Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Meme me

My son, Will has been posting various memes for a while. I had no idea what a meme was - and you really have to see one to appreciate the genre - until he started emailing them to me.  It's a photo or image with a 'catchphrase' attached. People who are Will's age will think the fact that I have to explain what a meme is already makes me too old to enjoy them. They just "ARE".  That being said... one of the funniest ones I ever saw was an old joke  (don't you just love the guy in the picture?):



babby courage wolf - Dad says no lunchables put in cart anywayThe first ones that Will ever sent me were Insanity Wolf and Courage Wolf memes. Insanity Wolf is so raw (really, really raw) I cannot post them here. Courage Wolf, for the most part,  employs phrases that are " inspirational"  but in a subversive, hit-man kind of way. At first, I didn't get it. People are encouraged to create their own memes so there are no filters - anything goes, especially with Insanity Wolf. So, it takes a while to figure it out. But, when you hit a good one, it stays with you. One of the best is from Baby Courage Wolf. I still laugh at that when I think of it.
Will said he'd be reading my blog and noticed that I talked a lot about being Canadian. He also said that I wasn't very clear about the differences between Americans and Canadians. It's a subject we dissect quite often. He was happy to report that there was someone in the web world who was generating memes about "Canadians". They were all really positive images and messages. I guess the creator, like a lot of people, view Canadians as benign and harmless sorts.  Will was paging through the Canadian memes and found two that he felt deserved a spot on my blog because of some of my previous references.

He also noticed that I've mentioned Tim Hortons more than enough times. By the way, after a great start with my roll up the rim to win campaign - 2 wins the first week - I have won NOTHING since. I really believe that they heavy load those cups in the beginning of the contest period to hook people. Well, they already hooked me.

Will and I laugh at the same sorts of things. I don't think we are particularly funny ourselves, but we do love a good joke - and appreciate when a joke is well told. I especially love jokes that provide a good visual - maybe that's why I like these memes? 
It always does my heart good when I hear Will laugh  - it is such an appreciative laugh. Those deep belly laughs are as cathartic as a good cry. And he laughs a lot. 

Last night at dinner, Bill made me laugh so hard I had to push away from the table. He's not the best 'canned' joke teller, but he can make me laugh with his stories. He understands what makes me laugh, and it's humor that is guaranteed to bring me out of a funk. When I don't have access to a good meme, at least I can count on Bill to give me a great belly laugh.   


1 comment:

  1. Thank you for teaching me what a "meme" is!

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