Friday, June 26, 2015

I wonder, should I laugh or cry?


When I came to live in Atlanta twenty-two years ago whimsey, at least in the houses that knew anything of mural painting, was the rage. Also, twenty-two years ago, it was noticeable the apostrophe led a wandering and confused existence and as to the adverb … well, then as now, the least said about the adverb, the better. Whimsey is long gone from conversations, as are murals from walls, and the apostrophe has settled down to an erratic role of grammatical provocateur beloved of supermarket jokers signwriters who also wouldn't know an uppercase letter from a lowercase …

… but that's being so horribly sour and I've had enough of that the last three weeks. It seems the run-up to a big birthday can be onerous and debilitating even – so I ask for your indulgence as I head to New York to celebrate with the Celt's genomic sister and her scientist/rock band drummer husband, my sister and brother-in-law from Lancashire and old friends from England long settled in New Jersey. Sunday, besides the Gay Pride Parade, is our second wedding anniversary (still strange to write after nearly thirty-seven years together) for which Atlanta friends are hosting a cocktail party in their newly redecorated New York apartment, and Monday, actually my birthday, we will have dinner at my favourite restaurant. In there somewhere also is a Broadway show and lunches galore. My waistline?


The post began differently but ended where it needed to be. Seemingly I'm stymied by what the Ancients called Melancholia, yet such is the stigma attached to it, especially for men, it's almost comical to me to think about my birthday weekend in terms of convalescence but that is what I hope. 

I wonder, should I laugh or cry?  

9 comments:

  1. Well Happy Birthday and I hope the unintentionally hilarious signs are plentiful to give you a chuckle or two!

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  2. On this historic day in America, it is beyond Gay Pride: it's the law! What a wonderful glow to add to your already happy-filled weekend. Happy Birthday, Professor Blue.

    ps I'm reading a book about typefaces, here's a birthday joke from that book for you: Comic Sans walked into a bar. The bartender said, "We don't serve your type."
    Melancholia or Black Dogs (or clouds) come to those who see to much and too well...in other words, the wise guys.

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  3. All I can tell you Blue is that the line has gotten shorter and some of us are now in front. BTW ~ did you know that they no longer teach cursive writing in schools? We can write anything we want and the youngers won't know what we are writing about them. Maybe getting older isn't all bad.

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  4. "should I laugh or cry?"

    I think you should SHOP.

    Go get it!

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  5. Bouquets of lilies. Enjoy the weekend and the celebrations. Wishes for a magical, memorable and delicious birthday, Mr Blue.

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  6. Laugh! The only tears on your face should be brought by joy. You have so much to be happy for, do you not?
    My best wishes to you, Blue.
    _ John T

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  7. Whenever you see apostrophe abominations like that, always complete the phrase. So I'll go with White Lily's pink lily, how's that.

    Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary!

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  8. Happy new solar year. Enjoy the ride.

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  9. I just discovered your blog through SlowLoveLife.com and am enjoying it so much!

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