When Teresa Thomas of Bloomington visits her best friend, Sherry Kittle of southern California, Kittle puts out lovely gifts.

Kittle says she gives these types of presents: "books, charms, serious things."

Reversing roles, with Kittle coming to Bloomington in 2006, Thomas gave her this: Sunglasses found at the counter of a party-supply store with eyepieces shaped like beer mugs. Beer goggles.

Humor sometimes requires placing things out of context - like the fun-loving but respectable Kittle, early 40s and proper, wearing something that evokes 2 a.m. alcohol-influenced hookups.

"She wouldn't take them off," said Thomas. "She wore them out to dinner."

A picture has Kittle peering through the beer goggles, as if looking for something, someone. Add a punch line:

• "You'll Do!"

• Or, "I'm not sure what it is but you just keep looking better and better!"

Both lines have been drafted for the inside flap of a greeting card featuring the beer-goggles lady. Hallmark went for the second one, the "you-keep-looking-better" line, and placed it among 18 finalists for its online YourFunny*ness contest.

Voters at www.hallmarkcontests.com/funnyvote decide the winner in a contest that stretches through August. Hallmark Gold Crown stores will carry all 18 cards starting in June. Thomas was holding in fifth place in mid-May. She'd like to win, but getting this far has produced ample laughs for Thomas and Kittle.

In life - in their lives, at least - there's gotta be laughs every day.

Life's gotta be serious, too. There's work to be done. But it oughta be fun, and Thomas ought not have a boss, she's discovered.

She is a freelance photographer trying for major breakthroughs in her own greeting card business, which started four years ago. She has multiple lines of cards in the works: humor, children, nature, flowers, cities, architecture, animals and Africa. Some in the children's line contain Scripture.

One of her cards has a man palming a basketball in each hand. The style of the uniform shows this was taken a lifetime ago. And the fact that his jersey reads "Farmer City" might be queerly funny, especially for those unaware of the town, perhaps living in a far-away city.

The player in the photo is her father. Thomas added a raunchy punch line for a card that is among the prototypes she is marketing. Not so prim and proper, but this also is a woman who reads the Bible daily and attends an evangelical Christian Church.

Last summer, she took a trip to Tanzania with a church group and spent another week there on safari, where she captured volumes of photos. The mission worked on building water wells and teaching health through a project called "Gift of Water, Gift of Life."

Along the way, Thomas found a not-for-profit that employs people with disabilities who otherwise would be beggars. One of their products is paper, made from all sorts of recycled refuse. She uses this paper for her line of cards showing African safari animals.

One type of paper is made from elephant dung. It's a delicate, textured paper and Thomas prints high-contrast images of lions, zebra, giraffes and elephants on the fronts. The paper doesn't stink, but her dog likes the taste and has eaten a couple of the card prototypes.

During the trip, Thomas participated in a training session on treatment for potentially deadly ailments like diarrhea.

"I saw what fresh water could do for people and how it can change lives."

Tiring from the lectures, villagers periodically declared a study break, during which they broke out drums, bells, whistles and spears and started a circle dance.

Thomas had to jump in, and she was following her male interpreter in doing a native dance that entailed stomping of the feet. Then she realized all the women shuffled while the men stomped. The villagers were delighted by the novice.

She imagines the Tanzanian breaks transplanted to American society.

It's 10:15. Break out the drums. "They should try that at State Farm."

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Card contest

YourFunny*ness is the third contest of consumer-submitted cards conducted by Hallmark.

The first contest was in the fall. Called Your(Hallmark)Red, it was part of the (Product)Red project to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and Malaria worldwide. Hallmark is one of the (Product) Red sponsors and the singer Bono is the project's spokesman.

The second contest was YourPets. As with YourFunny*ness, the voting for YourPets is ongoing. It generated 7,000 entries, said Angie Read, who is working on the contests through the Fleishman-Hillard public relations firm. For public voting, the field was narrowed to 67.

Read didn't have the number of entries for YourFunny*ness, but said it was considerably less - in the hundreds. The funny-cards contest required punch lines from the entrants, whereas YourPets required only a photo of a pet, Read said. Finalists for both contests have their cards stocked this summer at Hallmark Gold Crown stores.

• Prize: YourFunny*ness winner gets $1,000 and a trip to Chicago for a workshop with The Second City comedy troupe.

• Judges: Members of Hallmark creative staff and Mary Scruggs, a writer for The Second City.

On the Web

• Contest voting: www.hallmark.com/you - Requires a free account and allows one vote per day per person.

• Site for Teresa Thomas, Bloomington finalist for YourFunny*ness contest: www.imeem.com/nakupendo