I'll never forget the first time I learned something useful in a high school English class.
My teacher, who was that special breed of woman who's disheveled but kinda hot — you know, thickish-rimmed glasses, imperfect teeth and great tits (hidden underneath an oversized cardigan), cool hair — the kind who wakes up early but hates mornings, drinks whiskey in her coffee, and could probably kick your ass while reciting lines from The Bell Jar [yes, I'm describing myself, this lady was a role model].
She was especially skilled at exploring the intersection of pop culture and literature, and one of the finest examples of this during a lesson on irony as a literary device.
The lesson went something like this:
"You guys remember that song by Alanis Morissette? 'Ironic?'"
Which every 90s-raised high school girl in my class responded in a thunderous 'DUHHH!'
And she said these words, which live on in my memory, "Yeah, well nothing in that song is ironic. It's all just bad fucking luck."
She went on to say something along the lines of 'if you got into a car accident with an ambulance, now that would be ironic,' which I'm still not sure is accurate — let's be honest, I still have no idea what irony actually is (thanks, Alanis!), but at least now the singer's acknowledged the shortcomings of the song.
On a November episode of one of those late night tv shows, the songstress (who I'd say is also of that special blend of messy hotness) performed an updated version of the song, complete with a bunch of new non-ironic things.
Personally, I think the original song is way better, but hey, it's 2016 and we've got way bigger problems than finding a spoon when all you need is a knife.
