My favorite of the songs he sings is "Jingle Bells," purely for one line (or maybe two). He sings it faithfully until he gets near the chorus. Once, many months ago, he sang, "making spirits rise" instead of "making spirits bright," and I joked that "making spirits rise" was a very different activity that involved killing people and allowing their ghosts to float up to the sky. This idea seems to have inspired the next couple lines that Shannon now often sings:
What fun it is to ride and sing
A slaying song tonight
Oh, kill them all, kill them all
Kill them all, I say
I think the reason I like it so much is that every single time I get caught up in the traditional lyrics and start singing along in my head, and so when he gets to "Kill them all" and I remember that it's a "slaying song," it surprises me and cracks me up afresh every time. I think the best thing about humor is that split second of surprise (though Shannon is fond of saying, "Repetition is funny." I think he has probably told me that thousands of times by now. And I think it's true, because repetition is often surprising.), and Shannon is somehow able to accomplish that with me over and over again with the same exact joke.
Or it could just be that I love puns.
Edited to Add: Oh, and I seem to be sick again. Darn those other people and their pesky germs! Now I'm exhausted and achy and weak and not having much fun. Except when Shannon is singing punny songs.
