~ I recall the night during which the start of the Gulf War was reported... sitting with Suzanne (z) before we were married in an appartment on Sommeset St... smack dab in the middle of "little vietnam ottawa". Below us was an asian hiarstylist and a vietnamise restaurent. I had a 8088 "xt" style computer (Zeinith) and a 2400 baud modem... I was online with a text based bulletin board... a local'ish thing and the members would infrequently get together for dinners in the anonymous land of usernames.
Images of night vision video watching trailer shells and rocket burns raining down on some foreign country filled the TV screen across the room. Someone on the bulletin board had posted "Turn ON your TV NOW!"
~ I watch so little news television, and am usually a day late on reading the paper... I suspect that when and if (lol) the US goes to war in Iraq I'll hear about it on LJ first, the flip on the TV.
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~ I met with the new bosses at work for two and half hours... It feels "all good" ... and I'm factoring my being a little nieive into that. But, I still have to wait to see what comes of all these changes at work. It's really quite the enormous shake up. Alas... earwax.
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I was gonna cut this... but it's only text... it loads fast... :D
A Lj friend posted a note looking for feedback on why her friends were drawn to her account originally... what perceptions they had at the time... So I looked back in journal to the first three months (starting in July, 2000) of journal use. I had, among other inane things, been posting about the first big brother show and, of course, stuff about my kids.
In order of their first appearance in my journal, my first 13 friends in LJ were;
1.
ratonil, a wonderful man from Chili who had a friend in Ottawa. We talked a lot and I even managed to have lunch with him on a visit of his to Ottawa that February. I have somehow burned his image and recent life experiences into my memory as if he were someone I know well the RW. Like he lives across town. 2.
bair OMG we talked a lot... she was just the very sweetest (well, she still is... but that's not the point...) woman in the world... she made me feel so good about spending some time on-line. :D 3.
lesslyn A young woman in Toronto, going to UofT. She is pure sugar and has wittingly and unwittingly taught me a great many things... besides what liquid dancing is all about... More than with most other lj friends, I feel as though I have known her much longer than the few years... 4.
teaser... My African Queen... all the way from distant South Africa comes this voice that feels as familiar as a close neighbor and instant friendship finds me. One day my family will stand in her yard and listen as her husband points at things and talks... 5.
shoo ... hmmm now there is someone very special there. She was fairly new to the journaling concept when I was new here and we found it so easy to communicate on things... we've lost our way together, but I can still see her in desert and her boys playing in the background of my minds eye. 6.
sixtyten ... hmm... she kinda changed into xellos along the way... a young woman from Minniap/St.Paul. She isn't here much anymore but that's ok... I am going to move mountains to stay in touch with her for as long as humanly possible. What am amazing personality. Quiet wisdom would hide beneath seemingly grating or harsh comments to her friends and the most intersting solutions found thier way into place. I can't properly explain this but suffice it to know that she is adorable, smart, and simply not typical. 7.
burbonstreet ... my Sting rescue machine... Suzan became kitykity at some point however, she will always the first person I think of when I see a picture of Sting (thanks to her first user icon). She is an amazing example of personal strength and achievement. I also have an extensive collection of Sting music thanks to her ... :D 8.
paperdoil ... man, I cannot remember how we met but I know I associate many happy vibes to the early days of our swapping music recommendations... she is another friend that my head just feels like it knows in the RW even though she has been forever remote. (hehe... the stories I could tell... :D) but no really... what a sweet woman. 9.
krussell ... I'd usually forget the second L... Kathleen was just all of a sudden, there. Now she's daikan, and my world would be wrong if she stopped being there... fortunately, I don't need lj to keep up with Kathleen. This addition to my friends list was kinda a milestone because through her I met so many people... and, for the most part, those relationships all became amazingly important to me. Kath is very precious to me.10.
lianna... who wont see this but I have a hope that things are good 'nuf with her world that lj would take time away from better things... :) When we met her world was dramatically different than it is today. Walking with her along the emotional pathways that she walked over that time was part of a significant change in the way my own life works. I learned a lot about perspective and friendship from her. I will simply never stop holding her in my heart.11.
sunshine_two ... Her cam, pointing at a daffodile is burned into my head like a famous painting gets printed in your memory. :D We've also kinda lost touch but I recall her world as part of the realization that there were people of mature substance here. I remember associating my experiences with her journal... (very normal, very "this is my life" stuff... - the cat that didn't live there... haha) with the beginings of my feeling as though I was reading a "living novel" reflecting a real world. New chapters, new characters, around every corner.12.
laciann a wonderful woman... again, with the mature substance thing and the simple truth of a real life for the reading. And all the while she was / has / continues to be this amazingly caring woman overcoming obstacles to her families well being with so much class. :) A splendid friend. 13. and finally,
nbbmom... the reason I started this. Her first comment in my journal was to correct a couple of spelling mistakes... granted, I had asked how to spell one of the words... but when she asked earlier what people remembered about their first impressions of her, I seemed to recall - from October, 2000 (in :: THIS :: post)- that I thought she was a teacher or something because she corrected my spelling... and with that I was all done! She has been one of the most influential remote friends in my journal experience and she might only know the half of it. :D I value her friendship beyond reason and know in my heart that life, no matter how long, will always include her in one way or another. :::::
OK... I'm off to work on a couple of geeky projects... see ya. :D