On self-deprecating humor

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02:35 pm May 8th, 2005

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			On self-deprecating humor - A little less than a happy high — LiveJournal

komos


	On self-deprecating humor
	A few years back, my grandfather was boogie boarding (!) when he hit the wake of the boat unexpectedly and lost his dentures. He just spat them out there in the middle of the lake. Afterwards, he made it a point to let folks know that they were taking a big chance swimming there. When asked why, he'd smile and say that there was a big bass that had taken his teeth and was just dying to take a bite out of someone. There was always an opportunity to take the familiar and turn it to the absurd. It was his way of telling his stories. They'll be missed. So will he.

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	From: prosicated	Date: May 9th, 2005 12:46 am (UTC)		(Link)

Grandfather stories are the most sublime things, depending on your outlook/age/mood they can be charming, embarasssing, or more. He sounds like a wonderful man.

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	From: komos	Date: May 9th, 2005 12:59 pm (UTC)		(Link)

He was human like everyone else, but he was a genuinely good man.

He took great delight reminding me that I was a young man... not like him. Funny thing was that it was often just what I needed to hear.

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	From: prosicated	Date: May 9th, 2005 01:51 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Why is it that "good" is a bland word when applied to anything other than a person, but when applied to a person, it has such a definitive and abrupt meaning?

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	From: komos	Date: May 9th, 2005 02:01 pm (UTC)		(Link)

It may have something to do with an inate understanding that superlatives don't really carry meaning when applied to a person. "He was excellent!" or "he's the best!" just seem frivolous and overstated.

Consider, while most everyone may believe that they have "the world's best mom," it means so much more when someone says "she is a good mother." It moves the sentiment out of the realm of personal opinion into something that it much more universally evaluative.

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	From: prosicated	Date: May 9th, 2005 02:07 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Good call, and your example is, of course, quite timely. I had one of those odd evaluative conversations with my mother yesterday where she asked what I thought of her mothering, as opposed to what I thought of my mother. Much harder to answer.
I had a dream last night in which you were part of my submarine crew and we were hunting whales. Thought you should know. =) We also had pee-wee herman, a few muppets, and a large assortment of other people I know. It was a ramshackle crew, but lots of fun.

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	From: komos	Date: May 9th, 2005 06:11 pm (UTC)		(Link)

A sub manned by muppets? What depths of the unconscious have you been plumbing?

I've been fighting zombies in my dreams.

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	From: prosicated	Date: May 9th, 2005 06:21 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I figure muppets and zombies are animated similarly, right, someone else up their ass? Not so far a set of depths from yours, then... =P

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	From: komos	Date: May 9th, 2005 06:46 pm (UTC)		(Link)

Yours seems significantly more light-hearted, and I envy that.

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	From: prosicated	Date: May 9th, 2005 06:55 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I'll give you that much -- everything's light-hearted with me, no matter how angsty the emotion. It's not the light-heartedness that made the dream OK, though, it was all the people with me, even the ones I wouldn't have picked (Mr. Pee-Wee Herman included).
Don't get too lonely over there, OK?

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	From: komos	Date: May 9th, 2005 07:08 pm (UTC)		(Link)

I'm tryin'.

Thanks.

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	From: iterum	Date: May 9th, 2005 11:34 am (UTC)		(Link)

That's an excellent story!

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	From: komos	Date: May 9th, 2005 12:56 pm (UTC)		(Link)

^_^ I thought so too, and there are a lot more in the same vein.

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	From: mudguts	Date: May 9th, 2005 11:56 am (UTC)		(Link)

when i was little, i couldnt wait to grow up and be able to take my teeth out like grandpa.

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	From: komos	Date: May 9th, 2005 12:56 pm (UTC)		(Link)

When I was little, I couldn't wait to catch up to my uncles in size so I could hang them by their ankles off the back porch.

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