Taking an About Face -- book

Something strange recently happened to me.

I was beckoned into a stark white room. I don't remember who beckoned me, and in fact I may have heard several voices in legion calling out to me, but I admit walking into the room of my own volition. I remember that much. I wasn't alone in the room very long; I was soon surrounded by a variety of friends, some still in my life today, others I haven't seen in several years. I could hear them, too, but they weren't talking to me. They weren't talking to anybody, but everybody. Some of them even talked about me, like I wasn't in the room, and I responded . . . to no avail. Soon, people I didn't know entered and sought me, not in flesh but in spirit, again talking about me as if I weren't there. I wondered, how did I come to once feel so welcomed, now to feel like a virtual stranger in my own skin?

Then, it struck me. There are two kinds of gatherings like this, like where friends of all walks of life and even some strangers gather in your honor and talk to the ether. One is your funeral.

The other is Facebook.

Yes, I tried Facebook for about three hours. Nearly all of the friends I care about now contacted me within that short period of time, but shortly thereafter some people I didn't know or remember began to "friend" me, too, and my inbox was overwhelmed with unsolicited requests and updates that convinced me one more on-line forum simply wasn't worth it. Friends, if I don't already know where you are or what you're doing, I'll find out via e-mail, text, or telephone. Everyone else, if I'm not talking to you now, I'm probably not interested -- but it doesn't hurt to ask with a content-based e-mail. If we were friends in some capacity before, you need not request the status again now. Let's just pick up where we left off, okay?

Otherwise, I feel you're talking about me like I'm not in the same room with you, as if, "Aw, I really wish I was his friend." Further, if you're not making an effort to read my blogs now, why would you want to read my writing on your wall anyway? It's a reactive, almost retrospective relationship. Like a eulogy. Like a funeral.

In the meantime, summertime has always been blogging time for me, and I've created a new forum for my solo, self-publishing efforts: KaraokeFanboy Press. Just in time for Comic Con (and eventually, APE), I have begun to extract conversation about my printed efforts from here and will now discuss and promote them there -- so check it out for the latest on Karaoke Comics, my 2009 Poetry Zine Series, the Far and Wee fanzine, and more. This blog shall remain my ongoing commentary on comics, coffee, and celebrity -- you know, the three c's of significant living -- while I've finally recently updated my LiveJournal with some more personal allegory, too.

This is where you can turn and face me on the Internet -- if you dare.