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Carrion Luggage  Native to the Americas, the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) travels widely in search of sustenance. While usually foraging alone, it relies on other individuals of its species for companionship and mutual protection. Sometimes misunderstood, sometimes feared, sometimes shunned, it nevertheless performs an important role in the ecosystem. This scavenger bird is a marvel of efficiency. Rather than expend energy flapping its wings, it instead locates uplifting columns of air, and spirals within them in order to glide to greater heights. This behavior has been mistaken for opportunism, interpreted as if it is circling doomed terrestrial animals destined to be its next meal. In truth, the vulture takes advantage of these thermals to gain the altitude needed glide longer distances, flying not out of necessity, but for the joy of it. It also avoids the exertion necessary to capture live prey, preferring instead to feast upon that which is already dead. In this behavior, it resembles many humans. It is not what most of us would consider to be a pretty bird. While its habits are often off-putting, or even disgusting, to members of more fastidious species, the turkey vulture helps to keep the environment from being clogged with detritus. Hence its Latin binomial, which translates to English as "golden purifier." I rarely know where the winds will take me next, or what I might find there. The journey is the destination. |
| From Quartz, an article that probably inspired my last Comedy newsletter editorial on how to be funny, but I'd forgotten I had it saved: The secret to being witty, revealed  Have you ever thought of the perfect quip or comeback after it didn’t matter—a minute, hour, or day after your conversation has ended? See, that's the advantage of interacting mostly online. If someone tells me "You're a poopyhead," I can think about it for an hour, a day, even a week or more before responding, "Your mom." By Ephrat Livni and Ephrat Livni I don't really know what's going on with that byline, but that dynamic duo has other credits on Quartz, so it's not just this article. Apropos of nothing, that is, so let's get to the article. Well, there’s a name for that phenomenon. It’s called l’esprit de l’escalier, or the spirit of the staircase, and refers to the perfect retort that arises at the wrong time. Everything sounds better in French. You can practice being wittier, improving your reaction times and ability to land a jab or joke at just the right moment. In his new book, Wit’s End: What Wit Is, How It Works, and Why We Need It, released on Nov. 13, author, editor, and journalist James Geary of Harvard University’s Nieman Foundation argues that wit isn’t just for a few gifted linguists. Oh, surprise, an ad for a book. I'm not sure when that "November 13" was. The dateline on the article just says "updated," and I can't be arsed to look up the original publication date. What's worse is the missed opportunity to use "cunning" instead of "gifted." By practicing and mastering wit, learning to turn words and phrases around in the mind and presenting new juxtapositions, we can change the way we and other people see. Another missed opportunity: "we can change the way we and other people witness." Because wit, get it? Huh? Huh? The wittiest among us are simply people who make unusual connections between words and ideas. There’s a refreshing element of surprise to these observations that prompts a smile or a wince from the listener who didn’t see the link until it was presented. "Simply?" I'll have you know it's taken me years of study and practice to become this witty. In cognitive terms, the brain of the wit is less inhibited than that of a linguistic dullard. “Uncensored access to associations, conscious and unconscious, is essential to wit,” Geary writes. He notes that some people who experience brain damage or have neuropsychiatric diseases lose their ability to make these associations altogether, while others suffer from witzelsucht. This German term means “wit sickness” or “wit addiction” and results in a compulsion to make jokes that are often socially inappropriate. Everything sounds worse in German. Like other forms of creativity it is borne of knowledge. Having a rich vocabulary is a starting point. Curiosity is another important element. Appreciating language in all the places and ways it’s used—from pop music to literary fiction, scientific writing to slang—makes it easier to generate unusual combinations. The rumor that I worked to learn French just so I could pun in two languages is almost entirely true. Anyway, no, the article doesn't provide that gleaming, just-out-of-reach jewel of "how to be funny." It's not like "how to take care of cats" or "how to make a billion dollars," both of which are far easier than being funny when you're not funny. But it might point some people in the right direction. Presumably, that "right direction" is buying the book they mentioned. |
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