Howdy y’all! Hey, it’s been a great barrel of laughs so far with this month’s What I Learned From Laughter groupwrite project! And for those who participated, a big ol’ tip o’ the hat to ya for making my week one long chuckle.

[& UPDATED!] [UPDATED] We had a whopping 43 entries this month (although it’s never about the numbers, y’know) and I thank you from the bottom of my Texas heart for joining us.

Here’s the entries, in the order that I found ‘em, plus a few of my own favorites from right here at the Middle Zone. Check ‘em out, won’t you? Heck, why not start a conversation?

• What I Learned From Laughter, by Lillie Ammann at A Writer’s Words, an Editor’s Eye
• Bad T’ings Mek Joke: Jamaican Humor, by Geoffrey Philp at Geoffrey Philp’s Blogspot
• What are your personal oxymorons? by Clare Lynch at goodcopybadcopy
• What makes you laugh? by Jackie Cameron at Jackie Cameron
• What I Learned From Laughter, by Monique Attinger at BraWise
• Didn’t See That Coming, by Lori Newman at When We Listen
• Laughing at the Small Stuff, by Karen Putz at A Deaf Mom Shares Her World
• A Collection of Funny Word Sell Posts, by Brad Shorr at Word Sell, Inc. (13 links)
• What I Learned From Laughter, by Luke Gedeon at Luke Gedeonn (8 links)
  
• A Funny Post Review, by Tabetha Gedeon, at Denim and Silk (5 links)

And of course, here’s some from Yours Truly:

• A (Very) Short Love Story: Ode to Number 9, by Robert Hruzek at Joyful Jubilant Learning
• No Sense at All, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
• Dog Gone, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
• What Life Would Be Like on the Moon, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
• It’s Not Quite What it Seems, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
• My Nose, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
• I Think the Chicken “Got It!”, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
• Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
• How to Make a Million Dollars, by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings
• How to Destroy the Earth. Really. by Robert Hruzek at Middle Zone Musings

Hey, I want to thank all those who participated this month, and hope you enjoy some of the zany stuff that goes on here at the Zone. Don’t forget to drop by next month for another exciting episode of What I Learned From…

Oh, and of course, a tip o’ the hat to ya!

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OK; I think it’s time I, um, came clean about something, y’all. Yup; time to unburden my soul, so to speak, and get down the bare facts.

I freely admit it: My name is Robert, and I have…(sound of terrified scream) striped feet!

Blue Suede Shoes Sandals

Some years ago when I was working in Aruba (yes it’s a dirty job, but somebody’s gotta do it!), I was browsing one of the zillions of gift shops in Orangestad (which is the capital of Aruba, for you Geography buffs) and came across these amazing blue sandals.

From the moment I laid eyes on these babies, I was hooked! AND, the best part is, they only cost me 9 bucks! What a steal! As far as I’m concerned, nothin’ says “Hey, I’m I’m one totally cool and completely laid back Bubba!” like a pair of bright blue sandals like these, y’know?

I’ll tell ya; I wore those things everywhere (except, of course, church; I had a more, um, formal pair of sandals for that). Shopping, beach-combing, sight-seeing (although on a tiny island like Aruba you quickly run out of things to see) – I pretty much lived in ‘em when I wasn’t, y’know, working in the refinery. (I tried to find a pair of steel-toed sandals for work, but alas, no luck. *sigh*)

When the weather was hot (with a year-round constant temperature of about 95ºF, that’s pretty much all the time in Aruba) wearing sandals is almost, well, required. There’s simply no better way to keep the ol’ dogs cool in that climate, y’know? (Aruba is only a few degrees north of the equator, in case you didn’t know. If it wasn’t for the constant breeze, it’d be unbearably stifling!)

Besides, you’d probably stand out if you weren’t wearing ‘em. I mean, little children would point and laugh; dogs would chase you, and you’d probably be ostracized from polite society. (Just kidding; but you would be in a very small minority.)

Unexpected Consequences

But as luck would have it, I did discover one drawback to wearing sandals all day. And not only that, but this, well, catastrophe applies to sandal-wearing folk all over the world! Yep; one serious problem that no one seems to talk about.

It makes me wonder, why haven’t more people spoken up about this issue? Are there support groups out there we don’t hear about? I mean, this is something literally thousands – maybe even millions -  of folks are probably suffering from right this very minute.

Of course I’m talkin’ about (sound of terrified scream) striped feet

See, the thing is, even though no longer in Aruba, I still wear those sandals during the summer months (which is usually from late February through most of November here in Houston). After all, when you’ve got a good thing goin’, y’know.

But what’s really strange is, in all this time, up until just the other day, I never noticed that little, well, side-effect to wearing ‘em. And I must’ve been goin’ around with really noticeable stripes while in Aruba, considering the bright sunshine and all.

The Floor is Open!

Now, bein’ the Middle Zone and all, the aim here is to discover lessons learned from life, right? So, with that in mind, I sat down and tried to figure out (sound of grinding gears) just exactly what kinda lesson my sandals might be tryin’ to teach me, y’know.

AND… I got nothin’. Yep, you heard it right, y’all; I didn’t get a doggone thing! It kinda makes me wonder: is there a lesson to be learned from all this?

So… with that in mind, I thought I’d open the floor up for a sorta group discussion and let y’all tell me what I’m supposed to learn! Whaddaya say, folks? How about helpin’ me out here and contributing your suggestions down there in the comment box for me, won’t ya? Get as creative as you like – the more intriguing, the better.

I’m all ears, y’all; spread the word and let’s see how many ideas you can come up with!

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It’s just an ordinary unbrella.

In fact, as umbrellas go, it’s actually not really that good. Oh, sure; it keeps the rain off ya. But still; it’s kinda small, and not all that well-made. It hangs on one of the doorknobs on the inside of the doors to my home office.

Every time I close the doors (like when I’m on the phone – or, er, hiding from household chores), I see it hanging there. It’s not that it represents that big an investment (it cost me less than 4 dollars) or that it works particularly well (it’s so small it barely covers the heads of two people – and we’re talkin’ two really close people!)

If you go around the corner, in the coat closet are bigger, better umbrellas galore. There’s one or two that fold up really small, yet somehow manage to spread out to a quite impressive size. I’ve also got two “golf” umbrellas (so-called because they’re big enough to swing a golf club under without you or the club getting wet.)

Yet this one is my favorite. Why is that, you ask? Well, as you may have guessed, it’s because it reminds me of a special time, and a special place: this is the umbrella I bought underneath the Eiffel Tower on the day we visited back in April of 2000. (In case you’re interested, I recommend you read about that fateful day in my story, Ah, Paris in the Spring. Trust me, it’ s well worth it.)

Anyhoo; that’s the real value of this little inexpensive gizmo; that it brings back a rush of wonderful memories of Mrs. MZM and I when we were in Paris. And I’ll tell ya; there’s no way to put a price on that!

When you think about it, it’s amazing the power a simple little object can hold, isn’t it? In fact, there’s an amazing number of objects around our house that are simple little things – things like a stone, a piece of driftwood, or a garage sale purchase – that truly fill our hearts and minds with memories every time we see ‘em. I bet it’s the same at your house.

So What’s YOUR Object?

So for today, let’s share a few good memories together. Take a moment and pick out your favorite item around the house, won’t you? Maybe it’s something that reminds you of a wonderful friend, a devoted spouse, or even a beautiful view you’re reminded of.

Now, down in the comment box, why don’t you tell us what it is, where you got it, and what it brings to mind, won’t you? I’ll leave the light on for ya.

A while back, Mrs. MZM and I were toolin’ along through a fairly nice neighborhood when we noticed a pile of stuff stacked out by the curb of one particular house. There were, let’s see, several big palm leaves, assorted sticks and branches (obviously some trimming going on), and three or four large cardboard boxes.

But what caught our eyes were several of those bi-fold louvered doors like the one you see in this photo, stacked on top of the whole pile. As a matter of fact, it just so happened we’d been searching for some (they make good decorating items – and who says you can’t find ‘em, y’know, free!), so we pulled over to check ‘em out (sound of car, screeching to a halt).

How many times have you found something wonderful amid a pile of old stuff? Have you ever looked? If not, you might be surprised at what you’re missing! For instance…

It’s a Kind of Seque…

Did you know there’s an amazing amount of really good stuff located deep in the archives of the Middle Zone? (And how’s that for a segue?) Like what, you ask? Well, stuff you may have missed completely, or maybe even *ahem* forgotten about. And I’m tellin’ ya, there’s some pretty nifty gems there! In fact, each one of ‘em is sorta like a door, right? (cue the Twilight Zone music) A door to another time, and another place… well, you get the drift.

Anyway, I’m gonna make it easy for you to check some of ‘em out. So every now and then (particularly when things get a little busy ’round here), I’ll post a few links so you can check ‘em out. If you’ve already read ‘em, no worries. But if they’re posts you missed, then it may behoove you to go have a gander. Just sayin.

Let’s start with something I no longer do anymore: OOB. What in tarnation is an OOB, you ask? (And my, aren’t we full of questions today?) Well, it stands for “Out Of the Box”, and for about the first two years of the Zone’s life, it was a monthly collection of unusual, strange, and odd stuff discovered during the course of each month. The way I put it for OOB#1 was, “a few odds and ends that don’t necessarily have anything to do with anything”.

I stopped collecting these a while back, but still, I get a kick out of rereading ‘em every now and then. They’re filled with some truly memorable items, if I do say so myself! (And I believe I just did, right?)

Here’s a couple from ‘waaay back you might find worth a look:

OOB#3

OOB#4

OOB#5

Y’all have fun! (Also note, some references may be to things no longer ON the Middle Zone.)

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For some reason, my last post won’t show up in Google Reader. I’m wonderin’ if the mosaic image was too big. So, just for the heck of it, I’ll try a really short post. Sorta like that kid who wondered if his tongue really would stick to a frozen flag pole.

OK; I admit it – I’m one of those people who exhibits the infantile behavior of snickering every time I write the word ‘but’. Sorry; I guess it’s just one of those things I never grew out of.

So you’ll be understandin’ – and hopefully forgivin’ – my bad pun (which, me bein’ me and all, was entirely intended) when you consider the image I just had to include along with it.

Anyhoo -

Have you ever considered how, um, BIG that tiny little word ‘but’ can be?

For instance, the other day, I had to turn down a truly generous offer from a good friend. I’ll tell ya; it truly pained me to do it, too. It went something like this: “Your incredibly generous offer touched my heart, but – I just have too many things going on that weekend and just can’t make it.”

The thing is, when you turn someone down like that, I find it’s usually a good idea to put something nice at the beginning of that sentence. That way the blow is somewhat lessened, if you get my meanin’.

Sometimes ‘but’ can actually be a relief – as in, “Y’know, Larry, I’d love to help you move on Saturday, but – my pet lizard has his birthday that day.”

I’ve actually used a variation of this one (it wasn’t a lizard – let’s leave it at that), and I’ll have to admit; it’s sometimes difficult to hide the, y’know, glee in my voice. Gotta work on that one.

Every now and then, it heralds good news: “Susan, we’re having to let go your assistant, but, the good news is your deadlines are still rock solid!”

It’s sorta the ol’ “good news – bad news” thing. Never have been able to decide which I’d rather have first, though. Maybe the bad news first. Or, maybe not.

So what about you? Found any creative ways to use the word “but” lately?

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Photo credit: Elephant Butts, by lukiffer

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Fifty-five years ago, an unnamed doctor took one look at me and pronounced these now immortal words: “What in tarnation – ?” (Y’know; after all this time, I must admit the events of that day have become a mite unclear. But I’ll bet I weren’t none too sure about him either! I’m just sayin’.)

Anyhoo -

Yup; today happens to be my birthday (sound of one hand clapping). I am 55 years old young today, a remarkably symmetrical-sounding number that merely reflects my body’s age, not how I see myself.

I tell ya, there were times when there was serious doubt about me reachin’ this particular milestone. Like that time I drove my bicycle right in front of a truck because I didn’t yet know how to use the brakes! (Ended up in the hospital with a scratch or two.) Or the time I accidentally answered the question posed by an *ahem* former girlfriend: “Does this dress make me look fat?”

However, by the Grace of God (and a vast army of extremely diligent angels) I’ve made it this far, and I’ll tell ya Bubba, I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Yee-haw, y’all!

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Image: 55, by Eva the Weaver

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