Let me preface the following by saying that I used to worry that my sense of humor was horribly inappropriate. When I encounter what should be a somber and contemplative occasion, the little demonic comedian on my shoulder wakes up and starts poking around for a good joke. In the past this has resulted in a couple of faux pas which I’m a little embarassed about, but thankfully nothing too serious. I’ve come to terms with this tendency of mine, and simply accept it for what it is; I just try to be a bit more circumspect in what comes out of my mouth. but there are still times when I enjoy sharing these thoughts. For example …

I woke up to the news that Saddam Hussein had been hanged this morning. The article included a picture of him, noose around his neck, with executioners in ski-masks adjusting the rope and knot. It got me to thiking about the wisdom of executing tyrants like…

**needle-screetches-across-record**

Wait a minute. Ski masks? Ski masks??? You’re kidding, right? Who has ski masks in Iraq? It’s not like everyone there hits the slopes on the weekends (or is it???). I can only imagine the phone call some poor court clerk had to answer in the wee-hours of the morning:

[sleepy] Uhm, Hello? … yeah, that’s me… yup, I heard it on the news. What do you need? … I’m sorry, a what? … Nope, never heard of it. What’s it used for?… uh huh… yeah, okay … are you serious?… couldn’t you just, you know, cut some holes in a pillow case like those Al Qaeda guys do? … ah, right. Well if you say so. Okay, let me shop around and see what I can find. I think Amazon.com is till delivering to the Green Zone.

[Editor’s Note: Please read my followup comments about this entry.]