Ever since our three teens became interested in current events, probably when they were in fourth or fifth grade, our family has maintained an annual tradition of reading aloud columnist Dave Berry’s Year in Review. Our raucous laughter carries on for 30 minutes amid the witty and poetic observations of one of the country’s best humorists.
We pass around the newspaper (for us, the syndicated column appears in the Washington Post, but now, people worldwide can view it on the web), with each family member reading aloud the litany of monthly shenanigans Barry recalls from top news stories throughout the year.
If you want some big laughs or quality family time, start your own ritual this week reading Dave Barry’s 2010 Year in Review. Today, his annual column in the Miami Herald begins like this:
“Let’s put things into perspective: 2010 was not the worst year ever. There have been MUCH worse years. For example, toward the end of the Cretaceous Period, the Earth was struck by an asteroid that wiped out 75 percent of all the species on the planet. Can we honestly say that we had a worse year than those species did? Yes we can, because they were not exposed to Jersey Shore…”
(READ it in the Miami Herald, and enjoy the giggles)