The only way to know them----is to listen---or to read---what they have to say. The only way to know their viewpoint---is to find a way to look through their eyes.

On-line journals are one way to do that.

Welcome to LIVES ON-LINE, a monthly ezine/weblog that looks at the best entries of the online journal community. I give preference to those journals I haven't linked to before---although this time it's easily half and half, new journals and old journals.

All the excellencies are the original journallers; all the faults are mine, for picking them. Yet I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Humor:

"From the Secret Diary Of..." confirms many cat owners' suspicions. That's from TALES FROM THE HANDBASKET.

"Old friends" discusses one of the few intelligent radio networks out there, and a demand to support it....also, a personal goal that I think will be likely be attained. That's from the ever-delightful FAULTY VISION.

"Worst. Date. Ever." is pretty self-explanatory, but ever so delightful, as disasters that happen to other people often are. It's a fictional conversation, but a real date. (Also idle wondering why men call to complain why a woman doesn't return his calls. Because she doesn't want to date him again. Well, DUH...) That's from NO RETURN ACCESS.

The answer, from the male point of view, is given at "The Beginner's Guide to First Dates" by John of BLAHTHINGS---which are anything but.

Drama:

"response to an e-mail I got this morning on the death of Daniel Pearl" reflects on Jewishness and the need to maintain cultural identity----and the unreasoning hate the world gives the Jewish people for being who they are....and, of course, the death of Wall Street journalist, expectant father, proud husband, and Jew...Daniel Pearl. That's from GINCI.

"When I loved You"---we've all been there---the joy of love and the letdown and emptiness of not having that love anymore. That's from ABBY NORMAL.

Shelley of NOTES FROM SHELLY CENTRAL lost her father last month: and looking at her journal is a heartbreaking road through grief. Such as "From the Paper", "time flies in the morning", and "out early".

Tesserae of LANTERN WASTE also suffered the loss of a parent, and despite a turbulent and heartbreakingly disfunctional family life, the loss is poignant--- as you can see in "My Mom is Dead: Part I", "My Mom is Dead: Part II", "My Mom is Dead: Part III".

Funerals bring out the best and worst in people...sometimes they are at their most noble, and sometimes at their most petty. In "The One When I tell You About My Day From Hell" we see some people at their most petty and bigoted...and the blistering, yet justified , response. That's from REGRET NOTHING, DISAVOW AS NEEDED.

Slice-of-life:

"The ankles beg to differ" is about regaining a bit of remembered grace--- on a skate rink. That's from A CAT BY ANY OTHER NAME.

It's funny, but it's random funniness in an absurd life; "A Night In" by the indescribible PABLO KICKASSO. Oh, also check out his "Nervous Jokes about Oncology" with serious thoughts about illness put in an engagingly sarcastic way.

"Glutton Bowl, Bad Presidents, Politics, and Cliff Ronning" involves, among other things, watching people stuff their faces full of food, and politicians stuffing voters' heads full of promises. Those reflections are from A MILLION MONKEYS.

In "My Sexcursion" the ups and downs of Sexpo are explored....just another day in the life of GARGY.

Miscellaneous:

I love a good rant, and there's one about the Winter Olympics and the skating scandal: "Any sport with artistic merit scores is not really a sport" from EVERYDAY REBELLIONS.

Another good rant, about the irritating "Email Crap" we all get, and how to distinguish...from WHAT I SAW TODAY.

The J.EDWARD KEYES WRITING WAREHOUSE gives a gentle, eloquent rant about death as a schtick for bands, and the band They Might Be Giants, in "Gagging to Death".

That's enough for now. That's enough worlds to wander in, viewpoints to experience. Return to...yourself. Yet please come again next month---as we explore more lives...

...In their own words.