reprobate

I, like a lot of other people, tend to google old friends and lost acquaintances in idle moments of internet access. I think of it as benign stalking. It allows all of the feel-good aspects of connection with none of the effort or downsides. You don't have to worry about timezones or being remembered out of context, or the awkwardness of past slights. There's no contending with the weight of calling up out of the blue wondering if your friendship was significant enough to warrant it or whether you're being weird and overbearing. And you can do it drunk, which, word to the wise, should never under any circumstances be done with a phone call to anyone you've ever slept with. Trust me.

You get to catch up without incurring any social responsibility, especially if your quarry has an odd name. Unfortunately, the downside is that this vicarious update can turn out to be rather final.

The lesson here, boys and girls is that life is fragile and uncertain. Reach out and touch someone while you can.

And for Marjorie, a little bit of the new Tom Waits, slightly inapropos.

But now she's dead
She's so dead forever
Dead and lovely now