har har
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 at 12:39AM My sense of humor betrays me.
I try to be compassionate. When someone needs a hand, I try to lend it. I try my best to be intellectual. I like to read material that makes me think. I like to engage in conversation that does the same. Yet however intellectual and compassionate I attempt to be, my sense of humor betrays me.
You see, I love America's Funniest Home Videos. I despise the host. But the videos, oh the videos. Now, at this point, you may think, "Well, that doesn't seem too bad. A bit juvenile perhaps, but nothing that makes it obvious that you are a horrible person."
Well, if you would let me finish. You see there is a certain type of video that really gets me. It is the old-person-falling-down genre.
"Oh," you're thinking. "I don't like this one bit."
This is especially the case when the fall is prolonged.
"You are a bad person."
And the fall acrobatic.
"I quit your blog."
I'll give you an example. Last week they showed a clip of a cute grandma walking down a large grassy slope in a cute pastel dress. I call her Dorothy. Dorothy is as cute as only babies and old people can be. She is having a nice stroll on a lovely sunny day.
Dorothy begins to walk down the slope. She picks up speed. Wow, Dorothy is fast. We are talking Olympic track and field fast. I have never seen anyone run this fast. Certainly, never a septuagenarian in a dress.
At this point I am composed. In awe, really. Then Dorothy begins to squeal. There is no better word for it. It is not a shriek or a shout. It is a squeal. She is losing a bit of control as she runs.
Then I lose some of my focus. Tyler laughs a lot and in a lot of different ways. But this, I have never heard before. It is like a fog horn attached to a hyena. It is loud, and it is piercing. The anticipation of what is to come is too much for him.
Dorothy finishes her out of control, majestic run down the slope with some sort of a front flip, and I lose my mind. Gone is the nice, "smart" Wendy. A four year-old girl braying along with her hyena friend is all that is left. I laugh to the point of not being able to breathe correctly. I cry, I gasp... I think, if this is what kills me, I deserve it.
I don't know what it is. Like I said, I try to be good. But my sense of humor is a real jerk.
So there it is, exposed in all of its cruel glory. If you slip on a curb, or fall down the stairs or walk right into a door around me, I will try my best not to laugh. I will bite my lip, and try to ask if you are ok in a calm voice. But, if you detect a faint giggle, or see tears in my eyes or hear a quiver in my voice, please don't blame me.
You should really try to pay attention to where you are walking.
On a completely different topic... here's an awesome family with.... older kids! What a dream to work with.
Reader Comments (14)
ok - will take this post to heart when you come to shoot us in NYC. and if i do trip & fall (which i do a lot), try not to pee your pants. how embarassing!! (you crack me up!)
Wendy, I'm on your side. i think people falling down is hilarious. You know that part in "Elf" when Buddy gets hit by the cab? I laugh hysterically every time. Without shame. Well, maybe I should be ashamed...but I'm too busy laughing...
I quit your blog.
Just kidding, too funny!
I am sitting her laughing out loud right now!!! No kidding! Hahahhahah! I am not sure whether it is your writing alone or the hysterical picture of "Dorthy" falling down the hill that you painted in my mind! Either way, I am alone in my living room laughing out loud! The family pix are fabulous...
It's official. You and Tyler - me and Brent - couple soul mates. AFV is seriously Brent's favorite show. He laughs like a little girl every time we watch it. Which in turn makes me laugh like a little girl. We've cried laughing over that show. Even though it's the same stuff over and over again. People falling off trampolines never gets old. And now the boys love it too. It's becoming our Sunday night tradition.
Lame, I know.
Those pictures of this family in front of the brick house are eye candy. It's a brick house. (You know, like the song.)
My sense of humor hearts yours.
The parents look like they could be siblings... they should bottle their youth secret and sell it to the rest of us.
i do the same thing i always laugh when it's very inappropriate to do so. it's like that barenaked ladies song, one week, "i'm the kind of guy that laughs at a funeral". it's not that bad for me. i love your blog, you're an amazing photographer!
Oh man I was laughing out loud and I didn't even see it. Thanks for the ab workout.
FINALLY, someone else like me! Yes, your story had me laughing out loud! I will admit that I have laughed at my children their whole life. Made my husband so MAD!! Yes, my daughter (28) was traumatized by her mother laughing. Crazy thing though.....she now does the same thing to her kids and yes, I laugh at my grandkids, too! Sick, I know....Love your blog!
That was seriously the funniest thing I've read in a long time. And now I don't feel so bed when I laugh at people falling down.
Oh my, Wendy... Thank you for that. I seriously laughed so hard there are still tears in my eyes as I type this. i don't think it could have been funnier if I'd seen it with my own eyes.
That family is awesome! So hip and lovely. How do you adjust a shot depending on the age of the subjects? Do you have to adjust at all?
I love these pictures. I can't take it.