Everyone is normal till you get to know them

 

 

In some stores you find a section of merchandise at greatly reduced prices. Each price tag carries the same words: as is. This is a euphemistic way of saying, "These are damaged goods."

"You're going to find a flaw here: a stain that won't come out; a zipper that won't zip; a button that won't butt - there will be a problem. These items are not normal. We're not going to tell you where the flaw is. You'll have to look for it."

When you deal with human beings, you have come to the "as-is" section. We live under the illusion that somewhere out there are people who are normal. In the movie "As Good As It Gets", Helen Hunt is wracked by ambivalence towards Jack Nicholson. He is kind and generous to her and her sick son, but he is also agoraphobic, obsessive-compulsive, and terminally offensive. In desperation, Helen finally cries to her mother: "I just want a normal boyfriend." "Oh," her mother responds in empathy, "everybody wants that, dear. It doesn't exist."

Don’t make the mistake of assuming somebody does't have a messy and uncertain internal life. We all do. Normal? There's no such thing! Don’t make the mistake of comparing someone else's external life to your internal life. Each person’s life appears coherent and certain from the outside. Everyone is normal till you get to know them. Feeling better now?

 

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“Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand.”

 

 

So wrote Mark Twain in "The Mysterious Stranger", which brings me to Trump's recent War on Laughter: the cancellation of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the most-watched late-night program on US broadcast television and a frequent platform of satire aimed at Donald Trump. It will end its 10-year run in May 2026.

When Trump’s proxies at CBS cancelled Colbert, they issued the following statement: "This is purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night. It is not related in any way to the show’s performance, content or other matters happening at Paramount" (or to Paramount trying to stop Trump from scuttling their merger)

Trump’s fear of being laughed at is nothing short of pathological, which he shares with pretty much every dictator in the world. You might have already noticed that there isn’t a thriving comedy scene in Pyongyang.

As for Trump winning the War on Laughter, he can cancel all the comedians he wants, but he will never make us stop laughing at him.

 

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The week that was

 

 

Padma keeps calling me from Indonesia on WhatsApp thinking that I might feel lonely on my Pat Malone. Tell that to Kookie who keeps following me around wherever I go! Despite his constant company, I did get a few things done, such as trimming the hydrangeas outside the library ...

 

 

... and at long last also de-cluttered the entrance to the house.

 

 

There's plenty more to do, and I won't leave "Riverbend" until next week Monday for another spot of essential grocery shopping, but that hasn't stopped Padma from engaging in her own retail therapy in Surabaya.

 

 

I never question my wife's choices, after all, I'm one of them, but on this occasion, old-fashioned as I am, I told her, "Cut those silly sleeves off".

 

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BBC's The Read

 

 

There’s nothing more engaging that having a story read to you, and "The Read" brilliantly carries on this tradition, creating an emotional connection between narrator and the viewer. It's a must-watch for literature lovers of all ages.

This brilliant collection of classic novels now includes "A Kestrel for a Knave", "Wuthering Heights", "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde", "Nineteen Eighty-Four", "A Christmas Carol", "On the Black Hill", "Frakenstein", "The Remains of the Day", "The Day of the Sardine", "A Vision of Loveliness", and "The Lonely Londoner".

 

A Kestrel for a Knave

Frankenstein

The Day of the Sardine

A Vision of Loveliness

The Lonely Londoners

On The Black Hill

 

Rediscover the books you thought you knew.

 

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A quiet morning at "Riverbend" is Hermann Hesse time

 

 

Only two more weeks of peace and quiet. Time to read Hermann Hesse who was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include "Steppenwolf", "Siddhartha", and "The Glass Bead Game", each of which explores an individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge and spirituality.

The film is a moving documentary, filled with photos and video clips of Hesse's intense yet simple attempt to find meaning in his life. He indicated in his writings that his life had two pursuits: the need for solitude, and the need to communicate. To meet his need for solitude, he spent much of his life in the remote village of Montagnola, Switzerland (which towards the end of his life became a major tourist attraction, which he often lamented in his works). To meet his need to communicate, his house became a major asylum for German-born artists during the Nazi regime in Germany, as well as the many admirers of his works throughout his life. The video includes interviews with his two sons, his editor, and the doctor who examined him after his death.

Highly moving, Hermann Hesse’s "Long Summer" truly captures some of the author’s intensity and need for simplicity throughout his life. He liked the simple life of gardening and pulling weeds, and stated in his letters that he found most of his inspiration during this type of work. Hesse also answered over 35,000 letters during his lifetime, part of his need to communicate with others. He also dabbled with painting and artwork, which is featured throughout the video.

 

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