67. "Towards a more mirthful inbox."

About a month ago, a frequently-cited associate of mine ended an e-mail with the above sign-off line.

And in doing so, he started a chain reaction of brilliant, biting, and hilarious e-mail correspondence amongst 10 of the funniest guys on the planet.* And me.

It's all related to a previously-mentioned wager. But really, it's an excuse for the 11 of us to engage in written tom-foolery with one another--and in the process, exercise one of the most time-honored tools in the repertoire of mano a mano communication: the witty retort.

And for what it's worth, several of the guys could be professional retorters. If there was such a profession.

Seeing as how it's a confidential discussion, I'm contractually bound to refrain from divulging details from the conversation. But know that some of the biggest, loudest laughs I've had in the past year--or ever--have come from reading this e-mail thread.

So, as far as I'm concerned, any day in which at least one or two messages are added to this thread of sophisticatedly-sophomoric e-mails is a good day. Even if everything else about the day in question has been downright lousy.

Towards a more mirthful inbox, indeed.



*These 10 guys also happen to be ten of my favorite people on the planet, so I might be a tad biased. But probably not far from the truth.