I'm sure by now you have figured out that I am basically a member of Mensa, and am what the kids would like to call a "genius". When I was seven I read Great Expectations. Granted, the only reason I read it is because I loved the book cover (And yes, I do judge books by their covers. Sometimes people, too. Oh please. Like you haven't. Can you honestly tell me that if you ever saw a dude that was wearing a tee shirt that had a screen print of a wizard and lightening bolts on it, all the while rocking a mullet, you didn't think "keeper" to yourself? Bull.) <---Tangent.... Getting back on point, and elaborating on the fact that the reason why my head is so large is because my brain is so big. When I was ten I read Gone With the Wind because I thought it was going to be a story about a girl who went on an adventure after she got sucked up by a tornado. I don't even think I have to tell you what a big disappointment that one was. When I was seventeen I read Faulkner and Tolstoy and was practically hospitalized because I almost died from confusion, and because I felt compelled to torture myself even further, I decided to major in English. I also wanted to see if it was humanly possible for someone's head to actually explode from ultra-intelligence overload. Though my head did quadruple in size, it did not in fact, explode.
After years of reading "proper" literature, and trying to figure out what the hell William Faulkner was talking about, I decided that the best type of literature is the kind that makes me laugh out loud like a donkey. Now, I have two favorite authors. One is Kurt Vonnegut. The man was a genius (a real one), and the mantra in Slaughter House Five is one that I live by (So it goes.). Now Vonnegut may be intriguing, but his literature isn't exactly the type that will have you bursting at the seems and tinkling in your pants. But there is one author in particular that makes me laugh like a donkey, without fail, and that my friends, is Laurie Notaro. Ms. Notaro was the one that coined lady bits as a "triangle", and it has been a word that has stuck in my vocabulary for years. The majority of her work is memoir-esque, where she recounts experiences that have happened to her. She talks about getting stuck in a shirt that she was trying on, because it was a medium, instead of a large. She has an unparalleled gift of describing people to the point where I can't breathe. Just the other night I was reading one of her newest books, and my husband didn't even have to ask what I was reading because of the tell-tale signs of me laughing and gasping, "Oh my gosh, I think I just peed myself." I like to think of Laurie as my literary soulmate, who unabashedly talks about her underarm swing (aka-bat wing or bingo arms), or that her corduroys zipzipzip because of the chub rub. In other words, she doesn't take herself too seriously, and seems to realize that if everyone else is laughing at you, you might as well join in.
So consider todays post as a recommendation for a nugget of joy. I'm including a link to her page if you are interested in checking out any of her work. But if Russian literature is more your speed, then I would be more than happy to link you to sparknotes.com, which was the website that saved my GPA in college.
Happy reading my friends. I hope it is filled with donkey laughs. :)
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