I've never been a phonechatty person. By "phonechatty", I refer to someone who regularly keeps in touch with friends by phone, who calls them up just to say hi. Given a choice between phone and e-mail, I used to take e-mail anyday. On the phone, you can't erase mistakes, can't proofread before you send, and you can't take the time to think about your answers before you reply. I've since come to find this a mixed blessing; you often get more of an honest response from people on the phone.

Phonecalls are often intrusive. It puts the onus on the other person to pick up the phone, to drop what they're doing. I've developed the habit of NOT doing this (esp. during mealtimes or when I'm in the middle of a work task). I count on friends to tell me if they're too busy to chat.

I also hate playing phone tag. Well, except with Amanda Snyder, but that's because her phone messages are so entertaining. :-D

Having said that, I very occasionally go into a phone frenzy mania. Usually because I'm dying for some conversation after being too long in writer-hermitmode and if my tendinitis is acting up a bit and therefore making e-mail more of a challenge.

Last night was such a night. :-)

I called a bunch of friends with whom I haven't spoken in a while: Mark Osier, Beckett Gladney, Graham Leathers, Dave Clement, Tom Jeffers, Dave Weingart, Lissa Allcock (unfortunately I miscalculated the time in the UK, fortunately Lissa was still awake and was very patient with me :-)). And I left several obnoxious messages on Scott's and Amanda's answering machine. I use Goldline.net, a long-distance calling service which has cut down hugely on our phone bill.

And y'know, as much as I appreciate and rely on e-mail, sometimes no amount of e-mail can replace the comfort of hearing a friend's voice, even for just a few minutes.

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Some interesting links:

Thanks to Reid and Jeff for pointing me to

ThisToThat: A simple but wonderful tool to help you glue different things together. Styrofoam to leather? Fabric to wood? No problem...

and

I want to: Very cool idea. I'm still exploring this page.

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