Sometimes I’m asked if I’m a pessimist. I need to find a clever answer to this question. Or make up a good joke. But the truth is that I am a pessimist… except when writing about pessimism. I’ve managed to make pessimism a form of therapy.

This breaks down into three parts: 1 Reception factors. We will list and discuss elements of context and how they influence the receiver. 2 Comedic information (the incongruous picture). This is hardcore stuff: how jokes work. These are the elements of structure and content. We’ll also discuss comedic entropy. 3 Enhancers/inhibitors. This covers th

When my breastbone starts to hurt, and my throat tightens, and tears well in my eyes, I want to look away from feeling. I want to deflect with irony, or anything else that will keep me from feeling directly.