Author: Jason Boyett

Book Name: O me of little faith

I’m Glad it Wasn’t Called: Shirtless, Constipated Boys

Book Synopsis in Twitteresque 140 characters or less: Jason Boyett admits, “I’m a Christian but I’m a big fat doubter.” And as it turns out, he likes it that way.

Where I Bought It: Jason sent me a free review copy, probably because he feels bad for heckling me so often about the fact that I used to work at McDonald’s and stuff chicken fajita meat into my pockets.

Paid for With: This blog post. I told Jason I’d review the book on the blog. He wanted the review to go up in early May. It is now early July. I stink.

How Long it Took Me to Read: Well, I read half of the book during a week-long vacation in Myrtle Beach. Then we came home and I didn’t read anything for over a month. Then I picked up the book again and finished it over a 2 week period. I didn’t find it riveting enough that I just HAD to read it, but I always got sucked backed in when I did pick it up.

the OTHER jason boyett

Who I WOULD NOT recommend this book to: people who think doubt is a dirty heathen word, people who hate footnotes in books, and people who hate having a book recommended to them. I would also not recommend this book to the OTHER Jason Boyett. Ya know, the one who set the Oklahoma state record for the largest typical whitetail buck. He’s too busy killing deer to read.

Who I WOULD recommend this book to: Christians who struggle with doubt and non-Christians who think they need to be “all in” on this faith thing before checking it out.

What I used for a bookmark: in the beginning I was dog-earing pages, which goes against everything I stand for. I like to keep my books pristine while reading them. I HATE HATE HATE creases in the binding of a book from opening it too far. Anyone else with me? Near the end I stopped dog-earing and used a “One year of WIRED magazine for $10″ Business Reply Card. I’m thinking of subscribing.

What did I like about the book: I liked Jason’s honesty. I admit that I would have had a difficult time writing this book. “What will my family think…what will my pastor and my church family think…what will my kids think when they read this in 10 years?” I’m sure Jason struggled with similar questions, but he wrote it anyway. I also liked Jason’s analogies and stories (he’s great at making those work) and I liked his knowledge and research (he’s a nerd like me).

What did I like that was not in the book: I liked watching The Princess Bride with my kids for the first time a couple weeks ago (there was no mention of this in the book).

What did I not like about the book: During the whole first half of the book I kept thinking, “Man, Jason is presenting a lot of great reasons why he doubts aspects of his faith. This could really be detrimental to some people. I wonder if he’s ready to accept responsibility for that?” It’s a question Jason has talked about in interviews, including this good one he did with my friend Shawn Smucker. I didn’t dislike this about the book, but I admit it did make me uncomfortable.

Expectations Going In: I’ll be honest, I did not have high expectations for this book. I consider Jason one of my favorite online friends, respect Jason’s writing immensely, and always enjoy his blog…but I figured this would be a typical treatment to a subject I’ve read about too many times. Even though Jason’s a funny dude, I figured the book would be boring.

Cannarf Rating: My assumptions going into this book turned out to be wrong. I was not bored at all. It was engaging, challenging, and even encouraging. At first I wondered if it would be a good book to give to someone struggling with doubt, but by the end I was convinced that it might be just what they need to read. The Rating: +2.5 cannarfs. (what’s a cannarf?)

Have any of you read O me of little faith? What did you think?

I’ll be doing quite a bit of guest posting during the month of April. The link to today’s guest post on Jason Boyett’s blog is coming in a minute. Jason is a great writer/blogger/author and a good friend who I enjoy beating in Words With Friends on the rare occasion that it happens.

If you’re here for the first time from Jason’s blog (or for some other reason), thanks for visiting. The first rule of fight club is that I’m an idiot who desperately wants to make you laugh. That’s the point of this blog really, so bookmark me or subscribe to the feed and give me a trial run for a few weeks and we’ll see if it works out or if we need to move on and just be friends.

My most well-received post was Noah’s Ark According to the Office, so if you like that show I think you’ll like that post. If not, there’s plenty of recurring gags here at the blog that might be your thing. I take pictures of Amish people and add snarky commentary, I create fake video ads for everything from sinus rinses to stool softeners, I like pretending Jack Bauer was in the Old Testament, and I poke fun at cliches, among other things.

Did mention that Jason and I go way back? He claimed on his site today that we’ve never met, but then how do you explain THIS PICTURE from the time he and I got together in front of a barn???

Busted!!!

Anyway, Jason’s blog is great. You should be a reader. You probably already are.

My guest post on his blog today is about the journey of becoming a published author from the perspective of someone who isn’t one yet. I think there’s a lot of us out there, and I want you all to know that we’re in this together and that we should be savoring the journey. Click here to read it.

And thanks again for being a reader here. Have a great weekend everyone!

PS…if you feel the need to caption that photo, by all means go ahead.

I thought it would be fun to get some insight into the heads of some of my favorite funny people. When operating on their brains was ruled out as a viable option (what can i say? tough economy.), I decided to subject them to a series of questions about humor, faith, and swordfights. The result is The Ramblings and Such Humor Survey.

Jason Boyett is one of my favorite bloggers of all time for one simple reason: he has embraced my Cannarf Rating System. That’s all it takes to get listed in my will people. I’m easy like that.

In all honesty, I was a huge fan of Jason even before he went Cannarf. He’s consistently funny and insightful, whether it’s at his blog, on his twitter feed, or in the handful of books he’s written. When I came up with the idea of doing the Humor Survey, he was one of the first people I thought of, and I’m happy he obliged.

Here’s Jason…

1. What were a few of the things you remember laughing at the most as a kid?

JB: I watched a lot of TV as a kid, so I remember plenty of sitcoms that made me laugh, including “The Jeffersons,” “Diff’rent Strokes,” and reruns of “Gilligan’s Island.” One of my favorite books ever was Skinnybones, by Barbara Park, which literally had me rolling on the floor on several occasions. I had a lot of those 1970s joke books for kids. (Q: How do you catch a unique rabbit? A: Unique up on it!) And in high school, I discovered Monty Python. Their Search for the Holy Grail movie was, for me, the holy grail of comedy.

2. What about now as an adult?

JB: Steven Wright, Jim Gaffigan, and the late, great Mitch Hedburg never fail to make me laugh. Old episodes of “Friends” still crack me up, even though I know which jokes are coming from half a block away. The Onion is consistently funny. So is David Sedaris and the show “How I Met Your Mother.” And the last Broadway show I really, really enjoyed was “Spamalot” — again, Monty Python’s Holy Grail. Also funny? Auto-Tune the News.

3. Conversely, is there something that lots of other people find humorous that never really makes you laugh?

JB: I don’t know…does Jay Leno count? Dane Cook? Home videos of men getting hit in the naughty bits? I’m not one of those culturally uptight Christians, but other than Chris Rock, I’ve never really gotten into the really abrasive, foul-mouthed comedians. Angry, hateful comedy leaves me cold. Probably because it reminds me of my grandmother. (Rimshot! Kidding!)

4. Do you think Christians are afraid of humor?

JB: Yes, on some levels I think are afraid of humor, especially when it moves beyond the Seinfeld-style observational comedy and becomes attack comedy — making fun of people or people groups or religious ideas. This is because we never know if it fits within the framework of grace and love. It’s a line I personally have to tiptoe around (and up to) in my books, because I very clearly make fun of religious stuff in my Pocket Guide books. I’m careful, though, to make fun of the really foreign or extreme stuff, which (hopefully) keeps me from too much sarcasm and cynicism.

5. How do you think humor can be useful to Christianity?

JB: I’m a firm believer in the adage that anything worth taking seriously is worth making fun of. Comedy allows us to look at something familiar, but from an outsider’s perspective, and as Christians I think that’s highly valuable. We need to look at ourselves and our beliefs from outside the bubble. This makes us stronger in the important stuff and helps us see the goofy stuff for what it is. That’s what I try to do in my Pocket Guide books — approach the topic as an insider helping outsiders understand and helping insiders view it in a new way. Humor becomes a useful tool. It’s the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down. (I just now came up with that metaphor completely on my own. It arrived attached to a jaunty melody, though, which is weird.)

6. In your opinion, how is humor different from sarcasm/cynicism?

JB: Well, you can be funny without being sarcastic. And you can be sarcastic without being funny. But sometimes you can combine sarcasm and humor and it’s really powerful. I’ll admit that I tend toward sarcasm in a lot of my humor, but often it’s the self-deprecating kind of sarcasm, or the kind of sarcasm that’s meant to expose something silly (like Christians’ fascination with the apocalypse). I think it’s easy for sarcasm to become mean-spirited or bitter — and I try to stop before I get to that point — but I wouldn’t say that there’s something unchristian about sarcasm. Jesus wasn’t above using sarcasm. Nor was God (see the last few chapters of Job). And Elijah laid an epic smackdown of sarcasm on the prophets of Baal, so there’s definitely a place for it.

I don’t think I answered your question, though. But I don’t care. Let’s just move on to the next one, which is about me.

7. At what point in life did you really start to embrace the idea: “wow, i think I might be funny.”?

JB: It was when you, Bryan, sent me this humor survey. I immediately announced to my wife that I had finally arrived. Actually, I became aware that I was sorta funny in high school. I could be funny as a writer, but also developed it in a verbal, class-jokester sense. Which probably surprised some people, because up to that point I was fairly quiet. I’m sure there were times I became obnoxious and turned into one of those look-at-me, attention-seeking dorks. That’s the danger in being funny: it’s easy to become really annoying. In the business, we call this “Carrot Top Syndrome.”

8. Why do you want to be funny?

JB: What is this, a therapy session? I’ve honestly never asked myself that question before. I guess one reason I want to be funny is because I CAN be. Not everyone has that ability, and I’m a firm believer that you should pursue the things you’re good at. (That’s one of the reasons I’m a writer…it’s because I’m naturally good at writing.) But I also enjoy making people laugh. I enjoy entertaining people. And somewhere deep inside, I know I enjoy the attention. Comedy is one way I meet that ravenous need for approval. The other way is stripping.

9. Have you ever tried to do stand-up?

JB: I’ve never done “official” stand-up, in the sense of “here’s Jason and he’s gonna tell some jokes.” But I’ve hosted local awards shows and talent shows and things like that, which have been a mix of personal stand-up and improv stuff. And I always try to incorporate humor when I speak in front of crowds. I could possibly do stand-up, with a lot of preparation, but it would be hard for me not to steal material. I’d be calculating backstage…Have these people heard of Mitch Hedburg? They’re Baptists, so I’m guessing no. And then I’d talk about Pringles.

10. Do you have a favorite quote (or joke or story) about comedy, humor, and making people laugh?

JB: Yes. It’s this “deep thought” by Jack Handey from Saturday Night Live: “Dad always thought laughter was the best medicine, which I guess is why several of us died of tuberculosis.” Actually, my favorite comedy quote is one I’ve already used it in this survey: Anything worth taking seriously is worth making fun of. I take faith pretty seriously. Which is why I have a lot of fun at its expense.

—

Thanks for playing along, Jason!

If you want more Jason, you can check out the official pocket guide site, buy the books at Amazon, or get your daily fix of Jason at his blog.

Past Humor Surveys: Chad Gibbs, Susan Isaacs.

Apparently my blogging plan this week is to copy Jason Boyett. Yesterday I built off his Nerd Holiday post. Today, I’m flat-out copying his post on random facebook album covers. I might go for 3 in a row tomorrow, unless he posts pictures of himself in a speedo, in which case I will do my own thing for all of our sakes.

Hopefully you can forgive me for the seeming lack of creativity. I’ve been working hard this week to prepare for the message I spoke at church last night, and so today I’m catching my breath. The message went fairly well last night, by the way. I have a DVD copy of it, so I might put it online at some point so we can all make fun of me when i lose my train of thought near the end and stumble around like a child looking for a light switch in a dark room. Good times.

but anyway, on to the random album cover thing, which you might have seen already on Facebook.

Here are the rules:

1: Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random Wikipedia article that comes up is the name of your band.

2: Go to http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very LAST quote on the page is the title of your first album.

3: Go to http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
The third picture in the top row, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4: Use Photoshop or whatever to put it all together.

5: Post it.

————————-

so, this was my album cover, this was my Band Name, and this was my album title.

The finished product? I give you what a burden it was, the debut release from LOST IN THE MALL.

c’mon, admit it. you’d totally buy this thing. Or at least check out their myspace page.

Thanks for the idea, Jason. Much fun.

Yesterday on his blog,  Jason Boyett pointed out that Tuesday was a Nerd Holiday:

What makes today Square Root Day? Well, math-is-hard Barbie, it’s because today’s date is 3.3.09. And three is the square root of nine. Square Root Day — a day in which the month and day are the square roots of the last two digits of the year — only occurs nine times each century. That means it’s a big deal. That means if you don’t celebrate properly today, you’ll have to wait until April 4, 2016, to do this day right.

He also brought up some other Nerd Holidays, like Pi Day:

If so, then you’re certainly looking forward to Pi Day on March 14 (3.14). The best time to celebrate it is at 1:59, because true math nerds know the mathematical constant ? can be rounded to 3.14159 at five decimal places.

I had to laugh because I know all too well that Pi is 3.14159 when rounded out to 5 places. How do I know this? Because I received my Chemical Engineering degree from one of the nerdiest schools on the planet: Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA.

Don’t get me wrong, WPI is a great school. They are ranked in U.S. News Top 100 Universities in the country (currently #71). Dean Kamen, the guy who created the Segway, went to school there (but quit before graduating). Heck, John Geils formed the J Geils Band while attending WPI (you know, “my blood runs cold, my memory has just been sold, my angel is a centerfold”).

I love that I went to WPI. It was where I met a few of my best friends and I wouldn’t be where I am today without the education I received. But, we were (are) nerds. Consider the following:

1. The mascot for our sports team is an engineer. Yup. Our football team is the WPI Engineers. I tried to find it on an athletic uniform, but it looks like they have removed all traces of the mascot name from jerseys. They all just say “WPI” now. Probably a good move. Even the football field, which used to have “Engineers” written in the endzones, is now devoid of the ‘e’ word. But if you read a newspaper write-up, you’ll still see the sports teams referred to as the engineers. (Before you ask, the actual furry mascot was not a nerd running around with a slide rule. It was a Ram named Gompei – pictured on right. Go figure.)

2. While I was there, the guy/girl ratio was about 4:1. And a large majority of the girls there were, ummm, (watch as I tiptoe around this one) let’s say they weren’t torn between engineering school and a modeling contract.  There were some pretty girls, of course (especially you, female WPI alumni reader!), but if I had to generalize – and I do – for the most part the girls were not attractive. Which is fine – we all can’t look like my wife. But still, when you’re a guy in college and there’s 1 girl for every 4 guys on campus, and that girl is probably not great looking, it makes for some interesting scenarios. You’ve heard of “beer goggles” before? Well, we had “WPI goggles”. Anyway, I better stop before I start to sound shallow and mean (too late). Not sure why that made us more nerdy, but trust me, it did.

and last, but certainly not least…

3. THIS is our fight song (which you can hear here):

E to the x
D-Y, D-X
E to the x
D-X.
Cosine, Secant, Tangent, Sine
3.14159
E-I, Radical, Pi
Fight ‘em, Fight ‘em, WPI!

“Cosine, Secant, Tangent, Sine”? YUP.

I rest my case.