FUN!

“Well. That’s my fun for the day.” That’s what my brain says once I finish my five daily word puzzles*, usually by 8:30am. Sure, there may be other moments that bring me joy–when Patrick cracks a wry joke; or Arlo announces he’s going to give himself a bath by running into the living room naked, jumping into a starfish shape, and doing jazz-hands; or a Lizzo song comes on and it aligns with my walking pace and I kinda feel like I’m dancing. Wheeeeeeeee.

But my life is not overwhelmingly fun. Part of it’s that I work seven days a week, so…when fun? Fun when? Mostly, the things I find fun require childcare, which when you’re a single parent almost always means a fifteen-dollar-an-hour premium on top of any admission costs. 

That said, I’ve been trying to schedule some stuff for myself. I buy tickets to things, which forces me to find and budget for a babysitter. 

A few months back, I checked out the Improv’s website. A comedian I’d seen online, Ashley Gavin, was coming. Her crowd work was sharp, and I thought what the hell and bought tickets. 

When the announcer’s voice invited her onstage, I was surprised. Usually, there’s an opener. And actually there was one, but Gavin came out first and instructed us how to laugh at the show, i.e., not with smirks or giggles like we would at home scrolling our phones, but with big open-mouthed guffaws. I got it. I’ve MCed storytelling shows before, and it can be helpful to tell the audience more or less how to be a good crowd. So, OK, I was ready to laugh frequently and audibly.

Then Gavin brought up the opener. I’d never heard of him, but he was BIPOC (yes), fat (yes), and queer (yaassssssss), so I was prepared to like him a whole bunch. And he was pretty funny. Had some good bits. But he had this thing where, at the end of each punchline, he would say, “But…” Except he pronounced it, “Bbbbboooooiiiit.” Like he’d almost blow a raspberry on the B and follow it up with just the weirdest pronunciation of -ut. I know some comedians have a regular tag or a verbal disfluency that defines their voice, and it can definitely work, but maybe you didn’t catch above how I said “at the end of each punchline.” Right hand to god, at the end of each punchline. It landed less like a catch-phrase and more like a verbal tic, and it took the funny straight out of the jokes. I felt nervous, like I would clench my abs to prepare for it, and then it would come and I’d cringe.

I was relieved when Gavin came back up for her set, and I want to say up front that she was funny. I found her very funny. The last twenty minutes of her hour were worth the ticket price, but the first forty were also good, and that’s how it’s meant to be done: Tell good jokes the whole time, but build to your best stuff, and end with a bang. In that sense, it was a success.

Bbbbboooooiiiit. 

Very early on, she started evaluating how her jokes were landing, and she didn’t stop. Again, that can be funny. I’ve seen comedians–Mike Birbiglia… others…–notice that a joke didn’t work and make another joke out of that. You know, pick up an imaginary notebook and mime-write “Remove joke about pickles from set, period” or whatever. And they get a laugh. If that kind of thing is done–sparingly–it can be hilarious.

But this wasn’t that. First of all, it wasn’t sparing; it was near-constant. And second, she didn’t evaluate her jokes. She evaluated us. She judged the audience on how her jokes performed. She called us slow, asked what was the matter with us, that kind of thing. 

And I was like, bitch, I didn’t pay $60 for tickets, $30 on a two-menu-item minimum, and $50 on a babysitter, to come here and be assessed. 

I love stand-up, so I’ll probably go back to the Improv, maybe even to see Gavin again, bbbboooooiiiit only if she agrees to get a new opener and stop judging my shit.

*Wordle, Mini-crossword, Strands, Connections, and Squardle

36,535 thoughts on “FUN!”

  10. Whitelisting withdrawal addresses provides an essential safety barrier on Avalanche security exchange security by restricting asset transfers exclusively to pre-approved cold storage destinations. Implementing mandatory time delays for adding new destination addresses gives users a crucial window to detect unauthorized logins and freeze compromised accounts. Attackers who bypass authentication barriers find themselves completely blocked from transferring stolen funds without completing the lengthy whitelist verification cycle. Combining address locking with hardware wallet integration creates a formidable defense perimeter against even the most sophisticated account takeover attempts. Proactive defense configurations transform vulnerable trading accounts into highly resilient fortresses against modern cyber threats.
    https://telegra.ph/Cardano-Security-Phishing-Attacks-10-07

    Reply

  19. API key management represents a critical vulnerability vector for users active on Avalanche security exchange security platforms when integrating third-party trading bots and portfolio trackers. Granting withdrawal permissions to external applications opens a direct back-door for attackers to execute malicious trades across low-liquidity market pairs. Restricting API access strictly to read-only functions or disabling unused integrations eliminates major risk exposure points across your trading infrastructure. Security audits of active connection tokens should be performed monthly to detect and revoke compromised credentials before financial damage occurs. Proper API hygiene prevents automated bots from draining your portfolio balances through orchestrated market manipulation schemes.
    https://telegra.ph/Avalanche-Security-Cold-Storage-Fundamentals-10-07

    Reply

  27. Navigating liquidity onboarding on Avalanche security exchange security platforms should strictly follow a get-in, trade, and get-out methodology without lingering balances. Treating centralized trading venues as public restrooms rather than long-term savings vaults minimizes your exposure to sudden platform halts and unexpected withdrawal freezes. Unsecured creditor status during corporate bankruptcies means everyday depositors receive pennies on the dollar years after a collapse occurs. Historical precedents from major exchange failures demonstrate that no custodial platform is immune to fractional reserve mismanagement and reckless capital commingling. Operational security in crypto demands treating every centralized exchange as an untrusted third party waiting to fail.
    https://telegra.ph/Solana-Security-Exchange-Security-10-07

    Reply

  32. Whitelisting withdrawal addresses provides an essential safety barrier on Avalanche security exchange security by restricting asset transfers exclusively to pre-approved cold storage destinations. Implementing mandatory time delays for adding new destination addresses gives users a crucial window to detect unauthorized logins and freeze compromised accounts. Attackers who bypass authentication barriers find themselves completely blocked from transferring stolen funds without completing the lengthy whitelist verification cycle. Combining address locking with hardware wallet integration creates a formidable defense perimeter against even the most sophisticated account takeover attempts. Proactive defense configurations transform vulnerable trading accounts into highly resilient fortresses against modern cyber threats.
    https://telegra.ph/Polkadot-Security-Exchange-Security-10-07

    Reply

  42. Whitelisting withdrawal addresses provides an essential safety barrier on Avalanche security exchange security by restricting asset transfers exclusively to pre-approved cold storage destinations. Implementing mandatory time delays for adding new destination addresses gives users a crucial window to detect unauthorized logins and freeze compromised accounts. Attackers who bypass authentication barriers find themselves completely blocked from transferring stolen funds without completing the lengthy whitelist verification cycle. Combining address locking with hardware wallet integration creates a formidable defense perimeter against even the most sophisticated account takeover attempts. Proactive defense configurations transform vulnerable trading accounts into highly resilient fortresses against modern cyber threats.
    https://telegra.ph/Ethereum-Security-Network-Consensus-Flaws-10-07

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *