One of the things I've always said about the Internet is that the image of a lonely soul typing away at the computer into the wee hours of the night is a complete fallacy. If anything, our social circles have grown immensely due to this network of people. Not only do we meet new people all the time, but the Internet allows us to keep in touch, and even find long-lost people.
I'll give you an example. In the fall of my grade six year, my best friend Carrie moved away to Ontario, never to be seen again. I was eleven and I was devastated. A few years ago, I plugged her name into Classmates, and lo! There she was! I zapped her an email, she sent one back, and we were suddenly playing catch-up.
If there is a down-side to this, I suppose it's the immense pressure to maintain this vast number of relationships. In the "old days", we only really had to worry about keeping in touch with family and a few friends. People who moved away and with whom we'd lost touch were pleasant memories, but no longer a part of everyday life. I am glad that I found Carrie again, and Cheryl, and the others, but the sheer volume of relationships can sometimes be a bit overwhelming, and it can be difficult to know what to say to someone you haven't seen since you were eleven. In many ways, I think that's why blogs have become so popular -- it's a way to update people on your life in a way that is efficient and yet somehow still personal.
The other thing about blogs is that you don't always know who's reading them. We've all heard the horror stories about people being fired about what they've written, but "if it bleeds, it leads", right? I just found out on Friday that a good friend with whom I'd lost touch years ago has been reading this blog for a while, but wasn't in a position to drop me a line until now. And I've missed him. It's so nice to have him back, and somehow knowing that he was reading this blog and rooting for me through all of the summer's turmoil makes me feel better, as if something good finally came out of it.
In other news, Zaphod the cat is now a permanent member of our household, and he seems to be quite pleased with the arrangement. I guess his testicles were a small price to pay.
1 comment:
Hi there. I hit the fifty thousand word thing today and I feel drained. Like I've reached the end. I'be been pushing today and it didn't go as well.
We're just about decided to name our new cat "that Goddam Cat" for all the trouble he gets into. "that goddam cat chewed a hole in my jacket." "that goddam cat is crawling up the screens."
anyway, it's late and i'm off to bed.
Harvey
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