MY RAMBLING STREAM OF THOUGHTS ABOUT FACEBOOK

What I write here is a rambling stream of thoughts about my time on Facebook. While I've missed contact with my many friends on the site, my thus far short break has been a relief, and I've felt better during the time away. I doubt I can return to FB on the same basis as previously. I was spending far too much there, and, in the end, I was suffering stress from overload. If I could post and pretty much ignore comments, that could work, but I can't. I want to monitor comments to make sure the discussions don't drift into attacks and name-calling on my page.

Also, when my friends take the trouble to read and comment, I feel obliged to return the compliment and read and comment on their pages. Thus, the time problem, and, in the end, Facebook became more of a burden than a pleasure.

Since I've always preferred blogging to Facebook, I'm thinking of taking my writing back to my blog and putting links to my blog posts on FB. A number of my friends will probably not read the posts, and that's okay. Unfortunately, people who have not joined Google tell me they can't leave comments on Blogger. It seems Google has taken over Blogger, and I don't know how to solve the problem. Still, I feel much more comfortable blogging than posting on FB.

I've pretty much made my decision because of the relief I already feel from spending less time and being less active on FB, but it's not set in stone. If I go back to my old ways of posting and commenting on FB, I'll probably soon suffer from stress overload again.

DITHERING...

John Barrymore as Hamlet, 1922

To blog or not to blog: that is the question.  IT asked the question at The Friends of Jake in her post titled "Why blog?"   Comments are disappearing, and much of my energy for blogging came from exchanges with those who left comments.  Please...no one should take my post as a plea to leave comments.  People do what they will do and go where they will go, and they seem to have mostly moved on from blogs.

The action moved to Facebook and other social media like Twitter.   Though I have a Facebook account, because my family and friends are there, once I check in, I spend far too much time at the site when I should be doing other things.  As for Twitter, I tried it, and I was in and out within a couple of hours.  It's definitely not for me.

In any case, blogging is hard work, and my store of energy seems to be on the wane...at least for now, so I'll probably be writing and posting less.

I should add that dithering Hamlet is not among my favorites of  Shakespeare's characters.

BLOGGING LIFE WITHOUT PASSION

 

What am I passionate about today?  Nothing, really.  Nor was I passionate yesterday, so I didn't write anything original on my blog.  I posted a joke from my good friend Paul (A.), and I reached for the bottom to celebrate the 200th birthday of Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's chef-d'oeuvre, by quoting myself, surely the nadir in blogging creativity.   Nor was I passionate on the day before.  I wanted to be entertained and amused, rather than offer entertainment and amusement.  So what did I do with all the free time on Sunday?  I attended the annual church meeting and the service that followed and did a little shopping for a few necessities on the way home.

When I returned home, I put my up my feet and finished the book I was reading, The Soldier's Wife by Joanna Trollope, light fiction which I need from time to time to clear my brain.  Next up were three episodes of the TV series Treme on DVD, which I'm receiving in sequence from Netflix and watching for the first time, because we do not subscribe to HBO.  I'm loving the series.  The creators and actors in the show get New Orleans as right as any show or movie I've seen, and I've seen my share of attempts that were excruciatingly awful.  I find myself jotting down some of the best dialogue from the show and whatever else looks good and funny.  Caution: Strong language.

LaDonna Batiste-Williams, on the refusal by her musician brother, Delmond Lambreaux, who has moved to NYC, to stay in New Orleans for a while to help their father, Albert, a Mardi Gras Indian chief, whose home has been destroyed:

Delmond: "I got a gig."

LaDonna: "We all got a gig.  That's goddam life."
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Creighton Bernette, a professor of English at Tulane University speaking with a reporter in th days following the disaster:

Reporter: For the sake of argument, let's say New Orleans was, once, a great city...

Creighton: Are you saying that New Orleans is not a great city, a city that lives in the imagination of the world?

Reporter: I suppose if you're a fan of the music, which has rather seen it's day, let's be honest. Or the food, a provincial cuisine which many would say is typically American: too fat; too rich. And, yes of course, New Orleans has its advocates, but what about the rest of the country?

Creighton: Provincial, passé, hate the food, hate the music, hate the city. What the fuck are you doin' down here you fuckin' limey vulture motherfucker?
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Creighton: "This ain't Lake Wobegone, goddamit!"
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Themes for some of the floats in the Krewe de Vieux parade as shown in the show during the first Mardi Gras following Katrina and the federal flood:

"C'est Levee!"

"Buy us back, Chirac!"

"Mandatory Ejaculation"

"France, please buy us back!" was an oft-heard expression of disgust and frustration at the efforts of all levels of government in the aftermath of Katrina and the federal flood. 

Close on the heels of Treme came Downton Abbey, which I remembered to watch, unlike the previous Sunday, when I had to wait for the replay on Monday and watch on the computer.  If you've watched both TV shows, you know what a mind-bending adjustment is required for the transition.  If you haven't, then you'll have to take my word for it.

Spoiler alert!  Do not read further if you haven't watched the episode and want to watch later. The death of Sybil, the sweetest of the three Grantham daughters, was very sad and perhaps unnecessary.  When the time drew near for Sibyl to deliver, Lord Grantham insisted on calling the "town" doctor, Sir Philip Tapsell, rather than have the kindly local Dr Clarkson attend the birth, because he wanted the best for his daughter, I knew there would be trouble.  And Lady Grantham wished to heed the advice of good Dr Clarkson, which, if followed, might have saved Sybil's life.  Alas.

Bates' story is being drawn out to the point of tedium.  If suspense over Bates' fate is intended to keep us interested in watching Downton Abbey, then the effect on me is the opposite.  Please get on with the story. 

Passion comes, and passion goes.  Before too very long, I assume some bit of news of the stupidity of people in high places will come along and rouse my passion once again.

Cartoon from someecards.

BLOGGING LESS - PRAYER REQUEST

Due to increased family responsibilities, I've been posting much less lately. I ask your continued prayers for my extended family, children and grandchildren, who are in situations where much prayer is needed for strength and courage under difficult circumstances. These are not situations open to drastic change, only to change for the better in relationships within the constraints of present circumstances. I know you understand why I cannot go into detail, nor can I mention names, but God knows the names and the needs, and I trust that God will hear and respond to our prayers.

Also, I seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time on maintenance of my old body, with doctor visits, medical tests, upcoming dental appointments, all crowding in on me in a brief period of time, thus leaving me with less free time to spend online.

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, who sets us in families: We commend to your continual care the homes in which your people dwell. Put far from them, we ask you, every root of bitterness and the pride of life. Fill them with faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness. Knit together in constant affection the members of the families. Turn the hearts of the parents to the children, and the hearts of the children to the parents; and so enkindle fervent charity among us all, that we may evermore be kind and loving one to another; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Almighty God, heavenly Father, you have blessed us with the joy and care of children: Give us calm strength and patient wisdom as we bring them up, that we may teach them to love whatever is just and true and good, following the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

(The first prayer is a paraphrase from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church, and the second is a direct quote.)

Image 'borrowed' from my dear friend, Paul the BB.

MAYBE LATER

Well! Thus far today, I've had little time to blog. After a morning routine doctor visit, Grandpère and I will head out in a half hour or so to the book fair at our grandson's school. GP wanted to go out to lunch, but I said, "No." I need down time between events.

At least today's doctor visit did not put me out of commission for the rest of the day, as did my Tuesday visit to the dentist. Seriously, I believe the novocaine went to my brain, because I slept 4 hours Tuesday afternoon, I slept all night, and I was still sleepy yesterday. Today I'm feeling more like my usual low-energy self.