(note the two bloggers in the photo above - first thing they do is take a photo!)

It's such a simple idea, I have no idea why I didn't have it earlier.

That's what he said. <= Bart's got better words than I do.

Exceptionally lovely evening - as if we were at the Bart and Kelly's house sitting around their table eating together and having a great time. THANKS B&K for eating early! (there's a three hour time difference between KL and Melbs)

This is what the internet is all about. It's not stories of hackers and spam and ripoffs with spooky music on the television news; it's not about banning access, restricting sites, making everything difficult. It's about making connections with people easier and more creative. It's about using technology to spend time with people you love and like and laugh with. It shrinks the world down to managable chunks so you can pass the pepper grinder to your dining companion 6000 kilometers away.

Recently I saw a photo on Flickr from Shelley Bernstein. Shelley is the Chief of Technology at the Brooklyn Museum - she is a passionate (not using that term loosely) promoter, user, advocate of social media tools, free public wifi, podcasts et al to gather the community to the hearth of the museum - and to connect and communicate with people in and of the community. I saw her speak at Webstock 2010 and she was so wonderful - the stories she told, the way she spoke, the philosophy of the museum - and so obviously her own philosophy - I decided to visit while I was in New York; and I did, and it was fabulous.

ANYWAY.. back to the photo on Flickr.

It was a photograph of a flyer she set free in Brooklyn inviting people to her house for a Vegetarian Thanksgiving Dinner.

I thought that was really cool - and a little bit crazy: I loved the idea instantly. I decided to send an email with a link to the photo to Kiki, my dear friend (and ex-roommate) who lives in Red Hook, Brooklyn.

The internet - seeing a speaker at a conference who shares a photo through Flickr to influence a woman in Melbourne, Australia to get an American citizen to attend a shared community Thanksgiving in Red Hook, New York.

The Internet: THAT'S what I'm tolkien about.