July 17, 2010

Dog . I'm not sure if it was the illustrations or the story that made me laugh so hard, but it's possible I may have peed my pants before I fell off the chair.

If you don't read Hyperbole and a Half on a daily basis, you may not be getting enough Vitamin HaHa.

  • Love H&aH - I'd read her occasionally but last month's one about being a grownup has me completely sold.
  • My favorite is the one about the fish.
  • Here's an interview with Allie: The life and lines of Allie Brosh: Hyperbole and a Half
  • Hom, the fish story was outrageously funny also. I think I relate to the dog story because I've actually known dogs that act and look like that. The illustrations are spot on. I have decided that H&H is made of neato and covered in awesome sauce.
  • The one that hooked me was the one about pain scales - but I read medical records all day and I had always thought the usual one was stupid. I thought about printing that out and hanging it on my wall at work but it's probably inappropriate.
  • Dog Music Amongst dogs are listeners and singers. My big dog sang with me so purely, puckering her ruffled lips into an O, beginning with small, swallowing sounds like Coltrane musing, then rising to power and resonance, gulping air to continue— her passion and sense of flawless form— singing not with me, but for the art of dogs. We joined in many fine songs—"Stardust," "Naima," "The Trout," "My Rosary," "Perdido." She was a great master and died young, leaving me with unrelieved grief, her talents known to only a few. Now I have a small dog who does not sing, but listens with discernment, requiring skill and spirit in my falsetto voice. I sing her name and words of love andante, con brio, vivace, adagio. Sometimes she is so moved she turns to place a paw across her snout, closes her eyes, sighing like a girl I held and danced with years ago. But I am a pretender to dog music. The true strains rise only from the rich, red chambers of a canine heart, these melodies best when the moon is up, listeners and singers together or apart, beyond friendship and anger, far from any human imposter— ballads of long nights lifting to starlight, songs of bones, turds, conquests, hunts, smells, rankings, things settled long before our birth. --Paul Zimmer
  • This isn't just giving a dog a bath. This is showing a dog the ultimate horror.