cheerfulmonk.com

Click on the picture for the video. Pardon the kitty’s language! Poor baby.

April 3, 2025

That was Andy and me last night. He wrote a check for our estimated state tax and instead of the next check it said we had to reorder. So we went to where we store our checkbooks and there were two books left. No problem, we didn’t have to reorder now. But there was a gap between the check we had just used and the starting number of the next checkbook. How could we have lost a book of checks?

It was pathetic how long it took us to figure out there were thirty more checks behind the warning that we had to reorder. I’m still shaking my head and laughing about it. In fairness, we don’t write that many checks, we mostly use ACH and credit cards, but still…. Anyway, another example of always check your assumptions. We were happy it was just our cluelessness instead of lost checks, and it was good for a laugh. It reminded me of poor old Jonathon Bing:

Jonathan Bing
by Beatrice Curtis Brown

Poor old Jonathan Bing.
He went out in his carriage to visit the king.
But everyone pointed and said,
“Look at that!
Jonathan Bing has forgotten his hat!”
He’d forgotten his hat.

Poor old Jonathan Bing
went home and put on his best hat for the king.
But up by the palace,
a soldier said,
“Hi! You can’t see the king!
You’ve forgotten your tie!”
He’d forgotten his tie.

Poor old Jonathan Bing,
Went home and put on a beautiful tie for the king.
But when he arrived, an archbishop said,
“Ho! You can’t come to court in pajamas, you know!
You can’t come to court in pajamas, you know!”

Poor old Jonathan Bing,
Went home and addressed a short note to the king:
“If you please will excuse me, I won’t come to tea.
Cause home’s the best place for all people like me.”

Yep, that’s Andy and me! (Should I have used “I” instead of “me”? Merriam Webster says either is fine. “Me” is more informal, which is why I like it.)

April 2, 2025

Click on the picture for the video.

April 1, 2025

More of the HalfHusky Brothers. Click on the picture for the video.

March 31, 2025

Click on the picture to see the video.

Thank you, Kaitlin!

March 30, 2025

Click on the picture to see the video.

Watching that puts a smile on my face and some pep in my step.

March 29, 2025

Take all the energy you spend on…

worrying about the past
worrying about the future
worrying about what others think
worrying about if you might fail

… and channel that energy into one useful action within your control.
—Jame Clear

Yes! It’s similar to my mantra for the past thirty plus years,

The quality of our lives depends on how we focus our energy and our attention.
—The Traits of Stress-Hardy, Resilient People

When I taught stress management I called it Transforming Stress Into Personal Power. That didn’t mean we can always get what we want, it was more the Stoic or Hindu idea,

Play your part well and let go of the results.

Know your values, try to live them as best you can, and don’t waste energy fussing about things outside of your control.

My favorite quote on the subject was Duke Ellington’s,

I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.

He’s one of my heroes.

March 28, 2025

gocomics.com/boundandgagged

reminds me of one of my very favorites:

gocomics,com/bliss

It was published September 30, 2023, and I saved it because of the expressions on their faces. I love the cartoon even more now in these scary times. It makes me smile and lifts my spirits.

March 27, 2025

gocomics.com/boundandgagged

March 26, 2025

gocomics.com/theothercoast

It makes me think of the time Tempi was told she couldn’t sit on the couch up on the land, and Tempi sat on the table instead. No problem, the view was even better from up there.

Eventually Kaitlin and Torben decided it was a dumb rule, so they started putting a sheet on the couch to protect it, and Tempi can use it any time she wants.

March 25, 2025