Heroes

"I wouldn't know what I would do without you . . ."



Seriously, we all have heroes in our lives, whether we realize it or not. If you're gonna argue the point then you probably live in a shoebox under a bridge somewhere where it rains all the time. Too bad for you.

I was thinking about this a bit ago and it kinda broke down into three categories:

• Family
• Mentors
• Idols

You can figure out which is which.

In no particular order, except for the first six.

1. Arthur "Bud" Berg and Marilyn Berg, my Mom and Dad.
2. Jennifer Berg, My Wife.
3. Mark Berg, my Brother (I'm surprised too!)
4. Christ
   
5. Father Charles Palluck (retired), the holiest man I have ever known.
6. Sa Bu Nim Thomas Zoppi, the teacher.
7. Benjamin Franklin
8. Cary Grant
9. Chuck Jones
10. Daffy Duck
11. William Shakespeare
12. Scott Adams
13. Mark Twain
14. John Wayne
15. Henry Ford
    

I doubt this list is complete but one thing bothers me - the lack of women heroes. I thought about it and Indira Ghandi came to mind. She is a great woman but she has not been someone I constantly look to.

I should.

I'm not quite sure what this says. I'm sure that some may assume I'm a chauvenist, or at the very least unenlightened. Well, I went to college, was an arts major, I've read Uncommon Women and Others by Wendy Wasserstein (It wasn't on the production schedule so I had to read it at the time instead of seeing it). I've had a number of influential women in my life.

I get it.

But none except those I've mentioned above have knowingly had a profound affect on me.

And that's the key right there. Heroes are people we as individuals admire, look up to, idolize, worship, aspire to - however we set them apart as models and icons for ourselves. I don't expect everyone to agree with me. Far from it. Them point in sharing is tom reveal a little bit about me.

And if you're bothered by Christ and Daffy Duck showing up on the same list I doubt you know me.

Did You Hear The One About . . .

Or Humor at the Expense of Others.

This . . .



Followed by this . . .



(Um . . .)

(hold on . . .)

I have to admit it, I got nothin' except a lame banana peal joke.

What do you do when the idiots, morons and fools in your life go on sabbatical, vacation or just plain stay behind?

• Work on a puzzle?
• Host a martial arts sleepover with a couple of dozen kids, including teenagers?
• Look for work?
• Watch someone else be creative?
• Whine?

This is the creative case. I'm now so far divorced from my previous position and circumstance that anything I write may sound petty and self-serving rather than insightful and thought provoking.

(sound of crickets chirping while my wife stifles a laugh)

The whole problem is it's easy to be funny and creative when others do it for you. If you can sit back in your cubicle, close your eyes and listening to the thundering sound of idiocy as it pounds its way through policy and procedure, then it just sort of flows out of you like a torrent.

If not you find yourself sitting at the dining room table staring at a blank screen wondering just where all the funny comes from.

It's the same no matter what. Where do your ideas come from? Personal experience? Complicated exercises designed to stimulate the creative process? The Idea Fairy?

Personally I like the last one.

Seriously.

Who wouldn't like the image of a middle-aged woman in a pink frilly dress floating through the air until she stops just above you. Suddenly she swings her wand down and cracks you on top of the skull leaving you with a huge red welt and a desperate need for an aspirin. The last thing you'll hear as you struggle to get to the medicine chest is the voice of a sweet old lady saying . . .

"Now that's funny."