Meeting strangers

I am no stranger to making friends online.

Back in 1995 when I got my first computer, anybody who was ANYBODY was on AOL. In fact, the door to my bedroom at my mother's house still has an AOL sticker on it that reads, "I'd rather be online." Chat rooms were all the rage, and 8th grade Erica found herself talking to people online all the time, in both AOL and MTV chat rooms. Nobody seemed to worry about sexual predators back then, and let's be honest; at that point most of them didn't know how to get online yet. I was just excited to talk to new and interesting people.

I remember the first time a boy PM'd me (PM = Personal Message). My little naive heart was all a-flutter! We agreed to meet in the same chat room again the next night at a designated time to talk again. I wrote about him in my diary and decided to email him before we talked again to tell him how much I liked him and see if he wanted to be my boyfriend. He never responded to that email, and he didn't show up the next night to the chat room to talk. I was crushed! Later I realized how freaked out he must have been when he got my email. Sorry, random AOL boy. :)

Skip ahead a few years, and I'm on my way to college. I signed up for a South Park newsletter through Comedy Central's website, and I slowly started getting to know some of the regular posters. The newsletter eventually got dropped by Comedy Central, but the members created an MSN group to keep it going and planned a South Park Convention in Colorado. I told my mom about the convention (she is also a big SP fan), and in the summer of 2003 we both flew to Colorado to meet a bunch of people I only knew through an online newsletter. It was a BLAST! Mom and I attended subsequent "mini" conventions, getting to know this group of people better and enjoying our shared love of a silly, dirty cartoon. The group eventually fizzled out, but I'm so glad I met them. In fact, two of the people I met through the South Park newsletter (and who met each other that way as well) are getting married this summer - and they've asked me to be a bridesmaid in their wedding! All because I took a chance and flew to Colorado that summer to meet some people from the internet.

Now it's even easier and more accepted to meet friends in real life that you know from online sites or groups. The same goes for couples. It used to be embarrassing to say that you met your significant other from an online dating site - now, it's commonplace. I know plenty of people that found their spouse on the internet, and are happy they made that decision.

Recently, Jared and I met two people who frequently comment on The Domestic Scientist. I found out they lived in Columbus, and started listening to their radio show, CaveRadio. When they mentioned on Twitter that they were going to play Dungeons and Dragons for the first time, I tweeted back and said that I was jealous - I played D&D back in high school and would love to play again. Without hesitation, they invited me over to play that Friday night. I brought Jared and Miranda with me, and we had an amazing time!

I guess I've just never been afraid to make connections with people online, even when it wasn't accepted to do so. Meeting strangers, contrary to what we are taught as kids, doesn't always turn out bad. Sure, there are weirdos out there, but the internet is mostly full of really awesome people - and I'm so thankful that I've been able to meet some of them!

Discoveries

I made a very interesting find today - on my library's teen website, in the "Express It" section, there is a place for teens to submit poetry they have written. Some are silly, some are kinda depressing, but all of them are just amazing! I don't really know that much about poetry, but I am really enjoying reading through what the teens have submitted. And some of the regular posters comment on each other's poems, which is really cool.

A random list of things I have learned over the past month that may or may not be interesting:

1. No matter what flavor of milkshake you order from McDonald's, they will give you a mix of all of the flavors. A few weeks ago I swear I got a Chocolate-Strawberry-Mint milkshake. Yikes.

2. I LOVE meetings. Of any kind. Even unproductive ones. Most people hate them, but I just love them. Knowing that I have a meeting makes my day go better. Someday, perhaps, I'll be sick of them, but not anytime soon.

3. I really like the clicking sound that high heels make on hard floors.

4. If you want to light a gas grill, you should turn the gas on first. You should not just turn knobs and hit the ignition button over and over, wondering why the damn thing won't light. Just a suggestion.

5. Green is the new black.

6. If you have a bumper sticker on the back of your old crappy car that talks about how much we all pollute the air, you are a hypocrite. You're polluting the air just as much as the rest of us.

7. I enjoy going to the grocery store by myself. It's strangely relaxing and makes me feel like a grown-up. And yes, I know that I'm already a grown-up, but that doesn't mean I always feel like one.

8. I like to sew because the sound of my sewing machine will always remind me of my mother.

9. I am obsessed with Professor Layton and the Curious Village, and I want the sequel to come out RIGHT NOW.

10. I can't wait to see the new Indiana Jones movie! Eeeeee! :D

Muppet Time

A quick post because it's been far too long:

Happy St. Patrick's Day, whatever that means to you, and enjoy this video of the Muppets' rendition of "Danny Boy," one of my favorite stetches from The Muppet Show.



Thanks to BoingBoing for posting this earlier today.

I'm actually kinda sad today, because I usually make a big deal out of St. Patrick's Day. I typically wear green (I still might do that...), I've hosted parties, I've gone out drinking with friends, I try to get everyone else excited about it - I've even been featured in a news article because I blogged about a party I was hosting in 2006. But this year, I'm just not feeling it. I have no plans to go out, nor did I have or attend any parties this weekend. Not that there were any parties I could go to anyway - everyone else I know has seemed to forget about St. Patrick's Day, too.

But you know what? 2008 has been a great year. So what if St. Patrick's Day is a bust? I'm going to kick back tonight, maybe with a drink (Baileys feels appropriate), and celebrate by enjoying a nice evening with Jared and Super Smash Bros. Brawl (cause, well, that's just inevitable). Cheers!