On Friendship and the Internet

I need the ability to be anywhere I want whenever I want. Because it would make hugging the people I care about a lot easier.

Or they all just need to move to California.

I have never been good at making in-person friends. I have a few very good friends I keep as close as possible, but its hard for me to make new ones. I’m shy and awkward and ultra self-conscious in person. Besides Meghan and Jesse and Nate, my best friends are people I’ve met online – Beren and Leah for example.

Beren is my Soulie and Leah is my cross-country twin. Ive known them both at least 6 years and I love them dearly. Theres nothing I wouldnt do if they needed it. Ive only met Leah once (shes currently in Cincinnati) and Ive never met Beren (though I will in August – he lives in New York), and yet, again, there’s nothing I wouldnt do for them.

So when people I’ve met online that I like very much are hurting it hurts me too. I guess Im just better at being friends with people who cant see me being awkward, who dont see my dirty jeans and bitten nails, that Im covered in cat hair most days, that I humm the Star Wars theme to myself when I pee at work. Its easier to let myself be close to people who cant judge me as much I guess.

So, dearest online friends. I love you. Please know that. And that if you ask it, I will do almost anything for you that I can.

<3

Smile Friday

I’m a big fan of tumblr. Its no secret really. I love it and the people for the most part. Its a very different feeling than the idea of the blogging community is. Its quick and dirty, but fun and mindless. You can show appreciation so easily, whether of an idea or a picture, an article or video.

my romance blossomed on tumblr even. and while it appears that tumblr romances aren’t always an AWESOME idea, it allowed the Manbear and i to covertly woo. He would send me sweet pictures, baby animals, lovely illustrations, soaring architecture – things I loved and cataloged on my tumblr. I would respond with weird animals, odd photographs of the 1800s, smoking girls (yes, hes an odd man. In fact, that one of the things i tell him most often: you are an odd man, my love. very odd.).

One of the best things tumblr has brought me (you know, besides a sense of community, a boyfriend, blah blah) is Smile Friday.

An internet meme, yes, but also a cheerful way to express just how awesome Fridays are, and get positive response in turn.

Seeing people smile makes me smile. It just does. Same with laughter. I have a hard time feeling terrible if someone else near me is genuinely open and happy.

With that in mind, happy Smile Friday my loves.

Hope yours is as awesome as mine is shaping up to be.

xo