New friends are a curious breed. Made a bunch this year, some I talk to occasionally, some I see regularly. But I've been around long enough to know that it's all still tenuous, these friendships. Some may simply fade, some may sour. Some folks move away, or move on. You could talk to someone every few days on IM, for weeks, and they they simply disappear. Or a random person you met at a random event becomes a regular breakfast date, someone you look forward to talking with. Most of my new friends, like Olivia here, I've met through Flickr. Which is another strange aspect to it all. You get to know people through Flickr, their photos, bits of their lives and personalities, but it's only as much as they reveal, and what you can read between the lines, if they bother to write any, that is. Back to my recurrent theme of not knowing someone until you actually spend time with someone.

Used to be, when I was younger, I just assumed that when I met someone, and we became friends, that was that. Friendship initiated, friendship secured. But time moves on, things happen, you drift, you prioritize friendships continually.

There are folks I'd met in the first part of '07 who have already been...well, cycled out. There are folks I've met on Flickr who have disappeared, no longer posting, or writing.

So I'm used to it, but I'm always hopeful that the people I meet will be folks I know for the long run. So every step towards friendship is tentative, guarded. Don't IM too much, don't invest too much too fast. But be optimistic.

Sheesh, this is long. I'm rambling. Welcome to 4:45am on a Monday.

Here's Olivia, at our first meeting, where I felt weird walking around in her house, taking it all in while she changed out of her work clothes. Wondering how long it'll take to get to that comfort zone where the Good Shots live. Then having the conversation flow easy and the first shot be good, realizing things are gonna work out just fine.

Here's to New Friends.

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