Wednesday, December 06, 2006

come on, work with me here!

do not open until christmas!

I feel like I want to push my last post down the page since it doesn't exactly have the joie de jeremy with which I usually carry forth this blog. But, I'm too exhausted at the moment to be entertaining. Can someone, like, tell some knock-knock jokes in the comments? Or maybe explain why six is afraid of seven?

The talk in Ann Arbor went all right; it stimulated good discussion. I am coming to realize that one problem with me is that it is almost a given that I don't sleep well the first night when I am traveling, and when I travel to give a talk the first night traveling is the night before my talk, which means that I'm regularly giving talks on ridiculously inadequate sleep to audiences that are much better rested. Solution: departments should come to my apartment to hear me speak. I'll serve cocktails!

I received a box in the mail from Sister A today. Inside was a present wrapped in festive snowman paper. The tag says "Do Not Open Until Christmas!" And, then: "I mean it!" But, then: "Ha!" Does that mean it's okay to open it now or do I have to wait? You be the holiday ethicist!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

don't open it, wait 'till xmas.

as for a joke:

Secretaries Powell and Rumsfeld are sitting in a bar. A guy walks in and asks the barman, “Isn’t that Powell and Rumsfeld?”

The barkeep says, “Yep, that’s them.”

So, the guy walks over to the two and says, “Hello, what are you guys doing?”

Rumsfeld says, “We’re planning World War III,” to which the guy replies, “Really? What’s going to happen?”

Rumsfeld says, “Well, we’re going to kill 10 million Afghans and one bicycle repairman.”

And the guy exclaims, “Why are you going to kill a bicycle repairman!?!”

With that, Rumsfeld turns to Powell and says, “See, I told you no one would care about the 10 million Afghans!”

J. Wruble
Los Angeles, CA
source: http://www.maximonline.com/jokes/index.aspx?joke_id=1101

Lucy said...

Does "Ha!" mean "just kidding, you can open it now"?
I say you have to wait until Christmas. I have had my Christmas package from home since October and have so far managed to restrain myself from so much as reading the surprise-spoiling customs form, but I'm only waiting until Commonwealthlandian Christmas.
You can see I'm saving my delayed gratification skills for the things that really matter, as usual...

Here are some awesome jokes, too.

Anonymous said...

No, you cannot open the gift before Christmas. The "Ha!" means "Ha! I thought to write an extra note to guarantee that you do not behave inappropriately."

Henry said...

I interpreted the "Ha!" to mean "So there!"... so yeah, don't open it yet.

Anonymous said...

AMBEIN.....it solves my "pre-interview jitters." Typically I'm anti-drugs, but this drug is a miracle.

Anonymous said...

Even with an off-hand comment, you continue to inspire me. If anyone is going to post a Knock-Knock joke, please follow the correct form.

Anonymous said...

7 cut 8 up.

Anonymous said...

my birthday was in november. a friend sent a package from germany. traditionally, she sends one package with two presents in it: one for my birthday, one for christmas. so the package arrived yesterday. lots of wrapped presents but no indication of which ones are birthday presents (and therefore eligible to be opened right away) and which ones are christmas presents. so i e-mail her to ask. so she answers: well, now you've waited so long for your birthday present, you might as well wait three more weeks and open them all for christmas, won't that be more fun? (to which i say: humbug!)

jeremy said...

All: Thank you for having my back with the jokes. The why is 6 afraid of 7 answer is a reasonable guess, but incorrect.

Toni: Yes, I've heard the wonders of the Ambien route, and maybe should investigate it more.