so, the 25 things rage came around, hit most of our family, 21-yr.-old first, but then me and 30-yr.-old daughter at more or less the same time. 16-yr.-old is still sitting on it; don't know if my sister has been tagged yet. meanwhile it has become like a tidal wave nationwide; the sheer numbers make it a nationwide fad.

i myself feel a bit like i cheated on my blog, going and telling all this personal stuff to facebook, when i've put most of it here over the years. my daughter went & copied hers onto her blog, which i will probably do with mine, since they are more of a declaration, a resolution to myself. I will put my stories on kindle.

facebook is like a dormitory hallway, going back through the hallways of my life; i can veer off with my college friends, as i did the other day, and see pictures of college reunions or even of the old times. pictures from 40 or 50 years ago pop up, depending on how far back I go, or where I turn off. I don't always want to mess with those memories; but, it's interesting to have that opportunity. my college actually gave up its alumni web program, because no one was using it, but everyone was finding each other through facebook anyway. it's very now, very current; at the same time, connected, by shadows, to every time, every place.

and now, everyone has these 25 random facts, a kind of narcissism marker, buried in their "notes" where someone with the skill of a cybersociologist could still have a field day. reminds me of a lazy mexican beach in oaxaca state, where some gringo came out to tell me this was called "zipolite" or "killer wave" because you drifted out past those rocks out there, then the killer wave washed you up on the rocks. he obviously was inclined to warn every new visitor; i, however, was not listening carefully, went swimming, drifted out, and was thrown upon said rocks and raked until i bled. lived to tell the tale though; but didn't stick around to warn the next person.

there's some random facts for you. and some others, i left out: guanajuato, panjachel; welshpool, stafford england, and the yukon; those little islands off the coast of georgia. through facebook, i felt like i went straight back to the 80's, back through some people i knew in college, and back to today through some pictures. but, they were kind of like they were in college, either not serious, or not nice. or not either. and i thought, why did i do this?

here, papers pile up, demands abound; my wife is sick, and i've become a sleepless grader. i grade every minute i'm not driving; when i drive, i play african, only african music. batu batu batu - this is from a child's song, and i promise, i'll find out what it means. for now, i don't even know which language it is. the keys of this laptop are becoming unreliable; i'm not sure if that's a virus, or what. i don't even trust the pop-up that keeps informing me that there's a problem. i've gotten jaded, hardened, blind. a good wave might shake the cobwebs loose- get me out of this bad-grammar daze, back into a kind of musical harmony. 25 random mirrors; 25 random maps; 25 random reasons to impulsively pitch yourself at the virtual world. hope the real people notice, 'cause the spammers seem to have picked up on it right away.