There are times when I do, say, or create things that I think are funny and my friends agree. There are times when I do, say, or create things that I think are funny and my friends disagree. There are times when I do, say, or create things that I think are funny and my friends get very annoyed by what I have done, said, or created. The first two situations are the most common, and create no problems for me. It is the third situation which causes me the most trouble, as I find it uncontollably funny when this happens. I am not sure why, but doing something I think is innocuous and having people get annoyed is an embarrased pleasure in my life.

For example, after introducing my peeps to Speakonia last year I decided to use the program create a new outgoing message for my cell phone. I was intrigued by the idea of Numbers Stations from listening to the Wilco album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, which uses samples of Conet Project [see also] recordings, and from their usage in the plot of the TV show Lost. So I decided to use a voice that sounded like the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot woman and use the basic idea of the recordings to structure my new message. Here is an mp3 of the result with my phone number altered.

Voice Mail Outgoing Message

My sister refuses to leave messages and will hang up if I let the phone go to voice mail, my mom's messages start with a sigh of annoyance, and one friend was so confused that his voice mail began with several seconds of silence as he tried to figure out whether it was time for him to talk.

And yet, I have not changed my message. No matter how many people hate it, or how many times I have been asked why I would have an outgoing message like that, I have so far steadfastly refused to alter the message by even one iota. Why? Because the message amuses me, and because it's effect on others amuses me even more. I am neither proud nor ashamed of this fact, I simply accept it as being part of who I am; a unique part of my own unique sickness.