And now folks, it's another entry from : drum roll: the blog ring : play music:  Featured Grown ups!
The topic is humor.  What makes me laugh etc.. 
Well first let me tell you what does not make me laugh, most jokes that are NOT told by a stand up comics do not make me laugh.  Either I don't get it, or I don't think it's funny.  Like the "there were two guys in a bar" ones, I may chuckle, but usually it's like, huh? 

My favorite comedian is Ellen Degeneres.  I like Ellen because she takes everyday things and makes them funny.  That is my favorite kind of humor.  She says things we have all thought about and just presents them in a funny way.  Her HBO special Here and Now is hysterical.  If you have not seen it, rent it, or you tube it, it's REALLY funny.

Shows I liked and thought were funny, were Cheers, Friends, Will and Grace, Seinfeld, I love Lucy, All in the Family, Mary Tyler Moore Show, and the Dick Van Dyke Show, just to name a few.  I enjoy funny books too, a couple favorite authors are David Sedaris and Laurie Notorno.
I have been told I am funny.  This is almost as good as being good looking or thin.  People who have no sense of humor pretty much just suck as human beings. 

I enjoy humor where people laugh at themselves, their race, gender, weight, looks, religion, etc...
A pet peeve of mine is when people take themselves too seriously.  I also enjoy satire and spoofs. 
I used to love the old Carol Burnett show, when they made fun of Gone with the Wind.  Or the old Saturday night Live show, with Gilda Radner and John Belushi and Steve Martin.

I love shows like Candid Camera and The Jamie Kennedy show, because " real" people are often the funniest of all. 

Funny xangans are my favorite to read.  A funny blog often makes my whole day.  I wish there were more of them.
  A good laugh is one of the most underated things on earth . 

I love to make people smile and I love laughing with and sometimes, I admit, even at people. 

I am sarcastic and enjoy sarcastic people.  It annoys me when people don't " get" me, but I am trying to be more tolerant about that.

Humor is a gift and THAT is nothing to laugh about.

For Featured Grown ups

Dear Laura,
Well your 17 now, you really need to get your act together.  And you will, but boy, you are going to have some hard life lessons along the way.  I would tell you to just skip to the part where the lessons have already been learned, but it doesn't work that way.  That's the bad news.  The good news is, your going to live until 47 for sure.  Your still going to have a sense of humor, in case you were worried.
You know how you think your fat?  HA HA HA HA.  Honey, you really need to appreciate your hotness.  Oh hot?  That's a future word for being a fox.  Anyway, apparently there is this thing called metabolism, and yours is going to pretty much screw you over, so appreciate your gorgeous figure.  Appreciate the music too.  There is going to be this thing called rap and really it's like talking, it's weird, you'll hate it.  You know how you love watching TV?  Like Happy Days and Joanie loves Chachie?  That only gets better, with a gazillion choices.  In fact, your going to be amazed and enjoy all the new inventions that come up. No flying cars though, at least not in the next 30 years.  Hey, you know how you have gotten in a bunch of car accidents due to the weather?  Expect more of the same.  You/I invented a road snow melter, but you/I are still you,  so we never took it anywhere, except in our own head.  Actually, we had a lot of great ideas, but you know how we are.
In general, your future is looking pretty good.  Like I said, you kind of take the hard road, but the outcome is going to surprise you.  I'll try not to forget you, because even though your a messed up kid, you have some cool parts I want to hang on to. 

See ya in the future

47 year old Laura

A featured Grown Up entry. 

The internet has changed my life in so many ways, if I listed all of them it would take me a year.  There is the obvious, quick access to information.  From the definition of a word, to information on the sexual practices of elephants, just google and there you have it.

Back in the day I was addicted to AOL chat rooms.  I used to spend my time in an ALL My Children Chat room.  I found it so fascinating, like minds, fans, joining together in cyberspace to discuss the comings and goings of the fictional Pine Valley residents. 

I soon learned chat rooms are much like Middle school.  There was a popular girl there, her screen name was seahorse or something.  She knew a lot about the show and she had a lot of those sound wavs.  That was where you would type in a word, like Erica, and Erica's real voice would play instead.  I found those to be pretty entertaining.

After I had been there for awhile, I told a high school friend of mine about it.  We had both started watching the show together in high school, and we were both big fans.  She had the bright idea that she would pretend to be Susan Lucci, who plays Erica on the show.  I thought it was a funny, harmless, prank.  I thought no one would believe her and everyone would laugh it off.

I was wrong.  People are really stupid, I just have to put that out there.  Lots of people did think Susan Lucci had the time and energy to come to a chat room and tell strangers all about her personal life. 

And they were excited about it.

So while many people believed her, Seahorse didn't.  Not only that, Seahorse was apparently affiliated with All My Children in some way, and knew for a fact my friend was an imposter. 

She outed my friend and was furious.  I personally could have cared less.  I thought if people are that naive they deserve it.  And I said that. I also admitted to being friends with the fake Erica. 

You would have thought I confessed to covering up a murder.  Or at the very least, stealing the head cheerleaders boyfriend. 

Basically, I was forced to leave the chat room for good.  I almost got a new screen name and rejoined, but I thought it just wouldn't be as fun anymore.  These people were way too hard core for me.

What I learned from that, and hopefully carried over into my Xanga life, is that internet life is not the same as real life.  Unless of course your twelve.  And I learned it's not a good substitute for real life.  But it can be a fun outlit, a fun hobby, and even a social outlit ( within reason.)

It's an easy way to connect with family and friends that live far from you,  or to send out mass information.

Ultimately, I think the internet is a good thing.  Like everything else it has it's problems, but all in all I think it's a good invention.  And despite the All My Children fiasco, I think the internet has been a healthy thing for me.

Especially this little place called xanga.  But that's a whole post in itself.