Getting connected....

I consider myself a fairly computer savvy person. I use a computer daily, at work and at home. In fact, over the last several years my shift in how I get news and entertainment has very drastically changed and I get most of it now from the Internet. I used to be a big time television watcher. It's how I grew up. TV was where it was at and there were shows scheduled every night that were "must watch". You know, the ones all your friends watched so you could talk about them the next day. I still have a few favorite shows. I love The Walking Dead and American Horror Story. I am also a proud fan of Survivor. And I confess I watch...Dance Moms. I do...sorry. Can't help it. But other than that there really aren't any regularly scheduled shows that I make a point to watch.

These days, rather than TV, we talk about the latest meme we've seen around the water cooler. We swap ideas we've pinned on Pinterest and whine about the level of frustration we have from Candy Crush Saga. I have my own Internet routine each day. I log onto Facebook to check out what my friends and family have been up to lately. Everyday - first thing in the morning. I check my news sites to see what's going on in the world. I look into Goodreads to see what people are reading these days and often go add some books to my Kindle based on the recommendations they make. I check Twitter to see what those folks I follow are up to. I follow a mixed bunch too - getting recipes from Andrew Zimmern, jokes from Eddie Izzard and updates on my beloved Green Bay Packers as well as finding out what my nieces and nephews are doing. I've ventured into opinion based sites where companies want feed back on their products. Yes, I have to put out a little bit more personal info than I was used to or previously comfortable with but it's been worth it so far. Getting free stuff nearly daily is fun and I've loved trying out new things too. I stream movies on my computer through Netflix. I shop online. Recently, I reconnected with my Aunt, who is a nun, and new to email. Her correspondence has been a riot as she's in her 80s and a nun and hasn't used a computer ever in her life. I stay connected using a variety of devices too. I have a desk top, a lap top, a tablet, and a smart phone. I can get on line from anywhere. Overkill? Maybe. Yeah....maybe. But oh well! I know I wouldn't change it. I love my toys!

My Internet life has been pretty amazing. I've connected with really good people and even met my wonderful hubby via the Internet. Old friends have come back into my life because of the Internet. Creative moments happened because of the Internet. Getting connected and staying connected has changed my life.

All hail, friends!

I decided to dedicate this blog entry to my friends. I don't know...I just woke up today in a really good mood and it was all uphill from there. I have great friends. And that point is driven home every day at work.

I have friends of varying degrees - those I've met and love and those I have never spoke to in real life and still love them I have friends from DMusic.com whom I care about and listen to their great music and wonder how they are. One of them, and Brady you know who you are, I miss very much because our lives have taken separate roads so we catch up on Facebook once in awhile. Yet, Brady has been a very important person in my life and I will always be very fond of him, no matter what. I'd like to think that if he needed anything he would know he could call me and I would do whatever I could for him. I also have Kathy from DM. What a great lady! So much fun and I'm not just saying that because I know she reads this blog either! I always felt we would get along famously if ever we were to meet. The same thing with good ol' Bo! And so many others at that website who have touched my life.

I have friends from a website called Community of Sweden. People, like me, who love Sweden and long to be there. Arsh, Eva, Asa, Ingrid, Gabe, Lilly, Marlyse, Barbro, Jun, Astrid, Olav and the rest! We met on a website and started corresponding and some of them have even met in real life We laugh together, cry together, dream together and I know any one of them would be there for me if I needed it. I would be there for them too. Funny how you can know and trust someone without really physically knowing them!

I have Facebook friends! Lots of them. Some of them, like those that Farmville, I don't interact with all that much. Just when I'm farming. Others, like Paul, Jamie, Joan-marie, Terry, and more keep me laughing and reading and interacting for hours! Facebook has been an overall positive experience for me. I even reconnected with friends from grade school and we've been getting together regularly and we laugh our asses off as if time stood still.

Then I have the friends who make my days great. My friends at work are amazingly silly, smart, funny women who don't let one single day go by without making me laugh so hard I nearly wet myself. Tracy, Kari, Jamey, Jenny, and all of the truly great broads here are the best. I only hope everyone has people like this in their lives.

The Internet has been a powerful tool in making connections and keeping those connections alive. For me, it has opened up my world to something bigger than I ever imagined it could be. It even brought me a wonderful husband and a whole other family in another country. I am blessed for all of this and whenever I hear ignorant people talking about the uselessness of the Internet or what a frightening stalkerish world it can be I want to thump them in the head...hard. I want to let them know that their own neighborhoods can be frightening places and that there are a lot of honest, decent, kind, intelligent people out there they have yet to meet...if they only open their minds and log on.

Whoa. We are connected...

So. tonight I was playing Words With Friends with about five people. I was on my mac, on Facebook. Alex was using the TV, playing a video game he just got. I was waiting to watch Project Runway All Stars which started at 8pm when I realized I didn't need the TV because I can get that on my iPad. I could watch it on my iPad while still playing Words With Friends on the mac. While he played the game on the TV, he was working something out on his computer so would occasionally run over to it to click something.

It dawned on me then that we are probably most "connected" couple I know! Haha! Here we were in our little living room accessing all manor of electronics and "interacting" with other people. Yes, we are in the 21st century. So, while we don't have those cool hover cars they promised us in those futuristic movies from the past, we do have high grade communication devices and, frankly, I'm all for them!

I am one of those people who can say that knowing how to use a computer and the Internet has really changed my life. For one, I have connected with so many truly talented people that I have been inspired to nurture my own inner creativity which is something I have neglected for a long time. Another great thing, my world is smaller than most people I know. I have friends all over the world. True friends too, not just names and faces, but people I know would be there for me in a heart beat if I needed them. I met them because we share a love of Sweden and our friendships grew from there. We share our good and bad times and support each other and some of us have even met each other. It's been very good. The best thing that's happened to me via the Internet is, of course, meeting my husband! People sometimes raised their eyebrows when they hear we met on the Internet. They're thinking "Internet dating sites" or something and even those have changed dramatically in recent years. Alex and I met on an independent musician website. I was writing lyrics and singing on collaborative songs with other artists. He uploaded some music of his own that blew me away! We started corresponding and talking as friends. He got me through a rough time. And then he proposed!

I know I will embarrass him when he reads this but Alexander is the best person I know. Funny, kind, super smart and excited about life. I love him so much.

Okay, enough of that...where was I...oh, yes, the Internet. I have reconnected with people that fell out of my life years ago and that's been a blast. I've had lunch with grade school friends and we have laughed our asses off each time. I have dined with college friends and we have the same reaction. Time changes much but not what matters. That's important. Write it down.

So, I'm a big fan of the internet and electronic devices that allow us to multitask and connect to each other and other parts of the world. And you can find some really weird stuff too. And that's okay...as long as you know it's weird and move on!

Crossing lives via the world wide web...

This thought came to me last night as I was watching "Survivor". My favorite player on the show pulled off yet another brilliant move and I thought - "I bet Paul is jumping outta his seat right now!" Now that thought isn't much really except it dawned on me how my first thought was about someone - namely Paul - that I have never even met. Paul's someone I only know via the Internet who, I also know, happens to be the biggest fan of Survivor ever.

Something else happened yesterday too. I "know" a group of people from a website called "Community of Sweden". I joined there because I am trying to learn Swedish and all things Swedish for an eventual move to Sweden. Anywho...what I found was this great, funny, caring little group that always keeps in touch via email. We call ourselves the Fikagänget which loosely translate to the "coffee break gang". Yesterday, Asa - one of the gang, shared some good news. Some of her nature photos were chosen for her local newspaper and she was being featured as the photographer of the day. I was genuinely thrilled she got this honor and, again, I have never met Asa. Or Celia, who shared her woes about having to move from Sweden back to her native country due to financial issues. Or Lilly, who is working double duty to finish school and struggling because Swedish is her third or fourth language. Or Sherry who's house in Rhode Island is flooded right now due to the inclement weather they've been having.

There are others too. People I have never met who I think of as if I knew them. Take Van, for instance. I "met" Van on a site called DMusic. Started following his blog and love reading about his adventures with Abbe and the kiddos. He shares his ups and downs and his strange and wonderful links. Then there's Esther, now in Sweden but longing to be back in her beloved Niger. She's shared some of the most amazing photos and stories of Africa and, lately, some very personal turmoil.

My point is, I've come to think of all of these people as friends. I really do come across daily situations, like that Survivor moment, when I think to myself "Oh I have to let so and so know about this one!" and so and so is someone I know only on the Internet. Hell, I met my husband on the Internet so I do know what a powerful tool this is to draw people together. It's just always a pleasant surprise to feel like my small world has gotten just a bit bigger - one interesting person at a time.


By the way, if you do not watch Survivor, you really should. Just ask my friend Paul! :)

Some of the best people...

I was reading my email today and it dawned on me that some of the best people I know are those I have never even met in real life. For one, the outpouring of well wishes and genuine concern for me and my sister has been amazing and I'm so incredibly grateful for all of the kind thoughts, well wishes and, sometimes, pure reality checks. I've also been really blessed with a global group of friends I've found over the Community of Sweden website. We share our normal everyday life with each other and it's brought home the fact that the world is a very small place and we are all going through it together. I've also learned a lot from them about how people live in other countries and how, at the end of the day, we all really want the same things - love, health, happiness.

It is no small wonder that the most important person in my life is someone I met via the Internet. It's been a wild and wonderful ride with him and it's just getting better every single day. Without this portal that is my computer we would have never known one another and now I can't imagine life without him. From that same music website where I met Alex I've come across other people who continue to reach out and have staked their place in my life.

Even here, in my little blog, with it's whole fan base of about three or four people, has opened up my world to other places, people and ideas. And those of you who read this who have reached out or even just commented have touched me.

I always knew and understood the power of the Internet. What I didn't expect was that this tool could also have such a positive and wonderful impact on my life. Some has been casual and warm and some, at least in one case, has been life changing. I appreciate it all more than I could ever really explain.