This wonderful construct affectionately known as "the 'Net" has allowed many of us, hell just about any or all of us, the opportunity to express ourselves in any way we like...we can manifest an alter-ego and pretend to be someone diametrically opposed to our true selves, or we can show ourselves to the world in all our glory, warts and all...we can be villian or hero, savior or temptor; we may create or enjoy any persona we desire...

I would argue that this is a good thing; afterall, I am loathe to censor anyone from espousing his or her particular point of view...and even though I may vehemently disagree with some of the "topical content" of certain individuals who blog, post to forums or what-have-you, I will go to the grave defending their right to say what they will...as I see it, nowhere does stupidity shine brighter than in the written word! (and there will be no comments from the peanut gallery! =)

However, the internet has a certain "anything goes" modality to it and this can be a dangerous thing in that it's far too easy to fall into the "least common denominator" way of thinking (e.g. all one need do is talk about sex and you'll instantly get a bazillion hits, most of which will be of no substantive value...a great majority of those hits will be comprised of the lascivious thoughts of many young men pissed off that you led them astray)...on occasion we run across someone who is (for lack of a better term)...real...

So it is with a young man I have recently "met" out here in Cyberspace. You see, that's the beauty of this loose association of individuals and the community that is created in this virtual world...whereas we may pass the same person every single day, on the same street that we walk on our way to the office, and yet never even smile at, much less greet and speak with that individual; out here, we can meet, greet and come to know folks we may have never otherwise had the opportunity to know...

I "met" Chris Wondra (here) in the same way I've met many other fine folks out here...just plain ol' "clicking through"...I went to a forum I frequent and the whole "peteranswers" issue had someone all freaked out so I investigated...while I was trying to get "Peter" to answer me, someone posted a reply saying it was an AI and linked to Chris Wondra's site...I followed that link over and found a potential friend...

So what do i know of him? Glad you asked...he's a teacher in Wisconsin, has a strong sense of ethics and morality and...well, check out something from his "About" page...

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You: Is it worth it to hang around, clicking my mouse here and there?

Me: Probably not. There are at least a hundred different things you could be doing right now that would be a better use of your time. I mean hell, it's not like I'm Mark Twain or anything.

You: Yeah, but . . .
Me: Ok, Ok, I'll big picture it for you.

Core value: primum non nocere.
Setting/situation: Teacher, father, husband, small (but growing) Wisconsin river town.
Core problem: I'm restless. I struggle balancing my craving for more with my growing realization that life only happens "Now." Anything that happened in the past or will happen in the future are only constructs of my own imagination. "Now" is all there is, and all there ever will be–always. Still–contentment alludes me.

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Now, those of you who know me, know well that I have a wide circle of friends...and that common threads running through all my friends include: scads of intelligence, wit with a hint of sarcasm, honesty and openness and, well, they're just plain "real"...this dude has 'em, and he's got 'em in spades...c'mon, he quotes Joseph Campbell? Um, yeah...very cool...

Soooooo...I would suggest that ye hie thee over to his blog and meet him for yourself...I've not received my first advertising check from him (though I imagine a large deposit is forthcoming) so I will leave it at that for now...so go...go on and meet Chris, he's really cool!!!

chriswondra.com