Allow me to introduce myself.

I'm an unemployed person in southeastern Michigan who stayed up way, way too late the other night reading humorous (and a few serious) blogs about unemployment.

After laughing a little too loudly at posts about such things as wearing pajamas during the day, not making it out of your apartment some days, the futility of calling your state unemployment agency's telephone line, how much time we "formerly employed professionals" (ahem) spend on the Internet, (ahem) and what lengths to go to to get free restaurant meals, I checked to see where my fellow unemployed blogging Americans were blogging from.

First, I wanted to know if they were spying on me.

No. They were writing from California. Heh. Lightweights.

Not to belittle their -- or anyone's -- job losses.

Not that The Golden State is without its economic troubles. I understand its unemployment rate is now over 10 percent. That's not good.

However. We here in Michigan are #1 in the country when it comes to unemployment: 12 percent. Try jobhunting in our economy, my fellow unemployed Americans! I dare you!

It's so bad here in Michigan, Jay Leno decided to come here from California to take our minds off things for a few nights.

It's so bad, I decided the Internet needed a blogger from here in The Great Lakes State to make light of it all.

Here, I hope to examine what's so funny (and not-so-funny) about unemployment here in my home state.

After I go to a job fair later on today, though.