On humor and laughter (and Audrey Hepburn)

Quote of the day:

“I love people who make me laugh. I honestly think it's the thing I like most, to laugh. It cures a multitude of ills. It's probably the most important thing in a person.”

- Audrey Hepburn

I love Audrey Hepburn. Now, I am not an expert on her or her life or her work. I’m a casual fan, which I guess makes it wrong for me to proclaim that I ‘love’ her. How can I love someone I don’t even know, you might ask? Well, I love a lot of people and I probably love too easily. That’s a different story.

I was 20 when I saw the movie “Roman Holiday” for the first time, and I fell in love at first viewing. Now, it’s one of my favorite movies. I think my love is founded in the fact that the story so strongly resembles that of a classic fairy tale, and like many people, I am enamored with fairy tales. I actually spent a large part of my last semester as an undergraduate watching Disney movies instead of studying (again, a different story for a different time).

Anyway, the above quote doesn’t have anything to do with Roman Holiday or fairy tales, but about something that should be important to all of us. Have you ever heard the saying that laughing is actually really, really good for you? It doesn’t just have some amazing health benefits (think, stress release) but I personally think that laughter has mental health benefits (and in the end, aren’t the two related anyway?). As Audrey says, laughing ‘cures a multitude of ills.”

The above quote is about finding a partner that can laugh and can make you laugh. I think it’s just as important in friends, in family, in all the people I surround myself with. True, people shouldn’t be laughing and making jokes all the time, but sometimes, a little bit of comedic relief is the only thing that keeps us all going. If we look at our own core groups of friends, I’m sure you can easily point out the people that are funny, the people that make you laugh. Those people are probably your best friends. They are the ones you turn to when you want to have fun and the ones you turn to when you are feeling down. I’m sure we all have ‘that friend’ too, who is always a downer, always has drama, and makes our lives less fun because they aren’t able to find the own fun in their own lives.

To me, being able to laugh, having a sense of humor, being able to laugh at yourself are really important qualities. It’s something I try to work on with myself and it’s something I look for in other people. This could also partly be because I am the opinion that we need more happiness in the world.

Lately, I’ve been getting in my daily required and recommended 30 minutes of laughing (just kidding, there’s no such recommendation) by watching FRIENDS on dvd. It’s true, I do feel happier after I watch a few episodes of FRIENDS. This could also be because I am obsessed with the show, but that’s a good topic for another day.

Goodnight guys! And tonight, think about what made you laugh today. If you didn’t laugh today, you should start reconsidering some of the priorities in your life. And if you have to, do something silly, put yourself out there, be crazy for just a second, and then try to be able to laugh at yourself. As my mom says, “we only have the fun we make for ourselves!”

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Random news

Jake Gyllenhaal and Toby Maguire are Brothers?
This is the Hollywood remake of a Danish movie. Although remakes aren't always great, this one has a great cast (Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal (swoon), Toby Maguire), and it looks really intense. I'm definately going to be seeing it (Although I may wait for the DVD version. I'm cheap)

Chicago is suddenly interested in Denmark... and I think I know why. Have you ever heard of a little event known as The Olympic Games? Chicago is up for hosting the games in 2016 and these days all sorts of US and Chicago 'celebrities' are in Copenhagen lobbying for Chicago.

Germans stink in bed... literally. Where does your country rank?

I love avacados and now I have a good excuse to keep eating them in large quantities.

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My Life

I’ve been trying to think of a topic to write about on my blog and then convincing myself that I don’t have time to write something thoughtful and intelligent. Then today, I had a revelation of sorts (actually, I had several, it was a very eye-opening day, but only this specific one is going to be mentioned on this blog). I realized that first of all, not many people actually read this blog (I already knew this, technically), and, second of all, my posts don’t need to be interesting or provocative or smart or anything at all. The 3 of you that read this blog are probably more interested in just reading what I’m up to on a daily basis and how I am keeping busy.

So. I’ve had a pretty good weekend so far. After an early start on Thursday, when school starts at 8 am (yes, there’s one of those in the morning too…) I mainly just relaxed Thursday and enjoyed an early night and some relaxing TV viewing. Thursday nights are nice because I can either go out and have a good time or stay in and veg out in front of the TV completely guilt free. I don’t have class on Fridays, but since most of my friends do it’s a nice chance to just. do. nothing.

Friday I went to “fredagsbar” at ‘teknikum.” This is a student run bar in the basement at the old technical school, which is now a part of SDU (University of Southern Denmark) but still houses all the engineers and other science related studies. The bartenders are all volunteers (students). This means that the prices are ridiculously low and there is no cover charge!

Saturday was spent nursing myself back to health and hitting the books for a bit in a weak attempt to at least try to keep up with the massive amounts of reading we’ve been assigned.

Saturday night was a different story for a different time. Let’s just say the Danes party hard and it’s difficult to keep up with them, but I did my best. Also, it is still dark outside at 5:30 AM.

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