to dear or not to dear?

We're sittin' around (actually we were sleeping--not sleeping around, sitting around/sleeping) trying not to think about the blog, when a thought pops into our head. Who actually starts off their letters with "Dear..." anymore? Well, you know, sometimes it makes sense. Like when you're talking to a stranger, applying for a job, or something else equally formal. But it seems like (and obviously this has a lot to do with email, IMs and the like) that "Dear" is falling by the wayside. For the most part, it usually feels unnecessary. Who wants to start off a two sentence email with "Dear"? Especially when you're firing off anywhere from 20-100 (maybe more) emails per day... Obviously this is just minutiae and "Dear" really doesn't matter. But we were sitting awake thinking about it so we figured, why not see what everyone else thinks. How do you start off your daily communication? "Dear," "Hey," "Name"? Is "Dear" reserved for something special (like your virginity for prom night)? Or something else...? [Photo by ka.pony]