REMARKS: FROM ON-LINE TO UP-CLOSE, MEETING CHATTERS WOULD BE INTERESTING

Flickering names on a computer screen will become flesh and blood this weekend. By the time these pages are in readers' hands, I should be safely (or not-so-safely) on my way back from what promises to be one of life's bigger adventures.

It all started on April 17, 1998. That was the day I finally went on-line at home. I had fiddled with the Internet at a friend's office for a few months and was beginning to learn my way around the net to an extent. I had never dared check out the infamous chat rooms, though.

Not knowing what to expect, I entered Yahoo Chat, signed up for a free membership and chose a moniker. To my surprise "MarkMyWord" had allegedly been taken. I had to adjust a tad and go with "MarkMyWord_81." I visited Christian Chat and 30s Chat (and still do upon occasion). I soon found my home away from home, though, in the Yahoo TriviaMadness rooms.

This was a dream come true. I had always loved trivia. In eighth grade my social studies teacher let us play Jeopardy on Fridays if we had behaved. I was the Michael Jordan of Mr. Long's first hour class. (Well, okay, at least the Scotty Pippin! LOL) When Trivial Pursuit came out (while in college), I thought I had found my calling. Unfortunately, none of the people I ran with ever got into it and I only got a chance to play about three or four times in my life.

When I logged into on-line trivia, though, it was like a termite discovering a wooden mansion. For one, the trivia rooms are the friendliest, most polite rooms I've seen. (The Yahoo Christian Chat rooms are often frequented by atheists, witches, etc., who come to try to pick fights.) There is usually lots of horsing around and friendships made. Half the fun is NOT knowing the answer. Those without a decent guess would lounge on the "clueless couch" or sometimes dive into the "clueless hot tub." Making ludicrous guesses or guessing answers to previous non-related questions when one is clueless adds to the merriment.

Of course there is also the competitive side. I can get lost in music questions. I never paid attention to what musicians were in what groups, whether it was classic rock of the 60s or grunge music of today. Other than Pete Best & Ringo Starr, I don't think I could name a drummer.

Put me in U.S. history, classic TV, older sports or military history, though, and I'll match (half) wits with any fellow trivsters. Of course a general trivia room covers a wide variety of topics, so everyone (despite an occasional cry by a newcomer "Where's the beginners' room?") is basically on even footing. Of course there are some generally-accepted rules: The first person to a correctly answer a question gets to ask the next. The asker of the question should type in all caps. NO ONE else should type in all-caps. Certain color type is virtually invisible (i.e., yellow) and should be avoided and "numbers questions" are generally banned by mutual agreement. (Imagine the screen "roll" with 20 people trying to guess a number, entering one number per line!) And, of course, "spamming" (repeating a message over and over) is strictly bad etiquette in virtually all types of chat rooms.

I have made a lot of on-lien buddies during the past 15 months. A secretary/wannabe novelist in South Dakota; a mother of three in a mobile home in Fargo (who described the devastating floods down the hill from her window as she chatted); an Army wife in Kentucky,longing for her Georgia home; a young Canadian couple who have their own web site development business; a ninth grade math teacher in Louisiana; an American living in China who performs in a rock band there; several high school students across the U.S.; a young lady in Australia who operates a pet grooming & lodging service, etc.

The "handles" of individuals are quite entertaining as well. Some of the more interesting have been RubyhairEmeraldeyes, JustCallMeAnotherShakeysGirl, BlondeBabeInABallcapWithAPonyTail, Coo_Coo_4_Coa_Coa_Puffs, Surprise_Your_Dead, Illinoying, Apocolypse_Cow, shesrunningwithscissors, I_Was_A_Teenage_Eddie_Haskell, etc.

In chat, no one is fat, ugly, poor or has handicaps or other liabilities -- unless he/she chooses to announce them. How one deals with and treats his/her fellow chatters is the lone measure of one's prestige. Gradually, more and more have posted photos and biographical information. A "Brat Pack" was founded for trivia regulars, maintained by one of the chatters (GirlNxDoor), who does web site work for a living. There photos and information can be posted by "members." Therefore some of the mystery has evaporated. I was recently stunned to see that a chatter named Reggae_Lady is actually a petite blonde white gal from Indiana. As I was telling her last week, I somehow had an image in my mind of a very chic black lady from Jamaica ("a sort of young, better-looking Whoopi Goldberg," as I put it.) This is not the first time I've been surprised to see what a chatter looked like.

The big surprise may come this weekend. I almost feel like a cast member in "The Real World." We will be holding a "reunion," or live get-together at Tenkiller State Park in Oklahoma. One of those coming has nicknamed it "The Thrilla in Tenkilla!" How will we hit it off face-to-face? I'm eager to find out; yet, at the same time, I have a feeling I may be sorry I DID find out. Sometimes the big Christmas present hidden under Mom's bed doesn't turn out to be as exciting as one had imagined.

Oh well. If nothing else, I've improved my mind. I'll bet most of YOU didn't know that Gilligan's first name was "Willy!"