As I grow older, I find that what I need is less “something for the weekend” and more “something to help me with the week ahead”. So I’m always looking for things that will make me smile, laugh, guffaw:
LOLManuscripts. Definitely in the guffaw class. Here are a couple of examples:
What a wonderful idea. Now the pedants amongst us will argue that these are not manuscripts, but I have no problem accepting the author’s “excuse”:
(P.S. I know they aren’t manuscripts…but LOL Early Modern Printed Materials didn’t have the same ring to it. LOLNomenclature! Let it go.)
I also loved the Shakespearian quote: [And yes, it’s accurate]
The large Achilles, on his press’d bed lolling, / From his deep chest laughs out a loud applause; / Cries ‘Excellent!'”
To me it’s a brilliant, if trivial, example of the sheer possibilities of modern digital culture, mashing LOLCats with old books. Something that remains possible despite the stupidities of modern intellectual property regimes. [I guess we’re not going to see LOLH***yP***er soon. Maybe someone should do it. We could all fall asleep reading the court records…..]
Update: I couldn’t resist adding these three illustrations, if they don’t tempt you into going there nothing else will:
Thank you Sarah Redmond. Fantastic stuff!
Yes, there’s glorious silly wit here. We should trust LOL cannot be merely our poor invention.
Poking around various links here, I also found the author reworking literary and famous bio, where he reminds us, “…as we all know poetry alone isn’t sexy enough. But do you know what always ups the eroticism? Guns! They’re like penises that kill people! Violence is the new sexy– just check out this“