Strange Things that Make a Good Friend

Posted on October 17, 2012 by Chandler

Our Pugs and Kisses ecards – a quick way to reach out to a good friend.

Sure, sure…we all know a good friend listens to you and helps you out when you really need it. A good friend makes you smile and supplies you with love and understanding. But let’s skip off the beaten path for a moment.

Here are some aspects of a good friend that aren’t normally listed:

Good friends drive you to and from the airport. Listen, no one likes doing it, but a good friend bites the bullet and picks your butt up when no one else will.
Good friends help you move. Same as above; no one likes it, but when you need brute strength during that moving day, a good (and preferably strong) friend shows up.
Good friends call bullshit to that. Good friends aren’t always pleasant. If they see you repeatedly making the same error (such as dating that jerk again), they’ll call you on it. Sometimes loudly.
Good friends are there when you barf. They don’t run away in horror; they pull your hair back and tell you there, there, get it all out. They also will buy chicken soup and ginger ale afterward if they’re extra good friends.
Good friends aren’t always good friends. What? That makes no sense, you say. I had a good friend explain it to me years ago when just about everyone forgot my birthday. Vicki said, “I do my best, Beth. But sometimes I mess up. If my general track record is good, I hope you can overlook my mistakes sometimes because you know I love you.”

Want to make a friend feel extra special? Send them one of our Sweetest Day ecards. It’s just a simple way to show you care and add some sweetness to a pal in your life.

Cheap and Easy Halloweens of Yore

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Chandler

Last Halloween, as I stood at my door giving out Reese’s peanut butter cups (Reese’s were the ultimate Halloween candy in my heyday, unlike candy corn…blech), I noticed that the costumes the children donned all seemed fairly elaborate. The princess was fully decked out from head to toe, as was the little race-car driver.

When I was a kid, it was all about the candy. The costume was just a necessary step to feed our sweet tooth. So while it was fun dressing up, it was scaled down by today’s standards.

For several years, I was a cheerleader. Why? Because I actually was a cheerleader. The costume was readily available and cute and still allowed me to knock on people’s door and demand my treat.

Ghosts, of course, were the easiest of all. Throwing on an old sheet and cutting a few holes in it screamed of simplicity. A matching pillowcase could be used to collect the goodies. In short, your entire costume was on your bed…how easy was that?

And then there were bums, which you don’t see much of these days because of its political incorrectness, I guess. But bums were all the rage back in the day. Messy, beat-up clothes, an old hat and a burnt cork were used to create that “I haven’t shaved in weeks” stubble.

Interestingly, as I got older, costuming became too much of an art form. I lived in San Francisco for many years and Halloween would fill me with a sense of dread…. how could you possibly compete with the elaborate costumes that people planned for months in advance? It felt less like Halloween and more like the Academy Awards.

This Halloween, I’ll probably be a witch…again. (Another easy-as-pie costume). And it fits my personality better with each passing year. [Insert cackle here.]

What were some of your favorite Halloween costumes over the years? What about the easiest Halloween costumes? The cheapest? The strangest?

This Halloween, send a loved one of our many Halloween ecards. And boo to you all!

Can Dads Mop Floors?

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Chandler

The Rolling Biker Dogs, one of the cards we make for Dads’ Birthdays.

Do dads ever tend to children or clean the house? According to television and other media, they rarely do.

Just once I’d like to hear a father tell the camera that he’s concerned about Billy’s nagging cough. Or hear dad explain why Swiffers make housecleaning that much easier. But men are always relegated to the couch, watching football, making Homer Simpson style remarks. And moms are dutifully in the kitchen preparing that healthy dinner in just 15 minutes!

In real life, I know several dads who have moved well beyond couches and football. My friend Chris, for example, is raising his 10 year-old daughter single handed and can cook better than I can any day of the week. His house is always in order and when his daughter is sick, he knows exactly what to do.

Conversely one of my female friends coaches the boy’s soccer team and couldn’t make a bowl of oatmeal if her life depended on it. She encourages athletics first and foremost and would much prefer being outdoors and not tending to tile grout or whatever she’s “supposed” to do.

I wonder when the ad agencies will ever move beyond those simplified roles that we’re pigeonholed into. Since they haven’t changed that much since the 1950’s, it seems like high time.

If you have a multi-faceted father with a birthday coming up, show him how much you appreciate all of the ways he contributes to his life with our birthday ecards for dad.

The Sometimes Serious Definition of Funny

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Chandler

Here at Doozy, we pride ourselves on knowing “funny.” Humor is part of our job, after all. But defining what is and isn’t funny can get pretty serious! Some comedy crosses over and reaches just about everybody while certain types of humor can easily offend other people.

Some friends and I had a lively discussion about this very topic a few nights ago over lunch. A friend said over dessert, “I saw Saturday Night Live a few nights ago and could barely get through it. There was a skit about a drunken uncle and I found it offensive and very unfunny. Drunk is never funny.”

Everyone nodded in head in agreement…except for me.

“But there’s a long history of funny people who have acted drunk. What about WC Fields? Dudley Moore? Foster Brooks?”

“They’re not funny, really. I mean, to me, they aren’t.”

“And what about Eddie Murphy when he plays his drunken dad at a cookout? That’s 100% pure comedy.”

“Not to me.”

And to each his or her own. At Doozy, we think funny is in the eye of the beholder. But I couldn’t help but wonder whether as a society we require overly sanitized comedy for the sake of political correctness…and political correctness just isn’t that funny! Comedy should be on the edge. It should make us slightly uncomfortable at times.

Ultimately comedy serves as a form of relief for the pains and ills in life. (It’s a fine line between laughter and tears, after all.) And I do think it shouldn’t have to adhere to the same societal rules we usually live by day to day…when it does, it has a tendency to fall flat.

Here in the Doozy Cards World Humor Headquarters, funny is our daily bread. If you’re looking to make someone in your life smile, take a look at our wide selection of funny ecards.