dailyeatings

Even though I profess to hate it, it was through myspace this week that I first learned (secondhand, of course) of the long-awaited engagement of two old friends, and then two days later, the sudden and unexpected death of a high school classmate. I don’t know how I would’ve heard anything without the strange excuse the site provides for weak, unconventional social links to form, persist and renew themselves. It’s also hard to think of a less dignified way to learn either fact than through a mass-mailed myspace bulletin.

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Three people turned down the offer of my last ticket to the Bela Fleck concert before I bit the bullet and offered it for free on craiglist, with the sole requirement that the eventual recipient be friendly and sociable. I received a rather large number of replies, and after googling their names to eliminate the weird, the 40-something, the undergraduate and the far-too-forthcoming-about-drunkeness-on-facebook, I ended up offering the seat to a law student with a gender-ambiguous name. “It’ll probably be some tall, attractive brunette, David,” said Matt-from-Work. It turns out he was right. The concert was great, and the company excellent, and phone numbers exchanged. It seems almost altogether too easy; I’m waiting for the other shoe to fall.

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Kim lamented how the rise of RSS readers has killed off much of the significant commenting on blogs, and how that pretty much sucks. “I like RSS,” she said, “but I do think people are less likely to comment—though more likely to read—if they use a reader.”

She’s definitely got a point there. It’s nice to be read, but what’s the point in talking if nobody talks back?