You just call out my name
Al works nights, so I wasn�t really surprised that he had sent me a text message at 4 AM, but it apparently startled The Keelhauler, who woke me up immediately (by calling loudly, and with no preface, from the next room) to tell me. I thanked him, and closed my eyes again. �Can you print me out a copy of your online diary?� he called, as if I was sitting in front of the computer. �Sure,� I hedged, trying to remember if I�d told him I had an online diary. I think I had told him, but it didn�t seem to be the kind of detail he�d recall, as it didn�t involve boats, boating, or boat repair.
In the morning, I looked at my phone and saw that The Keelhauler had not only noticed Al�s message, but opened it, as well. The message said, �I loved your online diary,� which also explained The Keelhauler�s sudden curiosity in the subject. He asked me about my diary on the way to work this morning, and what I wrote about. "So, do you get money for this diary?"
"No. It's a volunteer effort."
"So, how do people find out about your diary?"
"Well, it's mostly my friends who know about it. I suppose someone could find it through a search engine, and then read back through the archives if they liked it."
"And then you could become really, really famous and rich?"
"Well, I suppose I COULD, but it is highly unlikely."
The spectre of fame appealed to him, and he wanted to know more about the process. �Like, do you write down everything that happens to you all day long, or what?�
�It�s more like selected incidents,� I answered, �It�s hard to type it all in real time.�
�I have no doubt you could do it,� he said, in an obvious attempt to ensure a favorable mention in today�s entry. �What do you write about?�
�I write about my friends, and if you are a jerk or if you are nice,� I said, �like about how you yelled �Blah, blah, blah� and I got mad, and about how we went to see Lyle Lovett and sat in the back row.�
He absorbed this, clearly seeing the potential for his emergence as an Internet celebrity.
�Did you read Al�s message?� I asked him casually.
�I thought it might be important.�
�It was 4:00 in the morning. Did you think he�d fallen down and wanted me to dial 911 for him?�
�Well,� he said, �What if he did? The newspapers would say, �A local man was burglarized during his walk home... at 4:00 a.m... from The Grill restaurant. He was set upon by a gang of teenage hoodlums. Luckily, he had the presence of mind to text-message an out-of-state friend��
�All right, all right.�
(Burglarized.)
So, friends�if you�re in trouble, feel free to send me a text message. Near or far, The Keelhauler will wake me up to come to your rescue.
Star of the day. . .Batman