Mood:
Topic: planet Miss O
Darlings, you are doubtless aware of a phenomenon called Facebook. I don't want to place blame, but Fb is partly responsible for my infidelity...to this blessed Diary. It's a tale of passion, of intrigue, of found treasures and reanimated douche bags.
Let's start at the beginning, shall we? Once upon a time (approximately three years ago) I heard mention of this interweb creature called Facebook. My hippest media savvy friends invited me to join, but I strongly resisted. I was already enthralled with the ten websites in my repertoire (sports, travel, fashion, wit, and vocab-related)and did not recognize the need, nor the desire for "friending" with some pesky undergraduates. My understanding was that Fb was a place for "children" to brag about how drunk they got at so-and-so's dorm party. No, thank you. My friends get drunk and brag about it on Sunday mornings at church. Actually, they don't need to brag, they just reek of bourbon and we (the royal We) make our own assumptions. My friends "forget" their credit cards at high-end establishments. "How the hell did I end up with a $150 bar tab?!"
Disclaimer: Miss O discourages excessive drinking and $150 bar tabs. If you are not receiving 50% of your cocktails "with the compliments of the owner", you need a crash course at the Charm School.
Where was I? Oh, yes. I strongly resisted the pull of Facebook until one day...I didn't. Oh wait, it was because one of the organizations with which I am involved obligated me to join so they could message the whole group. Ok, enough with the boring details, I know you want the dirt.
Since joining I have had the pleasure of reconnecting with scores, actually hundreds, of old friends. From high school and even before, from myriad countries and continents, Fb has been, mostly, a blessing. I will admit that it is quite a bit easier to keep in contact with one base of communication, rather than trying to coordinate the address books of my four different mailboxes. Yes, I'm sure there is some tech-fabulous way to organize this, but my man servant has been getting lax in the details. Oh wait, I don't have a man servant. That's the first problem. Anyway, tearful reunions have ensued courtesy of Facespace. Long-lost friends have been unearthed with great joy. No, not as in "exhumed", just rediscovered. Another bonus, most of my friends are incredibly witty and clever people and their observations can offer little respites of humor and civility during a tedious day.
Now to the bad...in this modern age, it can sometimes be too easy to find others and be found. I'm not certain that I want to "reconnect" with someone from 8th grade geometry. If we weren't friends then, do I want to be friends now? There's also the status updates which can be...oh, how shall I put it...thinly veiled cries for attention? I have found that some status updaters can get a little too Eeyore in their postings. Hey, if I had a sucky day, of course I want all my friends to know it and comfort me with wine and jewelery. But one can't play the sympathy card every day.
There is also an incredible grapevine that exists sur Face, transmitting the latest news in mere seconds.
Friend: How's the hangover?
Miss O: What are you talking about? (inner voice: How could they know? Oh Lourdes, did I drink and dial someone?)
Friend: You're tagged in fourteen different compromising photos.
Ah, busted by the tag. This is purely a fictional example.
Of course, everything I write is a literary masterpiece, but sometimes I just feel like whingeing to my friends and forget that 500+ folks are reading my thoughts and noting that I ate ice cream for breakfast. This is, also *cough* fiction.
The ugly... while one's "wall" can be a source of entertainment/news/humor, frequently commenting on someone's wall can be fraught with peril. When reading one side of a conversation, things can be taken waaay out of context and hysterical jealousy and gossip can ensue. Not that I would ever do that. (There *may* be a certain bitchbag who keeps writing inappropriate comments where she shouldn't...I'm just sayin'. No, not one of my friends. Miss O has a strict no-bitchbag policy.) And there is, of course, the treacherous relationship status by which one hapless lass learned that she was being dumped. No, not one of my friends. You can be sure that I would cut anyone who pulled that douche-y move with a friend of O.
There may come a time when you need to "unfriend" someone, which raises some etiquette questions. Is this a declaration of war? No. I see it simply as a separating of the wheat from the chafe.
True Story: I had big plans to update the Diary weekly, every Friday. The last entry you may note was on October 2. The morning of October 9, I was preparing the next entry... and then Facebook jacked up my day. Anyone remember what happened on October 9? Bueller? Yes, it was announced that Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Why should that have interferred with my Diary entry? The reason, dear friends, is that my WHOLE day was spent on Facebook arguing with ignorant schmucks. You probably didn't know that Miss O was interested in politics. I'm not. However, when confronted with abounding stupidity, Miss O always speaks up. Why would I bother to engage in a debate about this topic? Am I such an ardent admirer of Obama? I do think he's good people, but my arguments that day were in defense of Peace. It's called the Nobel*Peace* Prize, asshat, what's with all the hating?
In brief, after hours of strongly-worded "comments" on "walls", I had to pull rank: I work for a Nobel Laureate. Miss O enjoys a certain delusion of grandeur but doesn't usually like to rub it in the faces of those less fortunate (i.e. Republicans). I waited a few days as a courtesy, but when the opportunity arose, I "unfriended" those folks whose right-wing ravings I could no longer tolerate in my daily "newsfeed". Yes, it takes a village, but not a village idiot.
Alas, the most ugly... I succumbed to laziness. With my handy FB status, I could post fascinating anecdotes in seconds. Not quite anecdotes, more like musings. The creativity and wit that had previously had a home at the Diary was seduced by a younger, faster mistress. Call it my middle-blog crisis. (No, I'm not going to get a corvette and start wearing an earring.) I was satsified to spread the Gospel of O in 140 characters or less. Shame on moi!
I am proposing a compromise...to myself.
1. I will no longer hesitate to update the Diary with brief (but hilarious) episodes. Random musings can be acceptable.
2. Not every entry needs to be Pulitzer-worthy (but it will be.)
It's a two-step program. Work with me.
And give Peace a chance.