I’ve recently had to say goodbye to two blogs that I really enjoy reading: I’m Leaving on Bicycle  and Stay at Home Babe.

The things is we get spoiled as readers. At some point, we begin to expect that these blogs will always be around – whether or not they are updated frequently – and that we’ll always get to share a little bit of the authors’ lives. Then one day, you go to the site expecting to read about some new snafu in moving or dealing with culture shock and what you get is an announcement that there will be no more. How depressing!

I think what makes it even harder is that it’s not like saying goodbye to a friend who’s moving away. Where you know that there’s a good chance that you might one day meet up again. When they leave the blogosphere, the relationship of sharing tidbits of each other’s lives is over. Done. So, this feels more like a bad breakup.

Then I started thinking – both of these blogs are younger than mine. Is all that procrastination and writer’s block telling me that it’s time to take a bow and bid adieu to this joint, too? I can’t say I haven’t thought about it. But, for whatever reason I’m really far from feeling as if I’ve said all I needed to say. Of course there are times when I’m quieter and disappear to interact with the outside world, but during that away time I’m always finding conversations, objects or simply thoughts that I can’t wait to come back here to share. I guess until that feeling changes, here is where I’ll be – unless I’m somewhere else…in which case, I’ll be back

When someone you are “friends” with on Facebook passes away and then…

His/her account keeps sending you requests from one of those silly games (farmville, fruitville, or whatever) and then…

Someone who was out of the loop posts something on their wall – like Happy birthday! and then…

Facebook suggests that you “poke” said person because they’ve been inactive for a while and then…

This person’s profile keeps popping up on your homepage, which simply keeps reminding you that they’re no longer here.

I guess that this is what the age of social networks and fast-paced communications looks like. For instance, you find out someone has died and you go to his/her Facebook page or Twitter account to see what the last thing they wrote was. Or, someone you know on Facebook announces the death of someone you don’t know, and you go snooping around their page to see what his/her profile says. It’s all a bit bizarre, no?

I’m convinced that 50 years from now society is going to look back and think that these behaviors were completely ridiculous. Why did we need to microblog about our daily activities? Why did we use applications that announced to everyone in our “circles” where we were and what we were doing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m guilty of most of this stuff myself (especially the Facebook snooping), but sometimes while going through tweets on my smartphone I start to think “what would have I been doing before I had this distraction?” Unfortunately, I no longer have any clue because all these activities have become the norm for me. I guess that makes me one of the crazies…but not until the future, so I’m okay with that.