The skill of irony and the life of sea otters

My favorite blogs--though the blogging thing is very new to me--are those with a high level of intelligent irony and sarcasm. A good example of this is the website belonging to an old friend of mine, (though we have not spoken in years) My First Mine. I love a good wry wit, but the truth is, its not my strong suit. My own mode of expression tends toward the hyper sincere bordering on melodramatic. Occasionally I can sling a good parody, but even then, the humor is closer to camp. Only when I am truly in a rage am I very skilled at sarcasm. Among my sarcastic friends , I think I'm sortof like a Mary Poppins--kinda dorky, a little annoying, but somehow still catchy and endearing.

In our current political and social climate, I do suppose there's a place for all of it--irony, sarcasm, dry wit, parody, hyper sincerity, camp, simplicity, earnest proclamations, exaggeration--but there is a particular excellence to the words of those friends of mine truly skilled in irony. Heather Murphy wins the prize for me--she has always wielded the perfect combination of playful wit and twisted humor. Lovely. And of course there is the said author of the above mentioned website--Justin Foster. Those who know him know I need say no more. I should also mention an old musician friend who had an excellent song he called "meat comes down from the pockets of God." For all of you with this particular talent, hats off to you--you are truly cool.

But for those of us without it, its really better not to fake it. I've never been cool and that will just have to do. I'm more like Tigger than rabbit (or as my partner's sister calls me"Christopher Robin on crack"--I think its meant as a compliment.) I've been called "puckish" (as in midsummer night's dream's Puck, who actually, come to think of it, knew how to mix irony and the magical fantastic) and my partner says that if I was an animal, I would be a sea otter. I must admit, I really love being that way.

Hey, did you all know that in March, Mexico City is filled with blooming Jacarandai trees? Its incredible--streets lined with brilliant purple. Breathtaking. You should come see it. But then, nowhere beats Sonoma County in April, in my humble opinion....