Laugh it up?

As oil plumes spread over bird and marsh, Auntie Ruth remembers what Uncle Bob told her as a little girl: “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, it Takes a Train to Cry.” Aunt Ruth had no idea what Uncle Bob (Dylan) meant, but it sure did sound good, as if maybe a good train ride—surreptitiously, in an empty car—might explain a good cry in a way that elementary school, Mom and Dad never could.

These days, the emphasis must be on how it takes a lot to laugh: a lot, a lot, a lot. Given that Uncle Bob goes on to say “Don’t the sun look good / goin’ down over the sea,” well, Yer Auntie has come up with a few good reasons to laugh this week:

Grist has suggested that bike riders “make a statement” and consider the “Fuck You and Your Prius” tote bag from DustDesignCo. Made from recycled cotton and soda bottles, it speaks its message in old-timey font and has a picture of a road bike on it. Hmm. Just last week, Aunt Ruth saw a Mustang with the license plate frame “Vroom Vroom—Prius Hunter.” Maybe the bike people and the haul-ass car people can get together and hold a Hate Prius Rally. Would there be a problem? Stated differently, are you totally sure what happens when you connect the red and black jumper cables together? Y’all gonna find out fer sure. Vroom, vroom!

In other news, the Santa Barbara Independent reported that Meg Whitman stood up before a Santa Barbara audience in 2009 and said “she supports the controversial Tranquillon Ridge drilling project off the coast from Vandenberg, and believes the state should explore other offshore oil options.” All opportunism aside—only an idiot’s position would remain unchanged by now—Whitman remains eco-enemy No. 1. Jerry Brown now!

Finally—it was a few weekends back—it warmed Aunt Ruth’s heart to see long lines of people waiting outside of SN&R’s front doors to tour our environmentally attuned workplace at our 21st birthday party. Was it just neighborly curiosity? Nah. It was enviro-curiosity. Fer sure.

Y’all keep smilin’ and maybe, just maybe, the trains will smile with you.