(Sunday Paper, Year VII, Issue 9)

Hi. This is John.

I’m in italics this week.

As you read this I am making my way back home from a trip to the Carolinas.

But because I knew it would be a busy week, I lined up a special Sunday Paper Guest Post.

So I’m thrilled to hand things over to Julie Vick - whose book you see pictured there and I can’t recommend enough.

I’ll pop back in again at the end to tell you where you can find more of Julie’s work.

For now, enjoy her post.

Five Things To Distract You From A Never-Ending Pandemic

As a humor writer, I often try to find the humor in frustrating situations, so the never-ending pandemic we are in has provided plenty of material. But it’s also provided some burnout, so I’m always on the lookout for things that are going to distract me and ideally make me laugh.

If you are also looking for some stress-free distractions lately, here are some things I recommend:

1. Shows that come out once a week. I know there is a trend toward being able to binge-watch everything, but as a parent with limited time I get overwhelmed when someone recommends an old sitcom and I realize it has approximately 1000 episodes. So, I have felt a new appreciation for shows that release episodes only once a week. It gives me something to look forward to on that day and makes me nostalgic for the good old days when everyone collectively spent many months speculating on who shot J.R. Ewing.

I also do not enjoy watching violent things, so you will not find me watching Yellowjackets or murder shows (it’s possible Yellowjackets is a murder show but I do not know, because I am not watching it). So, special shout-out to Disney Plus that has both shows my kids will watch and shows for adults that release once a week and do not stress me out. (I have not been paid to say that, but Disney Plus, if you happen to be reading this, feel free to get in touch).

2. Birds. Yes, I know that being a birdwatcher is not cool but one nice thing about getting older is that I am less concerned about cool. This time of year, I always feel slightly better because the days are getting a little longer and there are a lot more birds in town. Birds are also entertaining and weird. I highly recommend watching this bird of paradise clip I first saw several years ago and still think about.

3. Funny books. I know people often like to read serious books, but I highly recommend mixing in some funny ones too. One that always makes me laugh is Simon Rich’s book Ant Farm, a collection of short humor pieces like one about a kid first realizing calculators exist and being mad that the teachers have been making him do math by hand all this time.

One of my favorite books from last year was Allie Brosh’s Solutions and Other Problems, which is a collection of funny essays and drawings. And spoiler alert, references the above bird.

I also sometimes browse the Thurber prize website when looking for funny reads.

4. Walks. Yes, I know you’ve probably heard this one before but it for real works to get out into the outdoors from time to time for exercise and reduce stress and also to see birds. You can even walk while listening to a funny audiobook. Just don’t put too much pressure on the walk.

5. Insta humor. If you are looking for a quick laugh, then finding some Instagram humor accounts that you enjoy reading is a great distraction. Some favorites of mine include the New Yorker Cartoons and Hedger Humor and The Cat Whisperer.

Good luck with these distractions – and thanks for letting me guest post this week, John!

Hi. Me again. I think it’s great that this is what Julie chose to write about for the guest post because - honest to goodness - one of the things that brought me great joy and distraction during the pandemic was reading her book. For more about that, here’s what I had to say about Julie’s book over the summer.

If you want to subscribe to her newsletter you can do so at this link. It’s a GREAT newsletter. That link also has all of her social media so you can follow/like/subscribe/buy a book…It’s all there.

As for me, my Facebook is here, my Twitter is here, and if you can’t wait for me to write about the half marathon in North Carolina you can check out my new Instagram @johnnyrunsalot and more immediately see what I had to say about it there.

Thanks, Julie, and I’ll be back next week!