Something Carl This Way Comes

There are two types of people in the world. One group gets "the goofy" and the other does not. The half that gets it has the ability to hear about special days like "Talk Like a Pirate Day" and find the humor in it. The other half thinks it is pretty stupid. I'm pretty sure that the half that understands goofiness has provided a lot of the fuel for the fire that made Monty Python popular.

Since I'm one of those people who embraces the goofy, the absurd, and the incomprehensibly strange in the interest of humor, I have endeavored to put more of said humor out into the universe in the hopes that it will take hold and reproduce like an extra-fertile rabbit. To that end, I have embraced what my friends and I have come to call "the Carl". I understand that this notion is incomprehensible to most people but let's just say that it has to do with not taking things seriously that should not be treated so and with spinning the mundane around until it becomes ridiculous.

Tankarific Carl stands majestically amongst the candles of the new CARL guild hall and ponders who will be scooping up all the mini-pet poop that is bound to get left on the floor of our new joint.

It also means not taking yourself too seriously, of course. Our little group of players in the multi-player game "Guild Wars" did just that when we came up with a name ("Confused and Ridiculously Los"t) for our Guild (screenshot above). The delightful thing about it is that it's actually true of our playing style. You cannot be a Carl and be efficient or competent because such things impede your ability to mine the mundane for humor. Happy people stop and smell the roses. Carls stop and figure out how to make them funny.

Of course, there is far more to the Carl and one of these days, I'll even try to explain the origins of it or consider sharing the Carl words of power. However, the world is not yet ready.