Hiding behind the net….
Wah gwaan people? Well, me wake a bit earlier today than usual after hitting the bed ’bout 1AM. The walk yesterday was irie and I shall most likely go again today. I believe my ab wheel is now getting tired of being used…complete change from previously where it was a sort of conversation piece a gather dust to rahtid.
Weatherwise, it seems as if our usual afternoon showers that are an ever present feature of August-September (the month of my birth) have started a bit early this year. No complaints from me still….beats the sweltering heat we had in June, keeps the hills around us green and puts water into the dams.
Being a bit early today I surfed the usual blogging crew sites and notice seh de corners well quiet…whappen to everybody? Me waan hear some noise still. So, I licked the Gleaner…..today’s news nuh post yet (at the time of writing here). Checked the Observer and read about this hoax. People out here copying too much o de friggrey dem see going on in foreign…or they following what they see in movies. Where people find time to call emergency numbers with hoaxes eh? Then again, I suppose is nuff people out here who nuh have any job…but almost everybody have cellular. Cho…dem sorta unproductive situations jus mek man waan cuss claat! But, I will be decent (yeah right) and bite mi tongue.
Last nite, I spent a long time chatting on IM. Enjoyed the rap nuff nuff. Yes, person I was chatting to is female! Ladies always welcome. 
Now, though I do not know the person I was chatting with, I had to mention how easy it was to ‘talk’ with her. It made me realize that using the net, a blog, and so on, is a much different situation to a telephone conversation, where you can hear the person, and even more different to a live conversation face to face. Now, I have realized this from long ago. We can hide behind a ‘facade’ on the net or a blog personality, that can be quite different from who we really are. Now, for myself, lots of what you get out of my posts is me. But, I suppose for those of my readers who really don’t know me, to get the full picture, you would need to meet me. Now, don’t get me wrong….my blog is no hoax.
IM chatting now has a sort of adventure to it in that you are never quite sure who it is that you are talking to (if you don’t know the person on the other end.) In fact, that can be good and bad at the same time. The element of the unknown always adds a certain degree of mystique to a situation when you wish to know more about an individual. Think of how your mind wonders what someone that you have an interest in looks like physically, in underwear…or better still in the raw. 
Let me behave myself, lest you all feel I’m some sort of perverted voyeur. But, the mind can conjure up some really serious images. At the same time, you may end up with images that are far from the truth…..so I recommend just going with the flow and not prompting a situation. A person may look completely different from the image that the mind creates and behave differently when one finally meets them. Rahtid….a thought just came into mi head….suppose is a man I was chatting to last night……posing on the net as a woman! 
That IS a possibility…but I will hold down dem thoughts. Basically, that means that people can be deceitful on the net, and I don’t want any such thing to happen to me.
Another thing about IM chatting that I don’t particularly like, is that things said, can be misinterpreted both ways. It can result in misunderstanding. I guess that is where the use of smilies comes into play. Difficult to express emotion and voice intonation by typing alone. The human voice and face in particular, is very versatile at expressing feeling. Anyway, having said that, the net is a wonderful and fairly cheap way of interacting. I have made a number of friends on the net…some I have met, others I am still yet to encounter face to face. So, I guess I’ll end this ramble by asking you to share your views about the net and meeting people. Hey, I didn’t even get into cybersex….what y’all feel bout dat? Still…..can’t say I’ve done that….I think as a warm blooded male, I will stick to virtual reality in that department! 
Off to get likkle breakfast before me head out. Back to read comments this evening. Tek it easy nuh.
July 28th, 2004 at 10:52 am I’ve used Im from time to time and the back and forth emailing and my take is that there is nothing like the real thing. I find it hard to get the expression and meaning across like how I would want to. I have had situations where I’ve typed something and it is taken entirely out of context. You can call a man a dawg and you can call a man a dawg!! and the meaning is totally different in both cases. The IM on the other hand adds a bit of mystique to the situation especially in the arena where you don’t know the other party. It allows you to be totally unlike yourself and uninhibited and if you begin to dislike the situation you can block the screen name from contacting you. I guess both have their place.
July 28th, 2004 at 10:54 am Well, I do agree with you about the IM thing still…it is really hard to get intonations and other things across…sometimes sarcasm doesn’t really translate well in this arena at all. Oh well, let’s all get webcams and mics and have us a real virtual realitly lime! {arf,arf}
July 28th, 2004 at 12:12 pm Certainly there is some good to text chat as the words are definitely ‘heard’ though the meaning and intention may be lost without the facial expression and tone of voice and other clues that exist in face to face communication. I enjoy a mix of text and verbal communication for my relationship with my husband, we do email from time to time - but overall the face to face communication is the ultimate — certainly for the sex factor! In text chat too, as you point out, you can end up talking to someone so very completely different from what you picture them - physically and gender too! Be careful out there Dr. D!!!
July 28th, 2004 at 8:47 pm The context thing is so hard with the written word - I find it difficult to also wait for responses to comments - I am extremely impatient! However, there is something to be said for exercising one’s imagination and mystique - IM at times feeds fantasy. On both sides… now the webcam thing - why, that may pose a problem in the morning when I surf in the buff….
July 28th, 2004 at 9:01 pm I gotta get me a webcam!! Princess in da buff!
July 29th, 2004 at 7:54 am You know, Scratchie has been lurking around writing plenty comments for awhile… Scratchie, you doh want to write some blog posts yourself… Even occasionally? Email me and mek me know if you do, Dawg!
July 29th, 2004 at 8:51 am Yow MB, I think I have asked scratchie the said thing inna de past, but I doh memba what the reply was if I got one. But I agree, he has some good opinions to share….wah u seh again scratch??? Yes my yute, been enjoying the chats with the Princess. Send you webcam come nuh…..me too bruck fe buy one!
July 30th, 2004 at 6:24 pm At the time it was school Doc. I’ll give it a try if you guys don’t mind reading my crap from time to time