HUMOR ESSAY

Do you read for fun? I do sometimes. When I wanna read something lighter for laughs, I open books from David Sedaris who is a Humor Essayist. His writing is funny. Some of his humor essays generate laughter on a deeper level, touching readers’ hearts. All topics are around his daily life. It’s like reading his story-like diary or journal. And it’s a fucking funny one.

I first read David Sedaris’s book Me Talk Pretty One Day and find him hilarious. And this month I read his latest book Calypso and find it both funny and sentimental. He writes about his family, his boyfriend, and laughs at himself as always. The difference is that they have become old and some are gone. Dead, to be exact.

Fear of getting old

I think of my mum a lot when I’m reading David’s book Calypso. When I look at my mum suffering from headaches or all sorts of age-related pain, I feel sorry and sad for her. And thinking about how should she enjoy the rest of her life. Meanwhile, I feel hopeless about the future aging me. We’re born to die someday. How tragic the truth is. I start to feel I’m decaying.

I notice my subtle decay from the shrinking of my energy level, from the growing belly fat, and from David’s book Calypso. It reminds me that I will be in late middle age as him if I’m lucky to continue living for a few more decades. As I’m getting old, I have new needs. Needs that I set for myself to combat aging. I need to work out 30 mins a day to stay healthy and I need antioxidant superfood. An apple a day and low cabs diet every day.

Before I can stop my belly from growing bigger, I need to change my fashion style a bit to cover that. Loose-fitting clothes have become my new fashion style. I’m not sure how far my belly can grow but I’m sure I look like I’m pregnant for 3 months now. When I do the daily crunches – bicycle crunch, reverse crunch, vertical leg crunch – in the hope of getting my flat belly back, I doubt if these crunches are doing the real work. But I do it anyway. Because I want to feel something, especially muscle pain in my core. This makes me feel alive and less back pain.

Speaking of pain, I can still feel it at my ankle which hinders me from doing any intense exercise. I can imagine I will be frailer when I get older, so I have an urge to try all the sports I want to do. Such as tennis, surfing, pole dance, and a lot more. Can you see I fear losing my agile movement and fertility already in my thirties? I have a deep thought about how to live the second half of my life. I’m aware that I spend lots of time planning the future instead of enjoying the present moment. I can’t help it. I need to plan, otherwise, I don’t know what to do next.

People watching on the beach

In the book Calypso, David mentions his beach house a lot where his family spends time together. That reminds me of the beach time in October 2020. The beach has all sorts of people who enjoy water sports, a good vibe, and dirty sands.

Bikini with block heels

Fashion is important to some people and it’s their identity. When I see a bikini girl wear block heel sandals while playing stand up paddle, I respect and even admire her for keeping her style wherever she goes. More important, her stability is amazing. I don’t see her shaking or going to fall when waves are coming. She keeps calm and paddle on.

Gay couple

It’s rare to see a young gay couple on the beach. I’m surprised to see one pair. They’re rare, like hard-to-find arctic hares. They’re not the hot type, but the cute type with chubby cheeks. Holding hands and walking along the beach. I can feel their sweet love by only watching their back.

Baby Twins

I don’t expect babies to go surfing. At this way-too-young age, babies should be drinking their mum’s milk. Yet, a parent puts a pair of baby twins with little life jackets on the surfing board and bring them out to the ocean. Being cute is babies’ survival skills but it’s useless in water. One of the twin babies got wiped out and screaming like hell. Their mum picks up the lost baby and puts back onto the board as nothing has happened. The baby twins double the cuteness in the sea.

Surfers and dog

I spot two hot guys at the wavy zone. Even their dog is hot! They take turns to take care of their dog while they go surfing. Hot surfer A is tanned and he wears a never-get-drown black cap. His cap drops a few times into the waves while surfing but he manages to get it back every time. Hot surfer B plays with the dog while watching his friend surfing. I’m watching too. His dog shakes itself dry and makes me wet.

Happy reading!

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