Why I Dot

I was driving home one day on the Alaskan Viaduct (which has generated a lot of debate and scary thoughts) , listening to KUOW (one of my fav stations). It was one of those beautiful sunny Spring afternoons that's so breath-taking you'd think you could be riding a motorcycle in slo-mo by the beach with wind in your hair. Anyway, on this perfect afternoon driving home, I was listening to The World, where I learned all sorts of fascinating facts, like the "path of totality", and this Chilean music group named Los Bunkers. Before that I was listening to an interview with the author of a curious book called The Trouble with Tom : The Strange Afterlife and Times of Thomas Paine. I listened and listened, and you know what I really wanted to do? I just wanted to talk out loud, to tell everybody "hey, did YOU know this whole crazy thing about Tom Paine's afterlife travel?", "did you know we're gonna have a total solar eclipse tomorrow?", "did you know....", "did you know...", "have you heard about..." But of course no one was around, and I couldn't just stick my head out the window. (That notorious Seattle traffic was particularly good on that day). One of my frustrations is finding something good to talk about, and having NO ONE to share it with. I could always talk to my cat, but she isn't very responsive. She often gives that cold stare that says frankly my dear.... You probably know the feeling. You're sitting somewhere, reading the news, listening to something, watching something, and no one's around, and you really, really, *really* have the urge to talk about it, to discuss it, to share it. What makes it worse is I heart the internet. I'm one of those people that could be called, in technical terms, "information whore". Or, if that term doesn't sit well with you, "information hoarder". Do you have a friend that *always* IMs or emails you links after links after links? And they always seem to have a web site for *everything*? And they can't write a blog entry without at least 60 links per capita? That's me. My brother once half-jokingly told me "You've defeated the Internet, it's waving a white flag." I like to socialize, gossip, and talk about the news, the weather, the party last night, the latest music hits, whatever. (Good thing I have a way to gain attention as a girl). I also come across a lot of stuff/news/useless facts, and love to share them, as quickly and as easily as possible. Oh sure, I could blog, and I do, I'm a blog whore too, and that's another story. But blogging is tiresome when you're copying, cutting, and pasting 10, 20 links a day. And it doesn't have that spontaneous feel, that, I'm only here for a night feel, that, I'm so excited I could jump around on your couch! feel. I wanna share stuff with my friends and I want to do it now! Like, in a touch of a button. Like, in a Dot. It's elementary, my dear Watson, that's why I Dot.