Private Eyes

Yesterday I posted some observations on the nature of friendship and was asked ‘who’s not your friend?’ A harmless enough question, from which no offense was taken, but it showed that I should probably mention the guidelines I use when writing about my life (as opposed to scribblings about movie or current events or the like).

So here it is: I do not use this site as a forum to write about my dealings with real life people that I know personally. I may mention them in passing while recounting a weekend away or memories from long ago. I may wish them a happy birthday. But I don’t write specifically about my interactions, conversations and relationships with them. It’s a fine line to tread I guess, but I think I’ve done a pretty good job of it.

There are two reasons for this policy. First of all, the many folks I know in real life who read my ravings deserve their privacy. I want them to be able to enjoy the site, without being concerned that I’m writing or ranting about them. The one exception I’ve made involved a friend who died some time ago. Another seeming exception was actually a composite of people and events going back to high school. It was an extremely generic and non-detailed post but I yanked it anyway, since people misconstrued what I was trying to say. And sure, I wrote about Molly – but privacy was never a big concern for her.

Secondly, I’m not interested in making this site some sort of online journal about my personal and private life. It’s not in my nature to let it all hang out like that, and frankly, that kind of writing would be goddam dull. You already get the interesting bits, like the Nomah dance. The rest is pretty damn ordinary. I eat. I work. I hang out with friends. Reading about it in any detail would make your eyes bleed with boredom.

In short, observations about friendship, or anything else, are just that – observations. There are no hidden clues here.