Comic Relief: Life...the stuff comedy is made of.

Holiday movies often reveal bizarre family incidents such as a turkey so dry it evaporates (Christmas Vacation, 1989), and the neighbor's hounds eating the roasted turkey (A Christmas Story, 1983) but those scenes are funny because we can relate to them.

Holiday gatherings are prime settings for quirky moments...in real life. It's the stuff comedies are made of. I bet most of us have experienced crazy incidents fit for a holiday movie.

Here's some of our Thanksgiving misadventures:

• We were newly married and living far from family, so a co-worker insisted we come to his place to eat. As we sat on the couch, awkwardly awaiting the holiday meal, their three year old daughter pranced about, singing, "I've got diarrhea! haha Diarrhea! haha Diarrhea!"
• One Thanksgiving Day while Kurt worked at an E.R., he removed a fork impaled in a man's hand. The guy explained, "I reached for the last drumstick and Aunt Bessie stabbed my hand because I was taking her favorite piece of meat."
• Then there was the time we spent Thanksgiving with friends and the man-of-the-house (I won't name names) accidentally dropped the turkey into the kitchen sink... filled with soapy water.
• Or the time I asked my husband to pour a panful of turkey drippings over the fence into our empty lot. He dumped it inside the fence, where our delighted dog rolled in it, then romped through the house, soaked in grease.

Which of your goofy Thanksgiving moments ought to be in the movies?

(We'll save the Christmas memories for next month.)

Movies to spell T.H.A.N.K.S.G.I.V.I.N.G.

Just for fun... movie titles beginning with the letters of THANKSGIVING, and a memorable line from each.

Tootsie (1982): 

Look, you don't know me from Adam. But I was a better man with you, as a woman... than I ever was with a woman, as a man. You know what I mean? I just gotta learn to do it without the dress.

Hitch (2005):

Basic principles: no matter what, no matter when, no matter who... any man has a chance to sweep any woman off her feet. He just needs the right broom. 

All About Steve (2009):

Mary, why do you wear those stupid red boots all the time? You wanna know why? Because it makes my toes feel like 10 friends on a camping trip, that's why. 

National Treasure (2004):

A toast? Yeah. To high treason. That's what these men were committing when they signed the Declaration. Had we lost the war, they would have been hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, and-Oh! Oh, my personal favorite-and had their entrails cut out and burned!  So... Here's to the men who did what was considered wrong, in order to do what they knew was right... 

Kung Fu Panda (2008):

 Legend tells of a legendary warrior whose kung fu skills were the stuff of legend. 

Splash (1984):

I don't understand. All my life I've been waiting for someone and when I find her, she's... she's a fish. 

Ghost (1990):

Ditto

Innerspace (1987):

Would I be in a doctor's office if I was feeling all right? 

Vacation (1983):

Sorry folks. Park's closed. The moose out front shoulda told ya.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989):

We named the dog Indiana. 

Napoleon Dynamite (2004):

Gosh!

Gone with the Wind (1939):

No, I don't think I will kiss you, although you need kissing, badly. That's what's wrong with you. You should be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how. 

Motivation: Persistance

"You don't start out writing good stuff.  You start out writing crap and thinking it's good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it.  That's why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence."  ~Octavia Butler

That's my motivation today.  I must keep going.  Persistence pays off.

Outtake: Perfect gift for a writer

Remember the post about capturing ideas, including cryptic notes in the shower? (See: Notes to Self) Well, for my birthday earlier this month, my husband gave me the handiest dandiest thing...

AQUA NOTES: No More Great Ideas Down the Drain!

Here's a link to Amazon:  Aqua Notes

Does he know the way into a writer's heart, or what?