Looking on the funny side of life helps us get through the many challenges we face on a daily basis. Just like the saying, "One man's trash is another man's treasure," we can look at everyday situations from a different point of view and usually find something that brings a smile.

When I was a girl, we visited my grandmother in Stavenissa in Holland. We were on an island that had been created by pumping [out] seawater and building dykes. The people are very religious and sober in manner and dress. Visitors were welcome, but expected to abide by their rules.

On a warm Sunday afternoon, I wanted to visit a cove we'd seen the day before. A neighbor lent me a bike to ride. It had gears and a handbrake, something I'd never used before. Nevertheless, I hopped on and rode off. I had a lovely afternoon and felt confident about my riding as I returned home. I forgot that our house was below the dyke. The road took a steep decline and there was no turning around. It was narrow with no sidewalks, and front doors that opened directly onto the cobblestones.

To my surprise, a Volkswagen was parked at the bottom of the dyke between two homes. I squeezed everything on the handlebars, but it was too late. I flew through the air, screaming at the top of my lungs, and landed on the front of the car. My grandmother almost had a coronary, but the bike had only a scratch, the dent in the car's trunk was easily removed, and I didn't even get bruised.

That night, much to my dismay, my incident was the subject of the town cryer's news. I was too embarrassed to sit at the table to eat supper with my cousins. I'm certain now that the incident of the "silly American girl!" was the closest Stavenissa ever came to funny papers!

On the writersweekly.com posting for 2/5/03 there was an interesting article by R.A. Murphey: How to Write Funny Fast! He suggests:

To create humor, create an expectation and then meet it in an unexpected way. Here's a two-step process to help you do it fast.

STEP 1: Find Your Setup. Use a cliche or well-known quote. Because they know the cliche, your audience will expect how is should sound and what it should mean. For example: "Give a man a fish; you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish; you feed him for life."

STEP 2: Upset Your Find. It's the twist on the phrase that makes us laugh. Your twist must be connected to the setup, it has to logically follow, but it should do so in a surprising way. Here's another example: "Give a man a fish; you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish; you..make an enemy of his wife forever."

This month's challenge:
1) Upset your Find. Look for connections that follow, but not as expected. Brainstorm two lists. One should contain the words and ideas in the setup. Two whould contain the words and ideas related to your subject, audience, or point. Go back and cross-connect each entry in List One to those in List Two. You'll be surprised at what pops up: several funny connections. They're funny because they're logical, but not expected.
2) Search your journal or memory for a time that was particularly frustrating when it happened, but upon which you can now look back and laugh.

Using either of these ideas, write a short story, joke, or essay and read it in your chapter, or submit it to the critique line or to me so [someone else] can share in the fun. My e-mail is musicnurse68 at yahoo.com. Have a wonderfully light day!