If it has done nothing else, the Internet has made me realize how little I know about subjects of interest to me. The world is shrinking and it becomes harder to be a proverbial big fish in a little bowl. The darn barracudas from other bowls keep popping up and nibbling at one's tail.

I am in a wide variety of on-line clubs and subscribe to several newsgroups. This has given me some enjoyable opportunities to discuss mutual interests with people around the globe. It has also shown me that I don't know as much about, don't care as much about and am not as devoted to my interests and hobbies as many people are.

I guess it's hip to be fanatical.

One club I am in is Historic Preservation Radicals -- and most of them are. I fit in pretty well here, except when certain topics come up. For one thing, I'm not going to vote for a presidential candidate just because he supports historic preservation in principal. Secondly, when members start agreeing that it would be great to see gas prices keep soaring, so that America is forced to re-evaluate mass transit, thus putting less emphasis on the need for parking spaces, thus leading to fewer historic buildings being torn down, I have to back off. Like I said in a post, if gas gets much higher, folks like me will never get a chance to SEE any of these buildings we're saving! I'm very committed to historic preservation, but I'm not exactly ready to hand over my car keys, either!

I'm also in a Barefoot Lifestyles Club, for those of us who would probably be barefoot every day if weather and work situations allowed it. Again, I considered myself a die-hard barefooter to some extent. Think again. I don't do it in the winter, don't challenge shoe signs in stores, etc. I even got lectured by several members when I remarked once that by end of summer my feet are tough enough to walk on anything but glass. If you're REALLY a barefooter, I was told in essence, you can walk on glass, too (at least the little shards, while you can avoid the big pieces.)

Of course in the Christian realm, it is not at all uncommon for guest speakers, on-line evangelists, etc., to give basically the same argument: "You're not REALLY a contributing Christian unless you reach MY level..."

In history I always thought I was in a somewhat elite class. Wrong. Going to the alt.history.what-if newsgroup humbled me very fast. This newsgroup is for history fans who enjoy spinning "what-if" scenarios. (i.e., What is Nixon had beaten Kennedy in 1960 or What if Hitler had died in 1938). Any premise or answer in THIS group and darn well better be thoroughly backed and defensible or one will get taken to the woodshed in a most unceremonious manner. The same goes for the alt.ocieanliners.titanic group, which discusses historic vessels and shipwrecks -- usually the Titanic and her sister ships, Britannic and Olympic. We got off-topic a bit the other day, discussing whether the Bismarck was really all it was cracked up to be, or whether it was actually technologically obsolete upon launching. You don't EVEN want to put two cents worth in if you're not living in a Bismarck-Hood cocoon! Of course the Civil War is off-limits for those of us who can't recite what regiments and units were at each major battle, as well as describe the typography of the land, the shortcomings of the weapons each unit had and how the weather effected each outcome!

I've always been a big sports fan, meanwhile. Admittedly, though, in the past two or three years, I've been somewhat withdrawn from it. Entering a Major League Baseball chat room last summer, I could hardly keep up, with kids throwing player nicknames (sounding like a bunch of junior Chris Bermans) around. With all the expansions and franchise shifts, I had to do some reading to find out who the heck three of the four teams were (or who they HAD been) in the NFL conference finals!

Even in a highly sophisticated academic endeavor like discussing the Three Stooges, one has to be careful. Owning The Three Stooge Chronicles (one of the better biographic books on the Stooges) for the most part helps me generally stay out of trouble in the Three Stooges Club and the

alt.comedy.slapstick.3stooges newsgroup. Even there, though, I'm one of the dunces among fanatics. I have to dig out my book to double-check titles of most of their films. Many of these guys seem to have them memorized.

In retrospect, I guess it's a good thing I'm not famous. After all, if my life, accomplishments, likes and dislikes were available to be studied by the general public, I know what would happen. I'd visit the alt.fans.markevans newsgroup and make some casual statement about my life, only to be taken to task by half a dozen Mark Evans "experts," who know my life's details far better than I ever have!