So by the grace of Mort's grandparents(thanks Mom!!!), Duke and I were able to see not one, but two movies in the theater this weekend. May not sound like a wild weekend to you, but wait until you have kids and then you will recognize the exquisite thrill of going to see a movie that does not contain talking animals and/or fart jokes.

Prior to one of the movies, there was a trailer of some sort for a movie(?) video journey (?) just plain 'ol bad idea. A seemingly teenager (I've reached a point where a certain demographic has become the "I dunno, I think s/he's somewhere between 15 and 25?" age group.) has over 800 friends on facebook. Which, yes, I recognize is not a lot anymore. I think most of my somewhere between 15-25 year old cousins have at least double that amount. But this girl is making going to film herself flying around the country meeting these people to see if they can be friends in real life. Some immediate questions that arise may be: What the hell kind of allowance does this kid have that she can afford all these plane tickets? Why in the world would you waste money and time meeting people you don't know when you could spend that money and time visiting the people you know and love? Or perhaps the one that dominates my thoughts: So, is she hoping to get killed on film? Because I can't imagine this is going to end well.

First of all, I don't think it's very smart to be friends with people online that you don't know in real life. If you wouldn't go up to the creepiest person you can conjure up, yes, you know, the one who looks like a stereotypical serial killer, and invite them to spend the night in your home (just the two of you!), then don't allow people you don't know to have access to you online. Be paranoid. It's much, much smarter. Have the rule that if it's not someone you would be happy to see and interact with in real life, it's not someone you need to be friends with online. And even amongst those people, be very judicious in what kind of information you're allowing them to have access to. Just because you both know how to use a computer doesn't mean you are friends.

Which I gather is the whole point of her "movie." She's ambushing these virtual friends/strangers and seeing if they can be friends in real life. I can only hope that this will be a huge cautionary tale to all the 15-25 year olds out there and not a story of insrpiration. ("Dude! We should totally do that this summer!") And I also hope that off camera this girl is traveling with some armed guards. And men with white jackets and big nets. Because this sounds like a truly terrible idea. And if it weren't so worrisome, I would be very eager to throw around words like "heartbreaking" and "pathetic" and "Where the f*%# are this girl's parents?"