.
- Amish Life – Addresses such questions as:
- Amish Identity Crisis: Am I really “Am” or am I just Am-ish?
- Trying to Overcome Horse and Buggy Thinking
- Is it Morally Wrong to Eat Until You’re Satisfied?
- Amish Exorcisms in Southern Pennsylvania: Untainting a Taint
- Does God Want Us to Inhale?
- Is Gravity Just Holding Us Down, or is There More to It?
- If Cleanliness is Next to Godliness, What’s Tidiness Near?
- Helga Participated in a Wet Bonnet Contest, We Must Stone Her?
Magazines That Went Bankrupt and the Reasons Thereof
- Origami Magazine – Folded
- Weight Watchers Digest – Went belly up
- 25% Quarterly – Too Redundant
- Modern Slavery – The Civil War
- Mad Magazine – The Internet
- Thyme Magazine – Herbal copycat never stood a chance
- Beast Magazine – Was beauty killed the Beast
Newly Discovered Elements Enter the Periodic Table
As a college student I worked at a snooty little bistro called The Periodic Table – a restaurant renowned for its primordial soup and Big Bang Burgers. To say The Periodic Table caters to academia would be…ummm, the second sentence in this paragraph (sometimes I just don’t know how to finish a thought). But not only does The Periodic Table cater to academia, they also cater to people who…ummm want food supplied to an event they’re having. Again, sometimes I just don’t know how to finish a thought.
The Periodic Table has a superlative staff. Pastry chef Madame Kurie won a MacArthur Genius Award for twice baking half-baked ideas so they’d emerge from the oven as one fully formed idea. I probably could’ve used her help in the first paragraph. After all, she’s a stable genius. I’m just happy to be a wobbly virtuoso.
Susan Williams, the sous chef, can be very argumentative. She often exclaims, “You don’t like my bouillabaisse? Sue me.” She’s shrewd. She knows no one will sue a sous chef named Sue?
With Covid-19 protocols in effect the social distancing between elements is a minimum of 6 atoms. It’s strictly enforced by nuclear bouncers carrying electron microscopes. The Periodic Table spun-off a restaurant called the Isotope. Managers mathematically determined the Isotope would last for 20 years, but signed a 10-year lease because they were smart enough to realize the unstable Isotope would have a half-life of 10 years.
The Periodic Table is a popular love nest for couples who are carbon dating. Chemistry majors love this semantic den of clever linguistics. For example, chem students can order their milk shakes in three states: solid, liquid or Massachusetts.
Most of the tips I received were of the “Hey, don’t do anything Einstein wouldn’t do,” variety. The fallout from working at the Periodic Table added gritty luster to my otherwise geek-dominated résumé (1st chair high school triangle, Chess Club equipment manager, foster home for orphaned light sabers). Unfortunately the money I earned had a half-life faster than radium and I spent money like an “unstable Cesium-137 atom decaying in a nuclear chain reaction” (I never get tired of that old expression). And even though I spent most of the money on ginkgo biloba, I could never quite remember where it all went.
I hope you enjoyed this overture to my list of newly discovered elements. Elements that all have one thing in common. They radiate humor:
- Shelium – Newly discovered sister element to Helium. Oddly enough when you inhale it, it makes your voice deeper. And even though Shelium is lighter than air, it always thinks it’s fat.
- Fartium – At first it was thought to be a Noble Gas. But after just one whiff you knew…it ain’t so noble.
- Cranium – This element is a head case
- Copper – Not that kind of copper. In fact, not really an element at all. It’s what gangsters called a policeman in the 1930s.
- Miseryium – Not much is known about this dark matter other than Miseryium loves company
- Moronium – An element that only seems to affect other people’s intelligence
- Acronymium – BTW, Scientists believe Acronymium stands for something, but FYI, they don’t know what…LOL
- Belgium – Not an element. Just a shout out to the country of Belgium.
- Tamponium – Tamponium will always have a seat at any Periodic Table – usually once a month.
- Yumyumium – What Chinese restaurants sprinkle on food to make it taste better
- Conundrum – Scientists are still trying to figure out just where this perplexing element fits in
- Viagrium – A lot like zirconium in that it’s not an authentic rock-hard diamond, but no one seems to mind and actually appreciate it nonetheless. Warning: If its half-life last longer than 8 hours – see a mechanic – a quantum mechanic.
- Blamium – It’s always somebody else’s element. Eventually decays into an Inferiority Complex.
- Blamium-238 – A rare isotope causes complainers to reassess their lives and admit “mea culpa”
- Sherlockium – Elementary, my dear reader. Also available in the sarcastic isotope, No Sh*t Sherlockium
- Steakumms – Found in your refrigerator. At least that’s where I thaw it.
- Mormonium – The only element that thinks it’s acceptable to marry with the electrons of more than one atom
- Cofault – When cobalt decays and makes a mistake it becomes Cofault
- Cobalt – makes you feel blue
- Codependentbalt – enables cobalt to make you feel blue
- Meme-ium – That thing where “We haz no cheezburgers”
- Virginium – An element of unblemished purity. High concentrations found in Ivory Soap and Promise Rings
- Tounguestun – When a taser accidentally hits your tongue
- Palladium – Amphitheater shaped element. The Beatles played there in 1964
- Homonymium – Sounds just like an element, but it isn’t. Prefers the orbits of its own kind, as opposed to Heteronymium.
- Synonymian – An element that can be substituted for any other element
- Cinemanium – What a drunk scientist calls a movie theater
- Sinamonium – Too much of this element and you won’t get into Heavenium
- Cinnamonium – Above a certain threshold and you develop and overwhelming desire to move to Cincinnati. Also tasty sprinkled on toast.
- The most important relationship you’ll ever have is your relationship with yourself. Not an element. Just wanted to send you a little preachy reminder in an Oprah kind of way. I zinc it’s important to remember this.
We asked 28 Socially Distant Grandchildren, “What name do you call your grandmother when she’s not around?” Their responses and explanations proved startling:
-
Nana with the See-thru Hands – She’s the best, but at this point she’s like looking at an X-ray
- Insta-Gram – It’s what I called my new grandma when I was first adopted into the family
- My Inheritance – I love her and everything but c’mon, daddy needs a new Honda
- Crystal Methuselah – She’s very old and she used to have a little drug problem
- Prunella – Oh my sweet and shriveled Nana. Why must you age?
- Grammykins – My cuddly name for her. Especially if the Grammys are on that night.
- Glam-Ma – She’s still very good-looking. Some friends even tell me she’s a GMILF. Whatever that is.
- Milky-Eyed Matriarch – I mean whoa…”Got Grandma?”
- Smells like Geriatric Spirit – Just applying the Nirvana classic to Granny’s unique aroma
- Runs with Depends – What I call my active Navajo Indian grandmother who likes to jog
- GrAnnie Oakley – She’s a big 2nd amendment supporter. It’s like “Granny get your gun.”
- Still Life with a Heartbeat – She’s a former Fine Arts professor who once studied Cezanne – in person!
- Gramnesia – She sometimes forgets who I am.
- Grandmummy – It’s what I call my Egyptian grandma
- Make Nonni Great Again – She’s losing it and she loves Trump.
- Nonni Nonni Luftballoons – My German grandma’s whose last name is actually Luftballoon
- Gram Cracker – Grandma is from the deep South and she holds certain antiquated prejudices
- Ba-Nana – Her first name Barbara, and she’s a grandma…you do the math.
- Grandpa – You know how Grandmas tend to grow those chin hairs with age?
- Kombucha Babushka – My Russian Grandma who drinks healthy beverages
- ♫Hold Your Head Up, Woman♫ – What can I say? The dear woman’s head lolls to one side.
- Catena with the Flaring Nostrils – I wish it were different, but she ain’t exactly ♫Nancy with the Laughing Face♫
- Baba Ganoush – Well, her last name is actually Ganoush, and she likes the eggplant spread too.
- Drama Grama – She used to teach acting classes so I thought the name fitting
- My Favorite Neanderthal – She’s really old. Anthropologically old. She still calls the continents Pangea; and Jesus as, “That nice boy from Nazareth.”
- That musty old woman who once stuck her tongue down my throat – Thank God she was only a Step-Grandmother and not blood.
- Candy Dish of Interconnected Sweets – So what if she kept an old, dusty dish of hard candy around that, over the years, metastasized into one benign aggregate mass of candy. When she grew up, the woman had no candy.
- Blue Hair with Feathers – My Cherokee Indian grandmother after the beauty parlor
Are You a Genius?
Look at the jumble of letters below and see if you can find the hidden phrase so important in this age of the Coronavirus. Takes most people 10 minutes:
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAANETFLIXISYOURFRIENDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
It’s Getting a Little Crazy Out There (actually “in here”)
It’s called Stir Crazy.
The following is based on surreal events:
So I called 9-1-1.
A machine answered and said, “If this is a medical emergency please hang-up and dial 9-1-1.”
What the…?
This went on for hours.
I mean, this went on 4 hours.
***Coronavirus Update*** Notes from Around the Globe
1. This whole social spacing thing is nothing new to me. People are always telling me to keep my distance.
2. Banks to relax “shoot to kill” order when people enter banks wearing masks
3. Some people have been cocooning so long they’ve emerged from their homes as butterflies
4. Most in demand job: Epitaph writers. And that’s my last word on the subject.
5. Andrew Cuomo has never been sexier – and that’s not an easy thing to do
6. Shortage of embalming fluid allows bottlers to finally empty warehouses of all that unsold Zima
7. Kissing Booth industry devastated by Coronavirus. Now using wax lips.
8. Dogs are Confused and Weary: “Even I don’t need this much attention,” growled Rover. “C’mon people. You’re walking me 6 times a day. Enough already I’m dry. I’m empty. I have no more contributions to offer the little sapling near the swing set. And another thing, take a lesson from me. Have you ever noticed how much toilet paper I use?”
9. Number 9 quarantined by the CDC
10. Cardiac Monitor industry is suffering. It’s now on life support. If it gets any worse they’ll flat line. But they won’t ever know it because there aren’t enough Cardiac Monitors to go around.
11. Rod Belcher of Overland Park, Kansas summarizes the enter Coronavirus pandemic from its genesis to its current state: “Some shopkeeper in an open air market in Wuhan, China decides to expand his unrefrigerated meat case to include wombat cutlets. The next thing you know I’m down to using 1 square of toilet paper per flush. Why can’t they just buy cellophane wrapped meat like the rest of us?”
12. Shortage of long johns creates longing for slim Jims. Makes no sense. Neither does our enforced incarceration. I mean at some point we’re going to be released from house arrest – and we won’t even have a prison record. Crazy.
13. At first they all laughed when I said I wanted to study in Antarctica. Now who’s laughing (and really, really cold)?
14. Hermits everywhere agree: “Welcome to our world. Where, what you call Social Distancing, we call Tuesday.”
15. Trump awards 2 Congressional Medals of Honor to Netflix. “They’re doing tremendous, tremendous work. Twice as good as I hoped and that’s why I’m giving them 2 medals.”
16. This just in: Jimmy Osmond, the youngest Osmond brother, has marked himself as safe even though he says, “Marie keeps bugging me.”
17. Business as Usual: Against federal orders XFL restarts season. Same amount of fans attending as before – none.
18. Adult Film Industry making little progress in trying to find ways of eroticizing people poking each other with 6 foot poles.
19. Comic Con convention suddenly doesn’t seem that important. And it wasn’t that important to begin with.
20. Even with all this time on my hands, I still can’t seem to get through “The Irishman”
21. This UFC Statement Went Viral: “Coronavirus thinks it’s so tough. Nah man. In a cage match, Spanish Influenza would kick Coronaviruses ass.”
22. Somehow Kellogg’s 23th new flavor formulation of the Cheez-It just doesn’t excite me right now. Who cares about Calvin Coolidge Ranch Cheez-Itz?
23. Not interested in seeing an Instagram of Vanilla Ice singing “Ice Ice Baby” to raise awareness of Vanilla Ice. Mango Ice Yes. Vanilla Ice, meh. Cardi B is the only one that speaks for me (when I have the Closed Captions on) otherwise I can’t understand her at all.
24. And finally, because you don’t waste things (even half-baked ideas like these) during these unnerving times, I’ve included the following: In a poll of Polish Pole Dancers most wanted to remain in Romania disguised as hungry Hungarians eating Greece-y Turkey on Laos-y China. Just Brazilliant!
25. Stay Safe. Much Love and Support to you all. If you think the Coronavirus connects us all, just wait till you/we experience the rapturous connectivity pervading the Cosmos – ineffable and just momentarily forgotten. Sounds good, but maybe that’s the hydroxychloroquine talking.








