It's a Small World... Down Under...Oui.

It is indeed a small world, after all. (You can thank me later for planting that God-awful song in your ears and filling your minds with all those creepy, animatronic, plastic-faced little creatures from the Disney World ride. The stares, the creepy, creepy stares…) Gah! I did it to myself. Moving on….

For those that mock social media or advances in technology that have bred a global interconnectivity, I say this to you:

PLLLLLLBBBBBBBBBTTTTTTTTTTT.

(And yes, for the record, I am sticking my tongue out, have my thumbs in my ears and am wiggling my fingers in your general direction. Juvenile? Yes, yes it is.)

At the time of this writing, it is morning, Eastern Daylight Savings Time. By this time this morning I have already communicated with friends of mine in: various other cities/towns in the state of New York; Washington, D.C.; Florida; Baltimore, and Australia. Yes, Australia. As in Oz, Land Down Under… (I love that song, incidentally. I mean seriously – name another song that references “vegemite.”)

(You’re probably cursing me because you’ve now gone from singing It’s a Small World to Land Down Under, aren’t you? You’re also noticing by now that I’m using a lot of parenthesis again. Annnnnd you’ve probably figured out that I am on my third cup of coffee already. WEEEEEEEEEEEEE…. Suckers.)

I consider myself blessed, I really do. I truly consider myself to be someone that has many friends. Not just acquaintances, but friends. Some I don’t talk to nearly often enough, some I probably talk to too much. Some I love as if they were my own blood, some I cannot imagine my life without. Some of you are royal pains in my a… ahem.

I am proud to say that there are those of you that I have yet to meet in person, and this is were the tongue wagging comes into play. Physical proximity does not equal friendship. There are those that I consider true friends that I only know through social media, and you know what? I would rather spend time chatting with some of those friends than speaking face to face with half of the people I know. Anyone who says that building friendship in this manner isn’t possible, well, see above.

The Internet is a big, scary place, for sure, don’t get me wrong. There are lurkers, pedophiles, creepers, stalkers,  and politicians (which often fall into one or more of the previously listed categories themselves). Call it intuition, call it what you will, but you can just tell. There are some with whom I’ve connected through social media that, quite frankly, I’ve blocked from communication because they, woo hoo, went a little batty. (Gold star and a wintergreen Life Saver to the reader who can guess which comedian I just paraphrased there.) Yes, you have to be cautious. Generally though, those of us that share interests, cynicism, sarcasm, wit, and intellect tend to find each other. Once we do, we tend to stay together, too.

I like to think too that those of you reading this blog, and those that read my published works (SHAMELESS PLUG: The Deep Space Chronicles… Links over there --->), consider me to be a virtual friend as well. Why? Because you have all been so kind as to invite me into your worlds, your homes, onto your phones, iPads, computers and other tablets, and spend a little time with me and my neurosis. (BTW – if you take me in the bathroom with you… I, uh… ewww. Please don’t tell me.) I consider each and every one of my readers a friend, because by reading my works each of you has supported me in some way, and that’s what friends do.

In taking a look at the statistics for both this blog and my book sales, I am informed that my readership hails from the following countries: United States; Canada; Russia; Australia; Germany; United Kingdom; Ukraine; South Korea; Latvia; France; and India. I am sure, to a fair degree of certainty, that I do not personally know anyone in half of those countries. That means total strangers on the other side of the world are reading my work. That, THAT, is pretty frickin amazing. So thank you, Ukrainians and Latvians whom I’ve never met! And to those in South Korea? Thanks for giving a crazy insomniac from western New York your time.

To everyone – Thank you for making my world as small as it is. As cliché as it sounds, I do consider it an honor and a privilege to know that people all over the world take time out of their busy lives to spend a little time with me. If you were closer, I’d invite you all over for drinks. I’d even cook. I make a mean roasted red pepper and artichoke tapenade. Really. It’s pretty awesome. Perhaps I’ll even try a recipe with vegemite. For my Indian friends, I have also perfected a recipe for chicken saag. You bring the naan.

For now I humbly bid you adieu, and leave you with my gratitude.

(Now about those drinks….)

© J.J. Goodman 2013. All rights reserved.