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As I was just reviewing the quarterly statement on my investment portfolio, I made a strange discovery.  I own stock in Facebook.  Not sure when my investment counselor put that in there, but I own some of this site.  

I remember when it first hit the stock market.  There was much ballyhoo about the opening price.   Was it worth?  Blah, blah, blah.  I never figure I'd have a piece of it.   The statement shows that it's made me some money.  Okay, I can work with that.

I know people who view this site now as passé.  Nobody does Facebook any more.   Well, I do.  And I will have to admit, stock shares and all, that I like the site.

I have friends who look at it with a jaundiced eye.  It takes your personal information and uses it elsewhere without your permission.  It helps people find you when you don't want them to.  It will be eventually used by the federal government to determine your likes and dislikes and subsequent jail time for either or. 

Sure, maybe.  I'm not experiencing a lot of the intrusion issues as my privacy settings are set so high that Fort Knox would be impressed.  And, yes, there has been the rare college chum that I had gratefully lost and has now reappeared, only to have me learn how to lose them all over again.

But, as I have come to learn and appreciate, Facebook is an on-line community from friends that has allowed me to stay in touch with old ones and meet those who I have barely known.

Okay, I'm well known on Facebook for posting one-liners.  If there's a TV show on or a news event or a game, I'll see something and have a comment. Hopefully one that makes you chuckle.  

I also like to use the check-in tab on Facebook.   Friends can track me wherever I am and I find this handy in the event that I am ever kidnapped.  

"Gee, Len was at the Arclight, then the Dodger game, then the gym.  But we haven't heard from him in three days.  Gee, maybe he's dead."

If I am lucky, somebody will look for me.  If I'm even luckier, I won't be dead.  If released convicts have a problem wearing an ankle tracking device, you should know that Facebook for me is that same kind of tether.  And I didn't get six months for shoplifting.

So, I'm now connected to a lot of friends and I'm proud to say there are both new and old ones.  Take, for instance, my cousins in Florida who I rarely get to see.   I post these blogs on Facebook, too.  A dandy way to get increased readership inside my family and out.  And said cousins know what I'm doing and vice versa.

There's my two pals from grade school.  One I never really lost contact with, but the other was a mystery for thirty plus years.  On Facebook, we have reconnected.  I see their vacations, their homes, their grandchildren.  More importantly, I see them.

There are several friends from college who went missing through job opportunities, marriage, and life.  Reconnected on Facebook and we now converse all the time.  One person from WFUV, a rock show host, was several years ahead of me and, as a result, I barely knew him.  Somehow, we wound up attached on Facebook and I'm enjoying the dialogue with him.

 It's magic if you let it happen.  For a while, it was rather easy to be Facebook friends with Martin Short.  He comes and goes on the site, but, when he's on, he's there constantly.  There would be times where one of my gags got a like from him.  Talk about receiving a blessing.

There are countless stories I have about friends on Facebook.  If you do it correctly and don't "friend" every Tom, Dick, or Jane, it can be a wondrous experience.

Look at me.  I sound like a shill for the company.  Well, why not?   After all, I am a stock holder.

Dinner last night:  Chinese chicken salad.