Award winning humor by former Charlotte Observer columnist
In this episode, author Tracy Curtis reads humor essays from Trophy Mom and Beach Bummed and in the spirit of the Christmas season, she also reads stories from Holidazed, which won a national 2016 Independent Publisher Book Award. Tracy teaches creative writing and humor workshops and says: “There is humor in everything. Sometimes you just have to look for it.
Charlotte Readers Podcast is sponsored by Charlotte Mecklenburg Library.
In this episode, author Tracy Curtis reads humor essays from Trophy Mom and Beach Bummed and in the spirit of the Christmas season, she also reads stories from Holidazed, which won a national 2016 Independent Publisher Book Award. Tracy teaches creative writing and humor workshops and says: “There is humor in everything. Sometimes you just have to look for it.
Tracy is a former syndicated humor columnist for The McClatchy Company, nationwide. She wrote over 500 columns for the Charlotte Observer, and then published her Humor Me trilogy, collections of her columns from the last decade about the imperfection of motherhood. In 2017, Tracy was announced as a top ten finalist in the Anna Lefler/Erma Bombeck Humorist-in-Residence writing competition that drew over 400 applicants from six countries. A former CNN producer, Tracy enjoyed a fifteen-year career in radio, television and film. She currently is working on her first novel entitled “Wit Happens.” And when she’s not writing? She says she’s unloading the dishwasher!
The readings – in order:
From Beach Bummed: Riding the Wave of Summer
Beach Chair Gets a Sea Minus
This is a story where the husband and wife don’t see eye to eye literally and figuratively and stems from the author’s first husband’s bringing two different height chairs to the beach.
“That chair is like a foot taller than my beach chair. How are we supposed to sit together on the beach? How are we going to do the crossword? We’re going to have to hand it up and down. I’m practically going to have to rig a pulley system to get your beer up there. And every time I look over at you, all I’m going to see are your hairy legs!”
[The rest of the essay is on the show]
Carried Away Over Baggage
In this essay, the author wonders what is up with people who want to carry their suitcase on an airplane. The idea came from an argument about whether to check your bag on carry on.
“Since when did carrying your bags onto an airplane become more convenient than checking them? The whole point of checking your bag is the convenience of bringing everything you need and then having somebody else deal with it while you go get coffee and Peoplemagazine.”
[The rest of the essay is on the show]
From Trophy Mom: Hope Springs Maternal
Yoga Pants Pose a Public Problem (for the ladies)
This essay got the author in trouble with a lot of women in Charlotte who love to wear their yoga pants wherever they go. It got even worse when Tracy was photographed in a Starbucks in her yoga pants.
“Yoga pants are not pants. They’re just not. Much like tie-dye has nothing to do with neck-ties, and gumshoes have nothing to do with shoes (or gum), yoga pants have nothing to do with pants, slacks or trousers and shouldn’t be worn as such.”
[The rest of the essay is on the show]
Pitch Imperfect
If the last essay got the author in trouble with all yoga pants wearing women in Charlotte, this one got Tracy in trouble with all the male baseball lovers. It suggests in humorous fashion that nothing ever really happens in the game of baseball.
“Watching a Yankees game on TV with my boys, I figured out what bothers me about baseball. Nothing ever happens.
“There’s a guy – pitching to another guy – hoping he’ll hit it. Hoping to put the ball in play so the game can start. But there’s no guarantee he’ll hit it. There’s no guarantee that anybody will hit it. In fact, it such a possibility that no one will hit it that there’s a term for it – it’s called a no-hitter. It’s the only sport that has a term for nothing happened.”
[The rest of the essay is on the show]
From Holidazed: Wrapping Your Brain Around Christmas
The Leonard Bearstein Symphony Orchestra
Everyone can relate to this essay – striving for Christmas perfection, only to see it fall to pieces. It’s a true story of the author as a young mother looking for a memorable Christmas outing with the boys to see the singing Christmas bears.
“I’m reminded of the day I forever abandoned my pursuit of Christmas perfection…”
[The rest of the essay is on the show]
Video Killed the Christmas Card
This essay is a dig at the family who shot the perfect Christmas video. Who has time for that, right?
“YouTube blew up with something new – the video Christmas card.”
[The rest of the essay is on the show]