A terminal lack of a sense of humor

"Insanity is a terminal lack of a sense of humor."

I said that. Write it down.

When you can no longer laugh at yourself, you're in trouble. When things become so serious that they start to take over your every thought pattern, it's time to consider a quick injection of Lithium to even out the brain patterns and get yourself thinking clearly.

Very little in this world is worth falling to pieces over. Fret over things, sure, but just enough to understand the consequences and get things back in order, and then let it slide. Laugh about it as you take the next step toward regaining whatever foothold you lost ...

For example, look at the Tea Party fiascos. That's hilarious. A "party" founded as a raised middle finger to over-reaching, organized governing starting to implode because it lacks any organization. If the tea partiers could laugh at themselves instead of throwing stones at each other, they could ease the strain on their craniums long enough to get back to simply doing what they do instead of arguing about what they do. That thing is a marvelous counter-attack to Obama's trophy grassroots campaign but it's in danger of self-destruction because NOBODY'S LAUGHING.

The same is true in music. Look at those who have lasting power: The Beatles, The Stones, The Who, even U2 ... They're still around because they are able to walk the fine line rock 'n' roll struck between havoc and humor. These are the bands which tackle the most troubling social issues in our time but they remember that they are rock bands, the escape from all that mess, and they laugh in the face of trouble. The most impressive thing about rock 'n' roll is that it says, "The world sucks, but we're gonna have fun while we're going down."

For the most part, they don't shrug off responsibility — in fact, ol' Bono seems to take responsibility for every social injustice he can get his hands on — but they remember to celebrate even their successes and even in the face of failure, they celebrate being alive.

They never stop laughing, so they never stop going.

And woe to the bands (or politicians or anyone) who take themselves to seriously, place themselves on too high a pedestal and fall the farthest ...

Comments

[vibram five fingers]

These are the bands which tackle the most troubling social issues in our time but they remember that they are rock bands

[vibram five fingers]

The most impressive thing about rock 'n' roll is that it says, "The world sucks