Social Networking

My willingness to engage in social networking oscillates between "totally pointless" to "gotta share everything". I almost never hit the extremes, but I am always moving back and forth on the continuum between the two. While reading this GQ article I realize that the changes in my feelings are probably directly proportional to my need for affirmation at the time.

I agree with almost everything the author of this article has to say. He is able to write those thoughts a lot more eloquently than I ever could.

The Viral Me: Devin Friedman Investigates the New World of Social Networking: Big Issues: GQ

Rahul isn't worried about people knowing who he is; he's worried about not enough people knowing who he is. I had this idea when I was in the midst of my ill-fated share-athon the previous month: Maybe the social layer could be a kind of mass experiment in the liberating nature of extreme truth. We'd all be exposed as needy, nostalgic, compassionate self-Googlers. But to people like Rahul, an open society isn't one where people have access to the real you. It is simply providing access to the identity you very carefully construct for human consumption."

Merry Christmas!

Christmas sneaked up on us big time this year. It is hard to believe it is here already. When I was younger it felt like an eternity between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Now it goes by in a flash. Tomorrow will likely be the most uneventful Christmas I will ever experience.  It is just us here in Arkansas this year. It is sad we won't be spending it with family. It won't really feel like Christmas since I won't be sitting in my parents' living room opening gifts with the rest of the gang.  Too bad Mom didn't have a web cam she could put on the end table and I could sit here at my computer and witness the mayhem as discarded wrapping paper fills the room; and my brothers and brother-in-law chime in with their funny comments.

I wanted to post a much better picture of the tree. My last one was rushed and completely unsatisfactory. This one almost captures how nice it actually looks in person.

We hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Christmas 2010! Enjoy a great time with the ones you love!

Trash Day

Around here Friday is trash day. The picture here is a normal site in our subdivision on a Saturday afternoon. I consider myself a pretty easy going guy but for some reason this just makes my OCD flare up something fierce.  Looking at trash bins out on the curb after trash day triggers a hatred deep inside of me that I can't explain. It's just one of those things.

It isn't uncommon for half of our street to still have the bins out on the curb at noon on Saturday.  It is ridiculous. How difficult and time consuming is it for you to roll your trash can back up to the house?

There is no logical reason why something so asinine should bother me.  I just need to take a deep breath and deal with it. When I go out to get the paper tomorrow morning there will undoubtedly still be a few trash bins out on the curb. I just can't let that ruin my day.

Instagram

I'd heard about the Instagram iPhone app and I was intrigued. It works on my iPod touch since I have a camera. The camera on it doesn't look great, but I was happy with the Instagram results. Both of these pictures look pretty decent considering what they were like before.  For some reason I love the one of Div-bone... it is great. I think it is the big smile on my wife's face over his shoulder.  The picture of me looks like it came straight out of the 50's.  Anyway, Instagram is pretty fun. If you have an iPhone or new iPod touch check the app out.

Not much of an update, I just wanted to share the pics. We're back in the groove around here. Work has been extremely busy for me the last 2 weeks. I am looking forward to the Colts game tonight and the weekend is just a day away!

The Tree Is Up

We got our Christmas tree up this weekend.  Well, my wife got the tree up. I was just in charge of getting everything down from the attic.  We may skip doing outdoor lights this year since I am the one who would have to be in charge of it. Once the tree is up it really starts to feel like Christmas. It's gonna be so weird staying in Arkansas this year.

It has been really cold here lately. I am ready for spring already. I used to love winter and snow, but that is before I payed for heating bills and had to drive to work.  Even though the tree is up it never totally feels like Christmas until there is snow on the ground, which doesn't happen here very often.

No-Shave November: The Finished Product

I made it to the end. My beard is pretty respectable for only 30 days. I am happy with it.  Yesterday at work I met a customer and he gave me a "nice beard" as a greeting.  That was awesome.  I am planning on keeping it for the winter. I will probably trim it up a bit, but not much.  I don't want to scare little Amelia when she gets here. What are your thoughts?  Keep it? Shave it?