A sample of my CLT escapades

Rather than just tell you the story, I'm posting a convo I had with one of my friends about it.  Enjoy. (Guys names have been changed, mostly for the hell of it.)

Johanna:

and i totally made out with a guy tuesday night but i didn't sleep with him

instead i was really awkward in his car for two hours... then went home. HAHA

Kristen: 

what guy??

Johanna

omg some random.

he was one of X's friends that i met when we went to X

so we all left the bar around two and jesse was super drunk, so this guy drove me back to my car

Kristen

hahahhhaah

was he hot?

Johanna

so i was awkwardly talking for like two hours and then before i got out of my car, i was like, FUCK IT and just started making out with him

oh yeah... he had a really nice jawline...

which i awkwardly told him while we were at the bar...

Kristen

jawline hahahhaha

omg that's hilarious

Johanna

hence my current status on facebook

and jesse's last comment on my wall was referring to that guy

because i also didn't really remember the next day if his name was X or Y,  ha, so we called him "allegedly X"

Kristen

i was wondering about that lol

Johanna

yeah...now you know. i'm completely ridiculous. and i was like, sober.

there is no excuse.

but whatever, he was a good kisser.

Kristen

hahahahaha, nice move!! does he live here?

Johanna

and i'm leaving town, so he can think i'm crazy if he wants to

Kristen

like are ya'll gonna hang out agian?

again*

oh dang i forgot you are leaving

ughh

Johanna

umm doubt it. i don't even have his number, though i think i gave him mine. he is a minor league baseball player

so he moves around a lot

which is like the PERFECT relationship for me

so i don't have some followmearoundlikeapuppydog stuck up my ass crack all the time

Kristen

ohhhh snap!! baseball player!!!

hahahahah

Johanna

yeah, he was pretty cute. i give myself props on that one lol

Mystery Solved, aka An Ode to Tanner Welsh

I have been honestly putting off this email because I don't even know where to begin with you, Tanner.  But too often I have fallen silent about the people I care about for the pure fact that I care SO MUCH that I don't even have the words to express it.  This will obviously be sent as an email to RG, too, but I thought it was only right that I should update my blog, too.

For those of you who don't know, I got this book in the mail a while back, and I had no idea where it came from or why.  It was called "We Feel Fine: An Almanac of Human Emotion."  Without looking over the book, I was obviously taken aback, and slightly...confused.  What is someone trying to tell me by sending an almanac of human emotion?  "Here, robot, learn some!"  I wrote a blog about it, but no one came forward...

I emailed the company from whence the book came and got this email in return: "I have reviewed your order and it appears to have been sent to you and paid by Tanner Welsh."  Imagine my surprise!  As it turns out, the book is quite amazing.  It's based on the idea that journals have slowly become replaced by blogs as social networking became mainstream.  The authors created an algorithm to constantly filter through blogs for the phrase "I feel" or "I am feeling," and they started keeping track of self-reported emotions.  The book is this projected amalgamated by location, age, important dates, etc. since 2005.

How amazing.  Not only is this book really interesting for a blogger like me, but also for someone who is working in a project which aims to quantify emotions like engagement, motivation, empathy and confidence to understand social actions across location, project, and movement. 

Tanner, I don't know how you know me so well.  And I'm not really sure why you choose to continue knowing me, and continue to make some of my days the brightest I've had, just for pure fact that you're a part of them.  But you do.  I'm so grateful to have you in my life.  I really hope that I can do the same for you at some point.  And in case my words or actions don't come at the right time that you need them, just ask me when you do.  Because I love you so much, Tanner Welsh.  You spend so much of your time being a rock for other people, I really hope that you know that-- while I may not be well qualified or well-equipped-- I will be your pebble nonetheless.  And I think I speak for everyone in our group when I say that.  Us pebbles make a huge wall, so lean away. 

Thank you, Tanner.  You are such a bright, deep light.  I'm just lucky that I get some of those rays :) 

Related articles to check out:

• WeFeelFine.org - How Are People Feeling? (killerstartups.com)
• Study: Bloggers Are Happy (geeksaresexy.net)

Johanna Rae and the Mystery of the Amazon Book

A couple of days ago, a bubble-wrapped package showed up at my door.  Let me tell you, I love getting mail.  There's something so much more personal about a handwritten letter than an email, and I need not remind you of my stationary obsession.  So a personal package? YES.

I tore into it-- okay, I used scissors-- to find that I am the customer and the recipient.  Yet it was ordered on the day I was driving back from New York, and has not appeared on my credit cards.

I don't quite understand.  It's called, "We Feel Fine."  Intrigued?  So was I!  I haven't really looked in it, in case I should be sending it back, but it's called "an almanac of human emotion."  Even more intrigued?  Me too!  But, I'm also a little disturbed.

Is this supposed to be some sort of message?  Like, "Hey, Robot, here's a book of human emotions, LEARN SOME."  Or,  "Here's something to store in that icebox (where your heart used to be)."

Come on, people.  Gift message that shite! 

I wrote the company to make sure that no one has stolen my identity and opened up a credit card in my name and is going on crazy shopping sprees and ruining my credit.  And, ya know, sent me this book as a thank you.  And as a jumping point for when I'm speechless after finding out that I'm somehow $15,000 in credit card debt, and yet still miniature pig- and e-reader-less.  (Yes, that's right, if I was that far into debt, I would totally have my teacup pig and my B&N nook right now.  My needs are simple.)

Does anyone have any information about this mystery book?  Please let me know.  Though I do enjoy playing Nancy Drew (still missing 26 books of that 1940s collection, if my next mystery sender needs ideas).  I will pull out my titian-haired wig and pull on my green cotton, knee-length, wide-shoulder, empire-waist dress.  With nothing but my flashlight and my wits to protect me, I will solve the Mystery of the Amazon Book!

Look out, mystery sender, Johanna Rae is on your trail!