You probably have digital best friends, DW.
You probably have digital best friends, DW.
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
I would add that best friend assumes quite a lot of meeting face to face, recognising the best friend, and having interests in common.
You are right, DW. It is a much more floating and fragile relationship. Forget about face to face recognition. The best you will get is an avatar and a, sometimes curious, nickname. And you usually have contact to only a very slice of a personality that sits somewhere behind another PC or smartphone.
But it has its advantages too. You donīt have to invite it for tea!
Last edited by Danik 2016; 10-06-2016 at 10:38 AM.
"I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row
I'll be your friend, DW. Describe me.
Hint: I've got a selfie on my profile page.
Heh. That took his breath away.
It's fine to be a "friend" on the internet, but this thread is about my "best friend". I can't distinguish between friend and best friend on the internet. I've checked your profile on LitNet out, and there is little about you that I know. I assume you are from America somewhere (a blind guess), we've never met face-to-face, I wouldn't recognise you either from your picture on your LitNet profile or you mine, and I don't have a selfie, partly because I don't have a mobile phone.
Most of us on LitNet are like this, some indicate the part of the country they are from, or at least living in atm. I was born and brought up in London, so English is my mother tongue. So I have to confess I have no "best friend" on LitNet. But I was born to Hungarian immigrants so I know a smattering of Hungarian, too.
Okay, DW, we'll just be cyber friends. I'm a happy-go-lucky retired guy, by the way. I grew up near Boston and still live in Massachusetts, although since retirement my wife and I have kind of snowbirded back and forth from Taiwan. But I've been spending more time with my (ancient) dad recently, and my knees are giving me trouble lately, so it looks like I'll be staying in the USA this winter. I've been doing hardcore traveling since I was 18, and served in the US Peace Corps in central Africa. I survived cancer. I'm a religious radical. I like to read. Oh, and I retired early, so I'm old but I'm not that old. That's all I want to say about myself online. Still want to be friends?
I've added you, PB. Here we are an hour earlier than GMT, and I switch the computer off by 5 pm and log on at 7 am usually.
Don't worry, DW. The humor was self-deprecatory. You are a really good guy.