Blogging versus Facebook

Well, I got seduced by Facebook. It gets one in the habit of receiving relatively rapid feedback on everything one does, and then one begins to expect that. I think maybe the high school and college age folks are more active on the site, but the folks my age, at least the ones I know, mostly aren’t too active now that the new has worn off the concept. All the articles about how social networking sites will change the world or are already doing so are nonsense; young people have always found ways to connect, and no matter what medium they use, it’s still the same thing. Facebook is just the new texting, which was the new talking on the telephone, etc.

Facebook also encourages short posts or none at all. I do like the ability to lift pictures from other folks’ pages- I must learn how to do that here instead of having to take all my own shots. Then again, I like taking pictures and it’s good to have some motivation for doing so, even though only one other person that I know of actually reads this blog occasionally (other than me). Maybe that’s good, though. Who knows how many old journals I have with the first few pages full of heartfelt entries and the rest of the book blank. I find it very difficult to write without an audience in mind, so keeping a journal has never worked out for me. Who is it for? Those who survive me? Well than I had better keep it clean. My own later self? Based on the me I know so far, I won’t be interested in the future and I will find most of the entries so cringe-worthy I will just end up throwing the whole thing out.

..and non-believers

President Obama (President Obama!) gave a surprising little shout-out yesterday when he said that we “live in a country of Christians and Muslims…of Jews and Hindus…and of non-believers”. The non-believers hardly ever get acknowledged; I was impressed. Of course, we are a pretty small minority. I heard last fall on NPR that about 15% of Americans describe themselves as “not religious”, so this number is often quoted as the number of atheists. But when you ask the question differently, as: “Do you believe in God?”, the number who say no drops down below 5%. It’s kind of like the difference in the number of folks who will say they are vegetarians (I want to say I have seen numbers as high as 20% in some populations), versus the number who answer “no” when asked if they have eaten any meat within the last week (it cuts the number of vegetarians at least in half).

Last week one of my students was in a serious car crash (the other driver died). This is a lovely young woman, bright and personable, and fun to have around. She has worked on my research projects as an undergraduate and I know her well. Every bone in her face was broken and her heel was crushed; she was flown to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for the surgery on her face.

Her cousin has been posting updates on her condition on the internet. One posting reminded us that the most important thing is to praise God. Really? The most important thing is to praise God for this? How about the other driver’s family? Should they praise God, too, or not so much? I guess I have higher hopes- aren’t we all supposed to always maintain hope? Well, it’s my hope that my beloved students will not be involved in horrible car crashes. I think a religious person might say that I am angry at God, but I am not; I am not thankful to God, either. I don’t believe in God. I think shit happens, and a fair bit of it is bad. I can imagine how it would be comforting to imagine instead that shit is inflicted on us for reasons we cannot understand. But then again, I have never believed that everything happens for the best.

And I have never understood “believe in me or you will suffer forever with no chance to change your mind” as the basis for a relationship.Where I come from, that kind of thing sounds a lot like extortion.

Facebook

This week I joined Facebook. It's different than I expected, but at the same time kind of predictable. This is not to say it isn't fun. I am a bit surprised that there as many old folks like me on there as there are. I have already added several of my real life friends as Facebook friends and shared messages with them, and that is pretty enjoyable.

It is a very speedy process to gain new friends in Facebook! Would that it were so easy in real life. Most of the new friends are really acquaintances and will stay that way, but it is fun to look at the pictures other folks have posted, and to have a place to share my own pictures. The younger folks seem more able to use it as a tool to keep up with what they are all doing, and I think that's pretty neat.

One thing I have learned is this: generally, if you have drifted away from someone over time, there is probably a reason. I looked up a long-lost person with whom I used to be very close, and from perusing the Facebook page, I have a feeling that if we met now we wouldn't hit it off at all. It seems to be a sad fact of life that most friendships are somewhat situational. This may be even more true of friendships formed early, when folks aren't quite sure who they are. Thank goodness the old and new generally overlap, and that I have managed to keep at least a few good ones over time.

In other news, I made brownies from a box and they are very good. I like to bake from scratch, but I have no problem at all with mixes. It's all fun, and no harm is done.

I also managed to get a picture of all three pets at once!

Happy New Year!

Last night we celebrated Christmas and the New Year on the East Coast with the folks. One of my favorite sights is them waiting to pick me up at the airport. It’s a great feeling to know that loved ones are waiting just to see you. (After taking and viewing the picture, I was struck by the poses of the security personnel stationed to keep people from running backwards through the exit from the terminal. Evidently people seldom try to do that.)

Anyway, last night, what a night. We kicked off the evening by drinking French champagne and exchanging gifts. It would be difficult for such an exercise to go wrong, and it did not. Zach and I both received some lovely clothes and a book about American history from a new angle, discussing things one might not have known about. The Husband is reading it right now, and it looks quite interesting. (Did you know that Helen Keller was a socialist? I didn’t.)

After the gift exchange, we all went to dinner at Harry’s which was a bit loud but wonderful. I took one look at the menu and decided to order the ostrich loin with wild rice. Unfortunately, when our waiter (Mike) was taking our orders, he told me that the chef recommends it be cooked no more than medium, which means “pink throughout”. In my experience, “pink throughout” means a brown border on the edges , more or less raw, and sometimes almost chilled in the middle. No thanks. He said that the recommendation was based on the extreme leanness of the meat, which I think means it gets tough if you eat it cooked. In any case, I changed my order to gnocchi with duck. It was tasty, though I am not accustomed to the gnocchi having so much cheese flavor in the coating. The duck bits were delicious, and fully cooked. It was a small serving, but I couldn’t seem to finish. The husband stepped up and got the job done. Thank goodness, because of course I had to order dessert. I shared a Belgian chocolate very soft and moist little mini-cake with the husband (who also had cheesecake, his favorite, and a glass of port, which I find icky) and Uncle Jim, who also had a glass of cognac (good choice).

I did not order an after-dinner drink as I had been nursing a rather large vodka martini all evening. The modern fine dining approach is this: small food portions, large drinks. It does lead to a raucous good time, in the event. For a small person, one large vodka martini (after a couple glasses of bubbly at home) is more than enough to do the trick. I was almost ready to go help out the band with the LTD Feat classic, “Back in Love Again”, but fortunately was not that far gone. Miraculously, I did not end up with a hangover. The night was pretty bumpy in spots, and I definitely feel less sprightly than some mornings, but I do not have a headache and my stomach is stable. I am having a nice hot cup of tea- the folks picked up caffeinated English breakfast tea just for my visit, and it is mighty good.

In our defense, not all of yesterday’s activities were debauched. In the afternoon, Dad and The Husband and I went walking for almost an hour (!) in a local state park. The weather was sunny and not too cold, and the scenery was lovely. I do love our hometown and state in the Upper Midwest, but a little change from snow-covered flatness can also be enjoyable.

Boxing Day

Happy Boxing Day.

Yesterday was a great Christmas Day. We were supposed to drive (at least) 6 hours to the in-laws' place, but the weather forecasts were unpromising, so we stayed home, just the two of us and the pets. It was quiet and peaceful and easy and lovely.

The Husband made waffles for breakfast, from scratch, which we had with berries (warmed from frozen) and syrup and mimosas. We had each drunk half a bottle of champagne by noon, so of course we had to take naps. We watched a couple of movies, The Family Man on TV and Recount on DVD.

The Family Man stars Nicolas (Coppola) Cage and His Distracting Hair as a fellow who could have married a wonderful woman played by the almost-never-charming-but-this-is-an-exception Tea Leoni and had two adorable kids and lived in New Jersey and been happy, but instead he moved to London and became a banker and was visited on Christmas Day by a hooker who happened to be the model Amber Valetta, looking a bit haggard. I actually saw Amber Valetta walking through the streets of Paris once, more then ten years ago. She was very skinny (duh) and honestly looked a little cranky. Anyway, Nic realizes the error of his decision-making process after a few days in New Jersey with Tea, who I have to say is somewhat unrealistically saintly. Still, I have to admit the movie does ever so slightly tug the heartstrings, despite its predictability, overall sappiness, and Nic Cage's hair (plugs).

Then we watched Recount while eating smoked salmon and cream cheese on pumpernickel toast. The movie was well-made, and reminded me of how good Kevin Spacey and Dennis Leary can be, even thought they often are not. Of course, they were paired most memorably in The Ref, a truly fine holiday yarn, in which Dennis Leary, as he does in Recount, says the word "fuck" a lot. It makes me feel better about myself. I was worried that a movie about the Florida recount in 2000 would be as slow as the recount itself, but the movie was really pretty good. The cast was excellent- in addition to the two mentioned above, it had Tom Wilkinson, Laura Dern, and John Hurt, among others. It really brought back the frustration of that time. And it reminded me that maybe every cloud does have a silver lining- we did narrowly escape having Joe Lieberman as Vice President.

Lemmy the cat was here with us at Christmas, that was a wonderful gift. He has had some pretty serious health problems this year despite his young age, and at one point it looked like we might lose him before Thanksgiving. But he's still here, and he sleeps right next to me every night as one side of my dear cat-and-husband sandwich. He still isn't out of the woods, but I am so glad he's still with us, and I hope we will have him around for next Christmas, too.

The awful weather hasn't really materialized and maybe it won't, but I would not change anything about this Christmas. Staying home for a cozy and intimate holiday this year was just right.

I hope yours was good, too.

Five Things

Five things for which I am thankful today:

1. Raisin Bran

2. The Husband

3. The 40 hour workweek

4. Central heating

5. Naps

Twilight and Thanksgiving

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and we went to see the new teen vampire romance movie, "Twilight". I liked it very much and The Husband found it a bit "cheesy" but grudgingly admitted to liking it, too. I am looking forward to the sequel, myself. The young actors were good, and the fellow playing the main teen vampire was at least as dreamy as promised. The other vampires all had the sexy-scary vibe they should have, the ambiance of the movie was cloudy and broody in good way, and the dialogue was only occasionally a bit too much ("And so the lion fell in love with the lamb.")

Considering that one of the primary characteristics of a vampire should be sexiness, the movie was pretty chaste. Then again, the heroine is only 17, so that's probably appropriate. Then again, again, doesn't that make her older than Joan of Arc? No matter, despite the high Dreamy Factor, I was a bit icked out by any smooching or contact between the two leads, and I was distracted, too. Why? Because these vampires are cold. This point was made when our young heroine, Bella, brushed the hand of the young vamp, Edward (I have always had a weakness for Eds), and drew back, saying "You're so cold!" I cannot recall if she officially knew at that time that he's a vampire. In any case, every time they smooched or snuggled, I just couldn't turn off the little voice in my head that said "Cold!" He even kissed her on the neck without biting, which should have been hot, but all I could think was "Cold! On her neck!" And at one point she laid her head in his chest- imagine the lack of comfort of resting your head on a cold slab of meat. It seems to me that one of the best parts of physical contact with other humans is that they are warm. I can't even imagine how it will be if/when they get naked. Cold!

Still, on the balance, I enjoyed the movie very much.

After the movie we did have the traditional turkey dinner, just the the two of us. I enjoy baking and I have a pretty good level of experience with cakes and cookies, but I had never made a cheesecake until this Thanksgiving. I was beginning to feel some guilt about that, as The Husband is a big fan of cheesecake. So I made my first ever cheesecake for Thanksgiving; it was a pumpkin cheesecake with a sour cream topping. Cheesecake is a challenge because it must be removed from the oven while the center is still a bit soft. So it's a guessing game, and a particular puzzle for a person who has never made one or seen one made.

I am happy to report that it came out well. The center was a bit softer than the edges, but it held together just fine. The flavor was good. The husband said he liked it and he even had seconds. Hurrah for cheesecake success!

I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving, too.