I’m thinking about doing a vlog. Inspiration: Jeffery and Cole Casserole and my love of playing characters. This one typing now is way too close to who I really am. . .

So I googled “Funniest Vlogs” and got some responses that proved how subjective humor is, then “Top Ten Vlogs” – which pulled up the beloved Kelly (of “Shoes” fame) with Heather the Vampire, then “Ten Most Popular Vlogs” just to see what the world outside of Jeffrey, Cole, Kelly, and Heather were doing (that and I have a cold and thinking beyond this makes my skull thump like the energizer bunny on excessive Kombucha).

Ten Most Popular Vlogs (note: of 2007) – first (horrifyingly), a baby cow walking along with its group is taken by surprise by two charging lions, pushed in the water, and attacked – I stopped at the first few bites (noting that in the background of the car from where the video was shot were the voices of children, shocked the calf was caught – I know it is nature but, well, so is a whole lot of other “natural” stuff best kept in the wild or behind closed doors).

Next: some musical prodigy vlogs, some celebrity-inspired vlogs (crazed woman begging people to leave Britney alone, spoof on Timberlake, singing love-crush to shirtless Obama… we all might remember that one), and then, of course, the animal vlogs. There was a cat playing the piano (me thinking: doesn’t a vlog have to be done by and about humans, or isn’t it just a video?) and a clip of Otters Holding Hands.

It’s the otters that got me. Watched start to finish, all 1:40 minutes.

Open on: Two otters were peacefully sleeping, floating around their little pool area while a video camera was trained on them and an increasing crowd of people cooed (camera closing in) with the realization that the otters were holding hands! (me wondering why animals are cutest when they are doing “human” things…)

A minute into the video, one of the otters (let’s call him Ted) is woken up by the coos and releases the other otter’s hand, sending his friend (let’s call him Jeremiah) drifting into the side of the pool wall. Ted looks to the camera in what seems like, if i may anthropomorphize, irritation. This was a private moment between consenting adults. He then swims out of the shot, perhaps being kind enough to drift away from Jeremiah (never Jerry) while tending to some personal business, so as not to sully their shared waters.

And a minute later, crowds quieting, Ted swims back over to Jeremiah (now bumping pleasantly against the pool side) and reaches in to proudly grab his hand (well, paw really but…).

It was cute but for some reason I felt a little silly and, well, a little embarrassed watching – maybe like a chaperone at prom or a maid who doesn’t hear the shower running… or a human watching otters minding their own ottery business. (Still, it really is cute…)