Humor and Satire– Shmatire!

Tag Archives: Satire

I’ve got another piece up on the Barnes & Noble Review’s Grin & Tonic section this morning!  Who says romance is dead?  


I’ve got a new piece up on CAP News!

If things are a little quiet around here lately, it’s because I’ve cut back on the satire a bit to make more time to work on something a little more novel-y.  Any other writers here doing the same thing?  Drop me a line.  Misery loves company!


I’ve got some fun writey news to report!

I have a piece appearing in the Spring issue (54) of Bitch Magazine.  I can’t link to it, as it is in the print edition.  But it was pretty great to get into the print edition!  Feel free to pick up a copy wherever fine magazines are sold.  (Or you can purchase the digital edition here).

I’ve also begun contributing to CAP News, a very funny satirical news site.  Some of the pieces I’ve written are linked here:

Victoria’s Secret Introduces Marriage-Saving Panties

Santorum:  God is Using Miley Cyrus to Test Me

Madonna Shocks Fans by Aging

Larry Page Denies Using Google to Destroy Enemies

Employers Back Merit-Based Contraception Coverage

That last one was actually picked up and used as part of a spoof news show.

I’ve also been writing up a storm on The Free Wood Post.  My contributor page, where you can find all of my articles, is here.

Some of my favorite pieces I’ve written for them include:

Michelle Duggar Weighs in on Contraception Debate:  “Why Did No One Tell Me About Contraception?!”

and, New iPad Has the Ability to Love You Back

You can also read a piece of mine on TheSpoof.  Feel free to rate it to help me move up their ranks.

That’s it for now!  Feel free to shoot any suggestions for fun humor/satire sites to write for in my direction.


You can find a new piece of mine over at the delightful website The Big Jewel!

 


Check it out!  You can read a brand spanking new piece of mine over at Defenestration!

It’s called “The New Looks for Fall” and it’s here.

 

 


George Clooney pulls up on a motorcycle and doffs his helmet with casual grace.   He is arrestingly handsome in person, and his suave, familiar smile leaves me breathless.  But looking into his warm brown eyes up close, I see a tinge of sadness.  The unlucky-in-love Clooney is said to be in mourning these days; recovering from yet another failed relationship.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” George says, holding the door for me as we enter a small, unpretentious Hollywood café.  “I just got back from playing racquetball with Brad [Pitt], and things got pretty heated.  We do enjoy a little competition.”

Off the racquetball court, it can be argued that Brad Pitt is the one coming in ahead these days.  With a beautiful woman on his arm and an enviable family life, Pitt has been lucky enough to find that special someone.  He never has to worry about having no one to come home to at night.  Though Clooney has dated a string of beautiful women over the years, it’s widely evident that he still has yet to find a soul mate.

George orders his coffee black and I do the same.  “I’m trying to watch my figure,” he says with gruff charm, and winks.  It’s obvious that Clooney is concerned about maintaining his attractiveness.  As a single man in his forties, he is well aware of his diminishing appeal.  The older he gets, the slimmer his chances are of ever finding a woman to settle down with.  These are sobering thoughts for a single man of a certain age.

I decide to be daring, and address the elephant in the room, asking Clooney point blank about his most recent devastating break-up, with Vegas cocktail waitress Sarah Larson.

“Wait, who?” he says, expertly feigning confusion.  It’s clear that his heartbreak has not yet run its course.  “Oh right, Sarah.  She’s a great girl—it’s too bad it didn’t work out.  I wish her the best.  Let me tell you about this project I’m working on with Don Cheadle.  The man is a fucking genius.  It’s been so much fun kicking ideas around with him.  The other day we were out in LA…”

As Clooney talks, I am struck by how much he reminds me of a lost little boy.  I want to take him home with me and set him up on a blind date with my maiden aunt.  His rumpled button-down Oxford shirt and salt-and-pepper hair cry out for a wife’s loving, critical attentions.  Still, I admire the carefree smile he presents bravely to the world, hiding his pain and loneliness with a life full of exotic travel, wild parties and a rewarding, illustrious career in film and television.

I halt my mournful reverie long enough to notice that Clooney is telling an amusing story about the time he and Matt Damon lost a friend’s Camaro in a poker game in Mexico.  “Man, I shouldn’t be telling you this,” he cackles gleefully.  “I could get in trouble.”  I wonder briefly what his apartment looks like, and the thought makes me sad.  No matter how he tries to fill it with track lighting and stylish décor, underneath the expensive rugs and modern furniture it must be a barren place; an empty, husk of a shrine to his failed hopes and dreams of becoming a happily married man.

As our conversation winds down, George pays our tab and escorts me to my car like a true gentleman.  It is heartening to realize that such men still exist in our world, even suffering as they do from lonely hearts.

“Don’t ever give up hope, George,” I want to tell him.  “I know in my soul that there is a woman out there for you.  A partner in crime; someone for you to wake up next to every morning for the rest of your life, instead of a steady stream of cocktail waitresses and young party girls who are only out for a meaningless fling.”

But instead, I only smile as we part ways.  “Keep your chin up, kid.” Clooney tells me.  “It’s nice to see you smiling.”  A stretch limo pulls up to the curb next to him and the back window rolls down.  Through peals of laughter I hear a female voice inviting him to climb in.  As the limo pulls away, I catch a last glimpse of Clooney.  He has a glass of champagne in one hand and a woman’s stocking in his teeth.  Perhaps this time, he will finally find love.


My satirical take on the pursuit of youth can now be found in Happy Woman Magazine!


I first caught up with Marie Shafer at her sprawling two-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of Raleigh, NC.  Shafer shares the apartment with her boyfriend, Bob, and their dog.

“We wanted to really make this place our own, when we first moved in,” she says, gesturing toward the living room, with its traditional white walls and high ceilings.  “When we signed the lease, though, it said no painting and no holes in the walls, so we kind of let that dream die.”

Still, the pair has installed a small shelving unit in the bathroom, and there are several posters in the guest bedroom which have been tacked to the walls.

“It’s kind of hard to do any real decorating without using thumbtacks,” Shafer concedes.  We’re hoping we can maybe patch over any holes when we move out.  This place did require a deposit, though, so I guess they can withhold it if they don’t like the way we leave things.”

Shafer invites me to have a seat on a wide, comfortable brown couch that sits opposite the television in the spacious living room.   A timely acquisition from some friends who were moving and no longer needed it, it is draped in a faux-suede cover which is sagging down a bit on the backrest, revealing the couch’s original material-which is rugged beige corduroy.

“They originally got it off of Craigslist,” Shafer notes, patting the couch.  “When we brought it up to the apartment, a T.V. Guide from 1984 fell out of the springs in the bottom!”

She adds, “It was kind of gross, but funny.”

The black painted coffee table sitting front of the couch is an unusual structure, with interesting shelving and unique lines.  I ask whether it is a re-built antique hope-chest, which seems possible, but learn that it is in fact a repurposed TV stand.  Shafer explains:  “When we got a wall-mounted TV we didn’t need that stand anymore, but we didn’t want to have to lug it to the curb, so we figured it fit right where it was.”

The cheerful dining room is decorated in a style Shafer refers to as, “Early Parent Castoff”.  A small butcher-block table is framed by upholstered chairs acquired from Bob’s family.  A sentimental Shafer family heirloom, the table is the perfect size for intimate meals for two, although Shafer admits that “it’s covered in our junk most of the time.  I cleared it off before you got here.”  An upright desk sits against the wall in the dining room, a uniquely modern touch.  According to Shafer, it wouldn’t fit anywhere else.  It is piled high with cook books and souvenir beer cozies.

The couple’s bedroom is dominated by a queen-sized bed-the frame of which was purchased from another friend who was moving; the mattress was a gift from Bob’s grandparents.  Shafer’s concept for the bedroom was simple yet elegant.

“I wanted to make it an open, inviting space,” she said, “And I think I kind of pulled that off, except that there’s not that much space between the bed and my dresser when you’re walking to the bathroom.  I bang my shin on that damn bed frame all the time. ” Shafer adds that in order to enhance the ‘openness’ of the room, she refrained from putting up curtains on any of the windows.

“Also, we didn’t have any when we moved,” she adds.  ”My parents gave me some a few weeks ago, but I have to install the rods myself, and I just haven’t gotten to it yet.  Meh.”



Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 26 other followers

%d bloggers like this: