How to Remember Jokes
If you are like many people you have a hard time remembering a good joke. I am here today to help you with that. There are two ways to remember a joke. The first is to write it down, immediately, after you hear it. Make sure you write the whole thing down, especially the punch line.
Most all jokes are made up of two parts. The set-up and the punch line. The set-up explains the joke, and the punch-up line takes the joke in a different direction. Example: Where there is a will (Set-up). I sure hope I'm in it (Punch-line).Example: My husband put magic into my life (Set-up). By disappearing (Punch-line).
So write the joke down completely. If you can't write the joke down, share it with someone immediately. We think we will remember the joke to tell later, however, most the time we forget. We especially forget the punch-line. So, as a rule you don't want more than one minute to go between hearing the joke and telling it to someone else.
In telling the joke always pause between the set-up and punch-line. After the set-up pause for about three seconds before you tell the punch-line.
Lastly you want to avoid doing these thing:
1. Tell everyone how funny the joke is before you tell it. You are setting yourself up for no one laughing.You are raising the expectations too high.
2. Add to the joke make the set-up too long, or the punch-line too long.
3. Take too much away from the joke, especially part of or the whole punch-line.
The more you tell jokes the more comfortable you get with them. Jokes, and humor works better if it is connecting, so avoid jokes that might offend some people. If you have any questions about whether to tell a joke or not, don't tell it.
Below are some examples of jokes:
My husband and I shared one thing in common (Set-up). We both loved him (Punch-line).
I have two children (Set-up) that I know of (Punch-line).
Achilles' mother: "Stop whining (Set-up)! There's nothing wrong with your heel (Punch-line)
My husband and I were in the country a few weeks ago. We were standing in front of a wishing well, and he fell in. (Set-up). I never dreamed those things worked (Punch-line).
Did you enjoy the food, sir (Set-up)? I could get more nourishment biting my lip. (Punch-line).
Jana Ruth
Author of Laugh and Live Happier: P.L.A.Y.S. for Life
http://www.janaruth.biz/
http://www.laughandlivehappier.com/
http://www.laughingworld.blogstop.com/
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
The 10 Greatest Campaign Slogans
With the election heating up I thought you all might enjoy this from Brendan Spiegel from the September/October issue of "Mental Floss."
1. Voters didn't know much about Democrat Franklin Pierce when he headed into the 1852 election, so Pierce decided to cast himself as the rightful heir to popular ex-president James K. Polk. Pierce's pun of a slogan" WE POLKED YOU IN '44, WE SHALL PIERCE YOU IN '52. It may sound oddly threatening now, but it did the trick. Pierce beat his Whig opponent in a landslide.
2. Modern-day politicians make some pretty outlandish campaign pledges, but giving away government property has to take the cake. That's what Abraham Lincoln did in 1860 when he ran for the White House under the slogan, VOTE YOURSELF A FARM- a bold promise to give settlers free land throughout the West. To his credit, however, Lincoln followed through and signed the Homestead Act in 1862.
3. Modern politicians didn't invent you're-either-with-us-or against-us politics. Way back in 1868, General Ulysses S. Grant rode his Civil War victories into the White House with the slogan VOTE AS YOU SHOT- a direct order to Union voters to toe the Republican line.
4. The award for quickest about face on a campaign slogan goes to Woodrow Wilson, who campaigned for re-election in 1916 with the motto, HE KEPT US OUT OF WAR. Americans voted with him in an effort to keep the peace, but five months later, Wilson led the country into World War 1.
5. Prohibition was all the rage in 1920, much to the dismay of Democratic nominee James M. Cox, who believed making alcohol illegal only benefited criminals and bootleggers. His opponent, Warren G. Harding, attacked Cox for this stance and ridiculed him with the slogan COX AND COCKTAILS. Ironically, after Harding won the presidency in a landslide, he was well-known to enjoy stiff drinks in the comfort of the White House.
6. Kansas Governor Alfred Landon emphasized his heartland roots during the 1936 election by adorning his campaign paraphernalia with bright yellow sunflowers. In response, opponent Franklin D. Roosevelt and his Democratic supporters went right for the kill, pointing out that SUNFLOWERS DIE IN NOVEMBER. They were right; Landon won just two states. Kansas wasn't one of them.
7. When F.D.R. sought an unprecedented third term during the 1940 presidential race, it incited a backlash among those who felt it was time to move on. His Republican opponent, Wendell Willkie, got right to the point, stamping his campaign buttons with the slogan ROOSEVELT FOR EX-PRESIDENT.
8. Republican nominee Barry Goldwater inspired a legion of impassioned conservatives in 1964 with his slogan IN YOUR HEART YOU KNOW HE'S RIGHT. But Lyndon Johnson's Democratic campaign came up with a response that more effectively branded Goldwater as a right-wing extremist: IN YOUR GUTS,YOU KNOW HE'S NUTS.
9. After unexpectedly winning the 1976 Democratic primary, Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter sought to stress his humble roots as a peanut farmer and also prove that he was a candidate to take seriously. He did both with his slogan, NOT JUST PEANUTS.
10. Senator Barack Obama my have shown up at the right time with his "CHANGE" campaign, but he's not the first Democrat to try this approach. The party's 1984 nominee, Walter Mondale, campaigned with the slogan AMERICA NEEDS A CHANGE.Unfortunately for Mondale, America disagreed, and 49 states voted for incumbent Ronald Reagan.
Jana Ruth
Author of Laugh and Live Happier: P.L.A.Y.S. for Life
www.janaruth.biz
www.laughandlivehappier.com
www.laughingworld.blogstop.com
With the election heating up I thought you all might enjoy this from Brendan Spiegel from the September/October issue of "Mental Floss."
1. Voters didn't know much about Democrat Franklin Pierce when he headed into the 1852 election, so Pierce decided to cast himself as the rightful heir to popular ex-president James K. Polk. Pierce's pun of a slogan" WE POLKED YOU IN '44, WE SHALL PIERCE YOU IN '52. It may sound oddly threatening now, but it did the trick. Pierce beat his Whig opponent in a landslide.
2. Modern-day politicians make some pretty outlandish campaign pledges, but giving away government property has to take the cake. That's what Abraham Lincoln did in 1860 when he ran for the White House under the slogan, VOTE YOURSELF A FARM- a bold promise to give settlers free land throughout the West. To his credit, however, Lincoln followed through and signed the Homestead Act in 1862.
3. Modern politicians didn't invent you're-either-with-us-or against-us politics. Way back in 1868, General Ulysses S. Grant rode his Civil War victories into the White House with the slogan VOTE AS YOU SHOT- a direct order to Union voters to toe the Republican line.
4. The award for quickest about face on a campaign slogan goes to Woodrow Wilson, who campaigned for re-election in 1916 with the motto, HE KEPT US OUT OF WAR. Americans voted with him in an effort to keep the peace, but five months later, Wilson led the country into World War 1.
5. Prohibition was all the rage in 1920, much to the dismay of Democratic nominee James M. Cox, who believed making alcohol illegal only benefited criminals and bootleggers. His opponent, Warren G. Harding, attacked Cox for this stance and ridiculed him with the slogan COX AND COCKTAILS. Ironically, after Harding won the presidency in a landslide, he was well-known to enjoy stiff drinks in the comfort of the White House.
6. Kansas Governor Alfred Landon emphasized his heartland roots during the 1936 election by adorning his campaign paraphernalia with bright yellow sunflowers. In response, opponent Franklin D. Roosevelt and his Democratic supporters went right for the kill, pointing out that SUNFLOWERS DIE IN NOVEMBER. They were right; Landon won just two states. Kansas wasn't one of them.
7. When F.D.R. sought an unprecedented third term during the 1940 presidential race, it incited a backlash among those who felt it was time to move on. His Republican opponent, Wendell Willkie, got right to the point, stamping his campaign buttons with the slogan ROOSEVELT FOR EX-PRESIDENT.
8. Republican nominee Barry Goldwater inspired a legion of impassioned conservatives in 1964 with his slogan IN YOUR HEART YOU KNOW HE'S RIGHT. But Lyndon Johnson's Democratic campaign came up with a response that more effectively branded Goldwater as a right-wing extremist: IN YOUR GUTS,YOU KNOW HE'S NUTS.
9. After unexpectedly winning the 1976 Democratic primary, Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter sought to stress his humble roots as a peanut farmer and also prove that he was a candidate to take seriously. He did both with his slogan, NOT JUST PEANUTS.
10. Senator Barack Obama my have shown up at the right time with his "CHANGE" campaign, but he's not the first Democrat to try this approach. The party's 1984 nominee, Walter Mondale, campaigned with the slogan AMERICA NEEDS A CHANGE.Unfortunately for Mondale, America disagreed, and 49 states voted for incumbent Ronald Reagan.
Jana Ruth
Author of Laugh and Live Happier: P.L.A.Y.S. for Life
www.janaruth.biz
www.laughandlivehappier.com
www.laughingworld.blogstop.com
Sunday, August 03, 2008
"You Can't Travel Within and Stand Still Without"
Looking through my posts I realized that this is the second blog I have written on this same quote. Evidently this quote is very important to me now and my hope is that maybe you need to see it again too.
The above quote is from James Allen and " As a Man Thinketh." We are always so quick to blame other people for our failures and sorrows in life. We think, "If only I had better parents." "If my boss wasn't such a jerk." "It is all my spouse or partner's fault." "The economy is bad." It is too hot, cold, rainy, sunny to do anything." I am too poor, old, young, uneducated, unlucky."
Take your pick as these are all excuses many of us use to stop us from having or living the life we want. When we blame another, we are not acknowledging that we are the main creator of our own lives.
We need to go inside and examine our character, examine our thoughts, examine our feeling, examine our behavior. We need to acknowledge that no one can mess up our lives unless we allow them to. I think Allen is suggesting in this quote that when we do inside work, our outside circumstances will improve.
Stephen Covey in the book, "The 8Th Habit," says something very similar. He says, "Any time you think the problem is out there, that very thought is the problem. Any time you wrap your emotional life around the weaknesses of another person, you give away your emotional freedom to that person and give them permission to continue to mess up your life. Your past holds your future hostage."
It is not easy to do the inside work, of self-reflection and soul searching. It is not easy to acknowledge your role in the difficulties of your life. However I think that working inside out is the only way to true happiness and that makes it worth it.
And isn't that something to think and write about?
Jana Ruth
Author of Laugh and Live Happier: P.L.A.Y.S. of Life
www.janaruth.biz
www.laughandlivehappier.com
www.laughterworld.blogspot.com
Contact me for Humor and Motivational speaking and Life Coaching
480-600-5178
Looking through my posts I realized that this is the second blog I have written on this same quote. Evidently this quote is very important to me now and my hope is that maybe you need to see it again too.
The above quote is from James Allen and " As a Man Thinketh." We are always so quick to blame other people for our failures and sorrows in life. We think, "If only I had better parents." "If my boss wasn't such a jerk." "It is all my spouse or partner's fault." "The economy is bad." It is too hot, cold, rainy, sunny to do anything." I am too poor, old, young, uneducated, unlucky."
Take your pick as these are all excuses many of us use to stop us from having or living the life we want. When we blame another, we are not acknowledging that we are the main creator of our own lives.
We need to go inside and examine our character, examine our thoughts, examine our feeling, examine our behavior. We need to acknowledge that no one can mess up our lives unless we allow them to. I think Allen is suggesting in this quote that when we do inside work, our outside circumstances will improve.
Stephen Covey in the book, "The 8Th Habit," says something very similar. He says, "Any time you think the problem is out there, that very thought is the problem. Any time you wrap your emotional life around the weaknesses of another person, you give away your emotional freedom to that person and give them permission to continue to mess up your life. Your past holds your future hostage."
It is not easy to do the inside work, of self-reflection and soul searching. It is not easy to acknowledge your role in the difficulties of your life. However I think that working inside out is the only way to true happiness and that makes it worth it.
And isn't that something to think and write about?
Jana Ruth
Author of Laugh and Live Happier: P.L.A.Y.S. of Life
www.janaruth.biz
www.laughandlivehappier.com
www.laughterworld.blogspot.com
Contact me for Humor and Motivational speaking and Life Coaching
480-600-5178
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