Er...I know this may sound dumb, but I just need to know. This is robbing me of sleep, and ruining my waking hours. I've tried to control it, but it will NOT lie quiet. Help Me! What on earth does 'LOL' mean?? I keep coming across it everywhere, and now am beginning to go crazy.. gnashgnash*

Laugh Out Loud :)

AHHH!!! So that's it! Thank you! Thank you! (weeps tears of relief) And does LMAO mean something similar? I'm so sorry asking these stupid questions, but sometimes a different culture can be like a different planet...:[

Laughing My Ass Off It's never stupid to ask questions. Some of the answers may be stupid, but never the questions. ;)

Well, thank you so much, D. That's a comfort. I must confess that I've sometimes felt very out of my depth in the galleries. I feel sometimes as though the only common thing is the language, and because of the difference of worlds, I've not been able to write from the heart, except occasionally. These abbreviations make me feel as though I'm gate-crashing. :) And is it my imagination, but it seems to me that the darker the thought, the more it is preferred. This has been bothering me, but I don't know whether it's 'proper' to ask this question. Is there a place for 'normalcy'? Actually what's normal, anyway? All writing is valid because all hearts are valid. But what does one do when one feels like an anachronism? :) Sorry again for the intensity. You've been kind enough to encourage my Haikus. Would you be kind one more time, and I won't ask any more questions.:)

There is no one born knowing all these abbreviations. I learned them by asking someone else; I am glad to help out by sharing what I know with you. I would encourage you not to pay attention to the popularity contest that is the galleries. You can look at this as a place to experiment and learn; but don't expect to find here a place to judge your work. Someone once said I was eccentric, and so I asked a close friend of mine if she thought I was eccentric. She said, "Well, yes, you are a little eccentric." At that point, I have a choice. I can stop being the person I am in order to conform to someone else's notion of what a "normal" person is; or I can decide that, as long as I hurt no one and I live consistently with the principles I profess, then someone else's opinion of me is not very important. You have a choice. You can try to win the popularity contest, but I don't think that will make you happy in the long run, or you can write what feels true to you, and have confidence that somewhere (perhaps not here) is an audience for your work. I have struggled with this myself. My style of writing is one that I know wouldn't appeal to the majority of people. I could copy someone else's style...there's no big trick in that...but I've decided that isn't the path I want to go down. I keep my writing to myself these days because I haven't decided whether or not I'll continue with it, but what I write, whether for an audience or for myself, will be true to who I am. I don't know if that answers your questions or not, or if there is an answer, or if someone like me could provide an answer. Have you ever read "The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom" by Don Miguel Ruiz? The four agreements are, briefly:

1. Be impeccable with your words
2. Don't take anything personally
3. Don't make assumptions
4. Always do your best

As a guideline to life and writing, one could do worse.

:) I had to ask to learn them too :)

That was VERY good sense. Only a fool would disregard what you've written. I have a feeling that these words will come back to me oftener than I think, to good use. Thank you so much again. It gives me an anchor point, and a way to orient how I interact here. :)

Attached Link: http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid26_gci211776,00.html

I've never read The Four Agreements but they pretty much sum up my thoughts on the subject. What a boring world we would live in if we were all perfectly normal. It would be very Orwellian. I shudder to think of it. BTW, the attached link has a bunch of web (chat) abbreviations you may find helpful. HTH. ;-) jon