Meredith, yes, of all the points I made, the one about how tied I really am to my Twitter friends was the one that stuck out the most (along with the related point about conversation). And I agree, I was far *less* productive when Twitter was down than I am when it's just there, in the background.

Daisy, I might eventually check out Plurk, but I haven't really been annoyed enough with Twitter to add a new social media option into my life. You might have to sell me a bit harder. :) (Oh wait, it wasn't a sales pitch!)

Leighann, yeah, that "I'm opening my mouth to say something but nothing's coming out" feeling isn't fun, is it? I really should try out TweetDeck. While I'm at it, I really should get an iPhone, too, eh?

Genevieve, I know all about that issue! I always try to gauge exactly how *hard* the audience in my head is really laughing, and if it's a all-out belly laugh, or a snarky, head-centric laugh. I don't know about you, but the belly laughs in my head tend to be more reliable—and more rare. :)