There really was an altar. And what else would you use it for?

Internet dating gets such a bad rap, but every time I've tried it, it's been fantastic!   I've met, like, eleventeen friends from teh internets and I've thoroughly enjoyed it each time. 

Granted, it wasn't THAT kind of a date.  Mine are exclusively the "you're a friend I've known for years, just haven't met you yet" variety.  It gets said a lot, but the people I've gotten to know, both personally and virtually, through this internet writin' bidness have made my life way more interesting. 

A couple of weeks ago I was in Galveston for a family vacation.  My profile pic was taken years ago at a cemetery there and I was dying to go back and retake it.  (You can see the new, improved shot on the right.)  annie lives somewhere in the not too distant vicinity and I was determined to meet up with her and a real life friend of her's that I'd connected with as well. annie and, uh, "Amy" met me at the cemetery and we had a great time exploring and taking photos. 

It took maybe 30 seconds to get past the intrinsic awkwardness that is to be expected when you put a pack of introverts into a social situation.  Almost immediately we fell into the same banter and commentary that we've traded for years online.  It was so much fun.  Even their voices seemed familiar, although we'd never spoken to each other before.  I'd give up introversion if I could connect that quickly and completely with everyone I meet.

We snarked about the mafia burials, the headless angels, the altar where the virgins were sacrificed, fence climbing, and mildly freaked out strangers who were reassured by our congenital cuddliness, among other things.  The only thing I'd do differently is to bring water next time!  However, had I passed out from heat stroke, I feel pretty sure annie and Amy would have dragged my senseless body into the shade of a gravestone to fester unmolested while they continued their photographic survey of the surrounding stones. 

We made some fun memories and I was thinking about it a few days after we returned home. While shopping and running errands, Jackson had to go finagle something with his cell phone account at the Verison store.  As we walked in the door, I was hit with the perfect thought to sum up the whole experience.  It was a sparkling piece of literary concision.

I found a bench in a corner and whipped out my Moleskine and commenced to feel horribly smug because I was actually writing, in an actual notebook, with an actual pen in the cell phone/computer store.  I started filling in some background drivel before recording my actual point.  And suddenly Jackson was done and ready to go.  What?  Who spends mere moments arguing with customer service before more or less getting their way?  And, of course, the gods of karma wiped that perfect thought completely out of my mind before I'd managed to record it.  I've spent a week trying to remember it.  No luck.

So.  Come up with something on your own. 

I had fun.  I think they did too.  It rocked.