Jennifer is..........

I have finally joined facebook - years too late, as usual, but being pregnant and mostly kicking around at home, it has become a large, almost obsessive part of my daily routine.

I think it's different for me because I am so starved for news of my US friends and from home.  Kari is obsessed with rap music - awesome!  Julie froze during the inauguration -  Cool!  James has a hot girlfriend - does she know what he looked like in high school!

And then there are the status updates: Jennifer is over summer, Zoe is glad she left her windows open, Lily is on her way to work..............

There are some strange things about facebook - such as people that you maybe said hi to 3 times in Jr High school wanting to be your friend, or your old neighbor that you never really liked wanting to all of the sudden be privy to your philosophic musings.  Also, there are so many people not on the site.  If only there was a universal way of just finding all the people you ever cared about in your life and collecting them together in one community.  Of course, there is always the ultimate shock of seeing your senior prom date and his oh so fake tan and thinking: OMG - I actually went to the prom with that? (but the corsage was so awesome!?  what happened?)

Then , the people you do like send you strange things like "hugs", "drinks" and "plants for your lil' green patch".  A couple of people I know play scrabble with strangers.  My husband plays eleven fighting games.  I have fulfilled my slot machine quest by winning over a million dollars, (fake of course) on the casino games page.  And then I think - hey, I don't have time for this nonsense!  I have a baby to get ready for, a life to live, a house to get in order, a business to plan, etc!

The thing of it is, there are so many people who you don't really know anymore that you keep your life light and superficial, when in reality it may be full of doubt, angst, issues, misgivings with the direction the world is going, anger, intense passion, creative urges, inspiration, longing, homesickness, morning sickness, pain, fatigue, happiness, joy, music, art and laughter.  How do you sum that all up in "Jennifer is............"??  You really can't, and so everyone, in a desire to truly connect, is left at arm's length from each other.

Life is.............