Category blogging about blogging

I wrote a blog recently about a strain of marijuana called cannabidiol, or “Charlotte’s Web,” a strain of marijuana with virtually no THC, the substance which “gets you high.” It is a true “medicine” that is being touted by epileptic believers as a new miracle source of relief. (You can read that blog here: https://fallingdownfunny.com/2014/01/28/give-us-our-medicine/.) I received many emails from people who told me that they would support legalization of medical marijuana but they want to see more research done. What these people clearly fail to appreciate is that current laws in the United States prohibit exactly that. As long as marijuana is a “schedule one” drug, research is next to impossible. And politicians know this fact...

At two o’clock in the afternoon, on February 2, 2014, Armando Arias Gonzalez Jr. was driving on East Covell Boulevard in Yolo County, California when he had a seizure. His car struck and killed Ruth Darlene Morales. In his post-seizure state, Mr. Gonzalez drove away and almost immediately got into another accident, injuring a mother and daughter. He was promptly arrested (1).

According to his brother, Mr. Gonzalez had been seizure free for more than six months (2), which, according to California law, made him a lawful driver. The law regarding epilepsy and driving in California reads as follows (3):

“No probation is needed for drivers who have achieved six or more months of control and there are no coexisting medication conditions that would aggravate the driver’s seizures or impair th...

I am a stand-up comedian. It has been my full-time occupation since 1991. True, I am not rich or famous but I have paid my bills and eaten Taco Bell. I have made a reasonable living. And I know my way around a joke.

The point I am so slowly getting to here is that I have had a hard time writing jokes about epilepsy. The subject has eluded me. I’ve written jokes that I knew were pretty funny but when I tried them out onstage I could not figure out why they did not get any laughs. I reworked them. Nothing. It took me years to figure out why those jokes were not happening and when I finally figured out what the problem was I was not happy with the answer.

I have come up with two basic reasons why the subject is not a good choice for me onstage...

I never intended to write a blog.  I mean they are so narcissistic.  I don’t even like the word.  Sounds like an onomatopoeia for vomit:  I “blogged.”

But these days everybody is blogging about everything, and my dad always told me to write about things I know about, so here it is: A blog about seizures.

If you don’t actually have seizures, maybe you won’t find this blog particularly interesting. Or funny. You might even find it annoying.  I thought my book about seizures was kind of cool and my dad thought it was the most depressing thing he had ever read. And he writes books for a living.

I didn’t think it was depressing at all.  I guess seizures look kind of different from the outside.

I hope at least some of you will find this blog entertaining...