I got to thinking while parking myself at a copier machine and making a ton of copies so the folks at the SEC will have something to do and not annoy us today. I was thinking about my friends and some of the unusual ways that I have met people.

Now, I have met people through the normal channels: work, volunteering with organizations such as the New York City Gay Men's Chorus, various social engagements. However, some of my best friends have come through more unusual circumstances. My friend Lisa and her daughter Bianca I met while waiting for rush tickets to the musical CHICAGO. We struck up a conversation and voila! Instant friendship. My friend Fran I met while sitting next to her at the show CONTACT. She and I both had a great love of the theatre and we had a fabulous conversation about it and voila! Instant friend.

There there are my friends I met while I was part of a fictional "abbey/convent" in celebration of the character of Dana Scully of The X Files. (Yes, can say geek because it is kinda geeky). From this large group (over 500 people) I met some of the most wonderful people in the world. Some of them I consider to be some of my nearest and dearest, I would run into a burning building to save your life, yes I will give you my sperm so you can conceive a child, kind of friends. I love each and every one of them and I revel that twenty to thirty people from different parts of the WORLD (we have people in Australia, Wales, and Canada as well) can band together and have so much fun and come together as a unit.

Then, of course, there are my new friends that I have met since I started blogging. These people inspire me to be a better writer, to be a little more forthcoming, and to use this powerful new tool for purposes of good and not evil (which for me, as some people can attest, is a hard thing). They make me more in tune to the world around me and with my feelings and to not be afraid to open up and share. I think it's making me a better person.

To all of you, I am grateful.