Facebook

Ahhh, Facebook. How you pain me; beguile me; torture me; entrance me.

I resisted....so very long. Kept telling people 'no, I'm not on Facebook; never going to BE on Facebook. You want to tell me something? Email me or call me. Want someone to know what you had for breakfast? One word: blog. Then, people who care about what you're doing can read all about it. See, that's the thing about Facebook: I always leave feeling I wanted more - or less. Either someone is going on and on about things I don't care about - or they're giving teeny, tiny 'snippets' of information and I want to know 'the rest of the story'. There's no happy medium. Sometimes, I have to restrain myself from leaving a comment like 'quit whining'. Or 'get over it already'. But I don't 'cuz that would be rude. And then I see a post/snippet from someone I would love to be more in touch with - and it's 4-5 words. That's it. Haven't heard from them in YEARS and I see the briefest of brief communication. That makes me crazy.

And initially, Facebook was another way to relive high school. Am I popular enough to have lots of 'friends'? Will people simply 'ignore' my request to add them as a friend?? No, politeness dictates that most say 'yes' - only then, you're really not any more 'in touch' with them then you were before you asked and they accepted your invite. So what's the point, really? See what I mean? It pains me and beguiles me and tortures me all at the same time.

But the truth is, Facebook is kind of fun in so many ways. I like knowing that my pregnant second cousin needs a midnight snack because she's pregnant and starving at night and that she is probably naming her daughter after her mother - my dear cousin N. who I miss and love and wish were still with us. I like that another cousin (wife of my cousin actually - but that makes her my cousin, too) commented via a Facebook email that she reads my blog and enjoys it. That was a nice surprise...though it sort of made me scratch my head and wonder 'how did she find the blog'? I probably gave the URL my aunt or something...and truly, I'm fine with people reading. I just hope that knowing that family is reading doesn't make me 'censor' what I write. (Though there's certainly plenty of evidence within these years of musings that 'censoring' is not in my vocabulary). Cousin S., I'm so glad you are reading. Read on, friend/relative! Glad to have you as a 'follower'!!

I'm playing Farmville and Yo'ville and tried to resist them, but could not when a good friend at work sent me gifts for those games and said 'come on, just try it with me - I need more neighbors!!'. And now, I'm hooked. And I do have to say these games are addicting, but in a low-key way. You can go days without ever playing and nothing bad will happen - you might lose a crop or two (but I've solved that problem by planting crops that 'mature' in more days - since you have the number of days to harvest once the plants are grown as it takes to get them ready to harvest - so a 3 day bell pepper lets me take 3 additional days to harvest. Six day time frame is do-able. Wouldn't want to be obsessed by farming! (That last sentence is specifically for my husband because he knows oh too well my obsessive tendencies when it comes to Farm 52, etc.) I can farm for HOURS.....seriously. I shouldn't admit that in 'public' but it's how I unwind. It's cheap, inexpensive, mind-emptying fun - doesn't involve alcohol or chemical substances (well, I do farm while I drink two triple shot lattes every morning before I head upstairs to shower but let's just keep that our little secret, shall we?). I appreciate unwinding via a good agricultural game and hope my ranching uncle is in heaven proudly watching me raise livestock, farm crops, etc.... And Yo'ville is just a hoot - your own little 'town' with your own little apartment. It's fun and mindless....

So yes, I'm on Facebook. Now, Cousin S., will you be my neighbor on Farmville and Yo'ville? See, I want the small pond on Farmville - the one you get for 'free' if you have enough neighbors - so I'm going to be sending you some farm gifts and hope you will join me as my farming neighbor. It would be fun to 'visit' your farm....I do miss my Arizona family....

Time to go harvest my Farmville bell peppers and hopefully buy a bathtub for my Yo'ville bathroom! Priorities, folks. It's all about priorities.