Showing posts with label days of joy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label days of joy. Show all posts

Friday, March 25, 2016

Garry Shandling



"You know how, when you are driving past a herd of cows, someone always rolls down the window and goes 'mooooo'? Do you suppose the cows are in the pasture saying "Hey, was that a cow driving that truck? How can he afford a nice truck like that?"

Yep, that's when he got me. Who doesn't do that? Rolls down the window and yells, "mooo" at the cows? Maybe it's just me; maybe I'm too provincially rural.  That joke was from 1981; from the Tonight Show; and maybe it's silly, but it's the first thing that popped into my mind when I read that Garry Shandling had died. 

My oldest was five; my youngest three. I worked second shift at the hospital and late night TV was my de-stresser.  I'd come home, check on the sleepyheads in their beds, fix myself a snack, settle into my corduroy rocking chair and flick on Johnny. I found a lot of guys, funny guys, via the Tonight Show -- Jay Leno and David Brenner and this guy. This guy who always seemed so happy.

It's hard to fake happiness. There's a crinkle in the eyes, the lift of the brow. Happiness is something that pours out. Someone can smile and still look angry -- if they don't truly mean it. I think Garry Shandling was a happy guy. I liked that.

I watched "It's Garry Shandling's Show" on Showtime. That came later. I already knew I liked him by then. I'd seen him on Johnny's show, and on David's. He was a guy who always made me feel good, no matter how bad my day had been.

I'm at a point in my life where I'm looking for joy. There's too much anger and vitriol in the world. Everything seems hard. Everybody's mad and nobody's happy. Everyone has an agenda; a bone to pick. It weighs me down.  I want to yell, "Please stop!"

I'm going to miss Garry Shandling, even though before today I hadn't thought about him for a long time. He's folded into my memory; a memory of nicer, simpler days.

Days of joy.