![This is where I reveal I’m not crazy. Though I am crazy about a good prank.
Yep, it was all a ruse. One designed to send my #1 fool into a panic for a few hours — and confound the rest of you while I was at it.
Here’s how I did it. (Relive the whole prank, beginning to end, here.)
I found a tattoo artist on St. Mark’s Place who was willing to play along (all the other artists I spoke to flat-out refused to take part, as though it was an affront to the sacred art of the tattoo. I mean, come on.) But this guy was bored and he had a sense of humor. After setting up exactly as he would if I was really getting a tattoo, he drew the design with a Sharpie pen. Then he smudged Indian ink around it for authenticity, and I smudged blush on top of that, to make it look irritated. And voilà!
Now, as you know, M. doesn’t read my blog, so I had a friend of his email him to say (and I quote):
Subject: Speaking of crazy
Not that we were, but have you checked Nora’s blog lately (I know you usually don’t but…)?? […] Did you know she was going to do that? I think I am speechless. Writeless? Whatever. Um, wow.
She then Gchatted him. Poor M. tried to remain as calm as he could:
7:13 PM Friend: I guess you know she’s smitten ;)
7:14 PM M: Oh dear I do.
Fortunately I’m also crazy about her at the moment…
…but tattoos are a bit precipitous.
I mean, what happens if we break up?
Friend: well, I hope her wrist is crazy about you for all of time
M: This is scary.
I wanted to let him sweat it out as long as I could, but at this point I was jumping around the apartment with nerves and excitment and fielding texts, emails, and calls from people who believed it was real — including my own cousin. At exactly 7:48 PM, I called him.
“Honey! I have a surprise for you. I need to show you. Can I see you tonight?”
His voice sounded weak but he agreed, and even invited me to a party later that night. (I was relieved he was still willing to be seen in public with me.)
About an hour later I got a call from a friend of M.’s, a guy I happened to run into moments after getting the faux tattoo and then confessed what I was up to. He was at a bar with M., and had just ducked out to make the call.
“Oh. My. God,” he said, barely able to contain his laughter. “Nora, he is freaking out.” He admitted he was egging him on, saying things like, “Are you sure she’s not poking holes in the condoms?” (Poor, poor M. Thought he’d finally found a normal girl….)
“But you know what?” he said, “It’s clear he likes you very, very much. And there will be a tiny part of him that is dissappointed that it’s not real.”
Finally, at 10 PM, we met at The Borgeouis Pig. I was giddy. He looked pale. My hair was tucked into a cap.
“Did you cut your hair?” he asked.
“Yes! That’s the surprise! I was nervous, I thought you wouldn’t like it, guys can get so attached to long hair….”
He looked deeply confused.
“April Fool’s!” I shouted. “Ha ha! No, I didn’t cut my hair. I did something … bigger.”
“Bigger?”
“Much bigger. But I’m nervous to show you. I need a drink first.”
As we waited for our champagne, I quipped, “At least you know I’m not pregnant! I wouldn’t be drinking.”
His eyes grew as round as saucers, his friend’s words clearly ringing in his ears.
“Uh … were you planning on getting pregnant?”
“No, silly!”
After a few sips of champagne, it was time for the big reveal.
“You know I’m madly in love with you,” I said.
“And I’m madly in love with you,” he said, but I could tell he was steeling himself.
“And you know I’m sort of … impulsive. Well….” I slowly unwrapped the Saran-Wrap around my wrist and peeled off the cotton pad covering the tattoo.
I will never forget his reaction. He squinted his eyes and his voice was higher than I thought possible and he drew out every word in the most unnatural way: “Oh Baaaaby. Thaaaaaaaank yooooouu. Ohhhh. Wowwwwww.”
And then he looked down again and saw what was written on the underside of the pad: APRIL FOOL’S!
I got him SO GOOD. And he loved it. (I’ve never met a man who doesn’t appreciate a wicked sense of humor in a woman.)
As it turns out, even after his friend emailed to tell him to check my blog, he refused to do so, deciding that if I had a surprise for him, he should wait ‘til I revealed it myself. But he did ask his roommate to check my blog to confirm the allegations. The second she saw the pictures she freaked out and she made him look at this one. Then he started getting emails from other friends who happened to see the blog. Some people noticed that I announced earlier in the day that I was madly in love and thinking of doing something crazy. And although everyone thought it could be an April Fool’s prank, the consensus was that it all looked so authentic, it had to be real.
Indeed, I had a lot of you fooled right up until this post. (Yeah, that wasn’t real either.)
All I have to say is, next year, watch out! April Fool’s doesn’t have to fall on the first.](http://27.media.tumblr.com/zkfIIODV5lumnvk2OOJTEHTFo1_500.jpg)
This is where I reveal I’m not crazy. Though I am crazy about a good prank.
Yep, it was all a ruse. One designed to send my #1 fool into a panic for a few hours — and confound the rest of you while I was at it.
Here’s how I did it. (Relive the whole prank, beginning to end, here.)
I found a tattoo artist on St. Mark’s Place who was willing to play along (all the other artists I spoke to flat-out refused to take part, as though it was an affront to the sacred art of the tattoo. I mean, come on.) But this guy was bored and he had a sense of humor. After setting up exactly as he would if I was really getting a tattoo, he drew the design with a Sharpie pen. Then he smudged Indian ink around it for authenticity, and I smudged blush on top of that, to make it look irritated. And voilà!
Now, as you know, M. doesn’t read my blog, so I had a friend of his email him to say (and I quote):
Subject: Speaking of crazy
Not that we were, but have you checked Nora’s blog lately (I know you usually don’t but…)?? […] Did you know she was going to do that? I think I am speechless. Writeless? Whatever. Um, wow.
She then Gchatted him. Poor M. tried to remain as calm as he could:
7:13 PM Friend: I guess you know she’s smitten ;)7:14 PM M: Oh dear I do.
Fortunately I’m also crazy about her at the moment…
…but tattoos are a bit precipitous.
I mean, what happens if we break up?
Friend: well, I hope her wrist is crazy about you for all of time
M: This is scary.
I wanted to let him sweat it out as long as I could, but at this point I was jumping around the apartment with nerves and excitment and fielding texts, emails, and calls from people who believed it was real — including my own cousin. At exactly 7:48 PM, I called him.
“Honey! I have a surprise for you. I need to show you. Can I see you tonight?”
His voice sounded weak but he agreed, and even invited me to a party later that night. (I was relieved he was still willing to be seen in public with me.)
About an hour later I got a call from a friend of M.’s, a guy I happened to run into moments after getting the faux tattoo and then confessed what I was up to. He was at a bar with M., and had just ducked out to make the call.
“Oh. My. God,” he said, barely able to contain his laughter. “Nora, he is freaking out.” He admitted he was egging him on, saying things like, “Are you sure she’s not poking holes in the condoms?” (Poor, poor M. Thought he’d finally found a normal girl….)
“But you know what?” he said, “It’s clear he likes you very, very much. And there will be a tiny part of him that is dissappointed that it’s not real.”
Finally, at 10 PM, we met at The Borgeouis Pig. I was giddy. He looked pale. My hair was tucked into a cap.
“Did you cut your hair?” he asked.
“Yes! That’s the surprise! I was nervous, I thought you wouldn’t like it, guys can get so attached to long hair….”
He looked deeply confused.
“April Fool’s!” I shouted. “Ha ha! No, I didn’t cut my hair. I did something … bigger.”
“Bigger?”
“Much bigger. But I’m nervous to show you. I need a drink first.”
As we waited for our champagne, I quipped, “At least you know I’m not pregnant! I wouldn’t be drinking.”
His eyes grew as round as saucers, his friend’s words clearly ringing in his ears.
“Uh … were you planning on getting pregnant?”
“No, silly!”
After a few sips of champagne, it was time for the big reveal.
“You know I’m madly in love with you,” I said.
“And I’m madly in love with you,” he said, but I could tell he was steeling himself.
“And you know I’m sort of … impulsive. Well….” I slowly unwrapped the Saran-Wrap around my wrist and peeled off the cotton pad covering the tattoo.
I will never forget his reaction. He squinted his eyes and his voice was higher than I thought possible and he drew out every word in the most unnatural way: “Oh Baaaaby. Thaaaaaaaank yooooouu. Ohhhh. Wowwwwww.”
And then he looked down again and saw what was written on the underside of the pad: APRIL FOOL’S!
I got him SO GOOD. And he loved it. (I’ve never met a man who doesn’t appreciate a wicked sense of humor in a woman.)
As it turns out, even after his friend emailed to tell him to check my blog, he refused to do so, deciding that if I had a surprise for him, he should wait ‘til I revealed it myself. But he did ask his roommate to check my blog to confirm the allegations. The second she saw the pictures she freaked out and she made him look at this one. Then he started getting emails from other friends who happened to see the blog. Some people noticed that I announced earlier in the day that I was madly in love and thinking of doing something crazy. And although everyone thought it could be an April Fool’s prank, the consensus was that it all looked so authentic, it had to be real.
Indeed, I had a lot of you fooled right up until this post. (Yeah, that wasn’t real either.)
All I have to say is, next year, watch out! April Fool’s doesn’t have to fall on the first.
blog comments powered by Disqus ← Previous Post Next Post →
The Great American Cooking Project
Notes from others: