For those who may be anxious to get a snippet of what’s to come in my fringe show, what follows is a piece that is not in my show. It’s unfortunately been cut. It wasn’t fitting into things well. But I am in love with this unfinished piece. I may come back to it later. It’s bumpy and clunky, but I give it to you, my interwebs. because it was meant for you.
It’s not my fault.
I started when I was too young to know any better. I was somewhere around 11. We had an apple 11e with a 300 baud modem, and my father would connect to things called Bulliten Board Systems- or BBSs. I played around a bit- connecting to different boards and creating accounts. I started leaving messages, and some people replied to me. And not the patronizing tones normally reserved for youth, but as if we were equals.
Because they didn’t know I was only 11. It’s not my fault- I didn’t hide my age. But no one ever asked me for it, and I wasn’t about to share. People were communicating with me as if my opinions mattered. I was hooked. It was then I became an internet junkie, and a social networking whore.
We didn’t really have “internet stalkers” back then because there wasn’t an internet, but I can tell you, my first date was with a guy I met on line. I had the foresight to meet him in public, with friends. I may have been only 12, but I wasn’t stupid. I was the co-sysop of a board, for crying out loud. I should have a very exiting story for the world’s first internet date, but honestly, it was pretty dull. Rather, he was pretty dull. My friends and I ditched him, and I am fine with not having seen or heard from him since.
From the very beginning, internet dating has always been a poor idea.
It’s not my fault, and yet, here we are over 15 years later, and I am still an internet junkie and social networking whore. I have over 7 blogs and profiles on more social networking sites than I can remember- bebo, cafemom, linked in, six degrees, classmates.com, flickr, flixster, and Friendster.
I am on several online dating sites including match.com, eharmony, geektogeek, and OKCupid, though I’m only there for the online quizzes. Really.
And if it’s blogs you want, I have blogs. Blogger, blogspot, and wordpress. I have a livejournal, a deadjournal, and I’m just waiting for someone to come up with zombie journal.
And of course, I have the trinity of Social networking- My Space, Facebook, and the Holy Twitter.
Now, I do not post to all of these blogs daily, or even weekly. But it looks like it on some of them. I have a feed from my wordpress that dumps into my Facebook. I have a feed from twitter that updates my facebook and my widget on my homepage. I have a feed from Facebook events to my google calendars, and then one from my google calendars out to several different widgets, including one that resides on my Facebook info page.
My feeds have come full circle. Hakuna matatah.
I get a rush when all of these connections work. I get excited when my blackberry give the little “ding ding” that someone has done something to or at me on Facebook. I’m disappointed when I update my twitter and there are no new tweets. I rush to respond when someone makes a blog post that I have something to add to, comment on, or disagree with. I rush to get my rush. I get high when someone says ‘hi.’
Most druggies need the connection to get the drugs to get high. I just need to get connected.
Beyond this non-sample, my show has poetry, singing, dancing, improv, magic, jokes, and many more stories. For more information or tickets, visit the show on the fringe site at http://www.fringefestival.org/2009/show/?id=1070.
