Writing, Health and Online "Romance"

I've not posted in some time, 'tis true. There are many reasons for my dearth of activity here, but perhaps the greatest is this: I've actually been writing! Yes, I have been paying attention to my Muse, and putting words to paper. Well, okay, I've been putting words into electronic files, but the principle is the same.

And, wonder of wonders, I also have found time to paint! Of course, it has been so long since I held a brush, most of my painting has consisted of re-learning technique. Still, it's wonderful to lose myself in watercolours for a day at a time!

There is a down side to all this creative effort, however. It seems the downturn in the economy is having quite the adverse effect upon free lance editing. I've not had so much as one paying job in almost two months, whereas this time last year I had more than I could do. And here I thought that a slow economy was supposed to be good for the publishing industry. Is it not conventional wisdom that people read more when times are tough?

Ah, well. Everyone is tightening their belts, right?

In health news, I finally have results from all the poking and prodding and sticking with needles suffered in the name of medical science. It seems my heart will last another year, God willing--it's actually in quite good form--and my GERD is under control. And thank goodness for Blue Cross, despite all my carping every time I write them a cheque. If I'd had to pay for all those bloody tests... Well, let's just say I feel for those without health insurance. And I hope the next president (Go Obama!) does something, anything, about universal coverage for this country.

Now, most of you know I've had my share of misadventures in online dating. My share? Mine and three or four other people's shares, I'd say. Anyway, a friend recently convinced me to sign on with a "social networking" site. No, it isn't the one you're thinking. Not the other one, either. Anyway, she got points for getting me to open an account, and I thought I could just ignore it thereafter. I was wrong.

Now I don't know if it's a sign of the times, or what, but there are a lot of lonely people out there. More than a few are online--many on multiple sites--looking for "my other half," or "my soulmate." Had I known what kind of Pandora's box I was opening, I never would have taken those five minutes to sign up for that bloody site!

My inbox has been flooded with "notifications" from that site--ten, 15, sometimes more per day--for the past month. Granted, many (if not most) get ignored. Sometimes, however, one captures my fancy, and I open it. This is almost always a mistake, but actually answering one is just stupid.

Call me stupid...

Hey, first I read the sender's profile. She seemed harmless enough, but I just didn't fit her "looking for" criteria. Still, she had written a polite, friendly, low-key note, so I decided to send her a polite, friendly, low-key "thanks but no thanks" reply. She never responded, and that, I thought, was that. Ha!

This morning, the friend who talked me into signing up for this service emailed to ask what I had done to "xzy123" (not her actual handle, of course). She went on to say I was being more or less eviscerated on some of the message boards. Not that I give a flying burrito, and it certainly hasn't slowed the emails, but it is... well, it's rude. I mean, what did I do? Say no? Has it come to the point that men aren't allowed to decline when women make first contact? Needless to say, I won't be answering any more emails from members of that site.

And on that note, I think I shall close this post. Next time, I'll try to be more coherent.