Zen and Blog Cherries

Zen and Blog Cherries

Words and Pictures by Darren Hanson

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When I grow up I want to be a comedian. Which might just be a little disconcerting, as later this year I will be turning 40 years old. Am I too old to be pursuing this dream? Should I have been working towards this all along? Maybe and maybe. Unfortunately I can’t change the past, and cannot predict the future; all I’ve really got to work with is right now. Right now I can’t worry if my comedy pursuit will end up as more discarded afterbirth of another pipe dream. I can only control what I am doing right now.

And right now I am writing my first ever blog post.

This means now I am a blogger. I imagine someone may overhear me say that in public and think that I said I am a logger, which would make sense since at any time I could very well be wearing a Carhartt jacket while puffing my corn cob pipe and stroking my beard in a manly fashion. “I think that guy fells long timber in the deep woods!” The lumberjacking industry would appreciate my brand of choreographed song-and-dance tree chopping. I imagine my stage name would be Fred Axestaire. Because everything in life comes back to an old time song-and-dance film, right? Well at least I’ll have some balance to my public image.

But I digress.

So my comedy brothers here told me we'd be doing a blog and to write up some stuff. Sounds good. But what to discuss? My love of traditional wet-shaving? Or maybe talk about how I was ripping some Black Sabbath on a plastic harmonica for my wife and boys today? No, I will take the high road for now and avoid the sensational. It is more important that I pop my blog cherry before I wander into something hip deep. Besides, I want to bring you to first base before I roll out the big guns and move in for the clumsy grope. Who says chivalry is dead?

A quick word about my comedy posse here. As the elder member of the Toxic Love Juice Comedy Bandits, I can say the boys here bring their"A" game every time. We're like the Rat Pack, if the Rat Pack was high on Taco Bell. Incedentally, that's as close to a poop joke as I will get in my first blog post. Grilled stuffed classiness, full of sour cream with a side of fire salsa. Based on what these guys are capable of on the stage, you can expect some serious laughter out of this crew. You may even learn a little something about yourself along the way. Probably not though. But you will get some quality laughs, and yes, that's a threat.