Check the Stats

IM status messages have become a form of shared humor for Danya and I. The fact that we sit three feet away from each other all day every day apparently isn't enough: now we also trade insults and jokes by displaying them on our buddy lists.

How do you alert the other party that there is a new jib waiting on the status line? "Hey Dave (or Christy), check the stats."

Messages range from obscure to very obscure. There are in-jokes familiar only to those who have delighted in Bone (phrases like "Hello, small mammal" and "Stupid, stupid rat creatures!"). There are statements from five minutes ago, things like "I merely pointed out that I share my food with you" or "I do not accept that phoenix! It's fat and it looks like a robin!"

It's fun and funny---to us. I sometimes wonder what the rest of cyberspace thinks about it, but I don't worry too much. After all, in theory everybody on my buddy list knows me/us. This means they should know what they're getting into, and if they don't, they can always do what I do when too many changing status messages begin to annoy me: turn off the IM or block the offender.

Meanwhile, we are pleased. Oh, and P.S. for those of you who have long wondered why I call my brother Danya---it's a Russian thing. He studied Russian for a couple years and "Danya" is the affectionate diminutive of his name. He calls me Krasiva or Krasivaya, which sounds like my name but isn't. It actually means "beautiful."

Yes, girls, you can envy me. I have the coolest brothers in the world. :-D