A Sense of Humor

As Rand gets to know the Aiel as “his people,” he often makes remarks to himself about their odd sense of humor. In Lord of Chaos, in the chapter called “A Sense of Humor,” he turns to face the Maidens who claim he has no sense of humor, and he tells them the following story:

An irascible old farmer named Hu discovered one morning that his best rooster had flown into a tall tree beside his farm pond and wouldn’t come down, so he went to his neighbor, Wil, and asked for help. The men had never gotten along, but Wil finally agreed, so the two men went to the pond and began climbing the tree, Hu first. They meant to frighten the rooster out, you see, but the bird only kept flying higher, branch by branch. Then, just as Hu and the rooster reached almost the very top of the tree, with Wil right behind, there was a loud crack, the branch under Hu’s feet broke away, and down he went into the pond, splashing water and mud everywhere. Wil scrambled down as fast as he could and reached out to Hu from the bank, but Hu just lay there on his back, sinking deeper into the mud until only his nose stuck out of the water. Another farmer had seen what happened, and he came running and pulled Hu out of the pond. “Why didn’t you take Wil’s hand?” he asked Hu. “You could have drowned.” “Why should I take his hand now?” Hu grumped. “I passed him just a moment ago in broad daylight, and he never spoke a word to me.”

I’m as clueless as the Maidens on this one. I can’t figure out why it’s supposed to be funny, though I know it’s not about the water or the rooster. Can anyone explain why Rand al’Thor would tell this particular story to prove that he has a sense of humor? What’s the punchline?

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CafePress has not quite been balefired by Zazzle…

Alright, has anyone checked out Zazzle? They’re like CafePress, only a million times better.

Instead of needing to start different stores for each different design theme (Wheel of Time, LOST, Cutest Baby Ever, etc.) I can have one store for everything, sorted into categories. Instead of having to place one design on each individual type of merchandise I want to sell it on, I can add the design to a shirt once, and customers can place it on any type of shirt they have available. Score! And it’s free; no need to pay for a premium shop.

So I’m working on moving my Wild Eggplant Wares over to my Zazzle shop. They gave me this nifty little widget to display my designs, too!

make custom gifts at Zazzle

Please feel free to leave comments full of praise. I love it.

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Sound Bite Contest!

I want to try something different. I want you to make a sound recording - in either .mp3 or .wav format - of your best Rand impression. What should you say? Just one word:

RAHHHHHH-VIIIIIIIIIN!!!

Pretend that Rahvin’s evildoing has just toppled a stone wall onto one of your best friends and one of your future lovers. You want him dead. Not just dead, but dead beyond dead.

Upload your sound clip on the web and post the link here. You have until April 30, 2008. Voting will take place the first week of May 2008.

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Give the gift of WoT!

Gift-giving season is upon us. I’d like to highlight some unique gifts for the Wheel of Time lover in your life.

Simple black Nae’blis shirt - also available in other colors

Nae’blis shirt for curvy women, maybe the Graendal in your life?

For the mom-to-be - It’s always a man’s fault!

Flirty Pink Saldaean Farmgirl Shirt - also available in yellow and green

Warder T-shirt

Green Ajah Raglan

Lews Therin “Clearly Mad” Shirt - very popular!

Kids Black Tower Sweatshirt

Kids White Tower T-Shirt - also in other colors

Infant/Toddler Shirt: My Mommy is an Aes Sedai and Daddy is her Warder

Awesome Black Tower Mousepad

There are other items with the same designs, as well as a few different ones, in the Wild Eggplant Wares store. Comment here if there’s something I’m missing that you would like to see!

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New Maternity t-shirts in the CafePress shop. It’s always a man’s fault!

If CafePress had offered maternity shirts back when I was pregnant, I would’ve bought one of these for myself! The women of The Wheel of Time have long lamented that “It’s always a man’s fault.” When is that more true than when you’re pregnant? There are two t-shirts with this appropriate WoT quote, light and dark. The design is right on the belly.

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