Alone vs. Lonely

Okay, they sound very much the same, but lonely seems like it's involuntary whereas alone implies to me that it is a chosen state. Why am I pondering these two words right now? Well, I'm 3,000 miles away from where I was born & grew up. My best friend is still there, & though I have tried without being effusive for 9 years to find a friend here, the self absorption in this area is almost eerily scary. Kinda like the basis for a Stephen King book. Maybe I should write it. Though of course I'm no wheres near a Stephen King...not to mention I'm not even a guy.
But I digress. I do like my alone time. Time to read, write, create art, you know vege out, watch what I want to watch on T.V. But being lonely sucks. It makes me sleepy. No one to go have coffee with, or meet for lunch, or stuff like that. Ah well, this too shall pass. I always have my beagle. And if there's any dog so capable of emulating a human, it's a beagle. Don't believe me? Have you heard of Snoopy? Charles Schulz must have loved beagles too.