Don’t think too hard. Just blurt out whatever comes to you first.

Happy New Year!

Somehow, William Butler Yeats was able to see into the future and describe a society grown weak with options:

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

I have just one question for you:

If you developed a physical condition such that you were suddenly unable to use any electronic device, (computer, phone, etc) how many of your internet friends would make a physical effort (write a letter, visit, ask a friend to check on you) to make sure you were alive and well?

I don’t need to know your answer. I’d be grateful if you’d take a few moments to think about it though. There’s another side to the question: how many of your internet friends would you go looking for if they disappeared?

I think there’s a chance we’ve become addicted to familiarity in the mistaken hope that familiarity will lead to understanding. That understanding doesn’t seem to be happening though. Like children, emboldened with the thrill of new relationships, we promise transparency and hope that our risk will be rewarded.

As you float from platform to platform, gobbling up the “new friend smell” that drives so many mad, I hope you’ll remember that relationships are not judged by the quantity of numbers you have in your phone but by the number of people who will answer when you place a call.

Just a thought. I hope your holiday was one of joy and renewal.

Just got this email:

From: Juliet pretty < juliet_tipoteh1@yahoo.com >
Date: Thu, Dec 17, 2009 at 8:18 AM
Subject: Am interested in you
mailed-by yahoo.com
signed-by yahoo.com

Am juliet,a tall good looking young girl,so lovely
and caring with good understanding.fair in complexion,care with good
sharing, honesty. I saw your ad at [obtuse url] which interested me much and i decided to contact you.I really want to have a good friendship with you
even if you have married we can be friend ok ,i have a reason of
selecting you as my friend,pls if you wish to know more.Pls contact me
through this my email We need to talk and
know ourself more and equally share pictures to each other.hope to hear
from you.

Bye with a warmly
huggs.
Juliet

It’s hard for me not to like this Juliet character. Unlike many of the email pitches I’ve seen lately, Juliet’s has a lot going for it:

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I was reminded today of something a high school writing teacher of mine once said. He’d walked into the classroom and pushed the door shut behind him with his elbow. As the noisy hallway disappeared with the click of the door latch, we realized how loud we’d been and settled quietly into our chairs.

He set his bag on the low table near the lectern and reached inside for a stack of papers. As he did the bag flap rolled back to reveal a bright yellow lining. It must have coordinated with some prior shade of red the leather bag hadn’t known since the early 80’s. Our teacher lifted the stack of papers, squared them against the table with a hard thump, and set them in a neat stack beside the bag.

He straightened, removed his glasses with his left hand, and squeezed the bridge of his nose his right index finger and thumb. Replacing his glasses and staring at us with the well-worn eyes of a teacher about to say the same thing again, he spoke.

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