i woke up with a jerk.
doris was laughing.
it wasn't just any old chuckle - this was what you might call a belly laugh.
and when doris has a belly laugh you'd better grab your ornaments.

the reason i woke up was because bits of plaster were beginning to drop from the ceiling.
the chamber pot under the bed was rattling on the linoleum, and doris's false teeth were jangling in the glass on her bedside table.

turns out she was listening to some old comedy show on her ipod.

but what struck me the most was how there are so many different ways of laughing.
doris was snorting, high pitch screaming, sighing, making a noise like a car engine starting up, then a sound that was reminiscent of a cow exploding ...

i was so inspired, i am going to organise a laughter festival on the isle of kevin.
and i will even bend the rules and allow visitors to come over and join in - especially from the isle of britain, where life is pretty dull at the minute.

we'll have street comedians, people tripping up on pavements, pompous people accidentally dropping their trousers, whoopee cushions, laugh bags, tickling sticks, videos of doris laughing, the whole works ...

fancy joining in?