Little Sparks of Joy

There’s so much negativity out there online, especially these days. Everything feels like bad news, fake news, celebrity "news", or just sheer stupidity being glorified (aka "reality" TV). And it’s hard not to get sucked into it all.

I spend more time on the Internet than I care to admit; sometimes I feel like the Three-Eyed Raven of the Internet, because I see almost everything. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

That’s why I always try to seek out and surround myself with the good things.

It’s hard to choose just one favorite funny thing or account on social media, because different ones make me happy in different ways. But there are definitely a few that stand out.

As far as videos, the Geico Hump Day commercial is hands-down one of my favorites, making Wednesdays brighter since 2013.

Out of all the insurance companies out there, Geico wins for consistently having the funniest commercials. And they have a lot of the best ones. But this one pretty much beats all of them.

It’s one of those commercials that’s so uncommonly funny and well done, and stands out for years after because it’s just so iconic.

I love that it’s become one of those bits of comedy that people quote everywhere, and how it’s become a way that so many people acknowledge the fact that it’s Wednesday.

Most Wednesdays, this is still one of the first thoughts that crosses my mind, and it’s definitely made my Wednesdays a little bit brighter.

Speaking of 2013, you probably remember that bad acid trip of a performance by Miley Cyrus at the VMAs that year. And if you remember that, then you probably remember this picture of Will Smith and his family sitting in the audience.

Oh my Lord, what a moment this was.

I didn’t watch the performance live; I had no interest. I couldn’t bear to anyway. But I started seeing shitposts about it online and I just… oof.

I already couldn’t stand how insane Miley Cyrus had gotten. But that performance was like the new height of the crazy.

I didn’t think it could get that bad, but it did.

But as more shitposts continued to pop up, so did this picture of the Smiths. And it became like this much needed source of comic relief in the middle of such a disaster.

Part of me felt like I was the only one who thought it was that bad of a performance. And when I saw this picture I was like, “Thank God, it’s not just me.”

I can never get this picture out of my head. It still makes me laugh to this day because it’s so relatable. It’s a perfect example of what pretty much everyone was thinking at the time. And it's nice that something remotely positive came out of that mess.

On another note: as far as social media accounts, there are a bunch that I think are funny as hell, but Charles Cornell’s Instagram is one of my absolute favorites.

His videos are some of the most unique I’ve ever seen.

They basically consist of him taking things that you wouldn't consider even remotely musical, from viral videos, to tweets, to titles of news articles, and adding music to them.

He really means it when he says, “I’ll make music out of literally anything.”

I first discovered his videos last summer when a friend from a summer program in 2015 shared this video of his:

The original video was basically a running joke the whole 3 weeks of the summer program we were in together, and not only did seeing his version bring back a lot of good memories, but it made the video even funnier.

His humor is more nonsensical than most other people’s content on the Internet, which I love.

Sometimes it’s nice to focus on something that’s just straight up nonsense. For me, it helps take my mind off whatever’s bothering me better than other things.

I’ve realized that there are a lot of people whose social media accounts center around making fun of other people being stupid. And I love that kind of humor (most of the time).

But sometimes that focus on stupidity or negativity or drama can be more stressful than entertaining.

Charles Cornell’s videos are like a digital breath of fresh air; they've given me some funny stuff to laugh about that isn’t a reminder of people’s dumbassery, and doesn’t involve insulting anyone.

Plus, music makes everything better anyway.

The musical aspect of his videos is something most other people's content doesn't have, and something most other musicians aren't able to do. It's what we classical musicians consider #PerfectPitchGoals.

I guess I’ve never really thought about how these have all helped me get through things before, but lately I’ve been looking back on them more often during the current quarantine situation, and they’ve been such a welcome relief from it all.

So if you're looking for some good humor in this trying time, I 10/10 recommend these little bits of humor! Hopefully they brighten up your day as much as they do mine!