My "friend"

I really, unabashedly love Facebook. I love connecting with people who have been important at one time or another in my life. I like the ease of communicating with ward members. I like being able to chat with folks (like Carol in Beijing, even with our time differences). I especially love getting to know my extended family (blogs have been wonderful like that too!). Blogs and FB have really created a link with my lovely Arrington & Silvers cousins, aunts, and uncles. I like seeing my sister and brothers in law too. "Like" indeed!

I have to share my specific pleasure this month at friending a stranger. Well, I'm a stranger to her. She's no stranger to me since I read her columns every week in the New York Times: Michelle Slatalla. (Her column title has changed during my readership from Online Shopping to Cyberfamilias to Wife/Mother/Worker/Spy, but it doesn't matter. She's funny any way you slice it.)

Here's the column from today.

On a whim, I sent a message to Ms. Slatalla in FB (I love that one can send messages to a nonfriend. Easy way to find folks!) on the off chance she might friend me ... because then I could read her status updates. I'd already tried this with another writer I like & no success there. But one day when I logged into FB, I saw a profile pic of Ms. Slatalla. She'd "accepted" my friend request.

It made my day. But not more than seeing all of my actual friends and family members there, of course!