I had a very brief conversation today with a stranger. No biggie, you probably did too. I had this conversation with a stranger on the internet, still not too weird. This very brief internet conversation had to do with merging real life and online life and how this person was attempting to begin to do so. Or so I think that was their point, I don’t want to speak for them.

Anyways, these six sentences we typed to each other got me thinking about how I possibly spend an equal amount of time conversing with fleshy beings within spitting distance of myself and with people online. Or as one of these online people referred to me as “a bunch of electronic symbols on my computer screen.”

I used to shy away from one on one conversations with those who exsited to me only online, because [cue sarcastic voice] I too, have seen those Datleine NBC specials. [sarcasm over] Then, one day, about a year ago someone friended me on MySpace. I was sceptical, but they said, “This (Midnight Oil) is one of my favorite albums of all times which in turn makes you cool…..” I figured being as I was considered cool, I could change my stance on this weird world of mingling with the unknown.

Over the past year I have “met” dozens of people via many websites. I have even met a few of those people. I have also built a friends list on MySpace totaling nearly a hundred people. I know that this is not a huge number. I can safely say that I do not regularly hang out with a hundred people in real life, so it’s a bit odd to me to see that I have that number of networking website friends. Of these (I believe 97 is the exact number) people I met all but four of them at different places in real life. One I will never meet, for he is a Lego.

Between the ages of 12 and 19 I went to 7 different schools. I know that’s no record, but it felt like a lot. I lived in seven different places during that time and worked at six different jobs. In all these places I met people. And now I electronically communicate with people from all of those places. But now that I have all these former and current friends in one lovely little website, I get confused as to where I knew them from. And the people I speak with exclusively online I have the same issue: What fricken website did I meet them on?

Why the heck is this girl explaining where she has met all sorts of people that I do not care about?

Well. I think you should all meet each other.

In high school I used to wish that all my friends from all my schools could meet each other. Being as these friends were spread accross the country this would never be possible. But what if I could have my sister meet that person I emailed and that person I emailed could meet that person who has a blog I always comment on and that blogger could meet my texting buddy? Cause I think you’d all really like each other.

So, when (not if) I win the lottery I am going to buy you all a ticket to wherever I live at the current time of the winning and we are going to have a party. (Don’t worry, there’ll be karaoke)

Here’s the invite:

(those are indeed balloons)