“Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live.” ~ Unknown

As I go to write this post, the thing that comes across the most about these 2 very funny, insightful and yet vulnerable people is that they have a gift.  Both Mina and Tom vacillate between being brilliantly and wickedly amusing and being soft and gooey.  The trick is that you have to visit them often to find out. On any given day, one or both might be laughing or snarky, or full of love for their family.

Our paths first crossed on Facebook, where their pages “Klonopin Chronicles” (Mina) and “Unconventional Wisdom” (Tom) volley back and forth, and forth back, to be both a rare combination of both witty and supportive.  In an “unconventional” move for ‘mynewfavoriteday,’ we agreed to do a joint interview.  The interview was actually prompted by my page “faves,” who, when asked who they would like to learn more about, these 2 quickly were at the top of the list.

As I have been able to correspond with them outside of the Facebook world and read their blogs, I have become even more captivated by them as individuals.  They are smart, witty, challenged, and funny.  They make me laugh and sometimes when I read their blogs, they make my heart smile.

As we have seen here before, we are not all the same.  We do what we do, and can d,o for what works in our lives.  These 2 do just that, and I LOVE that. I find it inspiring, and a call-to-action.

Without further adieu, I would like to introduce you to Mina from the “Klonopin Chronicles” and Tom from “Unconventional Wisdom.”

1. Shannon:  Why and when did you start blogging?

Mina – KK:  This past summer I was taking a course in Corporate Tax Accounting.  No, really!  I have range.  Anyway, I really didn’t want to study and I was just getting more and more manic with pent-up creativity.   It was never my intention to start blogging.  I was following a bunch of funny blogs around and posting what I thought were witty comments on their pages.  That feedback gave me the courage to start my own page.  It was a big joke that, while all the other pages were promoting blogs, I just had a page promoting “the greatest blog that’s never been written.”

Tom – UC:   My first blog post was April 10, 2010 (No I didn’t know that off the top of my head. I looked it up.)  I started my blog because I always considered myself to be a writer and anti-depressants and a great psychologist finally helped me to overcome my fear of possible finding out I was wrong to entertain that fantasy.

 

2. Shannon:  Why is your blog and Facebook page called TKC? And UW?

Mina –  KK:  My page is called “The Klonopin Chronicles” because of the anti-anxiety medication I take.  It gets people’s attention.  Either they take it or they have taken it or they know why people take it.  It becomes a kind of a symbol.   You know, “Crazy People Crossing.”  Articulate, insightful, funny-funny-funny crazy people and you may just fit right in.  It sometimes backfires though.  Lost souls wander in from time to time.   Sometimes I try to engage.  Oftentimes they wander away again.  But we persevere.

Tom – UC:  My wisdom is unconventional.  Or at least I think it is.

 

3. Shannon: Where would we find you now on your blogging journey from where you started?

Mina –  KK:  I’m almost embarrassed by that question because I haven’t been on any kind of blogging journey.  I was bored and started a page.  I really have no insights on blogging.  Ask anyone and they’ll tell you.  I can’t even figure out how to put the widgets up on Blogger.    I think to myself, “It’s a good thing I’m funny because maybe that distracts from the fact that I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing.”  That’s not false modesty.  That’s genuine insecurity.  Hand to God.

Shannon’s note:  Since Mina gave me her answers she has in fact started blogging with more frequency and her posts are amazing!

Tom – UC:  I’m a much better writer now, much more confidant.  I’m just now starting to write about things I really care about; finally ready to have my essence, my core beliefs, criticized.

 

4.  Shannon:  What or who do find you inspiring?

Mina –  KK:  I feel like I ought to have an answer all ready to go here.  I’m going to go with the ocean and the mountains.  Seriously, I find inspiration in natural places.  People, not so much.  But if there have to be people, let them be funny.  Or musical.

Tom – UC:  Aaron Sorkin’s politicians.  Wouldn’t it be great if Jed Bartlett really was our President?  Or Andrew Shepherd? Shannon’s note:  I would vote for Andrew Shepherd any day of the week:)!)

 

5. Shannon: You are both quite witty and funny. What or who makes you laugh?

Mina –  KK:  I want to say irony.  But it’s such an overused term that I don’t think I even really understand what it is.  I think it’s funny when there is surprise involved.  The opposite of what you’re expecting.   You know, the whole “did not see that coming” feeling.

Tom – UC:   First of all, thank you!  I love satire- Jon Stewart, Stephan Colbert, The Onion.  But Chevy Chase makes me laugh, too.  And Leslie Nielsen! I usually don’t laugh “at” someone; I don’t think someone tripping and falling is funny.  Unless it’s a pompous ass who trips and falls- that’s hilarious!

 

6. Shannon:  If you were trapped on a deserted island, what 2 things would you bring with you?

Mina – KK:  My laptop.  Wait, is there internet?  Probably not.  Well, definitely my meds.   I saw that movie “Castaway.”  And some way to listen to or make music.

Tom – UC:   My wife and kids (both kids fit in one box). Can I do that?  Probably not. How about: A Man Without a Country by Kurt Vonnegut and a journal/pen combo pack.

 

7. Shannon:  Let’s play a game, 2 truths and a lie, give me 2 truths and one lie and let’s see if we can all figure out which is which.

Mina – KK:  Hell, I could say three things and even I couldn’t tell you which was which.  But okay.

1.  I used to be able to light a cigarette with my toes.   I wouldn’t have to pay the admission charge at parties in college.   I would do my trick and everyone would think it was amazing and hand me the cup.  Boy were they surprised at how much beer a smallish person like me could drink.  Another party trick.  Ta-da.

2.  I have climbed Half Dome, which is a glacial rock in Yosemite National Park.   It’s a big-ass hike.  I was ready for a beer by the end, let me tell you.

3.  One summer I took off with a bunch of my friends and we followed the Grateful Dead on tour all over the country.  I used to make gas money by buying up cases of Hansen’s soda and stationing myself at strategic places on the way from the parking lot into the venues and charge a buck for those mother$%*s and the rich Deadheads would fork it over because they were really hot and sweaty.

(The lie is that there is no lie.  All three are true.  Deus ex cheap-way-out.)

Tom – UC:

1. My family lived in a cabin on an island in Lake Vermillion, in northern Minnesota, when I was 4.  We had no electricity, no running water.  My dad boated to shore and then drove to work in the iron ore mines while my mom, brother and I stayed behind, doing the wash in the lake.

2.  My first wife gave me her ring back when we got divorced.  She dropped it off at my lawyer’s office when she signed the papers. I picked it up, pawned it, and went directly to a Native American reservation casino where I put the $120 on a blackjack table, got a black jack, and went home with $300.

3.  When I was 8, my parents took my brother and I to Florida.  We spent our first day there at Cocoa Beach and planned to go to Disney World the next day.  Unfortunately, I got such a bad sunburn the first day that I was unable to spend any time in the sun for the next week.

 

 8.  Shannon:  What is one thing about you people might be surprised to know/learn about you (Funny or serious)?

Mina – KK:  I think people would be surprised to know that I absolutely love to watch sports.   Except on Fox because the commentators are dick-brains.  Joe Buck can kiss my rosy red ass with his monosyllabic droning pie hole.  I promise you won’t get in trouble for writing that.  I’ve said it to him myself.  The internet is a wonderful thing.

Tom – UC:  I am a Lady Gaga fan.

 

9.  Shannon:  What are 3 things you hope people will take away from visiting your blog or visiting you on Facebook?

Mina – KK:  The single most important thing I want people to know is that we are all a little crazy and that you absolutely have to let that be okay.  The second thing is that you have to be willing to laugh at yourself.   And third is that we are all doing our best with what we’ve got and a little patience and tolerance wouldn’t kill you.  Unless you are that dumb bi%$@ who won’t merge until the very last second.  I lost my patience with her a hundred yards ago.  You know, most days I really have no business driving.

And there’s a fourth thing.  And this is really important.  It’s hard for me to say it without my voice shaking, so it’s a good thing I’m writing.  If someone has the balls to put everything out there in an attempt to amuse, enlighten and otherwise entertain a bunch of f@$*ing strangers, then that person should receive a little leeway. Don’t you think?

Tom – UC:  I would love for readers to know that they are not alone, that they are not crazy for thinking the system is rigged against them, and that they shouldn’t take themselves too damned seriously.

 10. Shannon:  What pearl(s) of wisdom can you leave us with that you suggest to make each say ‘anewfavoriteday?‘

Mina – KK:  Forgive each other.  Love each other.  You made it this far.  Keep trying.  I mean seriously–what else ya got?

Tom – UC:  Here is my unconventional wisdom; I know many find this depressing, but to me it is the best news:  You don’t matter much.  You are a couple pounds of flesh, and maybe even soul, on a tiny dot in a tiny solar system in a tiny galaxy in an infinitely huge universe.  Your problems aren’t problems.  What joy!  Relax, laugh, love, be happy.  When you do those things you just may find, ironically, that you make a pretty big difference to a few people, scores if you’re lucky.

 

And so you see, this is what is so fascinating and wonderful about these 2.  The rawness that overlaps with complete honesty spiced with some humor and vulnerability when you least expect it.  I love it, it inspires me. I can’t always say everything I feel, it’s not really who I am …it’s more of who I am becoming, but I am measured in my words and my thoughts even.

And to answer Mina’s quesition, yes, I am pretty sure the island has wirelessJ And yes, Tom, you can bring your wife and kids in one box if you tell us which one is the lie! I am going with number 2 about your first wife?

Thanks for playing with me today, and meeting these two, I hope you will all find something in here that makes today ‘yournewfavoriteday’ and that you will also take the time to visit Mina and Tom if you want to learn more!

You can find Mina at http://theklonopinchronicles.blogspot.com/
Or  on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Klonopin-Chronicles/191112310950595?ref=ts

You can find Tom at temorgan.blogspot.com

Or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Unconventional-Wisdom/150140778355139