I adore Chester!

That is what I named my boyfriend’s back-of-throat laugh. If you think that seems like a strange thing to do, you probably don’t know me very well and you definitely haven’t heard Mark laugh. And I mean really laugh. You see, Mark’s laughs could be classified as a separate language system and studied. The boy doesn’t mess about.

His laugh spectrum begins with his “polite” laugh, in which he expels air in neat, nerdy “ha ha” soundwaves. When this intensifies, becomes louder and is interspaced with deep breaths – “ha ha ha (pause) ha ha (pause) ha ha” – it means he’s really laughing from the heart.

The final level – which also often involves a rocking motion – sees the adoption of a whole new breathing technique. In this the “ha ha” expulsions are followed by a regular pattern of loud inhalations that sound a bit like a squirrel choking on a woodpecker.

Mark also likes to experiment with his nostrils and throat to vary the severity and meaning of his laughs.

This is how Chester comes about. I’m still not sure how he does it, but when Mark finds something particularly amusing (usually himself), he signifies it by letting out a ticking kind of sound at the back of his throat. I don’t know how to describe it, because it’s just one of those things you have to experience for yourself (like the purring of a cat or Channel 10 news presenters trying to sound empathetic). Personally I adore it. That’s why I’ve named it Chester. And that’s my story for today.