I Like Facebook

I like Facebook.  There, I said it and I am sure I will receive some strongly opposing opinions.  But, I truly enjoy it.  There are some frustrations with the social network, but I still feel the benefits outweigh the cons.  If you care to read, I will tell you why.

The friends and family we have are widely dispersed across the country.  Hardly possible to keep up with life events through personal visits and telephone conversations—there is just too much going on to keep everyone informed.  Reading Facebook posts, almost immediately, I know my sister will soon become a grandmother, my cousin is getting married, a favorite uncle has passed on or my friend has a new recipe or a new joke (it is not all serious, folks!).  It is fun and informative.  I have reconnected with long-lost childhood friends.  My invitations to special events are known in advance of any snail mail.

On the downside, political and religious opinions you would rarely discuss in a personal friendly visit are posted by a few.  I am disappointed by what some will post on the internet.  Civilized conversations should not include politics and religion.  That includes conversations on the internet.  You are not going to change anyone’s mind by a barrage of one-sided media—why torment your loved ones with your strong opinions.  Honestly, we either do not read it or we block it from appearing in our Facebook newsfeed.

For some, Facebook seems to take on a sinister objective—that Facebook invades privacy or it preys upon users.  But, it is up to you how public you want to make information and when you want to make it public.  And for god’s sake, do not click on the link with the porn picture or a grand claim to lose 50 pounds in two weeks.  Use your head.  Yes, Facebook is affiliated with retailers gathering information about you to target products.  But marketing professionals have been doing that very thing for 50 years, they are just using a different method now.  I really do not care that Zappo shoes knows I am looking for a new pair of boots.

So, I say to you.  Take off the tin-foil hat and jump into the 21st century.  Stay connected in a happy, healthy and very efficient way.

And you are right, I have just given my “opinion”.  Use it however you choose.  [Smile] 

Magic Moment–#7 My Mom

People often say my love of painting is passed along from my grandmother.  I believe my Mom gave me my love of art, not my Grandmother.  Her medium of choice is oils and very nostalgic subjects.   Although our methods and subject matter are completely different, she inspires me.  Her paintings adorn walls of many of our friends and family.  And her talents do not end there.

She loves to sing and sings well.  Performing many years in the Sweet Adelines and in a barbershop quartet (she is second from the right in the picture—nice gams, Mom!).  You would often find her Friday nights singing at the local pub with the piano player. 

And the woman can kick up her heels!  Hardly anyone holds a candle to her jitterbug.  Full of energy and a force to be reckoned with! 

At almost 81 years and still going strong, she continues to amaze me.  Love to you, my little magic Momma!

Blogging Administration

Hit quite a milestone two days ago—40,000 views of the blog…

My blog has been in existence for several years now; and I have to admit I have done very little to understand the administration or managing it.  Initially, time was spent selecting the layout, theme colors, and a few security features. The content is VERY much “what strikes my fancy”, more like a personal journal/journey of our retirement years.  Reminds me of the Seinfeld television series.  Really not about anything in particular.  Just enjoying life.

Some lessons about blogging have been picked up along the way.  I added the comment feature (click on “comment” below an individual post to leave a thought), but soon found that it was important to review or moderate before publishing each comment.  Before selecting this security feature a few comments were posted with questionable links or products.  They have been removed.  If you joined as a follower of my blog (I think I have 17 listed—shown on the left column—you can click the “join this site” button if you want to be a member), I believe my comment reply to you is not only shown on the blog, but also sent to your e-mail (let me know if this is true—it is only an assumption on my part).  If you are not a member, your comment shows as Anonymous (your name or email address is not known to me) and my reply is only shown on the blog post.  

The blog continues to be public.  I am not limiting to a few.  Anyone can read and my statistics show readers in the US, Europe and Asia.  Keeping it public is half the fun of a blog—I meet people through the blog that I would not normally meet.  I say that in a good way; there are interesting readers out there!

I have to say, I am enticed by other blogger layout features like the linking feature to previous posts to the most current.  Allowing an ad or two to generate some income, but I am certain the content will have to become a little more focused if that option is pursued.  

After saying all this, if you enjoy reading, thanks and glad to have you along for the ride.  If you wondered why your comments were left unpublished for a while, know that it does take a day or two to catch up with my mail and blogging. 

Magic Moment–#6 Bad to the Bone

The blog normally shows me happy and “nice”.  And for the most part, I am a “good” girl.  Yet, there is an element of bad in me.  Is that so wrong?  Maybe that is why I enjoyed the Sturgis Bike Rally so much.  THE adult party and what a blast.  Not for the prudish--there is nudity, bad language, drinking, drugs and rock and roll.  (Honestly, I cannot remember who was playing.  It was either Joan Jett or Aerosmith?  Who knows.)

We road our Harley Heritage Soft Tail from south-eastern Washington over 1,000 miles one way to Sturgis, South Dakota in August 2003 and all the way back after a week of experiencing the Rally.   It was a bad-ass good time.  That year recorded close to 750,000 bikers, loud pipes and an international crowd.  I kid you not, my hearing was non-existent for days after the trip.  We met a wide variety of people at the rally—a cop from Chicago, another from New York City, a nice young couple from Toronto (on a trip away from their little ones), a guy from New Hampshire (picture right) running around with BBQ tongs pinching, well you can use your imagination—no gender was safe.   (He really was a hoot!  He had his own blow-up hot tub at his campsite.).

The pup tent, sleeping bags and a few clean clothes were packed on the back of the bike.  We stayed at the Glencoe Campground (over 20,000 registered) where only two rules applied—no discharging firearms and you must pay to stay.  I normally do not like crowds, but this was damn exciting.  No need to smoke pot; the air was choked with it, you could just breath it in. 

The whole state of South Dakota is filled with bikers clogging the roads and parks the first week of August (not a car to be seen).  It was flat out awesome.  Some mighty big black magic happens here.  [No, I did not get naked; HBO was taping that year for a documentary.  Maybe next time…or maybe not.]

Magic Moment–#5 Soaking Up The Sun

My days of sun worship are over.  But, I loved it while it lasted.  Living near the Columbia River and the Snake River in the desert of eastern Washington gave us lots of opportunity to jump into the coolness of the river and warm back up in the hot sun.  Summer days were filled with water skiing, swimming, sunning on the sandy beach of Strawberry Island or sitting out on one of the boat docks of a friend.  The water was cold never reaching more than 70 degrees, so warming back up in 100 degrees was welcome. 

Thankfully, I never seemed to get a sunburn.  Always tan wearing flip flops (or bare feet), cut-off jeans, and a light top.  Not a care in the world.  Yes, good stuff.  A few extra wrinkles now, but the memories are sweet.  The magic of summer.

Magic Moment–#4 Every Good Boy Does Fine

If you took a class in typing, not keyboarding, but typing you recognize the title of today’s post.  Class instruction to learn a typing skill included the repetition of the above phrase.  My father was a high school teacher and his primary class was typing.  He also taught a few classes in office machines and bookkeeping, but typing was his bread and butter.  He taught typing to high school students during the day, adults at night, and everyone else during summer school.  He managed and played cashier at the high school concession stand on the weekends and ran the “audio visual” during events in the auditorium. 

Obviously, my father was not a lazy man and he expected his children to work hard, too.  At the very young age of nine, I was required to attend summer school  with a minimum of three classes.  Two of the classes were always, always, typing and swimming.  You should know my fingers fly on the keyboard as I type this post.  It is as easy as breathing.  And I am a fish in the water.

You would think I would have been resentful spending my summers so structured.  I was not.  My classmates were older and I felt important.  And what a head start.  The skills I learned—hard work and typing served me well during my work years.  I worked a full-time secretarial job while I attended and finally completed college--never taking out a loan, never borrowing from the parents and living on my own. 

Really not magic, but a special privilege to have a father who taught me to be a strong, independent woman.  No, wait, maybe that is magic.  Thanks, Dad.  I love you and miss you.  You were an ornery old cuss, but I am grateful for the life lessons.