Sidetracked Charley

  I have friends on Facebook I first met on Y360 shortly after my head injury. A friend who had been there and done it before told me to practice what I did not want to lose, and at the time that was my ability to read, comprehend, write, and communicate effectively. An on line journal seemed to be the ticket. And a lot of other "damaged" people seemed to be doing the same thing. That was twenty years ago and Y360 is no more but we traveled to other platforms. Facebook announces from time to time that I have been friends with this person or that for eight or nine years and I double it in my head because I know where it was we met in the ether. Sometimes their virtual presence lasts longer than they do. Their image pops up in a nudge to wish them a happy birthday or a memory fostered by FB or a photo I posted in the past. There used to be this sense they were not "real" friends. I always rather disagreed with that especially once neighbors became a large segment of m...

It has been a dozen years since I began my first online journal on the now extinct Y!360. It was more than a blog and less than a chat room. And in spite of my proclamations to the contrary more than a social network. I made some long and fast friends and some not so fast as it were. And as Yahoo brought it to a close we followed each other to various other social platforms to stay connected. I came here because of its blog capacity and not its social networking. It took me a while to miss my ethernet friends that migrated to Multiply and then to Facebook grumbling all the way. I miss Y!360 still. It was a unique experiment and not everyone's cup of tea. But those of us that loved it have not been quite happy with anything else we find. And too many have learned to grumble all too well. When the dictators come out and think they can reshape the social platform and those on it I escape to the quiet of my forest - my blog - where I can do what it was I first sought the blogos...

A funny thing happened this morning. I opened Twitter first. And then Travels with Charley that has my most extensive blog list. I have been reading Shouting at Street Lights by my 360 friend Michael (Muttley de Arf Arf) and Treesparrow's Twitterings by Treesparrow who I met there too. And then a great poem by my old friend Catfishred at Catfish Tales . And another by Aimless Joys . Then I was off to the pages of the people I have met on Blogger like bekkieann of Red State Blues . And then, of course, Margaret and Helen at wordpress. I finally swung back to Y!360 my old home blog. It has been rather quiet there of late and no doubt the problems with posting comments and blogs has been an issue for some. In fact it has been easier to send messages or post on profile on Yahoo or Twitter. I have tried Facebook and cannot see its draw quite frankly. I am using the 5 second rule to avoid malware is my excuse but basically I just find it boring. All the blogs I have listed above hav...