When the world seems senseless, I especially appreciate a sense of humor.
Yesterday morning, on my way into work, I listened to the late Tom Lehrer, who was an early influence on my sense of humor.
Do you see a sense of humor in my images for today?
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I love my son’s sense of humor, which came through in his standup comedy and which shows up even when he’s presenting about Category Theory at a Quantum Physics and Logic conference in Bulgaria.
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I’m very proud.
Thanks to all who have a sense of humor, including YOU!
What do you see in that photo of last night’s dinner? What you DON’T see are the little pin-bones Michael could not remove from the sablefish before cooking it.
Honestly, my incredible readers, it’s incredible to me that I have never before published a post titled “Incredible” in all the two thousand, four hundred, and thirty-six incredible days I’ve been blogging.
Yesterday, on my travel day back from incredible Edinburgh to incredible Boston, I saw these two incredible signs:
I had an incredible time at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe (described in incredible detail here, here, here, here,here, here, andhere). Here are some of the incredible highlights:
“Lovely group experience! Great to feel included during the Fringe, and to feel heard.”
“Enjoyed feeling comfortable with a group of strangers. Thank you.”
“Great, very interesting, and unique.”
“The show should be longer. Also be my therapist please.”
“You need some more time for your show, but I really liked your idea of making a show of this. It was like a calm moment in the middle of the Fringe chaos. Fringe = outside. Ann show = inside.”
“Created a safe and relaxed space to feel open to express myself.”
“More shows like this.”
“A welcome sharing space well interspersed with activities and songs to make everyone feel included. Thanks.”
“I would 1000% recommend this since it is truly something different from anything else on offer at the Fringe. I feel a lot happier after the show and had some big revelations.”
Here are my latest photos, which I took when I was feeling incredible:
It’s always incredible to be home.
It’s incredible to me, here and now, that I can’t share the incredible Tom Joyce’s portion of The Mail Room which I recorded on my iPhone during my incredible Wednesday at the incredible 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. I think it’s credible that I’ll be able to add that recording to this post after I publish it.
Here is the incredibly kind and talented Tom Joyce in The Mail Room:
I look forward to your incredible comments, below.
Incredible thanks to all who help me create these posts and also to my incredible readers, including YOU.
On my way to Edinburgh Airport to catch my fight back to Boston, I expanded my view to notice this:
After attending the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for seven years with my son (who is now a student at University of Edinburgh and a well-established local comedian), I would say that the Edinburgh Fringe is all about expanding the view.
This year, my view was expanded by doing my own Fringe Show — Group “Therapy” with Ann — and also attending The Mail Room, the Fringe show my son shared with one of our long-time favorite comedians, Tom Joyce. Tom expanded my already favorable view of him by showing up yesterday, unasked, to help me expand the audience for my two shows yesterday by passing out flyers outside the venue.
Which ones of the many other photos in this post are expanding the view?
Expanding your time spent with this post, I will tell you that ONE of those views is NOT from Edinburgh, but rather from back home in Boston. If you can guess which one, that will expand my view of you.
Soon I’ll be expanding my view on a plane flying over the Atlantic Ocean. As usual, my gratitude for all who help me create and who read my posts is expanding. Here’s today’s final view:
Yesterday morning, after publishing Day 2424: Missing, I heard that I am going to get another go at performing my Fringe show Group “Therapy” with Ann.
Here I go again, doing two groups on a Thursday, which is how it goes for me back home at work in Boston.
It may seem like a risk to do two shows in one day with very little time to convince people to attend my show — among the thousands of shows and performances at Scotland’s Festival Fringe — but here we go again!!
When I go again today, I may sing different songs, like “I Left The House Before I Felt Ready” or “Hidden Thoughts.” Here I go again, having trouble making decisions. If necessary, I can always go again to the “coin flip” app on my phone.
Here we go again — with the rest of my photos from yesterday.
Here at the Bar Bados Fringe venue last night, my son Aaron (a/k/a as “The Jail Mailman”) and one of our long-time favorite comedians, Tom Joyce, did their show — The Mail Room — again.
Here we go again with a video that Aaron’s proud mother recorded at last night’s performance of “The Mail Room.”
Here I go again, apologizing for the mistakes I made recording that. Here I go again, letting go of worry, perfectionism, fear, and self-judgment before my two performances today.
Here we go again with yet another request for comments, below.
Here we go again with gratitude, for all who help me go again, every day!!!
Today is my boyfriend Michael’s birthday and I’m really missing him. He’s missing another Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year because he’s back home with the cats. Michael claims that he’ll attend his first Edinburgh Fringe Festival next year but if he does, our cats will likely be missing him then.
In the photos below, my son Aaron (shown during the first night of his Edinburgh Fringe show) is missing his beard. If you haven’t been missing any of my posts over the years, you’ll be amazed to know that Tom Joyce — a comedian whose shows we would never miss — is sharing the bill of my son’s Fringe Show.
So you won’t be missing any of my other photos from yesterday, here they are:
When I see a cat outside my son’s flat in Edinburgh, it helps me deal with missing our cats.
Get in touch with your reactions to these two notifications I recently received from Facebook:
It’s not easy for me to get in touch with Oscar right now. Why? Because I’m at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Oscar’s back home with Michael and Harley.
I’m getting in touch with my excitement about my son Aaron and I both having shows at the Fringe.
Get in touch with these other new photos on my phone:
Hi, my fringe show has been accepted. There are shows from the 20th to the 24th.
Since Aaron and I both applied many months ago to perform our own shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (which starts in August), we’ve accepted the ever-growing possibility that neither of our shows would be accepted.
My son and I accepted the process of waiting to hear about our shows very differently — I kept holding out hope (until very recently) that we would both be accepted and Aaron very quickly accepted the stance of assuming that both of our shows would not go on.
I hope Aaron accepted both of my responses to his wonderful news:
Great!
What can we learn from this?
I hope you’ve accepted my intent there: to invite Aaron to hold on to hope in the future.
Personally, because I’ve accepted years of uncertainty dealing with medical issues from birth, it helps me to hold onto hope. I’ve accepted that other people deal with uncertainty very differently. (It’s accepted that I sometimes say this in my Coping and Healing groups: “Different strokes for different folks.”)
I’ve also accepted that I probably will not get a Fringe show, which was titled Group “Therapy” with Ann. However, if I do get accepted, I’m ready!
Aaron was accepted to teach English in Jordan this month, so when he gets back here on July 20th, we’ll make sure that YouTube accepts a longer version of that.
Also, I applied yesterday to join a panel in September for my 45th reunion at Harvard on “Picking up the Pieces: How Did You Embrace Life and Find Happiness Again?” In my application, I offered to talk about dealing with conflicting medical advice and finally getting a mechanical heart valve in 2016 (a process well documented and accepted on this blog). I wonder if my application will be accepted, especially since I offered to perform my original song “Shameless Appeals for Applause.”
Five years ago, I applied to be on a “Voices of Our Class” panel at my college reunion, and my application was not accepted. I’ve accepted that often you have to try, try again.
Yesterday, the Beehive Inn (which is one of hundreds of performance venues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe) was in search of greatness.
Aren’t we all in search of greatness in one way or other?
Yesterday, I found greatness in the performance of my son doing stand-up comedy at the Beehive.
I didn’t have to search hard to find greatness elsewhere, too.
I searched my son’s room and found the greatness of that award for the champion of Edinburgh student stand-ups.
After I publish this, we will be in search of greatness for a photo of me suitable for a poster. I’m searching for great words to tell you that I’ve decided to search for greatness with a show next year at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe!
When I get WiFi again later today, I’ll be in search of greatness in your comments.
When we are in search of greatness, it’s always great to express gratitude. Thanks to all who help me search for greatness for this blog and — of course! — to YOU!
When I was walking the right way down an Edinburgh street yesterday, I observed this:
What IS the right way, dear readers, in these times of right OR left, us OR them, my way OR the highway?
For me, the right way includes loving yourself and others …
… being responsible for your tasks …
… thoughtful consumption of food and other resources …
… finding the wisdom in books and other people …
… being surprised by joy …
… communicating with others the best you can …
… finding the humor wherever you can …
… singing along, realizing that beauty is everywhere…
… even in your own body and soul, and recognizing that change is scary.
Also, the right way includes looking out for each other, especially when people fear change.
The right way to end this post is with gratitude for all who help me find the right way, every day, to create this blog and for YOU, who found your way here.
I didn’t have to search hard to find greatness elsewhere, too.
