Saturday, August 14, 2010

My Life is an Open [face]Book

Last night I went to a ward party - a picnic at the park. It took me ten minutes to get from the food line to my seat because I kept getting stopped to ask about an upcoming trip and other things happening in our family. It surprised me how much people knew about what our family was doing. I finally decided to ask how they knew about such and such. The answer: "Oh, your kids wrote about it on facebook."

I don't do facebook. It takes time I need for other things. I think it has some great perks. for instance, I like looking over my children's shoulders at their photos and those of family and friends they are 'friends' with. They know more about my brothers and sisters than I do. But I am not comfortable putting my life on display. It would be nice to check in and see what's up with acquaintances from the past but the present needs my attention now. and, for the most part, i have kept in contact with people from the past that I want to keep in my life.

Technology has such an interesting way of keeping us in touch without touching and informed about things we don't really need to know. But its fascinating how easy it is to do it. I remember the days of pica and elite type setting with only one choice of fonts. [Back then a font was a place to be baptized.] We had 'White out' for mistakes and typewriters instead of printers and computers. Calculators were exciting.

I may not enjoy all that the lateset technology has to offer but I have my favorite 'aps'. I like watching my TV shows on the computer while i clean the kitchen - less commercials and i can work and watch at the same time. I love my iPod even though I am still learning to access its full  potential. I am much better at correspondence thanks to email and love the ease of typing vs. handwriting. I like finding information at the touch of my fingers instead of going to the library, looking things up in the card catalog, searching for the books, searching the books for the needed information and lugging the whole stack around. I like having a printer in my home. I really enjoy the ease of storing and sorting photos. I am years behind on my hard photos and up to date on my digital ones.

I prefer the book of my life to be open only to those I choose to let read it - not the world at large. Although, someday if I am famous, I may change my mind on that. :) In the meantime, my kids have been told to be a bit more discreet about what they reveal on facebook.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

You know you're a homeowner if...

You know you're a homeowner if you are willing to shell out more for new windows than you've ever paid for a vacation and be okay with it. of course, rebates and tax credits do help. and the thought of actually seeing out the windows instead of looking at condensation that's built up for YEARS. here comes the sun!