Redundant Facebook Postings

I saw something this week that a friend posted on facebook about postings that annoy the heck out of people so I decided to create my own list. What do you think about that? And it starts with the posts I have seen all day today via facebook. So let's start with #1. Shall we?

Annoying Facebook Post #1 is......

1) Oddly, my little Mason/Aiden/Zora didn't get the memo that it's daylight savings time and I have been up since 4:00 AM!!!

That's too bad.

2) Ran 4 miles, did laundry, cleaned the car out and went to the airport - all before 10 AM!

What do you think normal people do? Sounds like a typical morning. Good for you.

3) Got some serious news. Scared!

Yeah. I'm just going to ignore that status. Because your cryptic update is asking for attention I don't care to give you.

4) Just ran 5 miles!

So did I.

5) I can't believe little Aiden is one year old today! Where did my baby go?

What did you think was happening, exactly? A Benjamin Button situation here?

6) I love my boyfriend! He bought me flowers just because he's so wonderful!

Here they are! I'm the luckiest!

7)  I'm the luckiest girl in the world! I am going to marry the man of my dreams! 

Really? The man of your dreams just bought you that ugly piece of jewelry?

So - what are your favorite posts or what really annoys you? I expect to get a comment from the Malaysian who continues to ask me to advertise their fake bags that you can get in Soho.

So long!

Take My Advice

Occasionally, I like to point out what facebook was created for. The commencement of facebook and what it has become are very different.

And I am sure I am being completely insensitive when I say that the child updates/profile pictures are - well..... not what Zuckerberg had intended facebook to entail when it was created. I know, I know, I have photos of my dog on there.

Here's the thing. I am a child of the 1980s. If I knew that my parents had blasted photos of me and funny quotes that are currently sitting out there in cyber world, I think I would be weirded out by it.

So this is why I have decided to stop putting up photos on facebook of the children. Not mine. I have none. But of other people's children. Because I feel like I am exploiting them.

And on a totally separate note, I want to say that last year for work, we were asked to give our new year's resolutions I succeeded in mine. Yes - I vowed to stop carrying three bags and a coffee cup to work and it worked all year! Yes!!

Also - since I like to give unsolicited advice out here and never get much feedback, have any of you stopped using so much water? Started exercising? Ended a relationship? or simply started some therapy?

It completely baffles me why more people don't take better care of themselves. How can people continue to do nothing for exercise and eat garbage while watching reality television all day long? The perks of exercise are so AMAZINGLY incredible which INCLUDE:

1) Better mood
2) More energy

Hello?!

Oh! Did I mention looking good? Skinny waist!And you will skip an avocado because it is fattening and eat fried cheese curds?? What is that all about?

And what's the deal with marrying your first true love? Do you really think thirty years down the road, you aren't going to have changed and wondered what it would be like to live alone? Or date someone else? What is that all about?

Oh - and see that photo I have here with the non-exploited child? Yeah, with the Christmassy background? Yeah, that's right. Because I am agnostic, I guess.

I would also like to admit that I complain a lot that Madison is not diverse but don't do anything about it [Like a typical American]. I was thrilled to have attended a dinner party the other night that included four foreigners. And they were not all caucasian. I am making progress.

Lastly, I will share with you that my greatest fears are losing my dog and falling on the ice and not being able to run. Any suggestions?

Have a great day!

The Past Week

This summer has been far from dull. After I got all into boating, and losing a flip flop and my keys in the elevator shaft, I have now seen a dead body and had a small (but not serious) injury.

Here's the run down. I befriended a Forensic Pathologist who mentioned he was on his way to an autopsy. I wanted to watch. So, I got to see a body being autopsied. But I feel really bad for the situation so I am not going to say anything else about it. Except that it was more than I imagined. That and if you decide to have a cup of coffee at EVP in the VA hospital, just know you're feet away from dead bodies in a cooler.

I then had an ultimate weekend of partying it up in Mad-town with my first visitor! My cousin stayed with me and we had a ton of fun including running into my ex-boyfriend at a bar ["Hello!" if you are reading this!] and an old "wayward fling" at the same time ["Hello if you are reading this!] who approached me as I was having a "laughing attack" from all the hype at 1:30 in the morning. My boat captain who was out for the fun decided to bail on us and aborted our boating plans on Sunday which was disheartening.

I have now been hanging out with tattoo boy [because, you know, I was completely single for one month and one day - entirely too long], who agrees to randomly hang out with all my "new friends" who I meet when I am out and about.

Do you ever notice in Madison how friendly everyone is? I have this facebook policy that I have to stay under 200 friends at all times, but I keep on expanding my social circle here, so I am constantly at 199 friends. [By the way, if you try to find me on facebook, I am really hidden].

And while we were out boating a few weekends ago, everyone asked me how I knew the captain and I told them "We met at a Starbucks on State Street two years ago." And then I realized how weird that sounds. And today I had lunch with someone I met on the Barriques patio. And when you are out drinking, you tend to become friendly with people on the patio and then the next thing you know, there are four of you, two guys and two girls and you look like two couples [even though none of you know each other], and that's just how I roll. And tattoo boy totally goes along with this. I think in the last two weeks, we have sat with random strangers at bar tables 50% of the time like we are on some double date. Do you know what I am talking about? It's a Madison thing.

Take last night, for example. Well - let's start with my injury. Walking the old dog around the square, she smelled something and took off and took me down to the ground with a hard hitting of the head. Mortified and in pain, a cute man offered to help me in which my friend said I should have invited him to come over because she was with me and she thought he was cute. My clothes were dirty [she pulled me down by a tree on a small tree lawn], my ass hurt and I was worried about a concussion, so I decided that I should go to Graze and have five glasses of pinot grigio.

Meanwhile, tattoo boy was texting me, so I told him he should probably wake me up every two hours during the night to make sure I didn't have a concussion - doctor's orders.

So, hanging out at Graze, Mr.Divorcee comes over to tell me his problems [I think I may have asked him a question or two] and found out that he had a vasectomy and his ex has a personality disorder. Since my new hairdresser likes Graze [after all, I met her there - sort of], I invited her to meet me there and the next thing I know, we are seated at a table with Tattoo boy, hairdresser and vasectomied/divorcee - like we are all good friends.

I would like to announce that I finally bought a new camera which was so ridiculously overdue. Thanks to the several glasses of pinot grigio I had last Monday night, I spent over $300 on silent auction items that I won. I also have a $200 to Williams Sonoma so I can go shopping for the Halloween party I am throwing this year that I haven't stopped talking about on a daily basis.

On that note - time to go get walked by the D-O-G!

Social Media Flaws

I am pretty sure that when Zuckerberg started facebook, he never thought it would become an obnoxious, announcement driven online media tool to congratulate your two year old for having a birthday today. Here are a few sample updates:

1) I can't believe my baby is two today
2) Happy birthday to Aiden/Jaden/Heyden/Cayden! My baby is two!
3) Two years ago today was the best day of my life! Happy birthday little guy!

These updates were never intended to be on facebook. I joined facebook way back when you had to have a college e-mail. Now everyone uses it. And I get that it has resulted in some really wonderful things. My father reuniting with a high school friend or keeping in touch with my family in New York is a great tool.

I am not so sure that a two year old can read that his mother is wishing him a happy birthday on the world wide web. I know I am being insensitive because clearly, I am not a parent. But if I was, I wouldn't be blogging or probably on facebook much. (I am guessing).

And my sister who is on facebook (one is, one isn't) has children who have absolutely no internet presence. You wouldn't know from looking at her facebook profile that she has kids.

I am just wondering if any parents have considered starting a social media site for the kid sharing thing. A lot of people find it highly annoying to see a profile photo of a sonogram.

And on another note, the reason I started writing this entry is because facebook has become a lot of things. And one of them is the ability to "friend" people who you don't really keep in touch with. And you are "friends" but you still don't write to each other or acknowledge much. I don't see the point in this.

If you are going to be "friends," then at least keep in touch. Write on each other's walls. Acknowledge their statuses. Tell them you want to get together. So when I find myself snooping through a high school friend's photos, I will let them know on facebook that I am paying attention to them. If we aren't talking via FB, then I am unfriending them.

Since I joined facebook, I have unfriended about 100 people. I still have too many friends. I just don't see a point on being friends if we aren't talking. At all.

And maybe if you want to wish your little one a happy birthday, just do it in person.

Just a few thoughts about facebook.

The Etiquette of Social Media

With all of the technology going on these days, I think I need to lay the laws of the "dos and don'ts" of social media and there are many of them. My good girlfriend founded the Social Media of Madison, of which I am on the board. As an ever-growing phenomenon, let's take a look here.

1)As mentioned previously, one thing that I don't agree with is using a photo of your child as your profile picture on facebook. That is not you. That's your kid.

2) It is completely inappropriate to "friend" clients on facebook. Any professional relationships you have should not see photos that your friends tag of you at a dance club with a budlight in hand. Or a status update of your "announcement" that you hate your boss or hate your competitor. That is incredibly tacky and classless. (I suppose it is ok if you have them as a "friend" on a privacy setting....)

3) Do not make cryptic tweets/status updates on facebook. People who do that are craving attention. Updates such as, "Horrible news. What am I going to do?" doesn't disclose your update. It discloses that you want people to become immersed with your secret. Lame. (Now, if you post a picture of a baby and your update is "exciting day," we can take a wild guess...)

4) What is this whole thing about trying to gain 797 friends? I am working hard all of the time to minimize everything in my life. Including my friend list. Unless we are truly friends, I don't need to be friends with you. I already got rid of about sixty-five people. I am not trying to be mean. I just find it uneccesary and pointless. If I am not looking at your photos/blog/updates, you probably aren't looking at this.

5) Phantom blog readers. I know you're reading this. You tell me you are. But you don't comment. And then you send me an e-mail. A blog's comments section is for that. Your comments. Not my inbox in my gmail account.

6) People who use their work e-mail for all of their e-mail. Talk about abusing your time at work.

Get the hint? Now use in out in cyber world.

Peace.