A classic children’s book for adults too. We did a children’s book! It’s awesome. :) High-quality hardcover and available on Amazon. </p> <p>FAIR WARNING. This is a high-priced book. For that reason alone it won’t appeal to many. But, for the few that don’t put a price on this type of treasure, it will be in that case priceless. :)</p> <p><em>Journey with Rex as he travels to different worlds, and meets characters to help him understand love, belonging, friendship, and ultimately help him find his purpose and his way home.</em></p> <div style="text-align: left; width: 450px;" data-bindattr-66="66"><object class="myWidget" data="http://www.blurb.com/assets/embed.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="450" height="300" data-bindattr-67="67"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://www.blurb.com/assets/embed.swf" data-bindattr-68="68" /><param name="FlashVars" value="book_id=6091884&locale=en_US&token_id=5502538&token=f3521e170dc39b9c970b7affb4ca520863ef2372" data-bindattr-69="69" /><a data-bindattr-70="70" target="_new"><img decoding="async" src="http://www.blurb.com/images/uploads2/catalog/006/493/774/6556360-4c505e0b6d4aa731428ba01e85379175.jpg" data-bindattr-71="71" /></a></object><br /> <script id="metamorph-240-start" type="text/x-placeholder"></script></p> <div><a style="margin: 12px 3px;" href="http://blur.by/1HRr08O" target="_blank" data-bindattr-72="72"><script id="metamorph-241-start" type="text/x-placeholder"></script>Rex the Boy King<script id="metamorph-241-end" type="text/x-placeholder"></script>by<script id="metamorph-242-start" type="text/x-placeholder"></script>Lisa DeLay<script id="metamorph-242-end" type="text/x-placeholder"></script></a><br /> |<br /> <a style="margin: 12px 3px;" href="http://www.blurb.com/landing_pages/bookshow" target="_blank" data-bindattr-73="73"><script id="metamorph-243-start" type="text/x-placeholder"></script>Make Your Own Book<script id="metamorph-243-end" type="text/x-placeholder"></script></a></div> <p><script id="metamorph-240-end" type="text/x-placeholder"></script></p> </div> </div><!-- .entry-content --> <footer class="entry-footer"> <span class="posted-on"><span class="screen-reader-text">Posted on </span><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/rex/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2014-12-24T11:13:49-04:00">24 December, 2014</time><time class="updated" datetime="2015-03-28T09:19:44-04:00">28 March, 2015</time></a></span><span class="byline"><span class="author vcard"><span class="screen-reader-text">Author </span><a class="url fn n" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/author/admin/">Spark My Muse</a></span></span><span class="cat-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Categories </span><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/category/authors/" rel="category tag">Authors</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/category/books/" rel="category tag">Books</a></span><span class="tags-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Tags </span><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/alone/" rel="tag">alone</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/amazon/" rel="tag">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/awesome/" rel="tag">awesome</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/backers/" rel="tag">backers</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/be/" rel="tag">be</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/believers/" rel="tag">believers</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/belonging/" rel="tag">belonging</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/book/" rel="tag">book</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/characters/" rel="tag">characters</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/children/" rel="tag">children</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/childrens-book/" rel="tag">children's book</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/classic/" rel="tag">classic</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/classic-childrens-book/" rel="tag">classic children's book</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/daughter/" rel="tag">daughter</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/delay/" rel="tag">DeLay</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/faith/" rel="tag">faith</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/friendship/" rel="tag">friendship</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/generosity/" rel="tag">generosity</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/good/" rel="tag">Good</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/help/" rel="tag">help</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/home/" rel="tag">home</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/hope/" rel="tag">hope</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/husband/" rel="tag">husband</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/if/" rel="tag">if</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/in/" rel="tag">in</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/invitation/" rel="tag">invitation</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/invite/" rel="tag">invite</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/journey/" rel="tag">journey</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/joy/" rel="tag">joy</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/kickstarter/" rel="tag">kickstarter</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/king/" rel="tag">King</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/life/" rel="tag">life</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/lisa/" rel="tag">Lisa</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/lisa-colon-delay/" rel="tag">Lisa Colón DeLay</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/lisa-delay/" rel="tag">lisa delay</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/love/" rel="tag">love</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/max/" rel="tag">Max</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/photography/" rel="tag">Photography</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/printing/" rel="tag">printing</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/project/" rel="tag">project</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/purpose/" rel="tag">purpose</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/reason/" rel="tag">reason</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/rex/" rel="tag">rex</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/rex-the-boy-king-2/" rel="tag">rex the boy king</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/season/" rel="tag">season</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/special/" rel="tag">special</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/story/" rel="tag">story</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/support/" rel="tag">support</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/the-little-prince/" rel="tag">the little prince</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/time/" rel="tag">time</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/treasure/" rel="tag">treasure</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/watch/" rel="tag">watch</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/where-the-wild-things-are/" rel="tag">Where the Wild Things Are</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/will/" rel="tag">will</a></span> </footer><!-- .entry-footer --> </article><!-- #post-15360 --> <article id="post-15325" class="post-15325 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-authors category-books category-creativity category-spark-my-muse tag-alone tag-be tag-beg tag-best tag-book tag-bugs tag-childhood tag-children tag-creative tag-dancing tag-ebook tag-everything tag-family tag-floating tag-following tag-free tag-friend tag-good tag-if tag-imagination tag-in tag-join tag-just tag-kind tag-king tag-life tag-lisa-colon-delay tag-lisa-delay tag-magic tag-max tag-memoir tag-mind tag-money tag-narnia tag-nature tag-not tag-passion tag-people tag-photos tag-planning tag-project tag-promises tag-publishing tag-reason tag-rex tag-rex-the-boy-king-2 tag-share tag-spirit tag-stories tag-story tag-the-little-prince tag-things tag-twilight tag-universal tag-universal-memoir tag-void tag-where-the-wild-things-are tag-why tag-wild tag-wild-things tag-word tag-write tag-writing"> <header class="entry-header"> <h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/the-universal-memoir-that-wrote-itself/" rel="bookmark">The Universal Memoir that wrote itself</a></h2> </header><!-- .entry-header --> <div class="entry-content"> <p>When my friend read the draft of this, she wept.</p> <p>The nutshell is this:<br /> I wanted to write a story that captured my story.</p> <p>Recently, I was intrigued by the phenomenon of “<a href="http://www.beveragefactory.com/wine/wineopeners/waiter/pulltap_waiters_corkscrew.shtml" target="_blank">The 6 Word Memoir</a>” idea. I like that idea that you can share a lot about your self quickly.</p> <p>It’s poetry, really. (But that word scares -some-people.)</p> <p>I’ve also felt nudged to write a memoir myself. But on which part of my life? There’s a lot of drama!</p> <p>And really, I don’t have the fortitude to cover the seriously painful parts of my life. It wrecks me. I see why people just hire editors for that sort of thing. But, those are the parts that offer the best memoir material.</p> <p>Also, any successful memoir is written by a famous or infamous person that has a following of some sort. The other kind of written for family member to read. The only reason I want to create one, or a few (it’s not an autobiography I’m interested in, mind you) is because have so many stories that beg me to tell them. To birth them into the world. But, it’s a lot like yelling into the void or dancing alone in a hall of mirrors.</p> <p><strong style="font-style: italic;">And then the idea hit me to write a short story that was a kind of universal memoir.</strong></p> <p>In the same spirit as <em>The Little Prince</em> and <em>Where the Wild Things Are</em> I started writing something and in about a day and a half it was done. It was gestating for a long while. Years. (And of course, I just mean the first draft was done.) But, in truth, the story came out in nearly one whole piece. That never really happens.</p> <p><strong>So, now, I’m in the final stages with the layout.</strong> Gorgeous photos are in place. Illustrations are forthcoming. It’s a passion project and those sort of things have to be done independently–not for the publishing industry Machine.</p> <p>Since an ebook can be done so easily, that bit should be available semi-soon and I’ll list it for free or a low cost. But, the nature of this book is not good for that format. It’s just NOT the sort of book. It won’t “work” 100% if it’s only digitally available. It should be material.</p> <p>It should be held and kept by the bed table. Read to children who turn its pages and hear the sounds of the paper, and feel the texture on their little fingers. It should hold the occasional tear puddle like some of my Narnia books, and my Little Prince book have. It should be beautiful and lasting and not just a click away.</p> <p>And for adults it promises to have the same magic of the classic stories read to them once in the twilight nights of warm summers when the lighting bugs danced, and everything was possible.</p> <p> </p> <p>So, I’m going to raise money and self-publish with art book quality as a short run. You can join me in this leg of the journey.</p> <p><strong>Here is the cover.<br /> </strong>(Stop by within a week and see another spread.)<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-15326" src="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/RExsneakpeak.png" alt="RExsneakpeak" width="782" height="426" /></p> <p>I’ll gave you more details soon.</p> </div><!-- .entry-content --> <footer class="entry-footer"> <span class="posted-on"><span class="screen-reader-text">Posted on </span><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/the-universal-memoir-that-wrote-itself/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2014-12-12T10:36:13-04:00">12 December, 2014</time><time class="updated" datetime="2014-12-23T12:57:29-04:00">23 December, 2014</time></a></span><span class="byline"><span class="author vcard"><span class="screen-reader-text">Author </span><a class="url fn n" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/author/admin/">Spark My Muse</a></span></span><span class="cat-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Categories </span><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/category/authors/" rel="category tag">Authors</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/category/books/" rel="category tag">Books</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/category/creativity/" rel="category tag">Creativity</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/category/spark-my-muse/" rel="category tag">Podcast</a></span><span class="tags-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Tags </span><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/alone/" rel="tag">alone</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/be/" rel="tag">be</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/beg/" rel="tag">beg</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/best/" rel="tag">best</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/book/" rel="tag">book</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/bugs/" rel="tag">bugs</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/childhood/" rel="tag">childhood</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/children/" rel="tag">children</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/creative/" rel="tag">creative</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/dancing/" rel="tag">dancing</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/ebook/" rel="tag">ebook</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/everything/" rel="tag">Everything</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/family/" rel="tag">family</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/floating/" rel="tag">floating</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/following/" rel="tag">following</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/free/" rel="tag">free</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/friend/" rel="tag">friend</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/good/" rel="tag">Good</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/if/" rel="tag">if</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/imagination/" rel="tag">imagination</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/in/" rel="tag">in</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/join/" rel="tag">join</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/just/" rel="tag">just</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/kind/" rel="tag">kind</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/king/" rel="tag">King</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/life/" rel="tag">life</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/lisa-colon-delay/" rel="tag">Lisa Colón DeLay</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/lisa-delay/" rel="tag">lisa delay</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/magic/" rel="tag">magic</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/max/" rel="tag">Max</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/memoir/" rel="tag">memoir</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/mind/" rel="tag">mind</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/money/" rel="tag">money</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/narnia/" rel="tag">narnia</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/nature/" rel="tag">Nature</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/not/" rel="tag">NOT</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/passion/" rel="tag">passion</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/people/" rel="tag">people</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/photos/" rel="tag">photos</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/planning/" rel="tag">planning</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/project/" rel="tag">project</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/promises/" rel="tag">promises</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/publishing/" rel="tag">publishing</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/reason/" rel="tag">reason</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/rex/" rel="tag">rex</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/rex-the-boy-king-2/" rel="tag">rex the boy king</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/share/" rel="tag">share</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/spirit/" rel="tag">Spirit</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/stories/" rel="tag">stories</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/story/" rel="tag">story</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/the-little-prince/" rel="tag">the little prince</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/things/" rel="tag">things</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/twilight/" rel="tag">Twilight</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/universal/" rel="tag">universal</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/universal-memoir/" rel="tag">universal memoir</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/void/" rel="tag">void</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/where-the-wild-things-are/" rel="tag">Where the Wild Things Are</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/why/" rel="tag">why</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/wild/" rel="tag">wild</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/wild-things/" rel="tag">Wild Things</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/word/" rel="tag">Word</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/write/" rel="tag">write</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/writing/" rel="tag">writing</a></span> </footer><!-- .entry-footer --> </article><!-- #post-15325 --> <article id="post-15201" class="post-15201 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-spark-my-muse tag-be tag-belief tag-brain tag-children tag-comedy tag-common-ground tag-crowd tag-dawkins tag-deep tag-do tag-doubt tag-edgy tag-experiment tag-funny tag-gender tag-good tag-habits tag-help tag-home tag-honest tag-hope tag-humor tag-if tag-in tag-joke tag-jokes tag-just tag-kind tag-laugh tag-laughs tag-laughter tag-likes tag-man tag-men tag-mistake tag-needs tag-new-york tag-new-york-city tag-not tag-people tag-play tag-post tag-presence tag-projects tag-purpose tag-reason tag-rest tag-richard-dawkins tag-share tag-source tag-sports tag-surprise tag-team tag-temperament tag-test tag-theory tag-things tag-thinking tag-tickle tag-top tag-true tag-unconscious tag-variety tag-video tag-watch tag-will tag-women tag-wonder tag-work tag-writing tag-york"> <header class="entry-header"> <h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/laughter-the-mini-brain-scan/" rel="bookmark">Laughter: The Mini BRAIN SCAN</a></h2> </header><!-- .entry-header --> <div class="entry-content"> <h3 style="text-align: center;">It’s another installment in the HUMOR SERIES.</h3> <p><em>If you’re new here or late to the series, get started on these previous articles:</em></p> <p><span style="color: #3366ff;"><strong><a style="color: #3366ff;" title="Upcoming SERIES: The Science & Spirituality of HUMOR" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/2014/09/21/upcoming-series-the-science-spirituality-of-humor/">1 Intro</a>: Laughing from birth</strong></span></p> <p><span style="color: #3366ff;"><strong>2. Step 1: <a title="The Science and Spirituality of Humor [SERIES]: Is Humor a HUMAN thing?" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/2014/09/26/the-science-and-spirituality-of-humor-series-is-humor-a-human-thing/" target="_blank">Tickle Rats</a></strong></span></p> <p><span style="color: #3366ff;"><strong><a style="color: #3366ff;" title="Humor Series: Funny to Whom?" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/2014/09/28/humor-series-funny-to-whom/">3. What makes something funny may surprise you</a></strong></span></p> <p><span style="color: #3366ff;"><strong><a style="color: #3366ff;" title="HUMOR SERIES: On Subversive Laughter-Jokers are Wild" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/2014/10/01/humor-series-on-subversive-laughter-jokers-are-wild/">4. Jokers ARE wild: Subversive Humor</a></strong></span><br /> <a href="http://goodnews.ws/blog/2012/05/02/dartmouth-research-shows-brain-scans-can-predict-weight-gain-and-sexual-activity/"><img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-15202" src="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-7.32.26-AM-243x300.png" alt="Screen Shot 2014-10-08 at 7.32.26 AM" width="243" height="300" srcset="https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-7.32.26-AM-243x300.png 243w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-7.32.26-AM-121x150.png 121w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-7.32.26-AM.png 252w" sizes="(max-width: 243px) 100vw, 243px" /></a></p> <p> </p> <h3><span style="color: #000000;">How humor works like a mini BRAIN SCAN</span></h3> <p>(Secular) Biologist Robert Lynch, who also performs as a comedian, sees humor as an adaptive, learned trait; and one that helps us connect with others who share our values.</p> <p><strong>His theory about humor?</strong><br /> “You laugh because you believe it is true,” says Lynch, and his experiments seem back up his theory, at least partially.</p> <blockquote><p>A joke, in other words, is like a little brain scan: When we laugh, we reveal what’s inside us. -Robert Lynch</p></blockquote> <p>In an <a href="http://www.ehbonline.org/article/S1090-5138%2809%2900068-3/abstract" target="_blank">experiment</a> Lynch conducted, a variety of people were video-recorded while watching an edgy comic who joked about gender inequality. The volunteers were then given a psychological test that measured their unconscious gender attitudes. Those with mid-20th century gender views of women being responsible for home and children and men bread-winning laughed harder at that joke than those with more progressive views.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>In another experiment, people Lynch terms “self-deceivers” found much less humor in an entire joke reel, in general.</strong></p> <p><strong> </strong></p> <p><em>I’m guessing that because Lynch used this “self-deceivers” language to identify reluctant laughers, he probably laughs at just about everything. Naturally, if scientists are self-deceiving they are doing something wrong. Something unreasonable?</em></p> <p><em>I’m betting that to Lynch “self-deceivers” are “other people”. Otherwise, he would term them “discerning” or “wise” or “judicious” or “pensive” or “still thinking about it” or maybe just “unsure”.</em></p> <p>So, I wonder if he’s just a bit off the mark.</p> <p>Could the phenomenon of less laughs be a <strong>combination</strong> of a few things he hasn’t accounted for?</p> <p>• Could less laughter be a result of natural personality or temperament traits?</p> <p>• Fewer <em><strong>habits</strong></em> of deep introspection?</p> <p>• Previous experiences that predispose infrequent laughers to think quietly instead of giggle aloud?</p> <p>• Or a mismatch in values? (What sorts of jokes were told? We don’t know because he doesn’t say.)</p> <p><strong><em>The </em>subjectivity<em> of laughter producing humor seems to be at play a bit more than his experiments can account for. And that’s no joke.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-15206" src="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-2.51.54-PM-300x270.png" alt="Screen Shot 2014-10-08 at 2.51.54 PM" width="300" height="270" srcset="https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-2.51.54-PM-300x270.png 300w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-2.51.54-PM-350x315.png 350w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-2.51.54-PM-150x135.png 150w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Screen-Shot-2014-10-08-at-2.51.54-PM.png 403w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></em></strong></p> <blockquote><p>I <span style="text-decoration: underline;">do</span> agree with Lynch on this point:<br /> <strong>We can conceal our true opinions, but in the moment of unguarded laughter, we reveal our true preferences.</strong></p></blockquote> <p>Lynch says that the trait of a sense of humor is desirable and its presence or lack thereof helps us select a mate: A sense of humor is always listed in the top five traits people look for when mate-hunting.</p> <p>Plus, humor helps us bond with those in our group, or determine who’s <em><strong>outside</strong></em> our group. This does seem clear.</p> <hr /> <p> </p> <h4>And lest we forget, (the non self-deceived?) Lynch likes to work the crowd at open mic comedy nights. Does this scientist have a formula?</h4> <p>Yes. Sort of. Basically.</p> <p><strong>Here’s how he does it:</strong></p> <p>He finds common ground and builds on it. First he works at locating something held in common. Then, he points out a shared opinion or value, and underscores something that rings true to listeners.</p> <p>It might start with some simple commonality like the geographical location of the place, a sports team preference, or the clientele in attendance.</p> <p style="text-align: center;">He’s also snarky. If you like that style you might be amused.</p> <p><strong><em>“It’s great to be in New York City again. The coral reef created by sinking subway cars off Manhattan has a 58% higher rate of stabbings than a natural reef.”</em></strong><em> (or something like that. blah blah blah…you can watch the video on his theory </em><em><a href="http://video.pbs.org/video/2319346134/" target="_blank">here</a>.)</em></p> <div class="bucket"> <blockquote><p>If I’m writing a joke, often what I do is I look at things that I think are true, that people tend not to admit to, or maybe reluctant to admit to, including myself. -Lynch</p></blockquote> </div> <hr /> <p>Of course, I don’t hold the similar belief that the <span style="text-decoration: underline;">reason</span> for laughter happened <strong>ad hoc</strong> and by chance, as Robert Lynch contends. That idea seems more like a punchline to me.</p> <blockquote><p>“Why did the cave man laugh? I’ll tell you in ten million years…”</p></blockquote> <p><em><strong>(yes that was mine)</strong></em></p> <p><em><strong>Sure, we adapt using humor, and we always well, but I doubt the source of humor was landed on by sheer mistake or mutation + time. </strong>HA-but that’s a good one. You almost had me, Lynch!</em></p> <hr /> <p> </p> <p><strong>What may be the case is something that isn’t so stupefyingly accidental or self-deceiving. Something reasonable.</strong></p> <p><strong>Namely, that <em>One</em> beyond our comprehension designed and equipped us purposefully with a sense of humor and in a way that we can better socially bond in positive ways…because we <em>inherently</em> need each other.</strong></p> <p>In a future post, I will go a bit further and pose a kind of <em>theory</em> for the purpose of humor and the reason for laughter based on some work from different researchers and my own educational background.</p> <p> </p> <h3>The takeaway:<br /> If you want to know what someone is really like and what they really think, pay attention to what and whom they laugh at. Laughter is a kind of brain scan.</h3> <p>And examine what makes <strong>you</strong> laugh.</p> <p>Dig deeper and find out more about yourself and what needs improving.</p> <p> </p> <p><span style="color: #339966;">I hope you’ve liked this series.</span></p> <p>Tell me which has been your favorite post so far.</p> <p><span style="color: #339966;">Come back for “funny friday” and the rest of the series!</span></p> <p><span style="color: #339966;">xo</span></p> <p><span style="color: #339966;">-Lisa</span></p> <p>For the latest info on my humor related projects sign up <a href="http://eepurl.com/4lZt1" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> </div><!-- .entry-content --> <footer class="entry-footer"> <span class="posted-on"><span class="screen-reader-text">Posted on </span><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/laughter-the-mini-brain-scan/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2014-10-08T13:52:32-04:00">8 October, 2014</time><time class="updated" datetime="2014-10-10T07:32:24-04:00">10 October, 2014</time></a></span><span class="byline"><span class="author vcard"><span class="screen-reader-text">Author </span><a class="url fn n" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/author/admin/">Spark My Muse</a></span></span><span class="cat-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Categories </span><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/category/spark-my-muse/" rel="category tag">Podcast</a></span><span class="tags-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Tags </span><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/be/" rel="tag">be</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/belief/" rel="tag">belief</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/brain/" rel="tag">brain</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/children/" rel="tag">children</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/comedy/" rel="tag">comedy</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/common-ground/" rel="tag">common ground</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/crowd/" 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tag-fall tag-fans tag-following tag-friend tag-fun tag-funny tag-future tag-gig tag-giving tag-good tag-gross tag-happy tag-hat tag-hate tag-having-fun tag-heard tag-help tag-home tag-hope tag-humor tag-identity tag-if tag-in tag-joke tag-jokes tag-kind tag-laugh tag-laughs tag-laughter tag-learn tag-life tag-lisa tag-man tag-nature tag-normal tag-not tag-old tag-old-people tag-pain tag-panic tag-pants tag-patience tag-people tag-photo tag-picked tag-popularity tag-prison tag-project tag-projects tag-public tag-publicly-speaking tag-purpose tag-question tag-questions tag-quiet tag-quote tag-radio tag-reason tag-research tag-right tag-scary tag-science-2 tag-seinfeld tag-show tag-smell tag-speaking tag-spirituality tag-start tag-story tag-studies tag-stuff tag-success tag-surprise tag-terror tag-theory tag-things tag-tickle tag-time tag-topics tag-true tag-tv tag-ugly tag-understanding tag-values tag-videos tag-vulgar tag-wait tag-walk tag-walking tag-why tag-will tag-women tag-work"> <header class="entry-header"> <h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/humor-series-funny-to-whom/" rel="bookmark">Humor Series: Funny to Whom?</a></h2> </header><!-- .entry-header --> <div class="entry-content"> <p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-15152" src="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/funny-old-lady-smoking-227x300.jpg" alt="funny-old-lady-smoking" width="227" height="300" srcset="https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/funny-old-lady-smoking-227x300.jpg 227w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/funny-old-lady-smoking-300x396.jpg 300w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/funny-old-lady-smoking-113x150.jpg 113w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/funny-old-lady-smoking.jpg 303w" sizes="(max-width: 227px) 100vw, 227px" /></p> <h3><em>Have you heard this one?</em></h3> <blockquote><p>Three Humor Science researchers walk into a bar. ….um. Wait. That won’t work. Let me start over.</p></blockquote> <h3>Get a scientist to talk about humor studies and you get a quick reminder of how science can squeeze the life out of anything.</h3> <h3>Dissection is destructive. But no more!</h3> <p>It’s time to find out in a better way:</p> <p>1. What do people find funny and why?</p> <p>2. How can YOU become more humorously winsome?</p> <p>3. How can science and an understanding of human nature and spirituality help us find out?</p> <p>That’s what this series will be about, and I promise that it won’t be as dull as it’s been when scientists have the mic.</p> <p><strong><em>If it’s successful, a long form project will go a lot further and get a lot funnier. That’s up to you.</em></strong></p> <hr /> <p> </p> <p><em><strong>Here’s the story of how it all started:</strong></em></p> <p><em>A friend of mine asked me to speak at a senior residential home on the topic of community. No problem. I speak at plenty of places on plenty of topics. I wrote my bullet points and picked out an outfit…and then things went bad.</em></p> <p><em>The problem?<br /> I didn’t know she was billing me as “hilarious”.</em></p> <p><em>I found that part out only a few days beforehand. I went into a quiet panic. The kind where your hands get clammy and your sweat smells like bad coffee. You run out of TUMS at times like this.</em></p> <p><em>I’d planned on being friendly and informative, not uproarious. I was going to present material and involve them in cute bonding activities, not split their sides in gales of laughter. My friend had been walking around assuring residents that I was the funniest thing going.</em></p> <p><em>Now what?</em></p> <p><em>Maybe, I could stick a joke in there somewhere:</em></p> <blockquote><p><em>“Have you ever peed your pants laughing? What a silly question–you’re old people. You peed your pants getting out of bed today. Is bladder incontinence a laughing matter? …Depends.”</em></p></blockquote> <p><em><strong>Depends is <span style="text-decoration: underline;">right</span>. </strong>This wasn’t going to work.</em></p> <p><em><strong>What if they hated me? Some of them are in chronic pain. Some are grouchy. Some have little patience for sassy youngsters. These people carry canes and some smell like pee.</strong></em></p> <p>I could get the beating of my life! And I <span style="text-decoration: underline;">would</span> deserve it.</p> <hr /> <p> </p> <p><em>The terror of bombing at the place drove me to <span style="text-decoration: underline;">research</span> the topic of humor <strong>scientifically</strong>.</em></p> <p><em>My purpose was to help these folks have a good time, not offend them.</em></p> <p><em>What resulted was a quest and many discoveries. I had to find out if funniness can be learned, if public speaking can be improved with a formula, if laughter can be <strong>predicted</strong>, and if old people laugh at jokes about physical deterioration and, if so, under what conditions.</em></p> <p><em>Well, it turns out the last bit is sort of tricky. More on that in future material.</em></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>On getting funnier</strong></p> <p>My research dug up a very good find and it might help you too:</p> <p>One of the ways almost anyone can get funnier to more people is to <em><strong>appear harmless more broadly</strong></em>.</p> <p>Does that seem counter-intuitive?<br /> Yes, there are foul-mouthed, raunchy comics aplenty and seem to get lots of laughs, but they are not typically funny to the <strong>greatest numbers</strong> of people compared to plenty of other things (pies in the face, mistaken identity antics, prat falls, kittens jumping in surprise), and there<strong> is</strong> a scientific reason why.</p> <p><strong>What more people (on average) actually find funny hinges on giving them something that is funny <em>at a further comedic distance</em>.</strong> This explains why Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, and Bill Cosby (before all that drugging women stuff was found out) have huge followings and continued success, and Roseanne Barr gets more annoying as time goes by.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>What is Comedic Distance?</strong></p> <blockquote><p>Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when <span style="text-decoration: underline;">you</span> fall into an open sewer and die.</p> <p class="bq_fq_a">-Mel Brooks</p> </blockquote> <p class="bq_fq_a">In this quote, Mel Brooks underscores what humor researchers are finding empirically true. Distance matters a lot.</p> <p class="bq_fq_a"><em>If your child falls off the playground slide and bangs himself up, it’s scary. If some man in a cowboy hat suddenly gets kicked in the crotch by an aggressive llama, it’s laughable.</em></p> <p class="bq_fq_a"><strong>The Kitten vs. Stern Proof</strong></p> <p class="bq_fq_a">This is why videos of kittens doing silly things trump in spades the popularity of Howard Stern and his radio show antics. The hoards of memes, shares, and overall fans of funny kitten videos means that invariably, kittens kick Howard’s butt. Big time. Kittens won’t squash your dearly held values. Kittens won’t say something gross about bodily fluids. (Kittens are not funny to everyone, but they are funnier on the whole than a raunchy DJ or vulgar comedian. No contest.)</p> <blockquote> <p class="bq_fq_a">The difference between kittens and Howard Stern is this: Something “dangerous” isn’t <em><strong>personally</strong></em> threatening when kittens are involved.</p> </blockquote> <p class="bq_fq_a">Comedic distance (whether physical, chronological, or emotional) creates an amusing incident. The surprise pays off and people are thusly amused. If not, that you can get booed.</p> <p class="bq_fq_a">For me, I played off that my normal Thursday afternoons are spend with prison inmates and that I was REALLY happy for the upgrade.</p> <p class="bq_fq_a">I was then heckled by a woman who said,</p> <p class="bq_fq_a">“Don’t be so sure.” (She has it in for a few of her neighbors. It’s been ugly.)</p> <p class="bq_fq_a">To which I replied, “Well, you are all much better dressed.”</p> <p class="bq_fq_a">Resounding laughter. A win!</p> <hr /> <h4 style="text-align: center;">So, see if you can figure out why the photo above is funny (to most people)?</h4> <p class="bq_fq_a" style="text-align: center;">Answer:<br /> The woman has made it to 100 years old and she’s done it <strong>her</strong> way.<br /> Sure, smoking is dangerous, but apparently not much, in her case.</p> <p class="bq_fq_a" style="text-align: left;"><em><span style="color: #ff6600;">Having fun?</span></em></p> <p class="bq_fq_a" style="text-align: left;"><em><span style="color: #ff6600;">I hope you are enjoying this series.</span></em></p> <p class="bq_fq_a" style="text-align: left;"><em><span style="color: #ff6600;">Do you have questions about humor theory or getting funnier?<br /> Let me know.</span></em></p> <p class="bq_fq_a" style="text-align: left;"><em><span style="color: #ff6600;">xo</span></em></p> <p class="bq_fq_a" style="text-align: left;"><em><span style="color: #ff6600;">-Lisa</span></em></p> <p class="bq_fq_a" style="text-align: left;"><strong>Here are the previous articles in this series:</strong></p> <p class="bq_fq_a" style="text-align: left;"><a title="Upcoming SERIES: The Science & Spirituality of HUMOR" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/2014/09/21/upcoming-series-the-science-spirituality-of-humor/" target="_blank">1. Finding things funny…from birth</a></p> <p class="bq_fq_a" style="text-align: left;"><a title="The Science and Spirituality of Humor [SERIES]: Is Humor a HUMAN thing?" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/2014/09/26/the-science-and-spirituality-of-humor-series-is-humor-a-human-thing/" target="_blank">2. Humor Studies: Step 1 – Tickle Rats</a></p> <p class="bq_fq_a" style="text-align: left;">For the latest info on my humor related projects sign up <a href="http://eepurl.com/4lZt1" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> </div><!-- .entry-content --> <footer class="entry-footer"> <span class="posted-on"><span class="screen-reader-text">Posted on </span><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/humor-series-funny-to-whom/" rel="bookmark"><time class="entry-date published" datetime="2014-09-28T08:52:26-04:00">28 September, 2014</time><time class="updated" datetime="2015-07-12T12:20:14-04:00">12 July, 2015</time></a></span><span class="byline"><span class="author vcard"><span class="screen-reader-text">Author </span><a class="url fn n" href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/author/admin/">Spark My Muse</a></span></span><span class="cat-links"><span class="screen-reader-text">Categories </span><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/category/spark-my-muse/" rel="category tag">Podcast</a></span><span 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rel="tag">Theory</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/things/" rel="tag">things</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/tickle/" rel="tag">tickle</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/time/" rel="tag">time</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/topics/" rel="tag">topics</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/true/" rel="tag">true</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/tv/" rel="tag">tv</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/ugly/" rel="tag">ugly</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/understanding/" rel="tag">understanding</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/values/" rel="tag">values</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/videos/" rel="tag">videos</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/vulgar/" rel="tag">vulgar</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/wait/" rel="tag">wait</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/walk/" rel="tag">walk</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/walking/" rel="tag">walking</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/why/" rel="tag">why</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/will/" rel="tag">will</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/women/" rel="tag">women</a>, <a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/tag/work/" rel="tag">Work</a></span><span class="comments-link"><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/humor-series-funny-to-whom/#comments">4 Comments<span class="screen-reader-text"> on Humor Series: Funny to Whom?</span></a></span> </footer><!-- .entry-footer --> </article><!-- #post-15150 --> <article id="post-15096" class="post-15096 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-spark-my-muse tag-babies tag-baby tag-be tag-cat tag-christian tag-clean-humor tag-do tag-funny tag-god tag-humor tag-i-am tag-in tag-just tag-lisa-colon-delay tag-mail tag-not tag-old tag-people tag-personal tag-projects tag-reason tag-rip tag-science-2 tag-science-of-humor tag-spirituality tag-spirituality-of-humor tag-stone tag-things tag-thinking tag-universal tag-video tag-why tag-will"> <header class="entry-header"> <h2 class="entry-title"><a href="https://lisadelay.com/blog/upcoming-series-the-science-spirituality-of-humor/" rel="bookmark">Upcoming SERIES: The Science & Spirituality of HUMOR</a></h2> </header><!-- .entry-header --> <div class="entry-content"> <h3><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-15098" src="https://lisadelay.com/blog/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/groucho-300x190.png" alt="groucho" width="300" height="190" srcset="https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/groucho-300x190.png 300w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/groucho-350x222.png 350w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/groucho-150x95.png 150w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/groucho-600x380.png 600w, https://lisadelay.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/groucho.png 601w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />No, I’m not kidding.</h3> <p>This is happening.</p> <hr /> <p>So, what makes something funny?</p> <p>There’s a whole science behind finding this out. It’s not merely about personal taste.</p> <p>The science behind might be the butt of the joke, in some ways, but my new series will provoke thought and attempt to answer some questions:</p> <p><span style="color: #3366ff;">How and why do we find things funny?</span></p> <p><span style="color: #3366ff;">What difference can it make to our development and well-being?</span></p> <p>How you can get 16-31% funnier.</p> <p><span style="color: #3366ff;">Why humor helps heal, learn, and grow.</span></p> <p><span style="color: #3366ff;">Why and when does humor <strong>fail</strong> to be funny? and does it matter?</span></p> <p>How to develop your sense of humor so unfunny people won’t drive you crazy.</p> <p><span style="color: #3366ff;">Does a sense of humor reflect something of God in us?</span></p> <p><span style="color: #3366ff;">Why do legions of cat video exist?</span></p> <p><strong><span style="color: #3366ff;"><em>and plenty of other things.</em></span></strong></p> <hr /> <p> </p> <p>So far, in researching the <strong>science of humor</strong> I’ve learned that even babies find things funny.<br /> Okay. That was not a surprise.</p> <p><span style="color: #339966;"><em>I already knew this. For instance, when I would rip junk mail in front of my 6 month old daughter, she’d go into hysteric fits of hilarious laughter. I kept ripping and she kept laughing. Later, when she could talk she mentioned that it wasn’t because of the paper at all. She was thinking of something else that was funny from earlier in the day. </em></span></p> <p><span style="color: #339966;"><em>Something filthy.</em></span></p> <p><span style="color: #339966;"><em>There’s a biological reason for babies laughing at paper shredding…</em></span></p> <p><span style="color: #339966;"><em>The unformulated concept <strong>object permanence</strong>?</em></span></p> <p><em>Maybe, or maybe they are just thinking of something filthy.</em></p> <p> </p> <p>So, yes, I am starting with baby steps, as it were.</p> <blockquote><p>FACT: Humor is universal and germane to humans even at infancy.</p></blockquote> <p><strong>(Picture Stone Philips saying that.)</strong></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>So, yes. In the end, so to speak, babies think peek-a-boo is funny because they are super immature. (like this baby)</strong><br /> <iframe loading="lazy" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/IA4SVAVHpXY?rel=0" width="420" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"> More in the SERIES here– Thanks for reading. xo, -L For the latest info on my humor related projects sign up here.
