I love Facebook. This is not news to anyone who knows me or anyone who has read my blog before. I adore posting pictures of K, so much so that friends who have never met her recognize her when they see her in a store window. I love to play FBVJ (Facebook Video Jockey) posting songs that I like when they pop into my head. At times I was a political activist relentlessly posting links to things that I was either fighting like hell for or violently against. I also love making comments on friend's pages and became so accustomed to communicating virtually I sometimes forget which conversations happened online or in real life.
At the start of the new year I vowed to have more face to face and less Facebook. More actual and less virtual communication. So far so good. I started this post on the 5th and now it's the 13th. I guess that gets in the way of writing since I'm not as MAC-attached as I was in the past. It's been nice having lunch with friends, seeing things rather than reading about them. I've even tossed aside my no-going-out-on-a-weekday night to see a friend's band play. Twice! Of course now that school is back I may adhere to that rule. K has a habit of staying up until I get home, not a good mix with a 7AM wake-up.
Last year I hosted a virtual cocktail party and it was amazing. Chatting and drinking with my friends was a blast. I'd love to have a real event like this, I might even set up the iChat for the friends that live across the country. I don't have to be in my sweats on the couch to enjoy my friends. How hard can it be? A trip to BevMo, a quick coat of paint (for me) and about five minutes of vacuuming (for my dirty floor) and voilà, instant party. I might have to use evite or texting to let my guests know but that's minimal use of the computer.
Some Facebook is necessary, being a transplant means you have left all your friends and family behind so I do need to use social networking as a way to share certain things. I hate having to send out individual emails when we get new pictures, although the PIAs (otherwise known as Mother and Mother-In-Law) aren't on Facebook so I do have be inconvenienced sometimes, which I prefer over having to explain exactly why the PIAs cannot be my Facebook friend.
I've also tried to tone down the politicizing because honestly, it just pisses me off. I know that most of my friends are on the same page as me in that area. I have agreed to disagree with the ones that are not. Fueling fires isn't my thing this year.
I will need to get over my fear of missing something, although being surprised isn't necessarily a bad thing. Last year I found out that K had lost out on a commercial when it was posted on an agencies page. It might have been better to just wait and hear it the old fashioned way. Of course finding out that a friend is in labor or pregnant immediately is pretty cool.
It just comes down to finding a proper balance, which is what life is about anyway. When the scale is tipped to one side something is missed.
Here's to all things being equal.
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