Who do I still think I am??

This one's about friends and opportunity.

30DBC PROMPT: "Can you make real friends online? How are online friends better or worse than offline friends? Sound off about online friendships. Now go!", courtesy of Mitchopolis .

Good evening folks! I've decided to end my self-imposed silent protest of the "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" ...after two days of mix-ups and whatnot with prompts, we're finally back (hopefully) to a more timely approach in that regard. Seriously, I did try writing an entry each of the last two nights, but let's just say I was incredibly "up here" when I really should've been "down here", and the anger was dripping off my words like excess melted cheese. I'm over it now...moving on...

Mitchopolis has given us one of the more interesting prompts of the month so far, in my opinion. It's a valid question, and I'm sure everyone's gonna have differences about whether or not it's something to be truly concerned about.

I say yes, but I say it with some trepidation. You don't hang out on a site like WDC for as long as I have and not make a few friends along the way...and I wouldn't even consider myself to be one of the more outgoing members of the community. I can only imagine what it must be like for some of the more active WDC participants, who're in or running every other contest and blogging in 15 different groups and writing books and updating their newsfeed twenty times a day and still managing to work full-time while raising, feeding and educating their kids. I'm the kinda person who, when I see that, backs off and is like "You sure you had time to comment on my entry? Don't you have, like, 421 emails to tend to that are way more important, or something?"

But back to my point...I don't think you go anywhere in life for a significant amount of time and not make a friend or two. Online though...it's a little tricky. If I had to guess, I'd say the breakdown in relationships (again using WDC as my example) are probably something like 90%/10% casual, site-only friends versus physical friends (or more, for those of you who include your spouses or partners in with your online habits). You share enough information over time and you're bound to feel a friendly closeness with certain people. So what do you call them? Is there a word for people you only know via the internet, and only see when you're a visitor on a particular website? Someone start researching this and get back to us...you can catch up on the rest of this later.

There are a handful of WDC members I've had the pleasure of meeting in person, and others I've talked on the phone with. Some of us are Facebook friends as well. And there are a good number of people here that I know I'd feel comfortable hangin' out with ("Invalid Item" , anyone?). Sure, there are pros and cons (just like any other relationship), and maybe I sound like a jerk for sayin' this, but perhaps the easiest thing about a standard, typical online friendship is when the time comes to terminate that partnering. There's practically zero physical attachment to speak of, and while emotional attachment is always harder to deal with, it's not as complicated as, say, dealing with dating someone you also work with. There are tools built in to technology that make it simple for us to ignore people we don't like, and they're available at the push of a button...unlike a restraining order, which is a fancy way of saying "Leave me alone!" and has been proven at times to be just as effective seeing how it doesn't always prohibit physical contact like it was designed to do. Imagine how awesome life would be if you could just remove people from your personal existence as if they were someone on Twitter you no longer wished to follow!

I still think that you need to be careful though, and use stuff like common sense and good judgement and all that. But yeah, I don't see why people can't be real friends online...as long as we're just friends  .

BCF PROMPT: "Name one thing you had the opportunity to do but didn't, and wish you had. Also name something you did do that you wish you hadn't."

Is it cheating if I can name that tune in one note cover this prompt with pretty much one blanket answer? Too bad; my blog, my rules.

The first part is easy...twenty years ago I had the opportunity to go to college and have it all- tuition, books, and supplies- covered by financial aid. I went, but I really didn't take it seriously enough and wound up flunking the majority of my classes (full disclosure: I had a two-hour commute each way, and I was also working full-time after classes). The following year, I wasn't gonna get any financial aid, so I dropped out believing I'd have all the time in the world to go back. That never happened.

And here's where I admit I sort of misread the prompt...because now that I have the opportunity to go back to school, I'm taking it, and I don't exactly wish I hadn't made that decision . But I do regret basically wasting my first year of college...not that I'm planning on any of my credits transferring over to the school I'll be attending in the fall, but maybe that'd be that many classes less I'd have to take now toward my degree.

I'm also gonna use this venue to complain a little about that whole college admissions process briefly. I've had to arrange for the school I attended in 1994-'95 to send my transcripts over to the school I'll be going to now, and I can't register for classes until this happens. My old school has yet to release them. Why does it matter? I'm not even gonna be majoring in the same subject. And I could see it being necessary if I'd actually gotten decent grades, but I hardly went to class at all during my second semester. I wonder if I would've just been better off telling the college I'm going to that I've never gone to an institute of higher learning before. Is it really that important?

MUSICAL BREAK!!

Why not? It's Friday the 13th...

THE DAILY BOX SCORE:

I'm pleased to announce that I'll be renting a little bungalow for the summer in "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise" ...Lyn's a sly fox did a fine job of talkin' it up so I accepted her offer to join the group. I'll try to be a good neighbor and keep the music at a reasonable volume, but I'm making no promises. And you kids better stay off my frickin' lawn . I may not have something to contribute daily, but if I do you'll find it here.

"It is Friday the 13th. Are you superstitious? Have odd things ever happened to you or someone you know on Friday the 13th? Where do you think all the crazy hype about Friday the 13th began? Avoiding the 13th floor? Was it about the number that makes people nervous?"

For me it depends on what the situation is regarding superstitions. I have some quirks (mostly sports-related), but other than that I'm not really superstitious. I think a lot of habits and routines are born because they worked once, and when something works you're less inclined to make changes because you want to replicate your success. I do try to avoid the number 13...maybe it's out of habit, or it's something someone beat into my head at an impressionable age that "13 is bad luck", but so is breaking a mirror and it's not like I actively seek to smash glass whenever I can, so can I say I don't like 13 because I like other numbers better? 'Cuz that's a more pleasant fit for me.

I can't speak for others as to why 13 makes people nervous, but it's a real thing. My best friend growing up had severe triskaidekaphobia (Wikipedia  ) when we were kids...he'd never come to school on the 13th of any month, and during the 13th minute of every hour he'd just stare at the clock. It sounds funny at first, but to hear people talk about how seriously they're affected by it, it almost creeps you out.

Because I'm a fan of lists, here's The Hockey News' Top 10 NHL Players Who Wore 13  .

And I came across another Buzzfeed list I empathize with...31 Realities All Western New Yorkers Know To Be True  .

Wow...YouTube is loaded with videos of online friends meeting for the first time  . Like, there's a lot there. I can't even joke about it. I'm starting to wonder if it's a generational thing, to be honest. I can't even watch these videos...these people are serious. Like, tearfully reunited serious, yet they've never met in person before. [Sidenote: I love the new look of YouTube with the bigger viewing area. That's sweet.]

I'm really hoping we've got the whole prompt situation over in the 30DBC fixed (yes, I'm on that again, because I felt like a giant a-hole reminding people when it was their turn because I thought I was doing right by the group, and then I was told not to worry...annnnnnd then a prompt didn't go out, and you know had I not said anything the offending party probably would've been all like "Well, if someone would've reminded me..." but naw man, we're adults and we know how computers and forums and emails work, and reading isn't hard) and that's how my anxiety's circle of life works, ladies and gentlemen...that's all I'll say about that topic from here on out.

Ok...well, I think I've said enough for one evening. If Friday the 13th's not your thing, don't worry...it's almost over (at least it is on the east coast...we can't all be like Elle - on hiatus and live in a perpetual tomorrow in relation to almost everyone else ). I think I'm gonna read a little and call it a night. Peace, I gave you the warning, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!