Humor and Faerie

Some other business to attend to first. Alan sent me this link and it made my otherwise miserable (no food at Bartlett, no deposit envelopes at the ATM, debit card bounced to buy text books, missed bus, got sopping wet, paid too much for dinner- $1.50 for two nature valley peanut butter granola bars and a cup of tap water) day much better. Classic Israeli screwball comedy.

I went in to speak to a certain Israeli professor yesterday about taking his class. "Too many people, I just can't do it." he insisted "I have eleven students, and I am leaving early, how can I give attention to all of them?" Despite impossible odds, there was still hope "Ok, I'll tell you what, I will stay after class with you lehashlim what you missed." (as I can't make the first part of class because of PE)
Rule #1 about old people: They want you to know how much work they put in. They are not faulting you, they love you, but they want you to know that they have to work. I always misunderstood my aunts lists of preparations as a guilt trip until I realized that she just wants me to know that she really cares. It explains so much. P.S. He sends DaSh to Tiki.

As a graduating senior it is my right to take a cool class. Luckily Prof. Fulton and Pick are teaching the Medieval Myth of Tolkein. I have been struggling to understand why it is that I don't like Tolkein that much. He is good, but not an author I rave about. I finally stumbled on the reason, he is not funny. Well there are funny parts (few though) but he essentially sees his writing of Faerie stories (enchanted myth type things) as necessarily serious, because he reasons that if they are made light of than it is impossible to really accept the secondary reality (he writes as much in the Tolkein Reader "On Faerie Stories"). Where as The Princess Bride, a work I will rant about at length, it essentially a satire, which is so moving that it also works as myth/enchantment story (not Faerie per se).
I am really looking forward to this class (at the moment) because I think it will help me ponder my two favorite questions right now: Stories and Humor. I think both are really important, but I don't know why yet. I have more to say on the matter, but I adjourn here for now.