Every few years, I invite readers and colleagues to contribute guest columns in the series Technology and my Hobby/Passion. Over a hundred contributed in the last decade on their birding, charities, cooking, music, sports and every other passion, and how it keeps evolving with technology. Click here and scroll down to read them all.
This time it is my former Gartner colleague, Bill Kirwin. (BTW, I have tried hard to balance the topics in this series and the gender, age and ethnicity of the contributors, but have failed badly on one dimension - this is already the 4th Bill in the series this year!). Bill introduced the TCO concept to the world while at Gartner and advised several clients on IT economics and value realization. He has continued at the International Institute of IT Economics to provide thought leadership as a researcher on the economic and financial impact of new IT paradigms such as AI, Cloud, Mobile, and Big Data. He has his fingers in several other areas including administering the Gartner Alumni Facebook page. Here he writes about his wicked sense of humor that most of us have enjoyed for - well, forever:
My passion is humor. For as long as I can remember, I have found the funny side of life. When I was a kid I would perform skits for my family, often standing in front of the TV to gain their attention. After I broke out of a shell of shyness, I was the class comedian in middle school leading to a certain wise guy notoriety with the administration – ‘nuff said.
This proclivity of finding something amusing in almost any situation led me to the one-liners and puns. My mind constantly churns phrases and words that with a few twists can make a mundane situation funny. To wit – a friend was telling me about his bout with a bladder problem that necessitated an operation to correct. I immediately asked him if that changed his IP address. I have used that pun in numerous occasions, each one appearing spontaneous.
My Connecticut license plate is PUNDIT. That works on several levels:
- My vocation as an IT industry analyst forecasting the future makes me a pundit of sorts
- I love puns
- When I score on Wordplay, you could say I punned it
Humor has served me well in my personal and professional life. I have used humor to seal deals, to maintain connections and to make new friends. I use it to make small talk at social events. I even can attribute my marriage and its duration to the humor I share with my wife Marilyn. However, my attempts at humor with my three daughters has mixed reviews. I once took the invoice from the phone company and put it on my head and declared – “Look, I’m a telephone Bill.” My oldest still brings that one up.
In most of my life no topic has been off limits for a humorous treatment. Over the past ten years it has been tempered by political division, gender issues, racial awareness and perhaps by some limited maturation on my part. I still find humor in many of these domains, but I share much less of it. The occasional blonde joke still slips through. Having recently re-watched the Mad Men series, I honestly don’t miss the old days. That was then, this is now.
Today, I continue to read the Sunday comics and scan for good ideas to build into my repertoire. I maintain a modest email based “jokenet” with about fifty regulars that contribute and appreciate funnies. I used to send out one per day, but now I batch them and send them out a couple of times a month. Efficiency! Personal Productivity! I really don’t have the time or bandwidth to scour other joke sources or even mobile apps for jokes – my jokenet contributors keep me busy.
On the other hand, I seldom go to Comedy Clubs, where I find the humor too caustic. I’m a big fan of Mrs. Maisel on the Amazon channel. I watch every episode of The Daily Show, now with Trevor Noah. But truthfully, I am my own funniest person. Having a laugh and getting a laugh are two different experiences.
I have had many passions in my life – surfing, skiing, boating, racecars, music, but each has had its course. But humor has been my go-to through all those phases. I think it’s a keeper.
Today, and actually in about five minutes, I will take my dogs out for a hike in the woods and I will think up one liners and practice on them. They are a kind and patient audience…in the meantime, enjoy this I just dredged from my jokenet contributors.
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