Sorry, I've been away from the blog for a bit. Back now. This morning in bright and sunny Ayacucho I open up my buddylist for MSN and check to see who is online...is there anyone I need to catch up with? Set a meeting? Who didn't respond to that email I sent last week? Who is online? The aliases read:

"Jose Luis "Venta Speedy" Cel: 97XXXXX Tel: 81XXXX"
Jose is selling speedy lines, or known as ADSL internet connections to houses in Ayacucho.

"MARTES a las 6pm reunion del FRA, en hotel Chaska, Pavel"
Pavel is announcing a meeting of a local painting/artist association for next Tuesday

"Estudio derecho porque en este pais a nadie le gusta leer, jaja!"
I study law because in this country (Peru) no one likes to read, haha!"

"Gasuri - www.los40.com - [thumbs-up icon]"
Gasuri advertising a website, sounds like a music site, i'm curious enough to go check it out after this post

Not everyone uses their nickname to plug something, pass the voice on an event or meeting, or print their thought of the minute or favorite quote, but many do. I see this more in the USA with AOL messenger and away messages. Is it effective? Here I find it so - I had a question for Pepe about a router configuration the other day so I look at my chat program, find in his nick (even though he is offline) his phone number, and give him a ring. Like I said, I'll probably go check out that site Gasuri is promoting because to do so is in our research area, and I'm just curious. I've been experimenting with my nickname to see what kind of reactions I can get out of people...I put in a quote from a movie - life is like the surf, for this you must give yourself away like the sea - out of context of the movie Y Tú Mamá Támbien this quote could be inferring a lot, and I immediately got three IMs along the lines of Asu Madre! De que es eso! - Holy Cow, where'd you pull that quote from!?