Tweet.

I've been messing around with Twitter for the past month or so, trying to figure out what all the fuss is about...or if there should be any fuss at all.

I'm not certain why I should be so concerned about a microblogging utility if I can't steer myself to this screen to, um...macroblog, on more than a weekly basis these days. But, you know...everybody's doing it, so why can't I, right?

If you look over in my sidebar, you'll (hopefully) find my recent Twitter activity, which gets automatically updated every time I...uh...tweet. Or at least, it should.

It seems to work pretty well with Firefox, but isn't as consistent in IE, sometimes posting one tweet, sometimes the usual five...sometimes none. Overall, Twitter has had some technical issues that have made people say some very unpleasant things in the forums.

Truth be told, I have nothing earth-shattering to tweet about. Recent topics have included my best impression of a Naked Gun quote via txt msg (while at a baseball game); my love of Gummi Bears and what that might reveal about my level of maturity; the fact that I woke up with a freakin' Brady Bunch song in my head one morning (and what that might reveal about my level of sanity, and taste in music); and more than one note about how much I love Mondays. (please step out of the way to avoid dripping sarcasm.)

Trust me...if you're not following me on Twitter, you're not missing a whole hell of a lot. But it is kinda true what they say, that it can become a little addictive.


Something happened yesterday that made Twitter totally worthwhile. And the fact that I'm only following, and being followed by, a handful of people made it that much funnier.

I got a text message notification on my phone yesterday afternoon, and opened it to find someone in a bit of a tizzy that Gmail wasn't working...and she turned to Twitter to vent her frustrations, beginning her tweet with, "GAH!"

About 15 minutes later, my phone vibrated again, and I opened it to read a tweet from someone different, but saying almost exactly the same thing. Also having a fit that Gmail was down, this text message began with..."Gaaaah" and ended with a perfectly dramatic, "I can't breathe."

Perhaps my recounting of this story doesn't do it a bit of justice, but it was one of the biggest laughs I've had in quite a while. Not the fact that they were freaking out about not having Gmail...(been there, done that)...but that two of the six people I'm following on Twitter chose to tweet about it, and they chose, "GAH!" and "Gaaaah" as their expressions of choice.

Yeah, I think I'll keep Twitter around for a while.

So...

What are you doing?

"I will follow you, will you follow me,
All the days and nights that we know will be,
I will stay with you, will you stay with me,
Just one single tear in each passing year."
—Follow You Follow Me, Genesis