adoration...

Nikki wrote a post about me yesterday and how much I love cherries. Her whole point was that it's one of the kind of quirky things about me that she loves. It's really great to feel like a person sees attractive things in me even when I'm just doing something that I consider pretty normal. I mean, doesn't everybody love cherries?

Last night I couldn't help but notice one of the many very endearing things about Nikki. She can't tell jokes. She usually doesn't try, of course. Wouldn't it be annoying if she was always trying to tell a joke? If she did then I probably wouldn't be married to her, despite her many other charms. In all honesty jokes aren't even that funny. Even the funniest of jokes are still pretty stupid. Maybe that's a product of our culture and we are now far more demanding when it comes to humor. We're used to Frasier or the Simpsons and we just require a lot more to think that something merits laughter. But anyway, jokes are usually stupid so I don't feel cheated that Nikki can't tell any.

She does, however, know a lot about the history of certain kinds of jokes and stuff. Her master's degree is in folklore, and so she's full of tidbits of information about certain customs and traditions. It's interesting. Last night me and her stepdad and her were sitting on the couch and talking. This couch is great. It's a nice, deep leather sofa and it's one of those ones that turn at a right angle. It's great to sit there and talk with her and her family. We've had some really great conversations there.

I can't remember how it came up.... I think I mentioned a memory that I have of Pollock jokes. Terry (her dad) said that he remembers being young and telling elephant jokes. Nikki thinks these jokes were really great and full of cultural significance. I'm not familiar with them.

The dialogue was something like this:

Nikki: My favorite elephant joke was always the one like this... How many elephants can you fit into a VW bug?

Terry: I don't know... How many?

Nikki: Umm... Well, I don't really remember either. It's my favorite one and it kind of goes in a circle and comes back around and then it's something like 'an elephant is in your vw bug' or something... um... but I think it was one. Wait! No, it was something like one elephant, but you have to... um... no, it was something... um....

Terry and Stoker: **hearty laughter** (this was actually much funnier than the joke would have been)

Nikki: Hold on... I remember, it was... um.. I think it's just one. I think it was, but I can't remember very good... Um....

Don't get me wrong here. We weren't laughing at Nikki. She recognized the funniness of the situation but was still somewhat frustrated at not being able to remember her favorite elephant joke. Me and Terry each told a couple more classics, and Nikki remembered another one too.

Nikki: Oh yeah, that reminds me...

Stoker: Okay

Nikki: It's the only Pollock joke I can remember. There was a Pollock, a German, and a Russian. And they were... um... I can't really remember. Um... okay.. There were three men, a German, a Russian, and a Pollock and they were... um.... Jeez! I can't remember how it went... um.....

By this time it was very funny. You know? Every single Pollock joke starts with a Pollock, a German, and a Russian. I want to say again that we weren't laughing at Nikki, as she also understood the absurdity of the situation.

It's really cute. She knows that she's not a joke-teller and still she tries sometimes. I think I'm really lucky to be with her. I hope that nobody has interpreted this as an attempt to poke fun at my sweet-heart. I'm simply trying to share some of her lesser-known and terribly adorable personality traits. I really love her.