Sunday, November 01, 2009

The Wonderful Healing Effects of Laughter

With Halloween finished, the holiday season is upon us. That means lip-licking, fat-soaked, sugar-drenched, calorific temptation galore for the next couple of months. It also means some of you will have a hell of a time keeping your eating and drinking sane and balanced during that time. Holidays can be wonderful and magical, but they can also be stressful, especially for dieters. They can also be extremely taxing for people who’ll be getting together with negative or toxic friends and family members.

All that stress makes temptation much more difficult to resist. But resist we must! Lord knows the last thing we want is to begin the new year with a depressing weight gain.

Of all the things to indulge in this holiday season, I highly recommend one delicious goodie that won’t make you gain weight and will actually help to lessen the stressful effects of being bombarded by delectable edibles.

That wonderful, positive, calorie-free goodie is laughter. It colors your perception, so that while others see gloomy gray skies, you’ll be seeing blue skies and clouds with silver linings. Laughter helps give you the power to take yourself, holiday stress, and life in general less seriously. It unties the knots in your gut when some well-meaning friend or family member decides to criticize your diet--or to watch you like a hawk each time you put something in your mouth. Laughter gives you the ability to remain strong and face each challenge with a confident smile on your face. You’ll feel good about yourself--and nothing (and no one) can defeat that powerful, positive, happy feeling!

Think about it. When’s the last time you indulged in a rollicking bout of laughter? I don’t mean a few snickers, a couple of chuckles or a bit of polite laughter. I’m talking about the kind of laughter that rolls up from deep within the belly. The kind that makes you snort and has tears running down your face and makes you hurt real good inside.

Recently I came across a favorite old book (first published in the 1970s and still available today) that started me on a path of research years ago about the healing effects of laughter. It’s called Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient, written by Norman Cousins. In it he describes how, after receiving a dire “incurable” diagnosis for a crippling illness, he took his health into his own hands.

To make a long story short, ignoring the gloom and doom prognosis, he checked himself out of the hospital and into in a motel where he did nothing but watch the funniest movies and read the funniest books, completely immersing himself in laughter. After a few months of intensive laughter therapy, he’d cured himself. He did the same years later after he suffered a massive heart attack. There’s quite a bit more to Cousins’ story, but that’s the gist of it. I have AS (ankylosing spondylitis), the same illness Cousins had, so you can see where I’d be especially interested in researching laughter therapy. I’ve been happily amazed at my findings--and I’d like to share them with you.

Over the decades numerous scientific studies have been done regarding the remarkable and often surprising power of laughter. It’s been discovered that laughter is a form of aerobic exercise that stimulates heart and blood circulation. Findings show that one minute of laughter is equivalent to ten minutes on the rowing machine. That’s significant! (Are you listening, dieters?)

Thinking about Botox or a facelift to get rid of those wrinkles? Before you go that route, you may want to know that laughter is anti-ageing. Facial muscles are toned by laughing contractions. Blood supply to the face is increased, causing a youthful flush effect. In addition, the increased blood supply nourishes the skin and makes it glow.

Are you single and looking for ways to attract the opposite sex? Keep in mind that people look younger, more attractive and more approachable when they laugh. Think about it. Aren’t you more naturally attracted to someone who’s laughing than someone who’s frowning or looks gloomy?

When you’re around laughter, you can’t help but be infected. Hearing or seeing others laugh makes you laugh and that makes them laugh even more and… Well, you get the idea. It’s the best kind of infection you can possibly get.

Feeling down or depressed? Stiff and achy? You need to build up your endorphins. Endorphins are substances formed in the body that naturally relieve pain. In fact, they have a similar chemical structure to morphine. They’re involved in controlling the body's response to stress, regulating contractions of the intestinal wall and determining mood. In other words, endorphins fight and reduce physical pain as well as depression.

And do you want to take a guess as to what increases endorphins? Yup. Laughter! It’s a bona fide stress buster. Vigorous exercise (you’ve heard of a “runner’s high”) can also do increase endorphins, as can orgasms, but that’s a whole different blog. :-)

My husband and I love watching humorous TV shows like AFV (America’s Funniest Home Videos), or reruns of Whose Line is it Anyway (an innovative and hilarious improv show), etc., because they always make us laugh and we always feel better afterwards. I love watching funny movies and reading comedic books too. As a fulltime writer, the primary reason I write mostly romantic comedy and humorous women’s fiction is that it keeps me feeling good as I work. It actually helps to reduce the pain and inflammation from my AS, which is pretty awesome.

When you find life getting in the way of feeling good--you know, things like bad news on TV and in the newspaper; bills piling up; arthritis acting up; kids driving you crazy; work making you bonkers; diet going to hell; etc., take a break for laughter. It’ll help. I promise.

I’ve included two short videos below of babies laughing. They’ve been around for a while so perhaps you’ve seen them before, but I challenge you not to smile while watching them anyway. Maybe they’ll even make you laugh. Watching these is a reminder of how naturally laughter comes to little children. What a shame we lose some of that marvelous spontaneity and sheer joy of life along life’s path. It’s not hopeless. With a little work we can recapture that magical youthful feeling, through frequent bouts of laughter.





As we embark upon the bustling, food-filled holiday season, why not take some time out for yourself and give yourself the very best holiday gift possible--the gift of rich, bubbly, exuberant, healing and downright magical laughter. And while you’re at it, how about giving the same gift to those you love? I promise it will make the next few months easier and more enjoyable for you and yours. :-D

In need of diet inspiration as well as a generous dose of humor? Be sure to visit my other blog, The Crazy Woman Inside Me.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Daisy’s Sick, Twisted, Vile and Disgusting Halloween Post

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! It’s time to drag out my annual Halloween post and gross all of you out with my bone-shuddering lack of good taste.

I wrote the first draft of this intentionally revolting Halloween poem in 1984 when I was the art director for a large Chicago-area library. I created a big colorful poster filled with pictures and posted it in a display case with Halloween-related books and decorations in the children’s department. The kids LOVED it. The staid library department heads? Eh, not so much.

No, I didn’t corrupt the library’s wide-eyed, innocent youths. You see, the original version of the poem was much tamer and less twisted. There were no naughty or truly distasteful words. But it was still gross because, hey, that’s what kids like.

Zoom ahead to 2000. I rewrote and lengthened the poem, then boosted the ick-factor and added animated pictures. The resulting Halloween masterpiece was given away as a freebie with the purchase of my novels during the month of October that year. After that, the animated poem became an annual feature on my author blog.

And now, my friends, I’d like to share it with you.

“On Halloween I Think of You” is my admittedly warped idea of an affectionate note written by one witch to another on their favorite holiday.

So, will you find this nasty little poem to be a TRICK or TREAT? In any case, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Caution--really gross stuff ahead. Remember…you’ve been warned!

--Daisy

Designed and copyrighted by Daisy Dexter Dobbs 1984-2009

On Halloween I Think of You

At last, All Hallows Eve is here!
A moment of silence while I shed a tear,
for tonight I cannot bear to be alone
as vultures pick the sinew from my bone.

Yes, on Halloween I think of you,
and lovely piles of doggie doo.
Of thimbles full of birdie piss,
and musty clouds of graveyard mist.

Designed and copyrighted by Daisy Dexter Dobbs 1984-2009

Sweet memories of you are brought to mind,
as on rotted carcasses I drool and dine.
Your putrid breath and rancid kiss
top the list of things I miss.

Like tasty little kitty guts,
and tender bits of roosters' nuts.
Or jars of pickled lizard toes,
and insides of a warthog's nose.

Designed and copyrighted by Daisy Dexter Dobbs 1984-2009

And never shall I e'er forget
the skunk-like fragrance of your sweat.
Or how the sight of you at night
causes children to shriek with fright.

Ah, such sweet memories--how they linger,
as I lick the rat droppings from my finger.
Into my life you ooze like an open sore,
making the pus drain to my very core.

Designed and copyrighted by Daisy Dexter Dobbs 1984-2009

I remember when we feasted on eye of newt
and you thought the wart on my nose was terribly cute.
Remember when we supped on bat-wing stew
and the spider legs became gelatinous goo?

Oh, the desserts we shared were beyond compare.
Mmm, sugared brains on a nest of matted hair.
Or toe-jam whipped into a mousse,
topped with green droppings from a goose.

But best of all the times we dined
was when we vomited into our wine.
Then we got giddy and opened kegs
of fermented juice from rotted eggs.

Designed and copyrighted by Daisy Dexter Dobbs 1984-2009

As I write these words I salivate
upon the skewered larva that rests on my plate.
In front of me sits a cauldron that boils
while I drop in roaches and watch them coil.

My mouth waters and I lick my lips with glee
as I add a vial of worm juice and a cup of pit-bull pee.
Oh how my taste buds squeal and scream
as I stir in maggots that I've whipped into cream.

I'll raise my cup in toast to you
while guzzling down my stinking brew.
And when this wretched note you see,
here's hoping that you'll think of me.

Happy Halloween!

Designed and copyrighted by Daisy Dexter Dobbs 1984-2009

Designed and copyrighted by Daisy Dexter Dobbs 1984-2009

Note: The photo of me above is from 1996 so it’s 13 years old. Of course, I haven’t aged a day since it was taken *cough* so I saw no reason to update it. My hair is no longer this particular shade of green and I rarely wear an eyeball for an earring these days--only when I’m writing paranormal stories. The spiders now occupy a cobweb swaddled wedge of space inside my head along with the throng of other fictional entities crawling around in there. --Daisy


The Small Print: Words and animation © 1984-2009 Daisy Dexter Dobbs/Susan Bodendorfer

The Itsy-bitsy Print: This is a work of fiction (no, really). The characters, incidents and dialogues in this work are products of the author's sick and twisted imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental--and extremely unfortunate for any poor sorry sonuvabitch who sees him/herself in the poem.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Breaking News: Daisy Found Alive and Still Kicking!

Yes, in case you wondered, I’m still here! And I’m still writing!

This has been one heck of a busy and eventful year. Aside from working diligently on my new women’s fiction manuscript (ooh, it’s turning out really well--so funny!), I’ve been battling serious health issues and, happily, making phenomenal progress. I’ve also been tackling my excess weight, again with fabulous progress (75-pounds so far).

We’ve been hard at work completing long overdue tasks at our house, inside and out, too. Those tasks have two definite advantages. The house looks much spiffier, plus I lose weight from all the exertion, not to mention the buckets of sweat…I mean dewy sheen…I’ve shed.

In June there were the 12 days grueling days it took us to paint my rough-hewn-cedar, tongue-in-groove-paneled office. Trust me when I tell you that was a monumental job.

Then last week we toiled away painting the outside of our wood house, deck and porch. On day 5 we finally completed what we originally figured was a 2-day job. It seems whenever we set out to do something around here we’re way shy of calculating actual time needed. So it ends up sort of like Gilligan’s Island, where they planned on a 3-hour tour that ends up lasting a small eternity.

Now that the painting is all over, every inch of my body is sore, but our house is looking mighty fine. I’m eager for my next weigh-in because I’m sure I’ve lost at least 35-pounds from all the work last week.

If we had vinyl siding, like we did on our house in Chicago, we wouldn’t have to bother with painting. But we live in big timber country here in the Pacific Northwest, where vinyl siding or other variations of “fake wood” are highly frowned upon. If we were wealthy, we’d just hire painters--unfortunately, that’s not the case. We have a big house and it would cost a small fortune to have it professionally painted.

Our contemporary-style house is a nice beigey shade of tan. The people who lived here before us had all the outside trim painted a sickly shade of pale mauve. The same shade was found in the kitchen and master bedroom. Seriously, they must have had a sale on worst paint shade ever that year--ugh! My husband said it reminded him of Pepto Bismol. Thank God it wasn’t nearly that bad, but it was bad enough. I’ve always hated the pinkish color, so I selected a lovely deep shade of chocolate brown instead. It looks so good I was tempted to lick the door jamb as I painted it.

Aside from painting chores, I’ve whipped myself into a de-cluttering frenzy this year and have been going through mountains of my precious junque, donating what I could and throwing the un-donatable stuff away.

The one sure-fire way I can be certain something isn’t in good enough condition to donate is when my husband gives me an incredulous look as I hold up a *ahem* slightly worn outfit and he says, “Jesus, Daisy, are you kidding? A homeless bag lady wouldn’t even wear that.” It’s a little sad that this is usually something I’ve been quite fond of wearing right up until that very moment. Working from home now instead of being out in the corporate world has apparently wreaked havoc on my formerly chic sense of fashion.

Anyway, doing all this de-cluttering is major for a reforming card-carrying packrat like me. I feel as good about letting all that accumulated stuff go as I do about letting go of the 75-pounds I’ve lost so far.

So that’s pretty much what I’ve been up to. Until I can post here more regularly, you can find me at my personal blog, The Crazy Woman Inside Me. There you’ll discover what else has been going on in my life this past year.

Stop by and pay a visit. And while you’re there, please say hello!

Until next time,

--Daisy

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

I Can Explain…Really I Can

As many of you have probably noticed, I’ve been pretty much AWOL from this blog lately. When I do blog it’s mostly been at my other blog, The Crazy Woman Inside Me, which follows my personal ongoing journey to health and weight loss. Plus I’ve been lax in visiting your blogs and commenting on them. I’m sorry. I really feel bad about it.

The reason I’ve been absent is because I’m currently rewriting a women’s fiction manuscript that I started in 2006. It’s downright amazing how much my writing has improved and changed in just three years, so I’m pretty much doing a complete rewrite and scrapping tons of what I’d written previously.

Lately I’ve been writing furiously. I’m in one of those perfect almost magical dream places for writers--it’s an imagination-filled place in my head where the creative juices are flowing and the words and ideas flooding my brain just can’t seem to make it to my fingertips fast enough for me to type them all. I’m supremely happy with what I’m writing (it’s a humorous women’s fiction book with four female leads) and feel the need to write as much as I possibly can before that wondrous flow of creativity slows and I find myself staring at a blank screen wondering what in the heck to write.

If I don’t limit my time visiting blogs and Twitter and Facebook and MySpace and all the other major time-suckers for a while, I’ll never get this novel finished. You see, I’m not only a food addict, I’m also addicted to all of those online venues I just mentioned.

So I do hope you’ll forgive me if my blogging is spotty and you don’t see me commenting on your blogs for a while.

You know, there’s one thing that’s always puzzled me. Just how in the heck do you daily bloggers manage to do it? I mean, how do you manage to get a new post up daily, or even every other day, AND still get around to all the other blogs and leave comments AND regularly tweet on Twitter? I think the most I’ve ever managed to do on any of my blogs is two posts in one week. There must be a conspiracy. Yes, that’s it. I have a sneaking suspicion that I’ve been robbed. Somewhere along the line, other people have discovered extra hours in their day and nobody’s clued me in. Instead, the hours in my days just seem to grow shorter and shorter.

Of course, I suppose it might be because I totally suck at time management.

Nah…it couldn’t be that… ;-)

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

The Crazy Woman Tells about Fat Women and the Horror of Public Bathrooms

Well it’s finally happened, I’ve been reduced to toilet humor, thanks to Fat Daddy and his fabulous Fat Daddy Rants blog. Today my Crazy Woman alter-ego is guest blogging there on the topic of fat women and The Horror of Public Bathrooms, part 6 of Fat Daddy’s “Not-So-Private Hell of Being Really Really Fat” series.

If you’re a woman who’s ever been fat, then I just know you’ll be able to relate. If you’re a man, get ready for an eye-opening depiction detailing what the overweight women in your life endure whenever they use a public toilet.

It’s funny, it’s sad and it’s all too painfully true.

Please stop by and say hello!

Monday, August 03, 2009

Knitting for Psychos: Hilarious, Disturbing and Highly Creative

I’m an artist as well as a writer. One of the ways I keep up with what’s going on in the art world is by following Art News Blog. This blog is a selection of visual art news, art reviews and art related stories online. They search the web for some of the more interesting art news stories published each day.

There are always interesting, entertaining and educational posts there but two posts in particular lately really caught my interest--and I guarantee you’ll find them oddly curious too, whether you’re an art lover or not.

What I’m talking about is blood and guts and innards handcrafted out of yarn, and designed to be both endearingly cute as well as somewhat disconcerting. I guess it all depends on your sense of humor as to whether you’ll find these unique knitted objects funny or just plain awful. Memorable? Oh yeah, without question.

As you scroll down the Art News Blog, look for the Friday, July 17 post titled “Knitted Dead Animals (Knitting for Psychos)”, complete with a few photos like this one:
Dead Rabbit – Knitting for Psychos

and also a link to the artist’s flickr page with a few more photos of her very unusual creations there.

A day earlier, on Thursday, July 16, there’s a post titled “Roadkill Toys” with photos and a link to the British company called RoadKillToys.com that sells some rather unique toys.

See what you think. Do you find these knitted art creations to be hilariously funny, appallingly disturbing or maybe a head-scratching combination of the two?
~~~~~~~~~~

Have you visited my alter-ego’s personal diet and weight-loss blog called “The Crazy Woman Inside Me” yet?

Recently I blogged about bloggers who just disappear and how I wonder and worry about what happened to them. Before that I spilled my guts in a post titled Confessions of a Closet Binge Eater. In another post I tell how I was caught red-handed with my hand in the cookie jar, so to speak, in Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire. And you’ll also learn about my trials and tribulations as I faced The Dastardly Horrors of Water Retention.

Stop by and say hello--and learn all about the other (even crazier) side of Daisy Dexter Dobbs!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Your Last Chance to Own Just Like a Dame Before it Goes Out of Print!

"I'm late! I'm late! For a very important date! No time to say hello, goodbye! I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!"
--The White Rabbit (in Disney’s version of Alice in Wonderland)

Just Like a Dame--erotic romantic comedy by Daisy Dexter Dobbs


There’s still time--but the clock is ticking! Don’t be like the White Rabbit, who might have been too late to secure his very own copy of Just Like a Dame. As of August 1, 2009, this hot and hilarious battle of the sexes--a thorny love story of two people who are all wrong for each other and find themselves thrown together--will no longer be available for purchase.

What’s this sexy, sassy book all about?
When veterinarian Max Wiley is wrenched from an erotic dream by a commotion at the front door, he barges downstairs, baseball bat in hand, prepared to defend himself, his home, and his three-legged dog.

One glimpse of the frantic, half-naked woman causing the racket has Max abandoning his weapon. But when the curvy blonde bursts in, wailing about killing some guy, Max reconsiders.

Misunderstandings abound until he realizes the ditzy dame with an attitude is a neighbor--who’s come to him in a professional capacity. How the hell can he be expected to tend to a canine emergency at three a.m. when her big mouth and voluptuous body keep clouding his thinking?

Angel Brewster finds it hard to believe that any man could be as dense, insensitive or chauvinistic as Dr. Max Wiley. Not to mention exasperating, opinionated and so damned sexy she can’t think straight. She most certainly shouldn’t be considering carnal scenarios when her dog’s life is in jeopardy.

Matters only get worse when Max discovers Angel is the lead columnist for a feminist magazine--and she learns that he writes hardboiled sexist crime fiction on the side.

And they can’t keep their hands off each other.
If that back cover blurb tickles your fancy, if it makes you eager to spice up your days while reading at the beach, or urges you to relax over a cool drink on a balmy summer’s night while reading a good book, then look no further than these links:

Get the ebook directly from Samhain Publishing’s book store, MBAM (MyBookstoreAndMore).

Prefer paper? You can find the paperback from Amazon.com.

Have a Kindle? You can get the Kindle edition from Amazon too.

If you’d like to learn more about the book, you’ll find an excerpt from chapter one, my author book notes, and snippets from all the reviews on the Just Like a Dame page on my website.

When I heard that Mickey Spillane had died at 88, several days before the release of Just Like a Dame in print, I felt like I’d lost an old friend. I learned a lot about the man and his work (as well as other writers of pulp fiction) while doing research for my book. Here’s the July 2006 blog post I wrote about me and Mickey and our books.

If you’re in need of a good chuckle, I think you’ll enjoy this fun-filled, wild and crazy blog post I wrote (titled Just Like a Dame--Proven Aphrodisiac and Miraculous Health Cure!) when Just Like a Dame was initially released in April of 2006.

Remember…avoid the dreaded White Rabbit syndrome and get your very own copy today!

Just Like a Dame--erotic romantic comedy by Daisy Dexter Dobbs