Friday, September 22, 2017

There Ya Gogh!

Thought for the day:   It's hard to explain puns to kleptomaniacs, because they always take things literally. 


gullible me, second grade
I've always been gullible, but I'm in recovery stage. Used to be, I believed anything anyone cared to tell me. I mean, why would anyone lie to me, right? One fella we know turned out to be a pathological liar, and he used to tell me some reeeeeal whoppers about his so-called adventures. Smarticus knew he was full of it, and so did most of our friends, but this guy loved to corner me at parties so he could bend my ear with his outrageous tales, because I always swallowed his stories hook, line, and sinker. Periodically, he'd turn to his wife and say, "Ain't that right, babe?" to which she dutifully provided his desired, "Yes, dear" response. (If I'd paid closer attention, I might have noticed her eyes rolling...)

I eventually caught on to the improbability of the things this guy was telling me and learned to steer clear of him, but as a child, I was definitely fair game for the things various family members told me in jest, especially my mother and Aunt Myrtle.

Two jokes they got me with involved names on  mailboxes. The last name? Bean. As we drove past said Bean mailbox, which sat beside the road next to a farmer's field, my mother said, "I wonder how our old friend Lima is doing?" My aunt said, " I heard he and Pinto had a baby. Named her Navy." Me, wide-eyed in the back seat, said something like, " I didn't know you knew them..." Which, of course, spurred them to come up with more names.

The second name that inspired them to yank my chain was Road. Same thing, only this time we were walking in the Pocono Mountains area while on vacation. As I recall, they mentioned names like Tobacco and Dusty. To my credit, I caught on a little faster this time, and even added a couple names of my own.

Which may explain why they didn't pull that joke on me a third time.

Anyhow, I was reminded of those two memories by an email Smarticus sent me recently. It's a rather clever family tree list of names that I'm sure my mother and Aunt Myrt would have appreciated. I hope you do, too.


The fun family?

'Tis the hypothetical family tree of the great Vincent Van Gogh, pictured at right in his 1887 self-portrait.

By the way, you know why he was an artist?

(shhhh) I hear he needed the monet...

Talking about artists, (Weren't we?) what do you think Salvadore Dali's favorite breakfast was? A nice bowl of surreal, of course.

And what's a modern artist's favorite footwear? Sketchers!

Okay, I'll stop. Let's take a look at that whimsical family tree, shall we?



  • First, there's his annoying brother... Please Gogh.
  • His dizzy aunt... Verti Gogh.
  • His prune-eating brother... Gotta Gogh
  • His cousin who worked in a convenience store... Stop'n Gogh
  • His Yugloslavian grandfather... U Gogh
  • The distant cousin who bleached all of his clothes white... Hue Gogh
  • The other cousin from Illinois... Chica Gogh
  • His uncle, the magician... Wherediddy Gogh
  • His Mexican cousin... Amee Gogh
  • His Mexican cousin's American half-brother... Grin Gogh
  • His nephew who drove a stagecoach... Wessfar Gogh
  • His poor ol' constipated uncle... Cant Gogh (He should work something out with Gotta...)
  • His ballroom-dancing aunt... Tan Gogh
  • His bird-loving uncle... Flamin Gogh
  • His psychoanalyst uncle... E Gogh
  • The fruit-loving cousin... Man Gogh
  • His postive-thinking aunt... Wayto Gogh
  • His bouncy nephew... Po Gogh
  • His disco-dancing sister... Go Gogh
  • His niece who travels in an RV... Winnie Bay Gogh
                                       Can you think of any others to add?




                Until next time, take care of yourselves. And each other.





54 comments:

  1. What a fun post! Thanks for the smiles to start off my day here. Have a great weekend, hugs, Valerie

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    1. Thanks! I'm glad you found some smiles. :)

      You have a super weekend, too.

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  2. His slow cousin Ester Kar Gogh.

    Sorry.

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    1. HA! Nobody EVER has to apologize to ME for coming up with a pun. :)

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  3. His continence challenged uncle Gotta Gogh.
    Smiling here. And I may admit to a smidgeon of gullibility myself.

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    1. I'm glad you're smiling. :)

      Maybe instead of calling ourselves gullible, we should merely say we're... trusting. Sounds better.

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  4. Oh Susan, between groans and laughter I find this pun theme delightful. So many possibilities. It has a ways to Gogh or I miss my guess.

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    1. Oh Geo, I'm glad some of these tickled your punny bone, dude. :)

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  5. "he needed the monet," that's a good one. Love that Gogh family. I've been gullible in the past, these days I can tell if something is "way out there", but with more subtle stories I still get taken in.

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    1. Glad ya liked it. ;)

      Maybe a certain amount of gullibility is a good thing. Otherwise, we wouldn't enjoy reading (and writing) fiction so much.

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  6. Honestly Susan - I'd love to come up with things like ... but I just so enjoy them - the reading of poor Van Gogh and his mother - rest her soul ... I'm still gullible at times - but occasionally just smile to acknowledge I heard ... believe - probably not! Cheers Hilary

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    1. Hi-ya, Hilary. Fortunately, I've learned how to do that "acknowledging smile," and I can even do it without rolling my eyes. (Most of the time!)

      Cheers back atcha.

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  7. Greetings. I enjoyed reading, very humourous. I used to be gullible, as I had my fears. I'm stronger now. Glad you are too. I liked your 'Goth' section - very funny. I like reading your posts, always bring a few smiles to my face! Well done, a well written piece.

    Thank you. Love love, Andrew. Bye.

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    1. Greetings, Andrew. I'm glad to hear my posts put a smile on your face. (Of all the things we wear, our expression is the most important, ya know!)

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  8. Oh my goodness.... Poor Vincent.....he didn't know what people were going to do with his name. That gave me a good start to me day.

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    1. Serves him right for having such an "easy" name. :) With a name like "Swiderski," I don't think I have anything to worry about...

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  9. Ha ha ha! I think my favorite is the Dali joke - totally cracks me up. :)

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  10. Very clever! Nice giggle with my morning coffee :-)

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    1. Thanks! Haven't you heard? Having giggles with your coffee reduces any need to add sugar. (Ain't that right, babe...?)

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  11. What a great post and yes, I am SMILING. I do remember the Bean family but hadn't heard about the Gogh family. Starting a day with a smile is the best way for sure !

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    1. Glad to hear about the SMILES. :)

      Starting, continuing and ending the day with a smile keeps us healthier than cod liver oil. (Doesn't make us burp, either!)

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  12. love the pic of smiling YOU, Er Gogh, excellent post. Happy Friday and weekend

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    1. Thanks! (I may have changed a teensy bit since then...)

      We just returned home from a weekend in the NC mountains, so we've had a super weekend. Got home just in time to catch the end of the Falcons game. I can't BELIEVE they pulled out the win! In fact, when it looked like the Lions scored a touchdown at the very end, Smarticus and I both left the room to finish packing. It wasn't until later that we heard a commentator talk about our "big win." Wow. A grrrrreat weekend for us... I hope you guys had a good one, too!)

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  13. The Gogh family sure has some interesting individuals, I'll have to see if I can think of any so I'm Gonna Gogh for now.

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    1. I'll Letya Gogh... as long as you promise to come back. :)

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  14. Second-grade you? Even more adorable than your post.

    Love,
    Janie

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  15. What a great post today. Your Mum and Aunt were a hoot. Love them.
    Adaore the photo of a second grade you. Made me smile !

    Happy First Day of Fall.
    cheers, parsnip

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    1. Yeah, they were a hoot. All of my mother's sisters were.

      Thanks. Smiling at my googf haircut, huh? (I call in my Prince Valiant years.) What I like in that pic is the Davy Crockett pin I was wearing.

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  16. haha a fun one indeed. Pet Here Gough.

    Know many who try to spin a tale indeed. Once you hear one or two you know the timelines don't match so it is easy to tell they are full of it.

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    1. Good for you for being able to detect the fibs so easily. I'm getting better, but I'm still way too trusting.

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  17. Cute second grad pic, friend Sue ... smiles ... I grew up in Christiania, Denmark, then Greece, then Germany, spent much time in Amsterdam, Holland as well ... because us Rom roam as you might or might not know ... Have been living in Alberta, Canada for the last 35 years though, and aside from doing extensive travels around the world, me think me will stay and work here till am ready to retire and collet pension ... Then it will be more travelling for sure ... I do realize that my poems are weird ... but ... life is comprised of ant hills so what, hmmm? ... Dobsche, dobsche, tralala, violin kaput ... Anyway ... Love always, cat.

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    1. You get around, 'round, 'round, 'round; you get around...

      Silly cat, your poems are most definitely NOT weird.

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  18. I can be your gullibility companion. A friend of ours had a baby and my husband told me they named him Brock Lee. I was in full panic for them-- had they said the name out loud? Was it too late to change it? I was so worried, I called our friend who told me his middle name was Hayden, not Lee. My husband...naughty, naughty man.

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    1. HA! I think I'd really like your naughty, naughty man. (That's a great story!) I'd be happy to be your companion any time. :)

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  19. His nephew who is a budding architect ——– Leg Gogh (I can't take credit, I found this online.)

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  20. I always considered everything about Vinnie Van Gogh to be somber and serious. This new take on his name definitely changed my mind. That list is really hilarious. I tried to come up with some new ones, but the good ones are already taken.

    I used to be EXTREMELY gullible when I was a kid. Much like you, I believed everything that anyone told me (it must be a Sagittarius trait, huh?). I would probably still believe in Santa Claus...if my Mom didn't tell me the truth when I was seven.

    That's an adorable photo of you. What a sweet kid!

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    1. I reckon you'll never think about ol' Vinnie quite the same after this. :)

      Somehow, I'm surprised to hear you were gullible, but I also like that you were. Maybe it IS a Sag trait...

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  21. Groan. Great groaners.

    Your bangs looked like my bangs back then. Why oh why?

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    1. HA! Is "great groaners" an oxymoron...?

      There were a whole mess of us with Prince Valiant haircuts back then. I don't know about you, but I looked like that because my parents cut my hair. There were plenty times it looked even worse!

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  22. These are so funny!
    I don't recall any family members playing 'tricks' ... but yes, I may as well have had "gullible" stamped on my forehead. (In many ways, it's still there.)

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    1. I don't think I'm as gullible as I used to be, but that isn't the word that was stamped on my forehead. Our kids said "sucker" was written on mine, because I didn't know how to say no to the bazillions of volunteer jobs that had a way of falling into my lap.

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  23. People groan at puns, but we all love them. I can picture the twinkle in your eyes as you typed them out.

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  24. What a cute picture of you! You still have the same twinkle in your eyes. :-)

    Love all the Gogh puns, but I can't think of any myself. Made me smile!

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    1. Thanks! I'm not sure if that's still a "twinkle" in my eye anymore... it might just be the light reflecting from my post-cataract surgery lens implants. HA! :)

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  25. I absolutely love these. Puns are my guilty pleasure. The harder I can make a person groan with puns, the better.

    I hear his great-great-granddaughter got married and became a daytime TV talk show host.

    Yoo Gogh-Gurl.

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  26. Well, you've given us quit the ear full today!

    Blessings and Bear hugs!

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