The Precept of Happy Hour

Time is a circus always packing up and moving away

Numerous happy hours have been spent writing commentaries upon humor and philosophy, the art of writing and the finer arts, but the ageless truths of life, like many of the world's greatest thinkers, have usually been clothed in shabby garments or wild displays of ostentatious attire. This blog is an attempt to supply a tome worthy of those insights and the individuals whose thoughts are the substance of these virtual pages. 

To bring about a coalescence of Beauty, Truth and Humor has been my absolute pleasure, and I hope that the result will produce a positive effect upon the minds of the many readers who have found their way here, and especially those who return. 

Work upon this blog was begun on the 17th of April, 2011, and has continued mostly uninterruptedly for over six years. The last few years other professional activities and personal hobbies occupied my time and my writing waned, but I continue to return, time permitting, for the sake of clarity, for the sheer joy of writing, and for the pleasure of sharing with an audience - which at Google+ Classic's heyday reached an astonishing forty million pageviews. 

Scholars with specificity on the topics herein will immediately note the lack of quotations and references. There is no bibliography nor collections of reference materials upon which to examine the authorities dealing with philosophy and symbolism. Instead my goal was to make accessible the deeper and/or superficial sentiments expressed in abstruse philosphical information, with a rich, visual, or otherwise playful mode of creative expression. Given the one million or so direct pageviews (beyond Google+), arriving via Blogger, I see that my penning and the images chosen to enhance the aesthetic value are working. Not that I would have changed my mode of writing had my blog not received pageviews, but it is nice to know that people appreciate the intuitive sensibilities involved in researching pleasing images, in addition to the independent thinking that serves as the cornerstone of my writing. 

Writing for any extended period of time produces patterns. There are over a thousand articles herein. The patterns produced are aesthetic, playful, philosophical, exploratory, light-hearted, and family-oriented. That tells me to which thought continents my brain travels and the subjects readers find illuminating, enjoyable, or simply visually appealing. 

I make no claim for the infallibility of any statement herein contained, but I do lay claim to most of the originality. As an individual who read over 4000 books by my 30th birthday, I have a lightening-fast ability to digest copious amounts of information and a large working memory. This enables my prolificacy. While there are over a thousand articles posted on HTTF, I have responded to at least three thousand or so sincere notes from people from all around the world, from a variety of diverse backgrounds and cultures. Because I am a professional and maintain a career, I haven't always the luxury of time necessary to respond to all the responses this blog generates, but I do try to incorporate my responses in actual posts, if only to address the topics that people bring to my attention. 

Academically I have studied the complete and also fragmentary writings of the ancients sufficiently to realize that dogmatic utterances concerning any of their tenets are worse than foolhardy. Traditionalism is the curse of modern society, particularly that of academic institutions. While many of the statements contained in this blogesque treatise may appear at first wildly fantastic, I have sincerely endeavored to refrain from haphazard metaphysical speculation, presenting material for pleasure and consideration, and whenever possible, in the spirit of the original authors rather than the letter. 

By assuming responsibility only for the mistakes which may appear herein, I hope to escape the accusation of plagiarism which has been directed against nearly every writer since the beginning of written documents. Having no particular ism of my own to promulgate, I do not try to twist the original concepts to substantiate preconceived notions, but I do tweek it a bit, playfully engaging with or painting doctrines in fresh new packaging in an effort to reconcile the often irreconcilable differences present in what passes for humorous, philosophical thinking, or even sound thinking. 

The entire theory of this blog is that humor is a healthy device for expressing the myriad of human sentiment. Sarcasm is diametrically opposed to my mode of thinking, for this reason the humor contained herein mostly falls into the "laugh-at-life" category - though, I do have a tendency to poke fun at those who market themselves as paths to enlightenment. But that is only because they get on my last nerve with their holier-than-thou "I have the answer for all of you" attitude and self-promulgation. Yes, it is a personal bias. 

Rich as language is in media of expression, it is woefully lacking in terms suitable to the conveyance of abstract philosophical or humorous premises. Therefore, a certain intuitive grasp of the subtler meanings concealed within tales of Pacmanien migration and UFO spotting for fun is necessary therefore to a deeper understanding of what makes people laugh. 

Although a thousand or so of the thinkers I reference are in my own library, I wish to acknowledge gratefully the access given to me by international archival institutions and the collections of private individuals. Without referencing by name those books and or patrons, I have endeavored to do justice by writing in a way that appeals to a very exclusive audience. In this sense a number of my posts are eclectic-sounding. That suits me fine because life itself is a hodgepodge of eclectic experiences, with the familiar ones categorized as personal or subjective. 

The editorial work in this blog is virtually non-existent. I simply don't have time for it. I write from the top of my head and whatever emerges is what you read here. As it is, I have no distinct plans for the point I wish to make herein, other than the knowledge that the Reader's patience grew thin after the first paragraph and maybe only two or three people are still reading, and would be most appreciative if I drew this post to a natural conclusion - which I shall do, soon. 

But not without acknowledging gratefully my daughter to whom I am indebted for many of the articles, which she has read or asked that I read aloud to her. My son is not as interested in his mother's fleeting literary contributions to the world, but will no doubt someday make his way through a few of my favorites; if only because I have stipulated it in my estate that he do so in order to receive his inheritance. [Insert wicked laughter] 

I do sincerely hope that each reader who visits Happy Thoughts Travel Fast, if they read not a single word of the many articles herein, at least read the title. Therein lies my premise that happy thoughts do travel fast. If any of the concepts herein bring additional joy or even illumination, then that is sprinkles upon my already nicely frosted cake.