The Boredom That Is Facebook

Here's a good article about Facebook, what it does for your friendship, which isn't entirely positive.

Facebook definitely does allow you to touch base with people you haven't seen or heard from in years. I heard from a teacher from nearly 40 years ago the other day, which was a nice surprise. And I've reconnected (however superficially) with a few friends from high school and earlier. That's good, I guess.

I can see what my various family members are up to virtually every minute of the day, except when they're asleep. But they post something when they're up and can't sleep.

But the overall thing I take away from Facebook -- and I check in several times a day -- is how boring it is. Like the writer of the article mentioned above, it seems like my friends are busy with a lot of games, quizzes, surveys, causes, sending roses, hugs, etc. I ignore it all. And when I can keep up I block the various applications. It's too much! And not the least bit interesting!

I probably shouldn't mention this, because I hate to insult anyone, but I have a "friend" in someone I don't even know. Maybe everyone else does that. Like celebrities, they do it all the time. But I'm not everyone else and I'm not a celebrity. But this person liked some of my photos, meaning it was something that would be an interest in common, and she asked to be my friend. Being a softie I said yes.

But there's nothing about her life and her friends at this point -- nothing -- that has anything to do with me. So that's a little maddening. She even contacted me via the chat function the other day to ask me "How are you? How's it going?" etc. This is someone I don't even know. That was really fun.

Happy Birthday

I just tried to call an old childhood friend to wish him happy birthday. We haven't been in touch for around 20 years but somewhere I heard the state he lives in. Searching for his name on Google is not real fruitful, because for some odd reason there aren't many people with his name or the precise spelling of it.

I came up with one hit from that state. I called the number and got an answering machine, with a voice that said his name but didn't sound like his voice. So I hung up. But since that was the only choice, I rethought it and called back and wished him a happy birthday anyway, saying if he was so and so from the place we grew up.

I just happen to remember people's birthdays 40 or 50 years later. So I think of them at least once a year. I have another friend in a foreign country, and we're also out of touch for many years, but I remember his birthday every year.

No More "My Friends"?

Oh, there's very little I like about John McCain. But there is one thing I like, and that's how friendly he always is. He's always saying, "My friends," this -- and "My friends," that.

It's like he's the world's most personable guy, a guy who really knows us, each one, as the friends we all are or potentially could be.

But -- say it ain't so -- McCain's receiving "speech coaching," leading me to wonder if it's true what they say about teaching old dogs new tricks. In this speech coaching, one of the things they want to accomplish is for him to rely less on "his favorite semantic crutch — the phrase 'my friends.'" Semantic crutch? This is the good part. You cut out the good part what have you got left?

We shall see what we have left when the friendly bits go. I would like to see him expand on it rather than cut it out. Such as this, accompanied by a very expansive sweep of the room. "My friends -- and you are all my friends -- let me tell you..." If he could just add that, a sincere inclusion of all of us as his friends, I think he'd be on to something.