At one point I had a long list of blog links on my page. A few were blogs that I had stumbled across, but more often than not it was a blog link I stole from Twinkie's page. Yes, I am a poser.

Recently I was trying to recreate the code for my lost blog design and I made the choice to only link to two blogs. The first link is to my beloved friend Twinkie. Not only does my entire existence rely on her frequent acknowledgements, but I feel better every time I talk with her. There are very few people who can truly make me laugh and she is one of them. I've known Twinkie for years. We started as co-workers and then became the best of friends.

The other blog I regularly follow is Kiddo. On the surface we are a strange pair. I am a middle-age Southerner with no social life and he is a young and incredibly social Mid-westerner. I am married and have too many kids to mention and he is single and lovin' it. I am Jell-O and he is Crème brûlée. And as much as I want to be Crème brûlée, Jell-O can never be Crème brûlée.

But there was something about his writing that attracted me from the start. I was immediately hooked and found myself checking in to read about his latest adventure. Then Twinkie was hooked and we found ourselves discussing him like he was part of our gang. "Did you read the Kiddo found a great new job?" I would say. "Yes, I am so excited for him," responded Twinkie. It was obvious we had crossed the boundary of being casual observers when he wrote about loosing a job. Twinkie called me as soon as she had read it and we were truly upset and concerned for him.

Now the three of us are planning to meet and share a great adventure. Is that normal? Probably not, but you only live once so find adventure where you can. It seems that others have also discovered Kiddo's charm. VH1 posted a link to his blog post about the Goonies and now others will discover his insightful and funny prose. What do I think of his new-found fame? Love it! Love the bag, love the shoes, love everything.

My husband finds the entire blogging thing abnormal, but I am discovering that the connections you make with others are real. The other day I caught myself telling Megmonster about my friend (Kiddo) that lives in Minnesota. Then I said well not really my friend, but my blog friend.

So here’s the philosophical question of the day: Are blog relationships true relationships or is more like the familiarity you feel from reading a columnist like Liz Smith or George Will?

Recently, a former co-worker suddenly died. He was an online journalist for a major technology publisher had been writing Web-based columns for years. The local newspaper had on online condolences journal and I was surprised by the outpouring of sympathy from across the world. Most were from people who never met Bob but felt that they were part of his world because he had been a part of their lives through his writing. I find it very interesting to see how the internet has changed the expanded our definition of community and expanded its boundaries.

I'm still determined to keep my blog circle to a minimum. The fact is, I barely have enough time to keep up with the few blogs I do read. I'm thinking about adding Beakman to my list. The main reason is that he is related to Twinkie so he needs all the support he can get. But the real reason is that likeTwinkie and Kiddo, Beakman has that same self-deprecating humor that I like. Oh, the misery! The exquisite tragedy! The Susan Hayward of it all!