Humor

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Greetings everyone, and welcome to the August ChatterBulletin and to the charismatic sign of Leo! Many of us are experiencing pretty “hot” summers this year so the fiery nature of the Leo is expressed perfectly by the extreme heat during the month of August before we turn the corner into September and head for fall. Although Leos are known to be very regal (they are after all the “King of the Jungle”) they are really a bunch of big kids who would prefer to have fun rather than be responsible. So in keeping with my fellow fun-loving Leos, my theme for this month is “Humor.” As I said, Leo’s like to have fun, and they have this marvelous ability to “lighten” the mood by making everyone laugh. They are also extremely creative people, which is why many of them become artists of one kind or another. I have a ton of Leo friends who are performers, actors, artists or musicians. This also explains why Leo is the sign associated with “drama” – and by that I don’t simply mean the drama we see on TV or in a movie. Leo’s will have drama woven into their lives at all times. And if there isn’t any, they’ll create some.

Some famous dramatic Leo’s you might have heard of are – Madonna & 1st husband Sean Penn, J-Lo & almost-husband Ben Affleck, as well as his brother Casey Affleck, both Antonio Banderas & his wife Melanie Griffith, and then we have such notables as Lucille Ball, Mae West, Helen Mirren, Kyra Sedgwick, Halle Berry & Sandra Bullock, along with Steve Martin, Laurence Fishburne, Dustin Hoffman, Robert de Niro, Robert Redford, Kevin Spacey, Wesley Snipes, both David Duchovny & Gillian Anderson (of X Files fame), film directors Roman Polanski, James Cameron & Alfred Hitchcock, writers Sir Ian Fleming (of James Bond fame), J.K. Rowling (of Harry Potter fame), Beatrix Potter, Emily Bronte & Danielle Steele, designers Yves St. Laurent, Louis Vuitton, Coco Chanel & Martha Stewart, and artist Andy Warhol, musicians Jerry Garcia, Mick Jagger, Whitney Houston, George Clinton, Louis Armstrong & Count Basie, and athletes Roger Federer, Magic Johnson, Alex “A-Rod” Rodriguez, Arnold Schwarzenegger & Hulk Hogan, along with such notables as Henry Ford, Fidel Castro, Napoleon Bonaparte, Benito Mussolini, Marcus Garvey, Bill Clinton (& Monica Lewinsky!) as well as our current president, Barack Obama. The list literally goes on and on and on, but notice how many famous performers, artists, musicians and writers we have here, along with famous as well as infamous rulers and/or world leaders! All very “Leo!”

But back to our theme and the subject of “Humor.” There are some kinds of humor that can be considered as universal and others that are most definitely culturally or even age-specific. I grew up in England and our somewhat eccentric sense of humor is certainly not always understood or appreciated by others. And then every now and again, something transcends and can be translated across cultures and oceans. People of all ages respond to humor, whether it is a young child watching a puppet show or Tom & Jerry cartoon, or an intellectual adult who goes for something more mature and satirical. Humor provokes laughter and provides amusement, but even more interesting is that the term “humor” derives way back to ancient times and refers to the “humors of the body” which were believed to control human health and emotion and therefore the goal was to keep these body fluids, or humors, in balance. The Four Humors were Yellow Bile, Black Bile, Blood & Phlegm and were directly related to each of the Four Elements, Fire, Earth, Air & Water. Consider this, when times are tough, do we not use humor to see us though? So in order to find balance with all of the stress in our lives, we have to find some sort of humorous outlet. When my sister and I were (and still are) dealing with the loss of our mother, as much as there was to cry about, we have had and continue to have a lot of laughs and a multitude of hilarious stories.

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And in closing, I would just like to wish all of my fellow Leo friends out there a very Happy Birthday, including my good pals Rowena, Ringo, Kim and Pam from my college days, my dear friend and musician Gretta in Seattle, our mutual friend and bass player Jared in Hoboken, and in Williamsburg, my always hilarious pal Julie, and in London, my old friend Andy who recently resurfaced after a long absence. And then there is also Pam, neighbor and friend to our family for many years, and Jordan, my dear friend Tracy’s daughter who came and interned with me this year. Happy Birthday!