I'm not sure if I was born laughing, and I know for certain that I was often an angsty teenager, but I can tell you that as my life's progressed my very favorite exercise in the world is Laughing Out Loud.

It doesn't matter whether it's at myself, the children I raised, with Friends Who Should Know Better Than To Punch That Button (and by "That Button", I mean the one that sends me into gales of laughter that refuse to stop short of my death), or if I'm laughing at the antics of The Evil Queen of Puppydom and her cohorts.

Even physical therapists I've known and loved understand that I'll laugh loudest when I'm in pain because, darn it, what they're doing to stretch me out of it is just plain funny in both the ridiculous "ha-ha" sense as well as the "ow! if I don't laugh..." well, you get the idea sense. Getting me into physical therapy brings new meaning to the phrase "it hurts so good" to be sure.

I love a good laugh, pure and simple. It just feels good.

Which brings me to the new Fox network television show GLEE!

Dear, holy giggle fits, how I love this show, let me count the screams of laughter. It's over the top, strewn with hysterical fits of angst punctuated by some of the funniest in your face music videos (Push It, from last Wednesday's show) performed by the cast and adults who need keepers.

But it's also got passion and heart, roots that run deep and above all a storyline that holds everything together in the best possible sense.

I haven't laughed so much or so hard since Chuck kissed Casey on CHUCK last season. And I was bummed as all get out when that show wasn't on this fall's list of returning shows because even if it comes back in January, that's just too long to wait. I'm delighted to say, however, that GLEE! and it's outrageous notes seems to be filling the potential laugh-void very well and I am truly grateful.

What makes you laugh?