Today was Renee's virtual baby shower, dreamed up by Beth and given by about 25 of us wacky, zany online diarists. It was a huge success all around, with at least three forms of electronic chat involved, plus phone calls, email, and an actual live party at her friend Mary's house going on simultaneously. As Renee opened her presents Mary took photos and uploaded them to Renee's new domain so we absentees could see her reactions. She came by ElderMOO to see the room created for her, yakked on IRC to another group, and took ICQ calls. It worked beautifully and I'm impressed by how much it felt like being at a party even though the participants were in widely varying parts of the world.
Congratulations, Renee. We look forward to the successful conclusion of your pregancy, if only to see whether or not you use one of the names we suggested.
A bonus for me is I finally learned how to use IRC. I'm quite used to MOO and MUD commands, but even though IRC is simple to use it's not intuitive stuff. Until someone gave me the basic commands I was unable to make it work and felt like a big dodo. Once I figured those out, though, there was no holding me back. We all had such a good time I'm pretty sure we're going to arrange to chat online on a more regular basis. I expect our cabal will soon rule the world.
After an exciting and tiring six hours on the computer I sashayed over to the clubhouse to our condominium complex's annual wine and cheese party. What a snore. We went because . . . why did we go? I had some odd urge to be participatory and social, I think. Naturally, I didn't have anything to say, not being a homeowner or interested in being on the board. I had some sparkling water, a few potato chips, and some half-assed conversations, then left to have dinner with Jen up in the City.
Dinner was great. I was full of my own cleverness for taking a shortcut to her new place; it made me feel like I really did know the city still despite not living there any more. We had Thai food, and then went out for coffee, and talked non-stop, and I saw her apartment, and then I zoomed home again. It was a very satisfying evening; for one thing, Jen's the only other woman I know who really likes Hong Kong movies. I also felt a pervasive sense of happiness and belonging that has eluded me until recently. I've had more trouble reintegrating into my former California lifestyle than I would have thought possible when I was exiled in Tennessee. I enjoyed myself from the moment I got back here but I felt alienated still. I suppose whatever guard I had up during those long years away was not something I could drop quickly. At any rate, as we strolled around 9th and Judah amiably discussing where to eat I felt like a native once again.
It was a wonderful day.
