Connections

Once you're past the age of full-time school, I think it gets harder to meet new people and make friends. Moving to upstate NY was hard for me because I didn't know many folks, and even those I got to know, although friendly, just didn't feel like my people.

My blog birthday is coming up - I'll be 5 at the end of the month! - and I've been thinking through the great friends I've made online. There are folks I've been reading for as long as I've been blogging, or in some cases, even longer. In the past two weeks I've gotten together with or heard from several bloggers (starting with Buddhafied in Canada) and I've been feeling extra thankful for my bloggy friendships. These are definitely my kind of people.

• My lovely soul sister Demandra (here and here) and I e-mail back and forth about our various crazy personal hang ups. She recently sent me two books that she thought I'd like! Receiving a gift from someone you've never met is humbling and cuddly.
• I spent Halloween this year with Kerri Anne and Iron Fist (and non-blogger Hans) getting kidnapped and closing down bars. I had so much fun. This was my first Halloween away from my sister in NY, and Halloween was kind of our thing. This year I had a great time back in Portland with new friends. I love hanging with those two.
• I've been reading Life Serial for several years. (I believe he inadvertently introduced Demandra and I.) I adore Matt and have felt connected to his writing from the beginning. His Flickr and Twitter feeds are as fun as his website, but visit at your own risk. You're going to fall for him. Matt recently made me a notebook! It's so rad. I love it.
• Last Wednesday I finally met Portland blogger Lewis. We had a close call 2 1/2 years ago at TequilaCon, but we'd never managed to meet in person. We finally got together for lunch and it was so nice - familiar and warm and like we'd been getting together for lunch for years. Lucky me.
• A few weeks ago I e-mailed Sizzle (if you don't already know and love her, I can't help you) and told her that I needed to get together with a bunch of smart, awesome women. Sizzle being Sizzle, she immediately threw together an awesome party, and on Friday I went up to Seattle and had fun with the girls. The group was Sizzle, Jeni Angel, Aimee, Terrell, and Chris and Kim, and I had a freakin blast. The next morning Sizzle and I had breakfast with the one and only Kaply, and I thought I'd died and gone to blogger heaven.
• Finally, this morning I had brunch with local buddies Geek Girl, Kerri Anne, Iron Fist, Lewis & Blair. (It was the first time I'd met Blair - what a great, warm guy.) We went to Jam on Hawthorne, and I had such a nice time. Can we do it every Sunday? These are all my people.