There goes the neighborhood

So I joined Facebook this week. (Kester made me do it.) Before I fully grasped what was happening, it had harvested my Gmail address book and was knocking on a few dozen virtual doors asking to be "friends." Afterwards I marveled at all the people who'd preceded me (and were now welcoming me) to this lively terra nova, without having ever mentioned it.
So far my "sphere" is mostly fairly young (18-22 or so ... must be that film series I'm doing with my church's "college/20s/30s" crowd); so I'm trying not to creep anyone out. Still, I think some may already have mixed feelings about my presence there: I inadvertently learned a few "secrets" meant for -- well, probably not me. Oops. Sorry to intrude; I guess if "no man is an island" [& this is a SOCIAL NETWORK after all] then my efforts to be unobtrusive, and other people's efforts to keep secrets, are a bit limited. On balance, I think that's a good thing... Shades of Life together... Let's just be careful out there.

El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer

No, we're not blogging in tongues (how cool would that be?). That's just the title of the Simpsons episode I watched the other night (thanks Ryan): Homer eats a Jallucinogenic Jabanero and embarks on a Mysterious Voyage as reality warps before his eyes. Cartooning at its finest. (If I weren't on a Web-fast this week, there'd be a picture right about here. Posting via email has its limitations.)

I'm on a bit of viaje misterioso myself this month: with Suvia and the 3 amigos away in Maine all month beating the heat, I've got the house and schedule to myself. In the whitespace, I'm discovering all kinds of things. The first week was fun; I dropped into the nearby up-and-coming pub, twice, and finally got to hear acoustic-speed-rockers ilyAIMY perform. I'd forgotten how much I like good live, local music. That first week also established what a distracted, self-absorbed slob I can be when no-one's around to see it. Plants died; I ran out of underwear; stayed up till 2am; the dog escaped; I kept forgetting to call the family; ugh.

In the second week, I've been watching and reflecting on the film "About a Boy," a clever story that runs as deep as you want to go on the themes of isolation, community, charity, and friendship. I'm confronted with my poverty of relationships: for who knows how long I've used my family as a handy excuse for not seeking out meaningful friendships; and I've seen my family mostly as constraints and duties, rather than people to share life deeply with. So, both at home and elsewhere, it's been a lot of pointless, painless, joyless, isolated "island living" -- I've been pretending "I'm bloody Ibiza!" (from the film).

... At this rate, weeks 3 and 4 should be interesting.