Isn't it funny how one event can suddenly make you see things in a different way? Open your eyes to a realization of what has happened, and make you appreciate it more?
For nearly the entire 15 years I've used the internet, there has been one overarching theme: the internet provides what my IRL experiences did not. From chat rooms in college to discussion forums on breast feeding and cloth diapering, healthy eating and alternative medicine, economics and politics, the internet has provided a wealth of information and a venue for expression simply unavailable anywhere else.
Blogging made the experience more personal, where family members and friends could visit and respond. I'll never forget the first few online encounters with people whose faces I actually knew. Since those first few emails and blog comments, it the real-life utility of the web has continued to grow.
Today I posted a fairly "poor me" rant over at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival group on Ravelry. I was feeling lonely, left-out, and confused over why I couldn't seem to find any knitters. Here I am, close to one of the more notable cities for all things fibery (can you say Grafton Fibers? Dublin Bay? Yarnies all over the place?) and they were all hiding. I joined a couple of groups on Ravelry for local knitters, but the most I could find that wasn't straight downtown was a once-a-month meeting 25 minutes from home.
So, I whined. (Sorry, everyone.)
And, it worked. (Please don't tell my kids!)
I've since been invited to a Yahoo group for the PDX Knit Bloggers of Yarn Harlot fame, and told how to start my own knit night by someone who has actually accomplished that feat. (I know, it sounds simple . . . but I was just too timid to try it until someone said: "Hey you! It's stupid simple. You just do this . . . " Except the Raveler who told me was way, way nicer. ;o)
Now, to go make good on some of this great info . . .
