Just wondering about April Fool's Day. . . I'm sure there are numerous links which would give me her history. But I'm thinking more about the pranks themselves.
When someone gestures to your shoes and says "Oh, your shoes are untied." Is it the comment or the gesture which draws our attention? I think the gesture itself is enough to cause us to look even when we're wearing flip flops.
The most successful lies are the ones we already consider as possibilities--either good or bad ones. This morning a co-worker mentioned an email with great news about upgrades to our system. I'd been expecting an upgrade so it was easy for me to be fooled. I didn't really think about the claimed content of the email, I was focused on the fulfillment of something I was already expecting. And shoe laces? My shoe laces are almost always coming untied. Today I double tied them, but because they are so frequently untied I'd probably accept the veracity of such a claim.
Is April Fool's Day an outlet for the mischief that's bound up inside us? Do we need a day for such shenanigans to be acceptable? The austerity of a Lenten season gives rise to Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras). Does the human spirit have some innate desire to trick others?
For some publications (and online sites) April 1st is the occasion for posting fanciful stories. Today's blurb on Google tells of the new "scents"ation = Google Nose and claims a database of 15M of "scentibytes." Google's Nose is a good fit for the day. We already have Google Glasses. They could just add a proboscis to the eyepieces to bring a truly unexpected element to internet surfing. I did check to see when Orson Welles production of War of the Worlds was first broadcast but it wasn't April Fool's day. It was for a Halloween program on October 30, 1938.
If there's been an April Fool's stunt in the Abilene area today I've missed it. The weatherman is promising rain for tonight and tomorrow. I'm hoping that's not an April Fool's joke.
When someone gestures to your shoes and says "Oh, your shoes are untied." Is it the comment or the gesture which draws our attention? I think the gesture itself is enough to cause us to look even when we're wearing flip flops.
The most successful lies are the ones we already consider as possibilities--either good or bad ones. This morning a co-worker mentioned an email with great news about upgrades to our system. I'd been expecting an upgrade so it was easy for me to be fooled. I didn't really think about the claimed content of the email, I was focused on the fulfillment of something I was already expecting. And shoe laces? My shoe laces are almost always coming untied. Today I double tied them, but because they are so frequently untied I'd probably accept the veracity of such a claim.
Is April Fool's Day an outlet for the mischief that's bound up inside us? Do we need a day for such shenanigans to be acceptable? The austerity of a Lenten season gives rise to Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras). Does the human spirit have some innate desire to trick others?
For some publications (and online sites) April 1st is the occasion for posting fanciful stories. Today's blurb on Google tells of the new "scents"ation = Google Nose and claims a database of 15M of "scentibytes." Google's Nose is a good fit for the day. We already have Google Glasses. They could just add a proboscis to the eyepieces to bring a truly unexpected element to internet surfing. I did check to see when Orson Welles production of War of the Worlds was first broadcast but it wasn't April Fool's day. It was for a Halloween program on October 30, 1938.
If there's been an April Fool's stunt in the Abilene area today I've missed it. The weatherman is promising rain for tonight and tomorrow. I'm hoping that's not an April Fool's joke.
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