I am blessed to know many very, very funny people. A lot of them live in my gchat*, and talk to me when I should be sleeping, eating, working, or pumping iron. Often, something they say makes me laugh, and I tell them.

“Oh my god, I just laughed so hard I gagged on my coffee.”

“I just snorted in this quiet cafe. Thanks, asshole.”

“That made me LOL for a solid ten seconds.”

Each time I do this, though, it feels uncomfortably like the comedy equivalent of cybersex. Because it’s the same thing, right? You’re essentially live-blogging your own physical reactions for another person’s benefit.

“Hey, girl. Tell me how hard I made you laugh. Mm, yeah.”

“You laughed until your coffee did what? [heavy breathing]”

“Mmmm, tell me more about falling out of your chair.”

This is a feeling I’ve had for years.

I just floated all this by my (very funny) friend Linda. Her response:

“Ugh. You just made ‘lol’ gross.”

Well, now I’ve ruined it for everyone. You’re welcome!

*(I literally mean “inside the program”, because I was a liberal arts major, and this is where my technology comprehension ends.)