Write-In Votes

Some days gullible is my middle name, and apparently this morning I was having just such a moment. A friend of mine had me convinced for quite a while that he thought both candidates were crap and instead wrote in the Easter Bunny as his choice. Eventually I figured out that he was pulling my leg, but it got me thinking:

What about the write-in candidates?

I'll have to gather more research tomorrow, but I wonder how many people actually write in a candidate for president, and how many of those write-ins are actual live human beings. We've all had thoughts like "my dog is a better option than these guys" but how many of us act on them? And better yet, who gets a lot of votes this way? I'm willing to bet Santa and the Easter Bunny are popular among the fictional candidates, with God and Jesus giving them some tough competition. [note: I'm not saying God and Jesus are or are not fictional... just mentioning them as ineligible candidates people would vote for]

Also, how wrong is it to write-in a fictional character, or even a candidate who has absolutely no chance of winning (like your neighbor Jack who hasn't taken out his trash in 3 months and couldn't even be voted onto the homeowner's association board)? Is it irresponsible to waste your vote, or is it a noble form of protest?

Would you ever write-in a candidate for any office (yes, even down to the neighborhood apple pie queen race)? At what point would you consider it "crossing the line" to choose a candidate not even officially running?