I was listening to an episode of RadioLab about Laughter recently. As usual, they did a fascinating job of covering the topic from multiple angles. One item stood out for me, though.

They said laughter is a social thing, and that people don’t laugh alone. They don’t mean when you’re home alone watching Letterman, or goofy YouTube videos. In those cases, there’s still an external source involved. Their point was that without that, people don’t laugh alone — it’s a social thing, and we laugh in the company of others.

But that’s where they’re wrong. Or maybe I’m weird. Because I DO laugh alone. Do you?

Here’s a good example: The other day, it was a beautiful morning outside, and I was driving through the desert. I had the roof down, tunes on, sun was shining, weather was perfect, and I had the winding back road to myself. It was so gorgeous, and so free, that a wave of incredible happiness came over me, and I had to laugh out loud. It wasn’t social (I didn’t bring imaginary friends that morning). It wasn’t something on the radio. It was internal — joy at a beautiful day that came bubbling to the surface as a laugh.

So that’s my question, and it seems important — do you laugh alone?

I’d hate to think there’s a segment of people who don’t get this same bubbling happiness, because surely everyone deserves to feel that wonderful sometimes — so happy you just have to burst out laughing, even if you’re alone!

I’d love to hear from anybody out there, so feel free to comment. Please, say you do too, say it’s not true…

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Surely it’s not just me, right? Or is it one of those things that happens but you’re not supposed to admit it, like drinking alone? Maybe I’ll go have a glass of wine, too.

I just ran across a cool tool — the “Big Dig” over at Idea Sandbox. They describe this as a set of thought starters and problem solving techniques, collected from great thinkers and writers.

If you’re feeling stuck on a particular problem — whether a business issue, personal matter, or writer’s block — you can dig in their sandbox, and it comes up with a suggestion. A couple of tries netted me the following, both of which had a kernel I could make use of:

Consider looking up. You may be trying to solve something that is really a small part of a much bigger problem.”

It’s not enough to be good when you dream of being great.”

Great stuff indeed, and I’m glad I tried it! You can start solving some of your own problems at

Idea Sandbox: Big Dig problem solver

The safest memories are those in the mind of someone who can’t remember.

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No, I didn’t make that up! It’s the astonishing conclusion of a scientist who was part of the Radiolab episode on memory and forgetting.

In case you haven’t discovered Radiolab, it’s a fascinating podcast, exploring a variety of subjects (like memory, time, or life) from different angles. Very well done, always intriguing and surprising, and one of my favorites. Highly recommended.

My all-time favorite (if the concept of “all-time” even makes sense, but that’s a different episode!) is Greatest hits of ancient garbage. Very cool!

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The good news is I have a lot of very safe memories! Now what was I going to say?

I gave my big speech last night — the culmination of my entire campaign to be president of the United States.

And now I’m a Competent Communicator! I know, that sounds like something your kindergarten teacher would write, right? Really, that’s the new name for the level you reach at Toastmasters when you do your 10th prepared speech. The old name, Competent Toastmaster, sounds much more advanced, doesn’t it?

Last night was my 10th TM speech, so I made it! This was the Inspiring Speech assignment, and after watching who-knows-how-many speeches during the presidential primaries, I decided to to give my own campaign speech. I should have a bunch of Toastmaster votes come Super Tuesday.

Have you ever wanted to improve your public speaking skills? I can highly recommend Toastmasters. I used to be terrified of public speaking, though I knew it was something that would be good to learn.

First, I did some of Lee Glickstein’s Speaking Circles. Those were helpful as far as getting more comfortable standing in front of a group. Toastmasters goes far beyond that, giving you a lot of practical education on organizing speeches, using vocal variety, etc.

After a little while in TM, I found (to my surprise) that I could be pretty good at public speaking. And then an even bigger surprise - I found that I enjoyed it!

If you’re ever interested, check the TM website for a club near you. Groups vary widely, so you might want to try out a few to see which suits you best. I know I found a winner with Gilbert Toastmasters!

What is happiness, and how can we all get some? In this video, a French scientist turned Buddhist monk answers these questions.

Matthieu Ricard has devoted his life to studying this subject, and his answer blends elements of faith and science: We can train our minds in habits of happiness.

Video - TED: Habits of Happiness

As soon as I saw this, it made me want to do two things: take up meditation, and go to Tibet.

I got 2 days into meditation, then my recurring problem came up. Time. There’s always something more important — pressing, concrete things that need doing. “How can I just sit here thinking, when there’s all this work on my desk?” And the fact that I’m an unskilled meditator makes it seem all the more like totally wasted time.

But hey - if this is the key to happiness, what could be more important? Could it really be this easy — something that everyone in the world could learn with a bit of training and practice? Surely if this guy is known as the “happiest man in the world”, he must know something I don’t! Maybe I’ll get back to meditating soon…