This site has been up and running for close to three months now, and I’ve met a ton of interesting and friendly people. Today, however, I want to take some time out to thank five of them that have meant a great deal to me in this endeavor. Each of these folks has gone above and beyond casual interaction to truly help me expand my thinking, learn, and grow as a person.

Interestingly, I met them all on Twitter, which has become my platform of choice for meeting and engaging with new people. If you haven’t given it a try yet, I strongly urge you to do so. If you’re looking for people to follow, I recommend you add me and these other fine folks.

Andrea Martell
Andrea was one of the first people on Twitter to talk to me when I was very new. She helped explain a few of the basics to me, and I believe she was the first non-family-member to follow me. Andrea is a tireless crusader for ME/CFS awareness. She started the Blue Ribbon Campaign back in April, she’s built a website for it, organized groups on Facebook and other social media platforms — she’s a woman on a mission. She also cares deeply about other people’s causes. Almost every message I see from her on Twitter is a message of awareness, hope and encouragement for worthy causes.
Twitter: Killandra
Website: Blue Ribbon Campaign for ME/CFS

David Cain
David is an eloquent, thoughtful guy who will always make you consider life in a new way. His blog, Raptitude, is one of just a few sites I link to in the right nav over there –>. I read almost all of his posts, and he never fails to get me thinking about something important, usually in a way I wouldn’t have tried with his prompting. Oh, and he’s a super nice guy, too. He has a pretty successful blog, and cares about every one of his readers, interacting with them every chance he gets. I also don’t know how he manages to write such long, content-rich articles twice a week. I guess because he’s just plain good.
Twitter: DavidDCain
Website: Raptitude

Krystyn Chong
Krystyn is something special. I first met her on Twitter when she sent out a link to a Bee Gees / 50 Cent mashup. From that moment on, I was hooked. In fact, I’m listening to her late-night DJ selections as I write this post. In addition to the music, she’s an awesome connector of people (we’ll ignore this awkward sentence structure and press on). She’s introduced me to some of the funniest, most intelligent folks I’ve met on Twitter. Oh, and if you ever get into a video chat with her and other people, she’ll probably introduce everybody to each other and then go play Rock Band. But don’t worry, she’s still your friend.
Twitter: krystynchong
Website: Dreammm

Lisis Blackston
Lisis and I have gone back and forth on email quite a few times, and I’ve come away from each message thinking, “Wow, she had a good point there.” She’s all about balance in life, which I can see in the way she speaks, and also on her site. (I found out the hard way, actually — I went to leave a comment on one of her posts that I really liked, but she closes comments during the second half of the week to free up time for other things in life. Smart girl.) Lisis is friendly and engaging — send her a message and see for yourself.
Twitter: Serene_Balance
Website: Quest For Balance

Rosalina Pena
Rosa may be the happiest girl I know. I mean come on, her latest post is full of videos with people laughing, or making others laugh. She’s even considerate of international users — she’s from the Dominican Republic, but writes every post in both Spanish and English so all her friends (like me) in the USA can read her stuff. I’m not a super happy bubbly person myself, but I really appreciate people who sincerely are. Rosa is one of these people, and I applaud her joyful authenticity.
Twitter: rosa7987
Website: Rozanina

So that’s it for now. I encourage everyone who reads this, especially if you’re on Twitter, to engage these people in conversation and check out their sites. You’ll be glad you did.

And hey, you may even make a new friend.

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