We're All Mad Here

I watched the new Alice in Wonderland for the second time last night. As with the first time, I was left unimpressed with the "re imagination" (or whatever you wish to call it) of the Lewis Carroll classic. It really misses the mark on my favorite aspect of the story.

My favorite part of the books is that everyone is meant to be "mad." I love that word. Jack Kerouac uses it a lot as well. I decided to look it up in an online dictionary.

mad   
/mæd/ –adjective

1. mentally disturbed; deranged; insane; demented.

2. enraged; greatly provoked or irritated; angry.

3. (of animals)
a. abnormally furious; ferocious: a mad bull.
b. affected with rabies; rabid: a mad dog.

4. extremely foolish or unwise; imprudent; irrational: a mad scheme to invade France.

5. wildly excited or confused; frantic: mad haste.

6. overcome by desire, eagerness, enthusiasm, etc.; excessively or uncontrollably fond; infatuated: He's mad about the opera.

7. wildly gay or merry; enjoyably hilarious: to have a mad time at the Mardi Gras.

8. (of wind, storms, etc.) furious in violence: A mad gale swept across the channel.

What a simply marvelous word. I wish I were mad - living with wild abandon.