I just happened to be thinking about happiness the other day.  Specifically, what makes me happy.  It’s  harder to figure out than you think.  It’s not if you give the normal B.S. answers.  You know, the non-specific “better life, happy kids, and the simple things B.S.  I  mean the stuff that really makes you happy.  More money makes everybody happy to an extent.  Too much money makes people crazy so it’s kind of a trade off.  Bigger, better toys can make you happy but what really is the point.  If you like what you  have what’s the point in bigger better?  It doesn’t necessarily mean bigger better fun.  In fact it may mean smaller crappier fun in some instances.  Say you want a bigger better boat.  OK you get a bigger better boat only to discover it’s too big to get into your favorite fishing spot.  Smaller crappier fun is what just happened.  I boiled my specific happiness list down to two things, music and laughter.  Music seems to be a necessary function of being a human being.  I don’t know if I could live without playing or listening to music.  I need it.  On  the other hand, laughter is in some respects happiness or it can be the outward manifestation of it.  It’s not laughter in that sense that I’m talking about.  It’s making  people laugh that brings me happiness.  I think this is true for all humans, but since I am only one partly human, ahem excuse me, I mean one fully human being, then I can only speak for myself.  Nonetheless,  I believe it is true  for everyone else and I don’t care what other humans say.  Humans lie. 

       For me music isn’t an art.  It’s too interwoven in our psyche.  We think in music.  That’s why music is so important in T.V. shows and movies.  You can’t have a fully human experience watching a movie unless there is music to set the mood.  There’s ominous music for the scary parts.  There’s uplifting classical music for the happy parts and hillbilly music for the chase scenes.  Music connects us with the events on the screen.  Our lives are the same way.  If I get mad at work I find myself singing “take this job and shove it.”  I can’t help it.  It just happens.  If I’m fixing to do something dangerous I might start humming the theme song to mission impossible.  I’ve even heard that Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavs hums David Hasselhoff songs while he shoots free throws.  Music makes us happy.  We get married to it and we get buried to it.  We even ride elevators to it.  Ever wonder why elevator music is so bad?  It takes your mind off of the chance that the elevator might malfunction and drop you to your death.  Music makes you happy.  Just admit it.  My argument is sound.  I bet you’re humming “we will rock you” right now.  My logic has rocked your world.

        Making someone laugh is the ultimate happiness.  It must be.  We all try so hard to  do it.  I’ve heard people say the most terrible, embarrassing, and perverted things trying to get a laugh.  If it weren’t so important to our happiness, why would we risk telling the bosses wife a lesbian joke only to discover her daughter is a lesbian.  We need it.  It’s validation.  It’s happiness.  I think we should allow unfunny people to carry a boom box loaded with laugh tracks.  They could say their terrible unfunny stuff and just push play.  The laughter would envelope them and they would be  happy.  We wouldn’t have to do that nervous half-assed forced laugh that is so hard to conjure sometimes.  We could just let the laugh track do the work and go about our bussiness.  I know I have personally offended basically everyone I have ever met trying to get a laugh.  Damn, maybe I need a one of those boom boxs loaded with laugh tracks.  I could give my friends a break (playing laugh track).  Thank you.  Thank you.  I’ll be here all  week (playing laugh track again).  I could get used to it.