Emoticons…
Have you seen this things? If you are as insistent upon living out your life on MSN Instant Messenger as I am…than I’m 
sure that you have. Some of the emoticons, for those of you who actually don’t know these are little images or animations you can send to your buddy while chatting, are ridiculously funny…while others are just plain ridiculous. It’s gotten to the point where you have to BUY the “coolest” new emoticons in order to be hip and actually entertain your friends while talking to them. I prefer to use my extremely well equipped sense of “Damon humor”, as I call it, to make my closest pals get a good ab workout. But nevertheless, it seems as though the only cure when a conversation is going downhill…is to revert back to the outlandish row of smileys, crying babies, flowers, and sad faces in order to add a sense of usefulnes to what at that point had become a rather dry point in your day.
P.S; Emoticon can only stem from the word emotion. Meaning that these are meant to show your emotions through MSN. But I just think that they were designated for use ONLY by emo kids. Like that guy who can make his hair do that thing like the guy from that one band.
i’m glad that the term “Damon Humor” is finally catching on. It’s an important addition to the english lexicon.
Awesome Post!
Third Rake webcomic
Damon, I must give you kudos on many levels!
First, awesome use of “rediculous” as a tag word. Not only is this word a little-known geek culture term but it also falls under the key strategy of using mis-spelled words to attract visitors. It always cracks me up to see huge companies spend millions on keyword bids, SEO, SEM, and all this crap yet the simplest things get overlooked, such as using the popular “illiterations” of words.
Second, I agree that emoticons are hugely over-used and often in the wrong contest. I remember when simple ASCII smilies were meant to enhance the written word, not replace it. Of course, with the right timing and some rationed use, it can be a good comedic tool but it is, for all intents and purposes, still a cheesy prop, much like what those Carrot Top or Gallagher guys would use in their shows.
My girlfriend and I love to use the emoticons on Yahoo but it’s because they at least come with audibles that, in the right context, can really crack you up. Of course, if you over-use them, it gets annoying. She knows I have this peeve and often spams me with the audibles just to bother me. There are others that do it thinking they’re cool when, really, their actions are everything short of being cool.
Last but not least, I like your reference to the ubiquitous “emo kid” movement. It reminds me of the goth movement in the 90’s, really, but even worse. My definition of an emo kid is any person that is, generally speaking, well-off yet somehow apathetic and unhappy in spite of it. They whine about things that aren’t really that bad and blow everything out of proportion. I’d call them Jerry Seinfields on anti-depressants.. But that’d be a compliment in most cases. LOL
On the topic of emo kids alone, we can talk forever. It’s one of those “easy ammo” topics that is perfect for the blogosphere. I like some emo music, I can’t lie, cause the stuff is catchy. It cracks me up how you can’t understand them sometimes and they’re speaking English.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=emo
The Urban Dictionary entry says it all. Much like goth except less dark, more Harry Potter. LOL… Good stuff. I am actually spreading the term “rediculous” out more cause it shows how often people spell words incorrectly and falls into many topical discussions that I enjoy having…
Anywho, I digress… In closing, Third Rake is pretty darn funny. I enjoyed the brown recluse scene. It hits home for me because of this thing that happened once…. Bah.. That’s an anecdote for another time!! =oD
(Uh oh.. I used a smiley.. Don’t hate me for being emo…)