Safety first, then teamwork.

Alright kids. We think you're all old enough to have a mature conversation about something that's very important. It may make or break your relationship with a special person or a not so special person. That's right. It's time for the EMOTICON use discussion.

Emoticons. You have the power to control them because they sit in your very own keyboard of your computer or your cellular device. It's a very powerful tool that few people possess the ability to correctly use or even to receive. According to Wikipedia, emoticons were created in the 19th century for humorous/casual writing. On September 19, 1982, the first digital form of these symbols were used by Scott Fahlman. There are even traces of our favorite President, Abraham Lincoln, using emoticons in documents dating back to 1862. Whether or not he had a misprint in his writing, I think it's safe to say he had some sort of subliminal messaging in his brain shown through his writing.

We enjoy using emoticons as much as the next person. In fact we have favorites. They include (divided by a / symbol):
<:^) / <@;-) /

You can even mix and match any of these symbols! It's great fun, kind of like those paper dolls you had when you were five and you could mix and match their clothing, ah good times. emoticons can even translate into mediums never before untilized. If your feeling really sassy you can even take your favorite emoticon (ex. ;)) and say it in normal speech (winky smiley face).

Perhaps you've even used some of these emoticons yourself ;)

That's right. We just sent a winky face emoticon to you. Especially for YOU. Because we probably want to meet you in real life, carry on a real conversation, take long walks on the beach, eat ice cream sundaes, and talk about the future. All because we sent you a winky face emoticon through a keyboard. Seriously we now want to marry all of you becuase YOU have recieved a winky face.

Ok, people. Here's the thing. We love to use emoticons, usually to be complete idiots. They do not mean real emotion. Let's repeat. EMOTICONS ARE NOT REAL. We love getting in emoticon battles. How awesome can you get your emoticon to be? The best are when you might have to include a description of your created emoticon. (feel free to leave us some in the comments)

We know people, and have been those people, who send emoticons to lots of people. Our family, friends, enemies, acquaintance's. We don't recommend reading into emoticons. They just cause trouble and annoyances that no one wants to deal with. For example, have you caught yourself saying omg does he/she like me more than a friend? I mean, they sent this winky face emoticon when they said they were at a doctors appointment or washing their car. In our case, we'd probably just be being dbags, in other cases, well, do you really want to start a relationship through a text or a internet blog? Sure, if you want to tell people, "Oh yeah, when he/she sent me that winky face emoticon after telling me he/she has SARS, I knew it was fate." We freakin' hope not. If you do, please get off the internet.

We personally love sending smiley faces and getting no response and then send winky faces and get sexually assalte through our computers/phones.. WAIT. for crying out loud we create/use emoticons because we are ridiculous. we actually find it funny to type out these emoticons and its really sad that such harmless fun can be twisted into any sort of actual meaning.

Now with recent trends in emoticon use and the general dumbness society possess emoticons serve as screening tools. If we send you <;) and you respond back "hey babe" or "what are you doing" we immediatly know you are not our real friend and are a douche. if you would have responded "douche" or even said nothign at all we would know that you are a keeper.

We want emoticons to be fun. After all, they're just symbols that happen to be on your keyboard for punctuation marks. If you can't send them responsibly, don't. We hope you feel stupid if you read into punctuation marks. [/;-S

daily high five: creators of the movie "The Hangover." If you haven't seen it, we hope you do. If you can quote anything from Pineapple Express, Role Models, or StepBrothers, go see this in your overpriced theater. its worth it.

daily bitch slap: jack nicholson (spelling? it doesn't matter). Ok, seriously dude, you need to chill out while watching the Lakers. When you stand up and start shouting obsentities at the players, remember we can read your lips and you look like an idiot.also did you recently get a bff necklace with bono because who else wears their sunglasses at nightt? it also doesn't help that you're a huge lakers fan. We hate the Lakers.