Friday Night Kissy-Face, Sissy-Crap

The amazing thing to me about the interwebs is that a whole bunch of folks from different places can team up and correspond easily. Reading folk's blogs, I get the bizarre notion that there is a little bit of me in most people that I run across. I might spend everyday for a year reading someone's stuff because it is interesting and then finally one day I comment and I have another friend.

I have never gained a penpal from writing about politics and my absolute distain for wasteful government spending, but I have added a couple of folks from writing about injustices in our social system. Mainly, the folks that keep commenting are doing so because of the similarities in one of my silly, mundane posts. Hey! He likes corn, I like corn!

These folks are people that I might never meet in person, but I experience a part of their life, I see the overwhelming good, I see people living their lives the best they can, and I see the pain and sadness coupled with overwhelming joy. In other words, I watch people just living a simple life, loving their kids and families, buying a house, fixing up an old truck, going to work, and dealing with the neighbors. I read about the best things and some of the worst things and I learn from seeing those other folks. I see things in these folks that I want for myself. Knowledge, compassion, desire, accomplishment. It is important and I do not take the time that often to realize that, but believe me when I say, Bean points it out quite a bit.

The blogs that I am drawn to are usually from people that just remind me of the best qualities in my favorite people. Humor and the ability to laugh at one's self is really attractive to me. When someone writes about the simple joy of taking a photograph of birds at the feeder, I get all warm and fuzzy and I really don't pay attention to birds. When someone writes about their absolute stupidity of trying to drive through a blizzard, it makes me nod because I have done some really stupid things. When I read about the idiosyncracies of someone's children, it reminds me of the things with which I dealt with my own son. (hard-headed, little so-and-so) When someone shares a story about the anticipation of finally being able to ride their motorcycle after a long winter, it shows the joy that can be found in just having a good damn time. When I read about someone's desire to help their neighbors overcome an obstacle or injustice, it makes me want to reach out and do the same.

I have watched as someone that started blogging at the very same time that I did, became a nationally known blogger and join up with some of the biggest names in the internet world, and I know nightly what the Columbus Catfish did on the diamond, in very explicit detail, play-by-play at its finest. I have also watched as folks continue day after day to attempt to explain very intricate details of science and show the love that they have for their chosen field and the curious innocence of a child even after years of doing the job.

At the ripe old age of forty-three, I am seeing the things that have always been there, but have never caught my attention. It is all very important to me that I have those folks to pull me along and help me understand that there are very good people that are actually touching the lives of others simply by going to the mailbox. Nothing is mutually exclusive.

To those of you that I thoroughly enjoy reading, I thank you and hope that you continue to remind me every single day that there are people that share the same hopes, dreams, and desires that I have. Maybe, I don't say that enough and I should.

A caffeine-free, Diet Coke stein hoist in your general direction. Yeah, you.