My short career as an IMer

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Once, long ago, when computers were young, I said to myself sez I, Let's try out this newfangled Instant Messaging thing here from good old AOL. This was a time when AOL was cool. (There was that three week period back in 1997.) So I fired up the software and logged on, and lo and behold, as that Haze woman might say, I'm IMing. I mean, I can't log on and there's this debate person who shall remain nameless (because he's still in the activity) blathering on and on about absolutely nothing and I just can't shake him. He's knows when I'm sleeping. He knows when I'm awake. He knows when I've been bad or good.

I said to myself sez I, I need this like a woman needs a bicycle, and I ripped it out of my hard drive and I've never missed it since.

Now Google has IMing (how revolutionary!) and Noah, Mr. Why Don't You Come Up and Videocam Me Sometime, wants us all to sign up and chat with him. Of course, it's PC only, and the one thing I haven't bothered to do with Little Elvis is network Virtual PC to Little E's internet connection, and the last thing my clunky real PC needs is another reason to go slow. So, Noah and I will be forced to communicate the old-fashioned way. Email.

That is soooo 1998.

Meanwhile, the Speech contingent seems to want to organize itself. They want to do all sorts of wonderful things like recruit and raise money. Live long and prosper, I always say, but I'm sort of imagining that we'll recruit the way we always do (we usually get the odd boatload of folks on opening night and spend the rest of the year trying to get rid of them—the day we actually assign work is always pretty effective) and fundraise the way we always do (lots of talk, not much funds, although I would like to get the Family Night back on the books, not for the fundraising so much as for the socializing). I think they're also concerned with organizing a meeting plan. Not easy. It's taken me years to organize my plan (yes, I do have an organized plan, you lout).

And O'C wants to sign up for Bump housing. For 2006. This planning ahead is admirable. So is saving the whales. Personally I think he should spend these last few weeks of summer doing the latter while he still can. They'll be plenty of time for counting when the deal is done.

Today's quiz: how many stupid references can you find in this entry? My banality sometimes amazes even me.