May Laughs and Recs

Funny cats, a salad recipe, and recent reads

Hello and welcome to my May monthly post, where I share items of interest.

During this time of year, one of my cats begins a sleeping migration pattern. During the winter, she sometimes sleeps on the bed or floor, but in the summer she often sleeps in the bathroom sink. Maybe because it’s cooler there, or maybe because she just likes to switch things up? I’m not sure, but it’s one of the signs that summer is here, and so I don’t mind it.

Hopefully, you are gearing up for your own summer traditions, too!

-JV

• Cartoon: Speaking of cats. Mine also do this.

• Funny audio: This month, I listened to comedian Pete Holmes’s book Comedy, Sex, God (shout out to Andromeda Romano-Lax, who recently mentioned it in my newsletter comments and reminded me it has been on my to-read list for a while). It is funny, but also has a lot of philosophical/spiritual exploration (which may or may not be the thing for you, but I found it interesting).

• Recipe: I recently made a recipe for a farro salad from the Charlie Bird restaurant twice. The first time I used Ina Garten’s recipe, and the second time the NYT recipe. They are not wildly different, but I think I preferred Ina’s more lemon-forward version. But if you are not a lemon-forward person, maybe try the NYT one. Either way, it makes for a good summer salad.

• Funny TV: I’m doing a rewatch of Ted Lasso and enjoying it (and looking forward to the new upcoming season). I also finished Hacks and am sad to see it go, but I thought they wrapped it up well.

• Fun fact: Did you know that if you return a book early in Libby, you can get a virtual bouquet? I did not before seeing that Threads post, but am glad to now.

• Humor writing book: This month, I finished Joke Farming by Elliott Kalan, and I thought it had some good tips I hadn’t seen before in other humor writing books. I particularly appreciated the sections on writing humor for kids and how prose humor can vary from spoken humor.

• Submission opportunity: Chicken Soup for the Soul has a call for humorous essays in addition to other topics.

• Humor writing/sharing challenge notes: I appreciated my friend Pam Moore’s post reflecting on the 30-day joke challenge she did.

• Essay: I was happy to get a chance to write a letter to Amy Krouse Rosenthal for Kelcey Ervick’s Substack Letters to Dead Authors.

• Travel piece: I recently published a travel piece for Business Insider about my experience in a floating sauna in Norway. I worked with Jennifer Goldblatt on it and added my pitch letter for it to my pitch letter collection.

• I’ve also been publishing some pieces on Yahoo Creators, including some of my favorite travel items and some Mandalorian parenting humor.

That’s it for this month! I’m going to be traveling for the first part of June, so I won’t be back in your inbox until the end of June. In the meantime, I hope your summer gets off to a good start.

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Thanks for reading Humor Me, a newsletter featuring funny stuff and writing tips. In case you’re new here, I’m a humor writer and freelancer whose work has appeared in New Yorker Shouts, McSweeney’s, Real Simple, and more. Find out more about me at julievick.com.

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