Fun

For fun, how about this….

Pig Stuff:  My wife and I collect pigs.  I don’t mean we collect pigs; I mean we collect pigs!!!  We have probably a couple of thousand pigs in my house — no exaggeration.  My front yard has 11 pig topiaries and is known throughout the neighborhood as The House With The Pigs.  My wife’s nickname is Sweetie Pig.

Pig Parties – every few years we have a bash at our house.  There is too much to describe but there are live pigs roaming the house – at the last party there were pig races – and of course a hog-calling contest off the deck in the backyard.

Pet Pig – no we don’t have one.  My wife drew the line there to my eternal chagrin.

Professional Hog Calling – I guess this is not a profession but they have hog calling contests at state fairs in the Midwest and one of my dreams is to compete.  You should hear my hog calls.

Foodie:  No way to be subtle here – I love a great meal.  So does my family.  There is nothing like ordering the Seafood Tower in a high-end restaurant or a sizzling (ridiculously unhealthy) thick steak at a steakhouse.

To be a little religious here, us Jewish people seem to spend all of our time:  planning where to eat — eating – discussing, assessing and analyzing what we ate – and then planning our next meal.  Go figure that.

Being Happy:  I am a student of happiness.  There is much to be said here, but the first principle is the recognition that we humans are not programmed to be happy all the time.  If we were, then “happy” wouldn’t even be “happy,” as it would the base state and then there would be a concept of “very happy” or something like that, if you follow me.

Most people don’t realize this and if they are not “happy,” as they have defined it, they immediately conclude something must be “wrong” that needs an immediate solution, such as a drug, alcohol, a shrink, hours with friends, or plain old misery.

How about – instead – just realizing you aren’t supposed to be happy all the time and this unhappy time is actually good in laying the predicate for the next happy time you will experience.

So – I called it Steering into the Skid – if you have an unhappy day, instead of freaking out about it, try to enjoy it.  Be totally narcissistic – eat what you like – do some drinking maybe – lie around and watch TV stuff you really like.  Then go to sleep and the odds are you will wake up pretty happy the next day.  This is what I do and it works (almost) every time.

Cape May Beach House:  This is my Happy Place.  Of all the possessions I have, this is by far the best and indeed maybe the only possession that I treasure above all else.  I don’t know what it is about it, but somehow going to Cape May and staying in my beach house cleanses me emotionally.