The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”
~Mark Twain

I was born with more than a couple of funny bones, and they were attached to the feet that often just change places in my mouth. I have always been the kind of person who could find something funny about the glass whether it was half full, half empty, full or empty. Lately, it’s been harder to laugh at life and its little annoyances – you know – those things I can laugh at down the road, when they are less tragic. January has become a bit of a minefield as we get older. There are the inevitable sad days when we start getting tax filing papers right after Christmas along with the bills for said holiday, as well as the hell of filing for student financial aid. It is also the month when we celebrate the births of two dead kings –Martin Luther and Elvis—as well as the birth of my dearly departed mother-in-law and father-in-law. And if that’s not enough, our fearless leader stands before Congress in January each year and makes gaffs that leave all of us humorists quaking in his wake. It’s almost too easy to make fun of him. It seems like I have to be very careful not to be too facetious around folks who are a bit long in the face this time of year. I guess I’ll take all of my light-hearted banter somewhere else in January and leave the sour pusses in my house to brood on their own.