#Reverb11 Day 6: What made you laugh this year?

My husband.

I realize he’s not a “what.” But the dude cracks me up. I can be loud and opinionated in real life, so I’ll be opining loudly on something that ticks me off and he’ll just start laughing and failing at hiding it until I break off and ask, “WHAT is so #$%! FUNNY?” which you’d think would send any sane person out of town, but instead he’ll boldly give me that guy non-answer, “You’re so cute when you get mad.”

Which for a moment makes me even more loudly opinionated (and not at all complimentary toward him), but despite myself, I know I’m going to start laughing just because he’s laughing. He saves me from being stuck in my own eloquent ire.

And if it weren’t for him and our compatible senses of humor, I wouldn’t have anyone to giggle with or make me fall on the floor hooting when we go off into our flights of imagination about the most ridiculous things.

Call it crazy, but I anthropomorphize just about everything. I prefer to call it “responding to the energy within an object,” but crazy will do. When I was younger, I’d apologize to furniture if I banged into it. I’ve been a spokesperson for my guinea pigs through the years. With my long commute now, I thank my car for a safe drive. And don’t get me started on books (see the last post for that).

But that’s just me. When the two of us get together, the whack-a-doodleness increases.

Take my Bug. I used to have a red VW Bug–the New Beetle. I swear that Bug had a palpable aura of beatific cheer that harkened back to its hippie roots…not so much the Hitler ones…and as such had a sparkling Pollyanna-like personality that not only annoyed all the non-Bug cars around it but the original Beetles, the grumpy Ancestor Bugs who still catch themselves singing “Lili Marleen” and reminiscing about the war over beer and cigars while irritably batting off admiring crowds of young Beetles.

Anthropomorphizing can lead to bizarre conversations. We once got lost (twice!) on a trip because we were so involved in a conversation between our increasingly-hysterical Bug and its capitalist parts (they kept yelling “Communist!”)

I’d relate more but it reads better in the original German.

It comes down to this. I saw a greeting card that mentioned the husband “retaining his child’s heart.”  This: Essential. Especially now as he’s battling Crohn’s disease, this gift of laughter, however hard-won, is priceless.

My Twitter pals.

Noël Rozny and Michelle Seitzer, you two may not know each other personally, but over the past year I’ve laughed like a loon sitting at my desk–and you two are two of the very good reasons why. The things you say under cover make me yelp! Imagine if we all worked together. While the universe takes a moment to piece itself back together, I’d like to say we would of course get actual work done…and probably get a book deal out of “How to Work While Laughing Your A$$ Off”…hmm, why aren’t we doing this?

One of the tricks to effective social media is conveying all the non-verbals we otherwise miss, the emotion, context, satire and all the rest. It can be as simple as changing a “Hope you are having a nice day.” to “Hope you’re having a great day!” to inject that essential extra ounce of meaning. I know, not everyone likes an exclamation point, but used appropriately, I think they’re worth it.

When you focus on being the person and not the faceless brand, that’s bringing the living person out in front of the username and avatar. When you see it happening with people you interact with, let it spill over to your personal life a little. At the very least, let yourself be open to finding out more about these intriguing strangers that pester you with Good mornings and witty comments. I haven’t regretted it. Neither will you.

So. Twitter pals. Facebook friends. BrazenCareerists. GooglePlussers. People I’ve only ever met online. People I hope to meet one day in person. Thank you for making me laugh, and more importantly, thank you for “being there.” You’re a wonderful system of support, and this whole social media existence I work in would be that much more dull and unrewarding without you.

My Friends I Knew First in Real Life (aka Offline).

I can’t let this post end without more than a nod to the Andys,  Adams, Katushas, and Kims (to name a few) that have brought such good times and good mayhem to my life. There’s something so essential about surrounding yourself with true friends and supporters, and laughter is one way to keep yourself happy and healthy. Your worth is above rubies.

So cheers to you all!

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