Somewhat Stumped.

I didn't post yesterday, and it's not because I had nothing to say, instead it was because I had nothing new to say. While the purpose of this blog is to make record of thoughts that occur to me, I can see the value in keeping a series of different commentaries running at once. To say the same thing over and over again becomes dull, and therefore the blog becomes dull.

I've got a friend who lives in America who I met online through World of Warcraft when I still played. Many people feel that individuals you meet online can hardly be called friends, and that it's best to keep them distanced from your personal life. When I first logged onto the internet many moons ago, I agreed with this thinking. I developed an online alias that I would refer to when people wanted to know more information about me. I was a kid, but I wasn't dumb. As time passed and I began to play World of Warcraft, I came to know several of those people very well. I knew their names, their kids names, what state they lived in and what their jobs were. Now some cynic might say that I was being fed a line, and that they were maintaining an alias much in the same way I did. I suppose that's possible, but with the length of time I knew some of these people, and the degree to which I knew about them personally really made it unlikely that this was the case. If they were putting me on, then it'd be impressed with the level of dedication they gave to their personae.

When I took some time off of World of Warcraft about two years ago, I lost contact with all of these people I had met and interacted with. It was during a fairly tumultuous time in my life, so I can't really say I paid too much attention to that fact. When I returned a few months later, I was welcomed back with open arms and they invited me into the new guild. It is in this guild that I came to know "Faunna", as was her character name. She would comment on the wolf I used as a pet named "Remus", and we would chat here and there. One day I got word that the small population of girls in the guild would talk about me in a separate channel they had, and my interests were peaked. Not specifically from any kind of romantic angle, rather that I was being discussed without my prior knowledge. It's something I'm always paranoid about, that people are talking about me when I'm not around. A sign of a big ego, I suppose.

Long story short, I began to chat with Faunna on a fairly regular basis. We would share stories about what was going on with us at any particular time, and we even had a few more serious chats about some heavy topics. When she left World of Warcraft we maintained our correspondence through email, an exercise which I have not bothered to do with anyone else from those days. We have an interesting relationship to say the least. When I say relationship, I inferring to friendship and not romance. I think we both understand that the nature of our friendship is one best maintained as is, a sort of unspoken agreement that our communication via email is in its own way kind of sweet.

Not unlike two friends sharing letters overseas, worlds apart we learn a little something new about one another each time we send a letter in response to the one we just received. One day, if everything worked out well I'd enjoy sharing a dinner and coffee with Faunna, grounding the nebulous relationship we have. As it is, at times in can feel somewhat abstract to have so close a friendship with someone you've never officially met. In ways that's also a good thing, too. We are two minds, to voices chatting with one another, issues of the physical world are left at the keyboard as we share what happened to us in the weeks past.

I think what I'm trying to express is that we've got a friendship unlike any that I share with my local friends. Those that know me, John the person and the body I live in know a great deal about me, but I can safely say beyond any apprehension that she knows just a bit more. One day we may share a coffee together, but until that day comes I rather enjoy having a friend with whom I can share divisions of myself that help bridge the ether between us.

Not unlike smokes signals, do I send word across the wireless river in an effort to connect with a thinning vapour waving faintly back at me through pine and maple.