And I do! I do I do I do I do I do I do I doooooooooooooo! Here’s why.

Email—nothing has done as much for human communication, the good, the bad and the ugly, since the advent of language, which (obviously) means I believe it trumps even the telephone and letter writing as a means to an end when it comes to hitting up hubby at the office for answers to such pressing questions as “What do you feel like eating for dinner tonight?” I love, no, adore, that I can transmit my side of a conversation when it is convenient and can read the reply when I jolly well please.

Learning new things—it’s all out there folks. Even the bible is online. What more can you ask? And here’s the answer (see what I mean?) You can ask for a way to discern, decipher and determine the truth of what is running around the internet. Misinformation and downright scurrilous lies have been out there since Cain and Able and the onus to tell the difference between truth and fiction has always and continues to rest on our own heads. However, there are sites like http://snopes.com/ that endeavor to assist you. In fact, it would assist me if you checked this site before you send me another (i.e. one more stinkin’) email that has been passed around the internet for years with tales of woe about missing children, bizarre occurrences, amazing (read: photo-shopped) photos and claims that Microsoft is handing out money to everyone who passes on some dumb email. (But I’m not bitter or anything.)

Selling Stuff—there was a time in my deep dark past when I supported myself, the Spouse and the kids by selling knick knacks on eBay. One month I made $6,000. I know! Sadly, the heyday of eBay has come and gone but there are lots of ways to make (some) money on the internet and you can’t help but love that. Unless you are on the bad end of a scam. That’s not fun. (I, personally, have not been there but The Spouse has. Poor Spouse.)

Meeting fab people—through eBay, online email groups such as the ones I belong to via my novel writing and dollhouse miniatures and now through blogging, I have met many wise, witty and wonderful people. Of all the things I love, whether it be books or minis or pink depression glass or chocolate, I love people the best. Er, the most. Whatever. Read the blog of one of the W,W & W by going here: http://allurblogs.blogspot.com/

Rubbing elbows with writers you enjoy--in the old days, there was a kind of aura of mystery that surrounded real authors of real books. I have to admit, that still exists to some degree—there is, without a doubt, some kind of “club” that you enter once you become published. However, getting in contact with a real living, breathing author whose books you devour as well as the ones you take time to savor is much easier than it used to be. Not only is jetting off an email via a link in an author’s website so much easier than tracking down a snail mail address, it is much easier for the author to jet an email right back. What’s more, they are much more likely to do so if you are sufficiently complimentary (without being stalkerish). In fact, it was just this ease of communication that helped spur me on to email and ask one of my favorite authors, Barbara Metzger (http://www.barbarametzger.com/) if she would pretty-please read my manuscript and provide a quote for the book cover. And she did! The fact that “they” didn’t put it on the cover is besides the point (you can read it here: http://www.heidiashworth.com/ ) but the best part was being able to “talk” with someone I have idolized for years and whose writing made me want to write the same kind of book.

These days, with blogging, you can leave an actual comment on the blog of your favorite blog writer and know that not only does she (or he)want comments, she is asking for them and most definitely reads them and often comments back in front of the entire world. I love being able to chat with my fav blog writers! Just because some editor hasn’t decided that they should have a book (yet) doesn’t meant they aren’t totally talented, awesome, fun-to-read writers. Ain’t the internet grand?

Having the opportunity to always present the best version of yourself—true, some people present false versions of themselves but with most bloggers, you are getting the real deal, and their best side to boot, even if it is only one of many that might not be so complimentary. I like to call it the "stylized version". As for myself, I certainly don’t go around attempting to make people laugh on a regular basis (too exhausting for me though I know those who are very good at it) but it is great that I have this “place” where I can play according to my own rules pretty much every moment. To some who know me, however, the "me" on my blog can seem somewhat unrecognizable. Even my own brother has asked “did that really happen or did you make it up?” Not that he would know much about me anymore since he lives in a different city and has his spouse and kids to pay attention to and I have mine so we don’t chat on the phone like we used to. Besides which, he has seven sisters to schmooze and what you can’t do for all, you mustn’t do for just one, or so goes the unspoken rule in our family. It doesn’t matter anymore, anyway, since he doesn’t read my blog ever since he got all huffy about my posting a picture of his beautiful bride, an unfortunate up-the-skirt shot, (photo removed due to wardrobe malfunction) the details of which went unnoticed by me since I have no interest, whatsoever, in looking up women’s skirts. For which I am very grateful.

(Woe is me! I thought I had a handle on how to do Mr. Linky but I guess not. For now all I can offer is the copy and paste function. Meanwhile, I will see if I can figure out what I did wrong. Maybe. Someday. Eventually . . .)