Fool having fun at the Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie, Texas.

It’s April 1, April Fool’s Day, a day to be silly and cut loose. A must for those of us carrying the weight of being the nation’s economic engine because we have a small business. I could get into talking about “running out of gas”, “not running on all cylinders”, “breaking down”…but I will resist the temptation.

This is also a special day for me. It’s the day my business partner and husband proposed 28 years ago. He may have been hedging his bets, but I fooled him. I said “yes”.

So this post is dedicated to Daniel’s wonderful sense of humor and the recognition that all work and no play makes every business owner pretty dull and likely to end up at 45th St & Lamar in Austin, Texas, aka Austin State Hospital, formerly the insane asylum.

In his honor, I would like to recommend that on this day, every business owner do something fun. Here are some suggestions:

1. Go fly a kite – literally. You can. You’re the owner. Just leave. Wouldn’t that surprise everyone? Or climb a mountain inside a building at Austin Rock Gym. No wonder people think Austin is weird. (You missed the Austin Kite Festival but you can get ready for next March.)

2. CDB, a great book to read and giggle over. Also recommended  Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation and Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim, and Other Flubs from the Nation’s Press
(think about it a minute). My mother also had a wicked sense of humor and came up with a prize winning article on the cockroach. I think I will save that to share with you on a really down day.

3. Plan your pun. Coming soon the the O Henry House is the Austin Pun-Off on May 22. Yesterday’s pun: The end of March, Halt.

4. I wish I could tell you to work on your spam recipe for the Spamarama, another Austin treat? But, we don’t hold it anymore. Maybe we could if you found something truly useful to do with the stuff. As a vegetarian, I am out of the hunt but there have been some really noxious concoctions — including the Spamarita  — never touch the stuff myself.

5. Make birthday preparations for Eeyore’s big 47th birthday, April 24th. Dress appropriately — as silly as possible and recycle it for Scarborough Faire Renaissance Festival April 10-May 31, north of Austin in Waxahachie.

6. Play golf — miniature golf. Everyone knows that deals are made on the golf course. Nothing’s more relevant for small business than to play small golf. I make no apologies to those of you who think this is silly -— of course it is but for 15 years this was our clients favorite event. We still have a few mini golf places here. Peter Pan on Barton Springs Road is still my favorite, dinosaur and all.

We take our owner selves entirely too seriously sometimes — at least I do. The next time someone from the media or the Mayor’s Office asks me why Austin is such a great place to start, run, or grow a small business I’m going to say that is because we are such fools. I mean it!

Have a great day and please add your own foolish thoughts, action items and what have you. And, thanks Daniel for 28 wild years.

If you have something silly to add or a favorite foolish folly, please add. Today, really LOL.