I may have ESP connections with certain of my friends, but I never rely on that to be the be-all of communication between us. ESP, as good and useful a thing as it can be, is sometimes like a bad phone connection---fuzzy and filled with static. I always tell people with whom I have that "connection" that if they absolutely need me to know something, they should send e-mail or call.

One of the things I love about words is the nuances of meaning they contain. For instance, in the bit above, I started to say "occasionally" about the fuzzy connections, then realized "sometimes" was a better choice to express what I meant. There are times when the two words can be used interchangeably; this was not such a time.

Commercial spam report: I was checking a seldom-used e-mail account last night, and as usual, it was filled with spam, about things that I have no desire to have. My absolute favorite of the ones in this batch offered me a chance to enlarge my penis. Yes, the name on the e-mail account includes "Becky." Which I don't usually think of as being a gender-neutral name....

Personal spam report: I created a monster by accident. I heard from a friend at Christmas that she finally had a computer and Internet access at home, and that she'd love it if we kept in touch more often. So I sent her my e-mail address. And have I heard anything at all personal from her? Nope. But she has forwarded a copious quantity of jokes. Every one of which was an oldie to me, since I've had Internet access longer. Sigh.