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As I’ve been busy traveling and preparing to move I was a little late taking a friend to Salem with me, but I finally got around to it last week. Here are the results!

I knew brining my wacky next door neighbor Joanna to Salem with me would be a crazy trip. But, when she started to operatically hum along to the theme song I started laughing. In fact, I didn’t stop laughing until the end credits rolled.

“I think of drama, crazy storylines and hot, juicy guys!” Joanna responded during our pre-interview when I asked her about her knowledge of soaps. Having only watched a few episodes of One Life to Live as a child with her grandmother, she called herself a “soap virgin.” I also asked her if she knew anything about Days and she simply replied, “I know it’s your favorite show so it has to be saucy.”

Saucy for sure, but I was glad to have a practical blank slate to introduce to Salem … a practical blank slate I hoped to get hooked! Ironically, I didn’t have to do much selling as Joanna jumped in head first. Within the first few minutes she was already yelling at the TV!

“Get the doctor!” she exclaimed as Philip flat lined during the episode we watched on Monday, May 4th. As it turned out, Philip’s fate was nothing more than one of Stephanie’s nightmares. Stephanie, by the way, is the character she referred to as, “Philip’s bouffantted girlfriend.”

Although she did get into the swing of things quickly, I did get a blank stare then a series of giggles when I started to explain the relationships between the characters during the first commercial break. But, in her defense, even the most seasoned Days’ Fans has trouble keeping character relations straight from time to time. “There’s a whole lot of stuff going on,” she mused.

However, I quickly began to question Joanna’s “limited soap knowledge” as she seemed to pick up on storylines rather quickly. As soon as she saw Sami walk in on Rafe and Arianna having coffee and expressing their love for one another she immediately guessed they were siblings. She was right of course, but that didn’t stop her from taunting Rafe with a, “Oh you’re caught sucka!”

Yet, she did seem to like Rafe. “He’s pretty cute,” she smirked. Although her starry eyes for him lasted throughout the episode, she did have one question for me after he and Sami made up then started to flirt. “Why did Rafe turn into Danny Zuko? I was waiting for him to start singing Summer Nights.” I wondered the same thing myself as he seemed to get a little cocky and cool after scoring Sami’s affection.

Speaking of Ms Brady, Joanna didn’t care for her much … at first. I laughed and explained that Sami typically doesn’t make the best first impression on anyone. “Ya, I kind of wanted to tell her to shut up,” she confessed as she watched Sami rip into Rafe. “Calm down crazy lady,” she added.

Nevertheless when I explained Sami’s relationship to E.J., Lucas and the children they shared she began to warm up to Salem’s most infamous schemer. In fact, she later confessed that was one of the most interesting parts of the show. Her only complaint was that E.J./James Scott wasn’t in the episode we watched after seeing him on the previews for the next day.

“Holy Hotness!” she gushed. Actually, she confessed that Days has a very attractive cast. “All the women are really pretty too.” I took that as a cue to brag a little and explained that James and Nadia (Chloe) were recently voted the Hottest Soap Stars during soapcentral.com’s Dankie Awards. She wasn’t surprised as earlier she described Chloe as, “That hot mama with the coffee cup!”

Joanna also had another observation about Chloe. She thinks Ms. Lane is pregnant. I told her both Laurisa and I have suspected the same thing before. Her hunch also led into a lengthy discussion about Chloe, Dr. Dan, Lucas and, Joanna’s favorite character, Kate.

“She’s a real ball buster!” she began, “I liked Kate a lot. Yet, I did wonder why she doesn’t seem to have anything to do besides hang out at the hospital and harass that doctor.” That doctor, of course, was Dr. Dan, whom Joanna described as a “tasty whore” after I told her all about his past indiscretions including Chelsea, Kate’s granddaughter, and Chloe, her daughter-in-law. “He’s basically infiltrated three generations of hot ladies. It seems that everyone has done that doctor.”

Sadly, the hour seemed to fly by. After it was all over, I asked Joanna if she would be tuning into Days on a regular basis. “I have to now!” she exclaimed. I gloated as I seemed to succeed in my goal of getting her hooked! “Although,” she added, “I did enjoy my time in Salem, but if I visit again I’m bringing along a taser gun, condoms and a reusable coffee cup – it seems everyone’s having relations with each other and drinking coffee all the time!”

I ensured Joanna the Java Café was always open so she definitely needs to tune in again! I also ensured her that all of Salem has recently “gone green” which appealed to her eco-friendly lifestyle. Joanna runs an on-line store called the Feltiverse where she sells her handmade wool sculptures. In fact, Joanna is going to be featured in an Eco-Chic Craftacular at the Whetsone Park Community Center in Columbus, Ohio this coming weekend so if you’re in the area make sure to check out her colorful crafts or you can always log onto her website at www.luckyd.etsy.com!

For more information on “Take A Friend to Salem Day” check out Laurisa’s Blog!