Am I a Twitter voyeur?

Melissa Gilbert is taking her child to school. Martina McBride performed in Chicago. Jann Arden has one of the world's cutest dogs, and some of the funniest posts. Michael Ignatieff's posts sound scripted. Gilles Duceppe tweets on his way to the opera...I am a Twitter voyeur.

I have the utmost respect and admiration for the famous people I follow on Twitter. These are people that I have long admired for their talent, their work ethic and their willingness to be honest and open about their lives. People tell me that I'm courageous because I'm honest and truthful in my blog posts. I don't see it as courageous, I've always been honest and truthful-often to a fault. I would make a lousy politician because I don't suffer fools lightly...and if you don't want the answer don't ask me the question.

The problem with Twitter, of course, is the temptation to tweet back when someone makes a comment that is funny or interesting or compelling. I don't know these people. I know only what I have read in magazines, which more often than not is a variation of the truth. They don't know me at all...I do know that I admire their talent. In the case of people like Kirstie Alley, Valerie Bertinelli, and Oprah Winfrey, I admire their honesty when it comes to body image and weight issues, because it helps me to deal with my own...if THEY can do it...Valerie Bertinelli's book was one of the most inspirational I've read in a long time, not for the dish on Eddie, but for her candour in dealing with her emotional eating. Been there, hoovered that.

I used to work in Customs, and I have crossed paths with more than my fair share of celebrities over the years. I always treated them with respect and courtesy, and only was tongue tied and starstruck a couple of times. I'm trying to apply the same rules to my tweets.

So Martina, Kirstie, Melissa, Oprah, Jann, Brooke, Demi, Ashton, Ryan, Gerard...have no fear. I am not a crazy person...just a fan who likes and admires your talent and finally has the opportunity to tell you. Gotta go, tweetdeck just tweeted...