Where Everybody Knows Your Name

We all wish we had a place to go like the bar in Cheers - someplace where people know us by name and we feel welcome. But our lives are so fast-paced these days, we don't have time to hang out - to find our true peeps. Thus the beauty of the web! In a matter of minutes, you can find people who have a lot in common with you - you might even find true love! (Papa G are you reading?) Think about it - you can go hang out at a bar, and hope that someone who is age appropriate, attractive, available, interesting, and has something in common with you shows up or you can go to match.com! The web has changed everything.



For those of us who love life, adventure and chocolate, there's the Chocolate Lovers Travel Club (http://www.chocolateloverstravelclub.com/). I have yet to travel with these folks, but I can't wait to do so. Holly Stabin has been my point of contact and she's great! E-mailing her is like going into Cheers - you feel like a regular right away. Clay Gordon, the chocolate brain of the Club, wrote a terrific book: Discover Chocolate, The Ultimate Guide to Buying, Tasting and Enjoying Fine Chocolate. (There's a link to this in the upper right corner of the blog.) I haven't met Clay yet, but I like his philosophy - "the best chocolate in the world is the one you like best." Clay doesn't say "the best chocolate in the world is the one I tell you is the best," he just wants to teach you to taste chocolate for yourself. This is a philosophy I can embrace. It makes me want Clay to become my chocolate teacher and call me "Grasshopper." Some of these "gourmands" need to get over themselves. (See my last post Let My Chocolates Go. I got your back, milk chocolate!)

The way we find our "soul mates" is rapidly changing. If chocolate and travel speak to you, check out the CLTC. Finding the right people for you - the ones you really click with - can be like searching for a needle in a haystack. You can keep randomly looking or you can use a magnet.