Why i hate Facebook. Edited

1. It took people away from blogging. 

2. I have friended people i would never in my life have lunch with. ONLY because i was afraid of offending people. 

3. This bothers me too because usually i am not worried about offending people that much.

4. I do NOT ever want to hear about these things on Facebook, yet people always seem to talk about:

* their sniffles and sore throats

*their kids sniffles and sore throats

*the person who works next to them who have sniffles and sore throats who might make them sick

*their cancer. Really do we need to talk about such seriousness on something as banal as a social network?

*anyone in their family who died. Again, too serious of a topic IMO.

*union stuff. over and over and over. (because of my work 'friends') I work for school unions. I do not want to read about all of this stuff right now on Facebook too, because i already get it at work, especially since unions are so vilified and the root of all the economic problems.(Disclaimer: I do NOT agree with this, i'm just saying what i'm reading. It pisses me off. But that's another post.)

5. I looked at Facebook way too much when it was easy to click in. Once i logged myself out and had to type a password to get in it was easy to leave it alone.

6. I have only checked it now about 3 times in the past 4 days. (I did not deactivate it.) Disclaimer: I just logged in Saturday to load a video of Eddie Vedder and Johnny Depp performing together. Watching Vedder and Depp on a stage together is porn to me. (Check it out if you have Facebook. They are doing "Society" from the "Into the Wild" movie.)

7. You see, I am too lazy to even type in a few letters to get to it. That's how much Facebook doesn't inspire me. 

8. I know my blog might not inspire others either. But i like that if it does, it attracts folks who might have more to say than the stuff that i just mentioned in #4. And thank you all for that who post. 

9. I got curious about how many other people post about hating Facebook and it turns out that quite a lot of the cyber population have similar posts:  here's a quote by Andy Ostroy that i thought was funny: (He posted this on Huffington Post.)

I think I've figured out Facebook's major appeal. It offers uber-narcissists an opportunity to have their proverbial 15 minutes every five fucking minutes!. The site is overcrowded with attention-starved grown-ups essentially screaming "look at me... look at me!" all day long. They change their profile photos as often as I change my underwear, and they've somehow convinced themselves that their lives are infinitely interesting all the time. The "audience factor" is just way too attractive to these folks. It's drunken karaoke without the booze and the bad singing, but with all the requisite self-indulgence.

 10. In regards to the quote above, I would like to point out to all that equeyaya and I never change our Facebook photo. In face we've both had the same one since last July. (Photos that happen to be taken on our trip together on Vashon Island.)

If Jesus was a blogger...updated to add: What would Justin Bieber Blog?

I got to thinking while running the other day. What would Jesus say if He was a blogger? I know this image is a God- like one, but it was the best i can do.

Anyway, here is what i think Jesus would say:

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1. My Mom Mary is a really sweet woman. But i really would never want to party with my mom.

2. And here is why: MY very best talent is turning water into wine. But my Mamma always has to bitch to me: "Baby" she says, "I think that is enough water turning for now."....JUST when the party is getting started.

3. (I hate it so much when she calls me 'Baby'.) And yeah i know, it's hard to imagine Mary being a bitch.

4. What REALLY bugs me most is she and my 'Semi-Dad-Joseph' are always asking me who is my girlfriend.

5. The reason it bugs me is i think they are worried that i might be gay.

6. And so what if i am? I think they knew before I did that Judas was a Bad Boy and you know how everyone, gay or hetero, goes for the Bad Boy/Girl. I think they were afraid i had a crush on Judas.

7. And the truth is i sort of did. However, I was on to Judas from the start, attractive as he might be he still creeped me out a little, sort of like that one Baldwin brother living in your world. (I think his name is Stephen.)

8. I know what you are thinking. How could i even say 'i think his name is Stephen'? Shouldn't Jesus be ALL KNOWING?

9. The truth is that's my Dad, not me.

8. And back to Judas for a moment: it doesn't matter to me how hot I may have thought Judas was. I still have a good work ethic. And I knew what I was supposed to do.

9. And though i may have forgiven Judas. And i know i should forgive EVERYONE....at the same time I wouldn't mind kicking some Pontius Pilate ass.

10. Here's another thing. I am NOT the narcisisst that some folks need to make me out to be. You don't have to capitalize the "H" when you say 'he' or 'him'.

11. But most of all, i don't give a fuck if you say "Happy Holidays" or "Merry Christmas" or whatever. Don't blame me for that mess.

12. If it were my choice i would choose "Hey Ya" as the appropriate greeting. leave ME out of it.

13. OOps, i didn't really mean to capitalize the "m" in "me" above. It just happened.

Christmas Moment Musings...

Short Menu of the Day:

iTunes: Ryan Montbleau cd. (Thank you, equeyaya!)

In my Glass: Toasted Head Chardonnay

Photos: 1) Paper whites are my favorites. I should have taken this when they bloomed more. Oh well.
2) Brian's tradition is to make his own smoked salmon and give it as gifts. It takes all day. But i've never tasted any smoked salmon better than his.
3) My tree, which looks like every other tree, but dammit, this tree is like having a new puppy. It needs water twice a day! I think this tree will live until March. I'm not getting rid of it until it dies.
4) louielouie's daughter made this snowman/ghost candle for me when she was in elementary school (she's 21 now, right?...louie?) I still put this out every year and light it.
5) Dorothy's Christmas wreath was well known around our condo. When she died her daughter gave it to us. The first year we hung it i had two friends call us thanking us for making sure it was still displayed. Brian and I still miss Dorothy and talk about her often. She would join us for our Christmas breakfast those years we didn't have to hit the road to Eastern Washington.

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My thoughts on Christmas moments:

1. First the disclaimer: I wanted to be sure that i have 52 blog posts before i end this year and i'm not sure once the tsunami of Christmas arrives (which for me starts on Christmas Eve afternoon) that i would have time.

2. This blog post is about posting your Christmas moments this year. As i've gotten older I have learned not to have the expectation of the whole Christmas Spirit feeling. I am sure that is partly do to my choice of not having children. (I think children are the key to that spirit.) Instead I have learned to enjoy the season by looking for those moments.

3. Kylee's graduation last week from the Seattle Art Institute. First of all Kylee is the first person in my family to graduate with a bachelor's degree. And being in Seattle at Christmastime with family during a celebration like that was really cool. We went out for tapas and wine afterwards at a nice place where we got to sit in sofas. It was very warm and cozy and happy.

4. Watching Roman Holiday with Brian the other day. Kylee loaned us her DVD of this and though it's not a holiday movie, it felt like it. Neither one of us had ever seen it.

5. Yesterday my brother Troy stopped by unannounced. He was carrying what i first thought was lawn furniture cushions. Instead it was his dog, Gus's dog bed. (Gus was a girl named for Augustus McRae from Lonesome Dove.) Gus was a gentle black lab who lived to be 15 years old. She died only two months before Troy's son Josh died. With Gus's dog bed was also a pair of Josh's jeans, size 30/30. I used to make lots of jean pillows years ago for my nieces and nephews and I had told Troy i would make a pillow of Josh's jeans and Gus's dog bed scraps if he ever wanted that. He never responded at the time so i thought he must have thought it was a dumb idea and i had forgotten about it. But last night he showed up with them both.

6. I am going to buy a sewing machine now! I keep thinking i should.

7. A moment I'm looking forward to: Brian and Kylee are headed out to Weight Watcher's tonight and afterwards are coming over to watch Eat, Pray, Love and i'm in between writing this blog and cooking a healthy pasta dinner for when they return.

8. Tonight my nephew Brian called me from the mall. He always leaves his Christmas shopping until the last few days which cracks me up. He was looking for the Ryan Montbleau cd and he couldn't find it, which i'm not surprised . I don't think Troy reads my blog so i'm not giving up anything. But i love when they call me for ideas.

9. The other night this same nephew was at my mom's house and i noticed that he had duct tape in the crotch of his jeans. LOL.... It was pretty funny. Apparently he had ripped them out and decided that was the fix. So though we normally don't do the gift exchange in my family with any kids over 21 i bought him some Gap jeans for Christmas.

10. My niece Ashley emailed and said she wants to come down and visit with me ahead of the Christmas Eve Tsunami on her way home from Seattle. So she and Kylee and Brian and I are have a pre-function at our place and maybe nephew Brian and his girlfriend will come too. All my favorites.

So if you aren't too busy with Christmas, come and share you own Christmas moments with us all.

And thank you for reading this blog. I hope you will all continue to come here and post in 2011.... (you too....TXGrits, where have you been?)

My goal, whether Facebooking takes over blogging or not, will to continue to try to move this once a week as i did this year. I like writing and it's a great outlet for me.

Merry Christmas all.

Edited: to add louie/louie's children: Emma and Nick. I'll add a comment to explain.

How to be happy.

I'm going to skip the Menu of the Day and just cut to the chase with How to Be Happy. I got the idea from equeyaya's video that i have posted here. This is such a happy song. Anyway i thought it might be fun if we all blogged about our ideas on how to be happy. I myself haven't even thought ahead about this, so i'm just winging it.

1. Do what you are good at. And do it often.

2. Have at least one friend that you can so totally honest with that you can tell them that one thing you might write in your private journal that you hope no one in the world ever reads even after you are dead and gone.

3. Exercise. I know, i know, people hate it. I hate it too. And yeah, getting started is hard and you will be miserable for a bit. But if you do it long enough to make it a habit, it will become that thing you have to do, like paying bills, flossing your teeth, eating fiber. And soon you will be amazed at how much better you feel and how your body will change. And THAT will make you happy.

4. Do something that challenges you. (I'll admit this is a hard one for me and i don't do it often enough. But those times when i have ventured into new territory i find that i get energized, especially at work, for example: designing and maintaining our website at work. )

5. If you love wine, treat yourself to an expensive bottle every once in awhile...it doesn't have to be super expensive, but say... $25 or so, as long as it is recommended by someone who knows their stuff.

6. Try to find at least two hours of unencumbered time for yourself every few days. As a non-mom it's easy for me. For moms, i think it's super essential. Even if it's just to watch TV without interruption or Facebook during that whole time.

7. Change your hair if you hate it. (What do you have to lose?)

8. Listen to music you like every day. But not that freaking sad angsty shit. Something like the video posted above.

9. Don't watch too much of the news on TV. And if you live in the Pacific Northwest, like i do. Don't watch the weather either.

10. Buy yourself flowers. Buy them once a week if you live in the Pacific Northwest. Where the skies are the color of..... concrete 10 months a year.

11. And better yet! ....Order them from your favorite florist and have them delivered to yourself at work and then don't tell anyone who sent them to you.

12. Order lot of shit from Amazon. I love when i come home and a package is on my doorstep. Every day this week i come home and a package is out there and i get excited and they are not even for me because they are Christmas presents!

I don't want to make this too long so i will end here even though i have more ideas, but i'll wait for yours and post some later in Comments.

Potpourri Blogging

Menu of the Day:

On the iPod: eque yaya's mix (eque there is a song on there is could have sworn was Conor Oberst but it turns out to be some guy named Aaron.???)

In my glass: A mouvedre red blend. By Olsen Hills. Very nice.

What I'm procrastinating about: I was supposed to wrap presents today but i realize i don't know where the To/From cards are so i need to buy more.

What's bugging me: The vote on extending the Bush tax cuts. And the Don't Ask/Don't Tell.

What I'm looking forward to: Christmas! And the time off! And Kylee's graduation. She is the first person in our family to graduate with a bachelor's degree! Yay Kylee. And when she's done she will come back to this blog. And i look forward to that too.

Why i deserve a gold star: i went running on my lunch hour today and the rain could not have come down any harder even as i headed out to do this. I looked like i had fallen in a lake when i was done. It's a good thing i don't have to run again until Sunday, it will take that long for my shoes to dry!

Another reason i deserve a gold star: I think i am done with Christmas shopping!

Photos: My niece Ashley wanted the series of photos i took of her and Brian and Josh Christmas 2008. (This was Josh's last Christmas). She had only seen a couple i had posted on Facebook before. So i put them all up today because i finally found the folder. And then I decided to add a few of them here too.

The Christmas trees are Tree 2009 and Tree 2010. They look the same! What a crack-up. (Next year i think we'll mix it up.) The darker photo is from last year. I came across this photo of my husband in a vest! And that made me laugh too. This is from his post college years i think. He's the one on the far right (wearing the vest!). The foot ornament is Kylee's favorite. Brian actually carved this years ago and we had a running joke. I used to hide it at the back of the tree and he would always move it. Now Kylee makes sure it has a special place in the front.

Current news that's sorta interesting to me : (I'm embarrassed to admit!) I saw the headline on Comcast that Kate (+8 mom) and Sarah Palin didn't get along on their camping trip. I'm waiting for Furline to weigh in on this. And the Zuckerman Facebook dude. He's interesting.

What's not: Prince Charles' car being attacked.

My tentative plans for 2011: I'm going to join the Thursday night Running Club. I'll start bowling in February. (LOVE bowling!), I won't watch American Idol this year so that frees me up alot. I wonder what i'll do. Oh....probably Facebook instead. That's about it. I'm not much of an overachiever.

Feng shui blogging

This means that i am not going to bother putting up a photo.

I will only say this about the Menu of the Day:

I am listening to Dustin Kensrue Christmas songs on the iPod.

I am cooking pasta with jojo's famous spaghetti sauce.

I am procrastinating about Christmas.

I am looking forward to time off during Christmas.

The best thing i have done this week ... i am going TOTALLY green this year on Christmas....at least with Christmas lights. It's about a $275 initial investment for lights, but i have purchased all LED lights for inside and outside this year. I'll let you know how it goes later. With photos, of course.

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Here is my idea for this blog.

i would like to focus again on the nature of this blog being a community blog. Because
this blog got started ONLY because of the Gumbo YaYa-ness from the days when i would post on that board while drinking wine about whatever happened to enter my head and i encouraged others to do the same. And they did. And some of them encouraged this blog which i resisted for awhile until a year ago.

So with this blog i ask that you come here, one and all, even you lurkers....and post what is in your head....

Finish this sentence:

1. I would love to travel to __________

2. I hate the sound of _________________

3. Every time i read the newspaper i think______________

4. I wish that more people would ___________________

5. My biggest fear is __________________

6. If i knew i would be safe i would _____________________

7. The kind of personality that most pisses me off is______________

8. I am attracted to ___________________

9. I wish i was more ______________________

10. One of the biggest injustices is ___________________

11. I wish is wasn't so _______________________

12. Parents only:
If i was not a parent i imagine that i would be doing this more often_____________

13. Non-parents: If i had children i wish they would be ______________________

Menu of the Day & My Thanksgiving Thanks

Menu of the Day:

In my glass: Fresca & cranberry juice (but earlier it was a glass of cabernet)

iTunes: Needtobreathe's "Outsiders" (I really love these guys! I think eque that you first turned me on to them.)

Book: I put the Follett book down for a bit and have torn through two survival books and i am now on my third.

A couple of weeks ago i couldn't sleep and came across the History channel's show on the Andes Mountain survivors. I had read the story back in the 1970's. But the History show was so compelling i stayed up watching until 3:00 am and decided i wanted to read the book again. So i bought Alive and then went back and bought the book written by the Nando hero, Miracle in the Andes. (Nando is the one who led the long trek to get them rescued off those mountains.) After i read those two books, i went back to Barnes and Noble a third time and bought the Shackleton's Endurance book which was written in the 1950's about the Antarctica ship trapped in the ice from the early 1900's. The books are all about leadership and are amazing stories. And today I read the Vanity Fair story in the current Cher issue by the Seabiscuit author about WW2 survivors in the Pacific in a life raft. It is also a riveting read, much like what i've been reading. These books affect me much like Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild and Into Thin Air. I LOVE survival stories. (Maybe because never doing anything that seems dangerous. )

Stupid Commercial: OMG, have y'all seen the Snuggies commercial with the whole family wearing these stupid blankets with armholes? The family is around the piano singing. The teen girl is wearing one with peace signs on it. I tried to find the YouTube but i think it's too new to put up. I'll look later. It looks like an SNL parody.

Best Commercial: The little baby in the walker tearing down the roads at 60 miles per hour and alongside the train. What is that commercial? It's hysterical but i forget what it advertises. I've only seen it twice.


What i'm thinking about: The North/South Korea happenings and what might happen in the future. Scary.


On that note, let's get on with with the Thanksgivings.

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1. I am thankful that i never had children. I think there is no way to do the job well of parenting and i hate not doing a job well. I would not have been a good parent and i am thankful that i knew that ahead of time.

2. I am thankful that my siblings had children. I love those connections i have with Kylee (and at times her sister Ashley) and my nephew Brian. I learn from them as much as i hope they learn from me.

3. I am thankful for my husband. He is my Nando. I read that book Alive and thought, this is how Brian would behave in a catastrophic event. He would know what to do. And i love that i am married to a man who makes me feel safe.

4. I am thankful for my job. A year ago i thought i needed to quit. Instead i tried to find ways to help change what seemed wrong and that helped. And some things just happened because of some good people who are working with me now. I feel very lucky to be working where i am in such a good job with good benefits. If i ever complain again i want someone to slap me.

5. I am thankful for my health. I know i complain about getting old and the truth is this is the first year i have been reminded i would get old. I feel more tired than i used to at night. I can't read print as well, and driving at night is more difficult, i have terrible night sweats and high blood pressure and have to take pills, but yet i am pretty fit and can still run four miles without stopping and i don't have any aches or pains, even in my knees. And i feel great. I never want to take it for granted.

6. I am thankful for iTunes and all the good music out there for me to explore!

7. I am thankful that i never seem to be out of books to read.

8. I am thankful for snow days! It was great to be off today. I took a two hour nap. Watched a couple of episodes of DVRd Glee and Parenthood, packed for our trip and can't really remember what else. But i was never bored.

9. I am thankful for a warm home and power during this record breaking temperatures which are supposed to be in single digits tonight! It's not even Thanksgiving and we already have three snow days to make up. There is no school tomorrow either!

10. I am thankful for many people. But right now I am most appreciative and in awe of my brother Troy, and his son Brian, and my niece Kylee, who have been working hard to get through some very tough times. My brother with the loss of his son Josh and Kylee with her lupus and being the first in our family to get a bacherlor's degree in between her flares that have put her in the hospital. I don't believe i would have as much grace and perseverance and the same kind of positive forward thinking to keep doing what they are doing to work through it.

So what are y'all thankful for?

And if anyone finds that horrible Snuggies commercial, let me know. I will put it up here.