Like many, I assume, I have a complicated relationship with the internet. On the one hand, the sweet, sweet anonymity of others' blogs and message boards. On the other, the in-your-face hyper-personal nature of facebook... Not only do I not want to show my metaphorical face in real interactions, I don't really want to see other peoples' either. Except when I do. That too-close-too-far thing from the other day seems to have hit that nail on its slightly awkward head. Seeing what someone I "know" posts online, the interaction minus the person, always calls into question what exactly I know about them, while the exact same actions from someone I've never met in person are addictively intimate, voire voyeuristic.

I've heard and I guess I believe that navel-gazing is the hallmark of the young, and I do see it, a watermark beneath everything I choose to do. Do I really come online to interact? It's clear I do not, unless it's with myself.