Don't get mad -- get surreal
I was just "talking" with my friend lastcallforcorn about an old coping strategy of mine. When my life got really bizarre, I tried to be even weirder than my life, just to show it who's boss. Helps me keep my sense of humor and feel like everything's not totally out of my control.
So without any further ado, here are some suggestions for out-weirding your life. Please feel free to contribute your own ideas.
-- Declare it Orange Day, and that you will not wear or eat anything that is not sufficiently Orange.
-- Take the business reply envelopes out of the junk mail you receive, put unexpected (yet not dangerous) things in the envelopes and send 'em out. Gives a much-needed laugh to those poorly paid call-center employees who open all of those replies. My favorite was cutting the picture of the "Bug Suit" full-body mosquito net overalls out of the Campmor catalog and mailing that to the credit card company.
-- Create your own henge. (Stonehenge and Carhenge are taken, as was Breadhenge until I ate it.)
-- Take everything reasonably liquid and brightly-colored in your house and smear it all over the bathtub. Declare it an art installation and make a title plaque for it. Invite your friends to a wine-and-cheese opening for it.
-- Using your non-dominant hand, draw a crayon picture of one of the following topics: my Easter basket; famous inhabitants of my city; the effect of domestic agricultural subsidies on third-world farmers; the mating habits of zoo animals; Henry Kissenger's legacy as it relates to the failures of Bush administration foreign policy. Bonus points for combining them all, or for mailing it to your senator. Extra bonus points for doing this with puffy paint on a t-shirt and wearing it in public.
So without any further ado, here are some suggestions for out-weirding your life. Please feel free to contribute your own ideas.
-- Declare it Orange Day, and that you will not wear or eat anything that is not sufficiently Orange.
-- Take the business reply envelopes out of the junk mail you receive, put unexpected (yet not dangerous) things in the envelopes and send 'em out. Gives a much-needed laugh to those poorly paid call-center employees who open all of those replies. My favorite was cutting the picture of the "Bug Suit" full-body mosquito net overalls out of the Campmor catalog and mailing that to the credit card company.
-- Create your own henge. (Stonehenge and Carhenge are taken, as was Breadhenge until I ate it.)
-- Take everything reasonably liquid and brightly-colored in your house and smear it all over the bathtub. Declare it an art installation and make a title plaque for it. Invite your friends to a wine-and-cheese opening for it.
-- Using your non-dominant hand, draw a crayon picture of one of the following topics: my Easter basket; famous inhabitants of my city; the effect of domestic agricultural subsidies on third-world farmers; the mating habits of zoo animals; Henry Kissenger's legacy as it relates to the failures of Bush administration foreign policy. Bonus points for combining them all, or for mailing it to your senator. Extra bonus points for doing this with puffy paint on a t-shirt and wearing it in public.