HAS AMERICA GONE TO THE DOGS?
– Or, “Woofstock” Here We Come! –

Canucks take a good deal of pride in their hockey, beer, and cellular telephones (especially those Fido commercials about perky pet-owners who bear a striking resemblance to their posh- or pathetic-looking pooches).

Recently in Toronto, (the capital of everything BIG in Canada), they held a weird and wonderful event, aptly called

America is preoccupied with the subject of weight

CALENDAR OF ODD EVENTS
– Eccentric events and odd occasions to celebrate in June 2005

2. Sahib

GOING BONKERS WITH BAUBLES, BERRIES & BELLS
–Or, Beware of BlackBerries, Cellphones and Laptops!–

If state-of-the-art “wireless technology” has given birth to such tawdry taskmasters as BlackBerries, cellphones and laptops, the Universe has also seen to it that such man-made devices would come packaged with an invisible, immutable, and infernal operating system deity named, “Calamity, Chaos & Confusion”.

It seems that happiness today has been reduced to acquiring newfangled gadgets, gizmos or gigagobblers that do absolutely everything but clean the kitchen sink.

Speaking of scruffy sculleries, your best bet would be to a visit your local “Tabernacle of Tetrachloride” where you can request a private audience with the “Wizard of Washbasins”. Failing that, consult the “Diva of Drudgery”* (who usually has all the quick and dirty answers to the western world’s most innocuous conundrums!)

Sadly, my days as a professional cherry-picker in Peach Bottom, Virginia are over …which brings me in a round about way to my favorite comfort food …”passion fruit”. Besides consuming far too many succulent seeds and passion pits for my own good, I also enjoy the occasional shopping-spree for trendy

A totem of two women

IT’S MERRY-MAKING MONTH MAY NATURALLY!
– Eccentric events and odd occasions to celebrate in May 2005 –

Compiled by Lady Beatrice Blitterlees and edited by Lord Earl Craboon

When the odd flibbertygibbet or two is flattened beyond recognition by a “medicine ball” or a daffy duffus appears on the back nine, you know it must be the merry month of May.

If truth be told, the only folks who really care what month it is are roosters. And, forget about finding a bag of loot in the barnyard of life, it has the rooster

HOW TO DO EVERYTHING WITH …XP
–Or, are you sure Windows XP can fly me to the moon and back? –

The world is moving at a break-neck speed these days, so it

2. Laughter boosts morale while stress erodes staff morale. It is in the best interest of any business to invest in the happiness of its employees. Laughter is an effective barometer of just how happy your people are.

3. Keeping things in perspective tends to boost morale and humor helps us keep things in perspective.

4. Humor helps facilitate change. Change is inevitable and people who laugh well and often tend to be more flexible and adaptable.

5. Communication improves when humor is used appropriately. The timely use of humor can get a point across effectively and assists in the process of problem solving.

6. Laughter and humor relieve boredom and increase creative energy.

7. Humor builds confidence. When we laugh at ourselves we are less rigid and more spontaneous. We tend to bounce back more quickly when negative things happen. Humor also makes us less fearful of making mistakes and more confident about overcoming setbacks.

8. Laughter and humor promote positive relationships. When you hear a funny story your first impulse is to tell someone and share the laughter. When laughter is shared a natural bonding takes place.

9. Humor promotes happiness and joy. It’s good to be alive.

10. Quality relationships are measured by the amount of laughter present. When relationships are good, people laugh a lot. The same applies to businesses. When employees enjoy one another and laugh easily and often, we see performance improve and profits increase.

11. The humor I speak of here must never be based on laughing at someone, racism, sexism, put downs, sarcasm or ridicule. These forms of humor are destructive attempts at making one look good by making another look and feel badly. There is enough good humor to last a lifetime. Just look for it.

THEY WHO LAUGH…………LAST

Get a copy of his free cartoon ebook on humor and staff morale here http://motivationalplus.com/cgi/a/t.cgi?begin

Mike Moore is an international speaker on Humor in the Workplace/ Humor and Stress Management/ Humor and Staff Potential

About the Author

Mike Moore is an international speaker/ humorist whose cartoons and articles have appeared in magazines and newspapers throughout the world. He speaks on Humor in the Workplace/ Humor and Stress Management/ Humor and Staff Morale