mjh spent way too much time tweaking the theme to handle status updates. (RSS users have to visit the site to see the point.)
Status Update
mjh has the swamp cooler running before 9am as he contemplates playing volleyball in 100+ degrees.
Why I’m Leaving Facebook
Before I leave Facebook, let me tell you what I’ll miss. I enjoy the daily contact I have with my Facebook friends. I feel a connection to them – to you – and their daily activities. At times, I feel I’m at a big party with all my friends, roaming around, listening to different conversations, dropping in and out as I please. Facebook is very different from email and instant messaging. That said, I hope each of my Facebook friends will send me email to make certain I have your address; send me your IM and Skype info, too, if you wish. Because, I won’t be seeing you around Facebook anymore. I’m not breaking up with you but with Facebook. I want to hear from you again.
I won’t miss Facebook’s stream of information that flows relentlessly, carrying important items off the page to be replaced, at time, by trivialities. Everything is equal and transitory in Facebook’s stream. But, in truth, some of what we say is more important than other things. At this point, I forget even the important things that flow away from me. The Web may be rewiring my brain, but I think Facebook is turning it to mush.
I wouldn’t be the first or last to complain about the time Facebook absorbs. If that time were all spent communicating, it might be worthwhile. I’ve enjoyed reading my Facebook friends’ experiences and their real feelings, and appreciated their comments and ‘likes.’ Not so much the polls, games, fads, and other hoops too many of us jump through. Above all, I spend too much time fighting Facebook’s gawd-awful functions. I won’t list my complaints here; I noted many of them as they arose. Remember, I’ve spent my life dealing with computers and software: I’m not easily defeated in this area, and yet, Facebook, you did it. This party I love takes place in an environment I can’t bear any longer. I’ll miss the party, but I gotta get out of this place before in makes me sick.
I do hope you’ll write me now and then. I hope you’ll read my blogs (better: subscribe to the individual RSS feeds or All Mark Considered – if you don’t know how, ask me). I especially hope you’ll see my photos. I still like sharing. You’re welcome to comment on any of these things.
I’ll be watching for the successor to Facebook. I long for a communal gathering place, but I want an oasis, not a stock tank.
The One that Got Away
Although I am certain I miss taking great photos every single day, there are a few occasions when I’m painfully aware of it. As a rule, I carry my camera with me whenever I walk in the neighborhood and I have it in my car often. When I’m walking with my camera, it is almost always in my hand and ready to use.
Not that that guarantees getting any photo, let alone a good one. On many occasions, I’ve stood, camera in hand, watching some ephemeral delight, such as the time a hawk flew in front of Merri and me at eye-level (ours, not its), barely 8 feet from us. I don’t regret those occasions because seeing is more important than capturing.
On the other hand, I kick myself (possible thanks to years of yoga) for not having my camera when I should. That happened again tonight as we watched a hawk flying with prey dangling from its talons against a twilight sky. It would have been a tough capture, but possible (thanks to camera technology plus a quick response, had I demonstrated such). So, we stood in the darkening, watching the silhouetted hawk atop a telephone pole, plucking and tossing feathers left and right. A beautiful picture of a terrible ending for some other creature. The one that got away, yet didn’t.
I don’t usually go for this sort of thing, but ….
Be sure to move your mouse over the scene. Click the AB in the upper-left to get to the website.
Years ago, there was a gadget that put eyes in the taskbar that followed the mouse movements.
PS: I *hate* Flash most of the time – in large part because it is often used for advertising or misused as an alternative to (X)HTML. Still, there are decent uses for Flash – few and far between.
Florida 2010
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| From Florida 2010 |
We took a 12-day trip to Florida in May, flying to Miami and driving 2,250 miles home. Our days and nights in Miami involved decrappifying a house full of photos, knick-knacks, and oddities accumulated over 30+ years. We produced 10 super-sized garbage bags, two carloads for Goodwill, and gifts for two dozen people. (And this was actually the second week-long stab at decrappification.) The moral: We don’t need much of the stuff we have.
Chores ended and vacation began with a few days at the beach along Florida’s Gulf Coast, far-enough from BP’s – and “Drill, Baby, Drill”-fools’ – catastrophe. The high point was kayaking among dolphins just offshore.
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| From Florida 2010 |
Our path home took us through Alabama and onto the Elvis Highway from Birmingham through Tupelo, Mississippi, into Memphis for a few days with Merri’s mom. Out of Memphis, it is a straight shot of 1,000 miles home. In fact, after a night in Oklahoma City, when we got back on I-40, the GPS indicated the next turn would be in 540 miles, at the exit to our house.
Luke the dog prospered under the care of our housesitter, as well as with visits from friends and neighbors. Still, he was beside himself on our return, as were we. Now, we are grappling with his phenomenal shedding – more than I’ve ever seen from any dog. It’s good to be home.
Florida 2010 (19 photos)Previous trip: Guatemala
Next trip: Colorado
Florida 2010
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We flew to Miami and drove back via the Florida Gulf Coast, Alabama, Mississippi, Memphis — the Elvis Highway — Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Date: May 29, 2010 |