A Couple of Years Ago
In June, 2006, I wrote a post on this blog which somehow meandered from Desmond Dekker to Land of Hope and Glory.
Someone calling himself Silverback wrote a comment on it - - - and I read his his blog - - then I found I was reading it regularly and enjoying it tremendously - - anyway, after a lot of me reading his blog and him reading my blog and some emails, and me finally being bright enough to work out that when he wasn't in America he lived about two miles away, and then me working out that he was about to go back to America for six months and finally having the good sense to invite him round - - we met for a cup of tea and a Jaffa Cake.
Two years ago today.
Byron, the actor who was working in our office that day, said the following, I noted at the time:
"Can I pretend to be from Eastern Europe and tell Silverback that I used to read your blog too, and called round three months ago, and now you won't let me leave, and that there are six more of us upstairs?"
"No, Byron."
A lot of water's flowed under the bridge since then - - and some of it was flowing under the Rialto Bridge in Venice, which Silverback, Stephen and I crossed this summer on our wonderful holiday together in Italy.
But through everything that's happened in the past couple of years - and there's been a lot, some fantastic, some good, some terrible - he has been an absolutely brilliant friend to me, and to the whole family. He may have been known to tease and mock me ever so slightly once or twice and he is always very, very funny.
Right, that's enough compliments for one day. Hurrah for the internet, says I.
Someone calling himself Silverback wrote a comment on it - - - and I read his his blog - - then I found I was reading it regularly and enjoying it tremendously - - anyway, after a lot of me reading his blog and him reading my blog and some emails, and me finally being bright enough to work out that when he wasn't in America he lived about two miles away, and then me working out that he was about to go back to America for six months and finally having the good sense to invite him round - - we met for a cup of tea and a Jaffa Cake.
Two years ago today.
Byron, the actor who was working in our office that day, said the following, I noted at the time:
"Can I pretend to be from Eastern Europe and tell Silverback that I used to read your blog too, and called round three months ago, and now you won't let me leave, and that there are six more of us upstairs?"
"No, Byron."
A lot of water's flowed under the bridge since then - - and some of it was flowing under the Rialto Bridge in Venice, which Silverback, Stephen and I crossed this summer on our wonderful holiday together in Italy.
But through everything that's happened in the past couple of years - and there's been a lot, some fantastic, some good, some terrible - he has been an absolutely brilliant friend to me, and to the whole family. He may have been known to tease and mock me ever so slightly once or twice and he is always very, very funny.
Right, that's enough compliments for one day. Hurrah for the internet, says I.
posted by Daphne at 4:54 pm
8 Comments:
A poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow comes to mind:
"I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.
I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?
Long, long afterward, in an oak,
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend."
The Internet is "the air," I think, and the arrow and the song your postings, and Silverback (unknown to you at the time) turned out to be the friend. This is known as either serendipity or The Law Of Unintended Consequences.
Good post! Happy anniversary....
Hurrah indeed for the internet and hurrah for Silverback. I hope (and expect) he will read this and am glad to say here that your friendship has also benefitted me. For example, without Silverback you might not both have made the journey to Oxford to visit me when I was in hospital. I hope to see you (and Silverback) soon but your post has reminded me he will soon be going back to America. I fear he may have left before I am in Leeds again so I may have to make do with internet contact only for six months.
Daphne - you're right. We have learnt to exploit the Internet in ways that the original military users of this phenomenon could never have predicted. It can enrich life as you have found via your friendship with Silverback. I also think of JJ at "All Cobblers" who found love with Reidski via blogging - not via some dating website. That deserves a novel. I loved the poem Mr Rhymes selected - it really does echo the main thrust of your post.
Is good to see friendships forming through the internet. Is an ideal medium for bringing like-minded people together.
He sounds like a jolly decent fellow to me.
Just make sure you always get a receipt if you lend him money and if you ever find a pool of water under your bathroom sink, it wasn't him.
A happy anniversary indeed
Hi Daphne,
I would like to invite you to a bloggers meeting in Leeds next Thursday. If it is something you would like to come along to please drop me an e-mail.
kristabooker@hotmail.com
Krista x
p.s Please bring Silverback along!!
Hurrah for the internet indeed!
I can't remember the date, or even the year really, but Ian and I met on the net circa 1997....maybe. Really can't remember!
Long live the net!
Bob - very apt indeed, thank you!
Ruth - yes, the internet is indeed a wonderful thing!
YP - yes, Mr Brague got it spot on I think: I haven't read that poem for years and it was good to see it again.
Milo - - agreed!
Hurlstone - thank you for the invitation!
Debby - yes, internet friendships can most definitely become real ones.
Silverback - There does often seem to be a lot of water on our bathroom floor - no idea where it comes from!
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