STRICTLY POSITIVE

The first item this week is not really going to be an item because it isn't really a positive thing, at least not this week. But it has been a positive thing for me for almost forty years, so I wanted to say a little something about that positivity and how I'll miss it. David Letterman's last Late Show aired this week and I am firmly in denial (haven't watched it yet, not sure when I will). I've gone from watching Dave as a young, sarcastic, comedic curmudgeon to watching Dave as an older, wiser, softer, sarcastic comedic curmudgeon. I think I first saw him in ~1977, either on The Tonight Show or on the short-lived but very funny television series Mary, starring Mary Tyler Moore.

It was fascinating watching Dave change once he had a son, and his views on the environment, politics, and nature, among other things, were pushed to the forefront and voiced by him more than ever before. I liked softy Dave, but loved when that soft came through via the snark, such as in the wonderful bit "Stooge of the Day." Nothing irked Dave more than idiots, narcissists, and aholes. I felt a bit of the kindred spirit in Dave.

Johnny Carson will always be the King of Late Night to me, but Dave is only the slightest smidge behind. No one but Dave even approaches Johnny's ability to play the straight man, particularly to animal guests, to create smart (yet oftentimes idiotic) humor from his annoyance at stupid people, and willingness to play the rube. I didn't think we'd ever have a late night host as impactful as Johnny, but Dave proved me wrong. I think he'll be the last, that it's truly the end of an era. I find it fitting that Johnny was Dave's hero. They have both left me with a pretty wonderful set of memories. I have only six framed photographs on display in my house. Johnny and Dave are two of them.

Thanks, David Letterman, I'm going to miss the hell out of you.

Exhibit A: While I'm on the subject of late night hosts, here's a bit about a nicety done by Stephen Colbert, who will be taking over for Dave at the Late Show desk in the near future. Colbert recently announced he would fund every existing grant request made by a South Carolina teacher on DonorsChoose.org. That means Colbert funded 1,000 projects for more than 800 teachers at over 375 schools. Well done, faux Republican.

Exhibit B: I'm sure you've all likely seen this already, but I don't care, it still tickles me. President Obama took to Twitter for the first time and was immediately hit with the funny by former President Bill Clinton. It didn't take old BO long to get the hang of things, however, and he hit back with his own zinger:

Also, Barack Obama may have the most boring feed of all time:

Exhibit C:  Proof Mother Nature is a genius. OREO COWS:

Exhibit D: Anyone who knows me knows I'm a bit anti-Photoshop. I think it has to some extent ruined photography as well as added to the stupid idea that we all need to try and look perfect. However, that being said, there are genius uses for Photoshop that I'm all for, and this is one of those. John Wilhelm uses Photoshop to create wacky, adventurous photos of his three little girls in all kinds of fun and creative situations. Here are a few favorites, including one of the girls as Batman and Robin:

Exhibit E: Don't fear, this one ends ok despite the photo. A Reddit user came along this scene, which appeared to be a gruesomely injured cat. Most people just walked on by, but Reddit person decided to help the cat and took pictures as he/she approached. The photo series is below, along with the Redditer's quotes:

"Saw this cat bleeding out."

"So I ran to its rescue."

"It was just dried red paint."

"Smug bastard."

I had to laugh. I wonder how often this cat pulls this "prank." (It all also seems a bit fishy, but I don't care if it's fake, it's clever and made me laugh. And I know the feeling of thinking something is a dead animal, only to get close and feel the relief of it being a discarded rag or t-shirt. I felt the same thing going through this photo series, whether it was real or all made up.)

Exhibit F:  I thought this video was awesome when I saw it and thought I would share. And not just to show off that I finally figured out how to embed a video rather than having to link and send you off on goose chases. Yes, I'm leaping into the 21st Century with both feet now, cooking with gas. In any event, Alex Lyngass thinks his mom Eva is aces and in order to help find her a boyfriend, made this super video about her and what she likes in life. She seems like a fun lady to hang out with and at almost 70 would kick my ass in most of her favorite activities:

The embedding worked! If I wasn't so behind the times I would be talking up my genius right now. Instead, we will carry on and also just pretend that the whole right hand side of the video isn't cut off. Baby steps.

Exhibit G:  This week's goat vine is a little different, but no less entertaining:

Obligatories: A bit short on Bird shots this week. The poor girl had to have surgery, and took it like a champ, but looks like she's actually wearing a skull skullcap. Epic shave job from top of her head down one ear. I tell her boys dig scars and glory lasts forever. She's unimpressed.

To make up for the non-glam shot, here's another from our shoot with Amanda Jones:

That's all for this week, kids. A huge thank you to those of you who mention you look forward to this post. Some weeks are downers and I might not feel like putting something together, but you keep me going and I always feel better for having done so. So thank you.

May the world be a better place tomorrow. Even just a little bit.

TGIF.