Member of the Pack

Obviously (if you read my last post), I'm not the leader of the pack. By this time, about 48 billion other facebook users have also posted twenty-five random thoughts about themselves. Of course, Dan Zak penned a snarky piece in the Washington Post about all of us losers. I was so depressed!

Now that I have that behind me, I can say that it was an exercise that made me think. Granted, it may come across as narcissistic or WTMI¹. I actually put some thought into it. I did some internal cringing, wondering what will my friends think, but most of them reported that this was not breaking news.

I like the creative(!) method. The method of listing x number of "random" items, then going back and fleshing them out was an effective way of getting something written down. When I write this blog, for example, I'm often stymied, intimidated by the empty screen and fearful that I have nothing to say (and maybe that's a fear to which I should pay more attention).

I keep at this blog because I believe that ordinary people have extraordinary stories. (My stories may be the exception.) I appreciated the experiment on facebook because it is another way for many people to tell their tales. I'm trying to walk that fine line between being self-aware and delusional. You're going to have to be the judge on that one. Just let me know before it's too late.

¹I first heard the expression WTMI at a men's gathering around an intimate camp-fire where some alcohol-induced disclosures were turning a maudlin evening into an uncomfortable social encounter. I'm not a pop or gay culture critic, so I had not heard the expression, but it was not being tossed about lovingly in our community of brothers. I asked one of my camp mates what WTMI meant. He looked at me incredulously, and whispered, "Way too much information." I'm not sure whether he was responding to my question or making a comment about my lack of cultural knowledge. I did hear some extraordinary stories that night, even by gay standards.