German Humor as a Cure for Depression

This is where I ruin Max Raabe's Der perfekte Moment... wird heut' verpennt

I've received a lot of support for my guitar vlogging. A lot of people have recommended songs I should cover, and even though I'm just messing around with some new toys, the response has been all positive. I love that about 2018 so far.

My dear friend in Germany, Isabella, called me a couple weeks ago to tell me that she was going to have her baby that day. A little over a year ago, her boyfriend of 6 years lost his fight with bone cancer. This year, she's given birth to a bouncing baby boy. That kind of emotional swing is something I've not been able to pull off. Rock-bottom despair with no faith that the indifferent world had any kind of goodness to offer to buying stake in its future with optimism and excitement is a miraculous recovery from depression.

And she sent me a video of Max Raabe when she saw my sad song videos. I laughed through the whole video and re-watched it a dozen times probably. I told her the whole point of what I was doing with my guitar was to sing songs that were secretly sad. And she countered by reminding me that I was in a sandbox and could do whatever I wanted. I told her I wanted the boat in the video. She explained to me why that wasn't a good plan.

Max Raabe is a big star I've always dug. He started the Palast Orchester having fun with German pop songs from the 1920's and 30's. His modern pop songs are all interesting and often hilarious. German humor is special in its acknowledgement of the absurdity and futility of our existence in this aloof universe, and I love it.

The world's just a sandbox.

13 years ago I was heart-broken when Bella called off our wedding. When I was with her I thought often about sandboxes and playgrounds. I guess she'll be going to both more often in the very near future.