Wednesday, October 24, 2007

If You're Grumpy and You Know It

Sure, we laugh at Dopey. But sometimes we wish we were Grumpy. At least I do. There are some bloggers who do grumpy so well.

They get angry at the real bad stuff in this world:

"Cancer murdered my father; I'm still waiting for the country to take notice." (Colleen Mondor at Chasing Ray)


They plan whole books about the art of the Nag:

"I could cover the rewards of nagging (it works), my connection to a long line of honorable naggers through my maternal line, nagging's place in the greater society, how nagging has been perceived throughout history, turning points in history that were influenced by nagging, nagging as the foundation of the American family..." (Gail Gauthier at Original Content)


They title their posts Britney = Elvis and Big Stinky Review Fun:

"So many trees, giving up their lives so valiantly in the name of books that should never have been published." (David Elzey at fomagrams)

It's not that I don't get grumpy. Yes, I'm often irritated, furious, beaked, mildly annoyed and plain pissed off. It's just that I can't channel those feelings into good, biting prose. My version of Howl would be called Mewl, or perhaps Fret.

So I really, really enjoy it when someone lets loose. Not with a flame, or a small-minded rant, or a hurtful personal attack. But righteous anger, unapologetic grumpiness, a passionate, utterly devastating take-down of greed? That can make me smile for days. (Yes, it's Jimmy Stewart. I never tire of watching him.)

So if you're grumpy and you know it, raise your hand. Or better yet, write about it and let me read it. Submit your favorite bouts of grumpiness in the comments.

P.S. I'm SO sorry to do this to you, but you have to check out Grumpy's Bail Bonds. Their motto is: You ring. We spring. And the owner has written a book.

4 comments:

  1. Oh, I do love the grumpy. Other than BACA, which is based on grumpy, my favorite grumpy post is the Tinkerbell Policy.

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  2. Ah yes, BACA and Tinkerbell...fine grumps, both.

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  3. The world is full of balance, yin and yang. I couldn't possibly Howl if there weren't folks out there Mewling. For that, I am grateful.

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  4. I've got to check out that nagger's blog: how in the world is she getting it to work? I'd nag even more if I thought I could actually make it work!

    And I love your version of 'Howl;' mine would be 'Whine.' And, (having just read your poem about turning clothes right-side-out after laundering them), that is one of the things I whine about a lot. My kids don't leave them inside-out. They leave them half of one and half of the other. So that I can turn one side out or the other side in, but I must do SOMEthing if I want the damn shirt to dry. Lately I've been trying something radical: I've been just leaving them half in, half out. It looks awful seeing them like that on the clothesline, but it makes me feel better.

    No, I know that wasn't what your poem was about, but just reading it reminded me, all the same...

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