In her interview with me, Sugarrae said “He is definitely a witty guy, but has a stern way of saying things sometimes that leaves you wondering if he was being serious or simply having fun with you. 
“.
She’s right – although I make jokes _all_ the time, I never smile when I do, for some reason (shyness? introversion? the long shadow of my Puritan ancestry?). I’ve known about this deadpan-humor problem of mine for a while, but it was sharp of Rae to notice it like within five minutes of meeting me. Usually people just think I am prone to say very serious yet very odd things, and are baffled and uneasy until they they get to know me.
J. came up with a brilliant solution to my meatspace problem – physical emoticons! That’s right, all I need to do is carry around a smiley sticker on top of, like, a popsicle stick and hold it up whenever I’m not serious. 
That’s the signal to laugh (if it’s funny), or not laugh (if it’s not funny) or (more likely) to begin backing away slowly, saying calming things. The Internet has taught us _so_ much.
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