if those who owe us nothing gave us nothing, how poor we would be

April 16: picayune
April 17: evince

Is it picayune of me to wish that friends I haven't seen in months could evince enthusiasm about getting together, rather than mere equivocal acceptance?

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1. Nowadays, just about everyone knows a couple who first met online. Among couples you know, who has the best story?
   it's sort of funny, but I don't think that I actually do know any purely online-generated couples, first-hand. The Cat's brother, I believe, met his wife that way. And God knows I've met some people online (primarily through the blogs, although there are a couple of exceptions that came via OKCupid and Facebook) who've come to mean far more to me than initially could have been anticipated. But as I tick back through my mental Rolodex, I'm not coming up with anyone who literally met online and then formalized in person, and made it stick.
2. Who among your real-life acquaintances might you never have been friends with if you hadn’t gotten to know each other online first?
   
   there are lots of people who I consider real friends with whom I never would have become acquainted at all without the Internet's help: Skindee and Molly stand out in my mind at the moment, and they are good examples because I've not yet met either of them in person (although I would certainly like to!). Similarly, there are some people with whom I was acquainted before but with whom I shared only what seems like the most superficial of friendships before we really got to know each other online, where the immediacy and informality served to let us bypass ordinary barriers to adults becoming friends. Examples: The Cat (of course!), Connie, and BGM from Sledding with Rosebud. 
   I hope this makes it very apparent that I am grateful for the role that my own online activity, and the Internet behavior of my friends, has taken to create and encourage many of the relationships that I treasure.
3. Of people you know online only, who would you most like to meet in real life?
   
   with all respect to anyone else who's reading, I have to say it's Alex Ludd. He...torments me, elusive but lingering, like smoke in a deserted corridor.
4. In the past 365 days, what’s the longest you’ve gone without connecting in any way to the Internet, including email?
   
   I don't know: maybe three or four days? It usually happens when I'm at the Cat-Beasts (although I'll usually give in after some period of time and at least check my mail, if not put something out) and also when I visit my parents'. I like unplugging now and then; it makes this all seem less like work and more like a pleasure.
5. Who is the least-connected person you know in real life?
   
   ironically, it's Fluffy. She's connected in the sense that she's online all day at work, and carries a cell phone and uses the Internet at home, but crap if I can get ahold of her when I want to--she's the absolute best at unplugging when she's had enough. I envy that!

[from The Cat, who got it here; the title quotation is by Antonio Porchia, from Voces, trans. from the Spanish by W.S. Merwin]