I wrote the dumbest lyrics and the amazing David Hale turned it into something beautiful.
It’s my favorite Christmas song.
And no, it’s not based on a true story. I don’t know why people always ask me that.
What are you really yearning for?
In her book, I Might Regret This, Abbi Jacobson describes the long road trip she took alone to hopefully find healing after a bad break up. While staying in a cabin in Utah she goes outside in the middle of the night to really take in how beautiful the sky is.
The stars out there, out west, are different, they’re brighter and bolder, and they make you feel that the world is so much more than you ever could have thought, that maybe you’d only been focusing on a tiny little corner. I know all those starts are there too, in my New York sky, but I don’t see them. There’s too much in the way. This was the space I was longing for and had been seeking out. But I could see now I hadn’t been yearning for that expanse to escape into, but rather to remember that I was a part of it.
I’ve been trying to figure out what it is about that last line that is so beautiful to me.
Two scriptures come to mind.
We all try to escape into the expanse, to get lost in it.
Psalm 139:7-8 says
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
There’s no way to escape. But that’s not really what we’re after. What we’re REALLY yearning for when we stare at the beauty around us is the comfort of knowing we belong.
Psalm 8:3-4 says
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?”
He knows me. He cares for me. He doesn’t want me to hide from Him.
The God who made it all wants to me in His family. How crazy is that?
Now I want to go out into nature and see what it makes me feel.
SNL Gets Surprisingly Sweet for Christmas
There were two moments that really stood out from this week’s Saturday Night Live. The show got surprisingly sweet. They were able to embrace the warmth and beauty of Christmas without losing laughs.
I think that’s a pretty common fear: you can’t be earnest and still be funny. You’ll sacrifice the jokes if you try to say something meaningful. And that’s not what people want from a comedy show!
But that' doesn’t have to be true! You can laugh at your cake and cry while eating it too.
Obviously I think the pendulum can swing too far in the other direction and you CAN get so wrapped up in making something important that you forget to also make it funny. But this week’s SNL found the perfect mix. It’s not too much. Just two small moments: Matt Damon’s monologue and the end of the Best Christmas digital short.
A Thrill of Hope
I love this phrase in O Holy Night.
Hope is the belief that something good is coming. The only thing more exciting than that anticipation is when it finally arrives. And that's what Christmas is celebrating. He's here. The one you've been waiting for, who will change everything, has arrived.
Favorite Podcasts of 2018
I listen to a lot of podcasts. In the last year and a half I’ve listened to approximately 500 hours of podcasts (the app I use keeps track).
I’m not going to give the whole list of all the ones I listen to. There are a lot I don’t keep up with week to week. I might check in whenever there’s a guest I want to hear. The other shows I listen to because I just always have. It’s comfort food.
Here are the podcasts that I’m currently obsessed with. These are the ones I go nuts for every time there’s a new episode.
Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
This show is fairly new but I’m already a huge fan. Conan interviews celebrities, asking why they’re not friends in real life. He is effortlessly funny in conversation, and it’s even better when the guest makes Conan laugh. It’s really great.
Doughboys
This show is not for everyone. It’s on the list but don’t think this is me recommending it to you. I don’t want you to listen and then get mad at me because you don’t find it funny. It’s dumb. It’s pointless. They can be really vulgar. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I love this show so much. According to Stitcher (the app I use to listen to podcasts) in the last 90 days I’ve listened to 56 hours of this show. Good lord.
Every episode the two hosts bring a guest along to review a chain restaurant. You want to listen to 2 hours of comedians talking about Papa John’s? Well, apparently I do. I want to listen to it all the time.
I don’t get it either.
Reply All
I recommend this show! I recommend it the most! LISTEN TO THIS ONE!
It’s a show about the internet. That’s how they describe it. It’s a narrative journalism series (like This American Life or Serial) where the hosts dive into the most bizarre and fascinating stories in different corners of the internet.
You ever get one of those scam phone calls where they tell your computer has a virus and they need to fix it? Want to know more about the company that makes those calls? Want to hear the host continuously call that company until he builds a surprising relationship with one of the men working for the scam? Well, good because that’s the best episode the show has done. It’s called Long Distance and you should listen right now.
Heavyweight
The same podcast company that produces Reply All also does this one.
The host, Jonathan Goldstein, helps people fix mistakes and regrets from their path. That one moment that changed everything in their life, Jonathan wants to help make it right. It’s funny. It’s touching. It’s always surprising.
Start with the episode “Rob.”
I’m starting to work on my own podcast and it’s really starting to scare me. I love podcasts so much. I know what it sounds like when they’re really great. I know the potential that’s there. How could I ever create something as good as the shows that I love? It can be daunting. Ira Glass’ advice is to just keep trying. Keep working. That’s the only way to close the gap between what you love and what you’re making.
So I guess I should just do that.
Worst Experience in a School Assembly
People always want to hear horror stories from the road. They want to know about my worst experience on stage. I tell this story in my shows now (it’s what I use to transition to the message at the end), and I wanted to post this as proof that it really did happened. And we really were on the news.
I was so nervous when I first started telling this story on stage. I wanted to make sure it was clear that the joke wasn’t the fact that the teacher said this horrible thing. The joke is how none of us knew what to do. We were in shock. The actually assembly hadn’t even started yet. How do you move on after that?!
It was the craziest.
If you want to hear the whole story and find out how this ties to message, I guess you’ve got to see me live.
Joke Writing and Inspiration
Laurie Kilmartin shared a list of joke transitions that are commonly used in the writer’s room at Conan. I am fascinated by this. I’ve never been good at writing joke jokes. On stage I mostly tell stories and a few observational bits. But good old fashion set up, punchline? It’s so hard for my brain to work like that. I’m jealous of people who can do it.
I love that she posted this list. Inspiration isn’t always magic. When you feel stuck you don’t have to climb a mountain to recover your passion before you work on something creative again. Some times you just need a list and an understanding of the structure and rules of what you’re creating. Some times art is just math. Set up + transition leads to joke.
Read This Blog (not mine)
My friend Cameron Combs, pictured here pretending he knows how to read, has finally made his blog public. I made an impassioned plea a few months ago for him to start one because he is one of the smartest and most well read men I know. For a while there the blog was a secret. He was just testing the waters to see if he’d actually enjoy it. But now the secret is out.
And you have to go read it.
Up until Cameron started his, the only blog I consistently read was Austin Kleon. He posts every day (and he has good reasons for doing it) and his weekly newsletter is a big influence on mine.
But now I’ve got a strong thoughtful Christian with a blog worth following.
Every time I finish one of Cameron’s posts I feel excited about my relationship with Christ.
Read his post JESUS AND ISRAEL and tell me you don’t feel the same.
Feeling Good
Feeling good. Not stressed at all.
Whenever I get really frustrated about something suddenly I’m so much more sensitive to every little annoyance in my life. All the things I could easily brush off are now ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARES because my bad mood is ruining my perspective.
Thats what happened to me today. It took a while to calm down. I knew it was important I find something to chill me out because I had to do standup at a Christmas dinner. I don’t think “on edge and ready to snap” is a good look for me. I’m not the type of comedian who can pull it off.
First I recognized that I was feeling frustrated and admitted to how it was affecting my attitude all day. I complained loudly to someone I trust. And then I listened to Andrew WK because his music is so positive and wonderful, I know it can always put me in a good mood.
The picture is from another time I was feeling the same way. I didn’t do that whole step by step to get through it. I just grabbed that dog as it walked by and squeezed it real tight for a while. That seemed to work too.
Also, I promise I’m wearing shorts in that picture. Don’t get too distracted by my thick legs, you weirdo.
Books I Found at Goodwill
Hot tip! Books at Goodwill are incredibly cheap. Paperbacks are $1 and hardcover are $3. The bookshelves are worth checking every time you go in because once in a while you might uncover something great.
There are two books in that stack I’m pretty sure I won’t enjoy (can you guess?!) but I figured it was worth $2 to find out for sure.
I don’t know why I felt the need to get all of these. I still have a ton already on my shelf that I need to read. And I don’t know what to ask for for Christmas so I’ll probably get more books. I need to kick my reading into high gear. I should probably change my phone wallpaper back to this.