Funny is sexy.

One of the reasons Mr. 9 and I got along so well, was he could make me laugh.

At first, and for a long time, no one really knew how funny he was.
It was kind of special knowing how silly he could be around me.
And not around other people.
He had terrible jokes, but we would spend hours upon hours heightening each other’s stupid noises or making theme songs to tv shows that didn’t exist, or pretending to be the voice of God warning people not to be assholes.
We just got each other that way.
And when I would write something, I just knew…
If 9 didn’t think it was funny, then it just wasn’t.
And when something I did made him laugh, I knew I had gold.

So that’s why it should have sent off some bells…
That spring.
We were taking a walk.
I made some observation that I knew was hilarious.
And he didn’t even cramp a smile.

Me – Come on! You don’t think that’s funny? That’s hilarious! You’re being crazy.
9 – Just drop it okay?!

But of course I couldn’t.
It wasn’t the first time he’d thought something I said wasn’t funny, but he seemed so angry about it.
Usually we could just laugh about how bad it was and move on.
We laughed a lot together.

Me – I can’t believe you don’t think that’s funny! What’s the matter with you? Are you okay?
9 – I’m fine, I just think that’s stupid.

I often say things that are stupid but that I think are hilarious… that’s true
But he wasn’t fine.
He had been sitting in a stew of his own making for some time.
The ingredients included “not being in love with me anymore” and “feeling obligated to stay in the relationship”.
I didn’t know this though.

Once he found his voice as a writer and started making a name for himself,
other people got to know how funny he is.
He gained a confidence through the reading circuit that I had never seen in him before.
He writes very charming fiction and although he doesn’t consider himself a comedian, he knows how to punch up a script.
Plus he’s driven.
So, a lot of people want a piece of him now.
Other writers, the press, and I can assume… girls.
And it’s no secret what a good sense of humor he has.
He can be silly around everyone, except me.

Looking back I can see how we didn’t laugh.
How we didn’t share the same jokes anymore.

It should have dawned on me.
But I wasn’t paying attention I guess.
I miss it a lot.
To be honest, it’s the thing I miss the most.

Dancing like idiots to the Jackson 5 in my room and making one minute films of it on the digital camera.
Coming up with songs for our band that only uses nonsense sounds for its songs and not words.
Trying to find the exact pitch between the two of us for the sound of a ring tone.
Making up puns using the names of towns we were driving through.
"Goin' to Topeka"