I still use Facebook, despite previous rants against its effects on our lives. My job also entails that I Google a lot of randomness. And, I think at some point I told Facebook I didn't want to have personalized ads. These are the amusingly irrelevant results. Prepare to laugh.

So I interviewed someone for work about how she's using Pinterest for her business. Fact No. 1: She's not a wedding planner. Fact No. 2: I have heretofore refrained from signing up for a Pinterest account. Well, I have one now. What exactly does one do with Pinterest? I mean, besides waste time on it. I don't really know. And I waste enough time on Facebook. And I never was subject to that Pinterest mania I've seen so many other Pinners suffer from.

Lately, a huge chunk of my Facebook news feed has looked something like this: I love the cute way [Manly] gets hiccups when he's been laughing too much. My amazingly awesome wife surprised me AND my parents by driving up and fixing us dinner so I could stay here tonight and get a little more needed rest. Blessed to tears! Love him #concertjunkies Those are three real entries from acquaintances on Facebook... posted within the last two hours. There's more where that came from. Remind me to get a journal specifically for sappy observations and scrapbooking couples pictures if and when I get a serious boyfriend/husband. Something tells me it will be more meaningful to have things like these written down for a significant-other to read now, and treasure later.* Or maybe it's just me. But I can't imagine putting stuff like this up for the whole world to see. I'd rather share it with people that mean a lot to me. Family, close friends, you know -- but certainly...

I have this one Facebook friend whom I’ve met exactly two times. (Not very substantial meetings either; he was at a couple contra dances I went to with his sister.) He is always publishing melancholy “I’m not dating anybody!” statii, his friends always console him in the comments, and once in a while those things show up in my news feed. Random, I know. But this is getting somewhere. One such consolatory remark was written by a woman who said she had followed Rebecca St. James’ advice to “wait for him” ( or some such thing ) and had actually found a decent him. It made me wonder, has Miss St. James ever found anybody? Much good her waiting (which I took to mean passivity) did if she hasn’t yet… she’s got to be in her late thirties, I thought. So I googled—“is Rebecca St. James actually married”? And I pulled up her Wikipedia page, looked under “personal life,” and found out that she had just gotten engaged over Christmas, a rumor on several blogs that she confirmed on her various soc...

Remember that map of online communities that I loved ? There’s a new and improved version…. *does happy dance* By the way, you can see the larger version on xkcd .

Remember how I used to post fairly often on my blog, before I was a junior in college? And then how it all dropped off sometime last school year, and I haven’t yet learned to pick the pace up a bit? That was the days before a lot of homework that involved my computer. Also before the days when I got really distracted during said homework, browsing Facebook and re-watching favorite YouTube videos. I bring this up to provide the background for this past week. Over Thanksgiving break—just one week from today, I believe—my brother and I determined that the power supply for my laptop had basically died. Without my laptop, I was forced to rely on the school library’s computers for most of my homework. That was great incentive to do it efficiently—who really wants to spend all day in the library? And then, after getting back to my apartment after supper (or whenever), I was without my laptop all night. It was pleasant—I read, I wrote in my journal, I talked to my friends, I read some mor...

It’s been a while. Question: Why do I feel dumber and dumber every day? Is Facebook sucking my intellect from me? Question #2: Why can I never remember what I wanted to blog about? Question #3: How in the world did I forget my purse when I left? Feel free to answer any or all of the questions, as you please.

“I like Facebook.” “I like Blogger.” That’s nice. “Facebook’s utility for sharing whole packages of information, be it made of audio-visual elements, simply photos, or even short snippets of thoughts, is unmatched. In addition, the ease with which three or more users may interact over such elements is particularly striking.” “You speak the truth; however, Facebook hardly lends itself to short-form, well-thought-out writing that is meant to be read without distractions; and its standardization prohibits any one person or organization from developing a distinctive, memorable look. Blogger permits this, and furthermore allows any reader to, well, read and comment, which Facebook at this point restricts.” Now we’re getting somewhere. Now to fully explain my point. It seems that Facebook’s “like” button is permeating the whole world of the Internet, and this development disturbs me. Why should everything be simply “liked”? Cannot we have any concurrence or promotion, at least, if not...

I love maps. I love to hate Facebook. (Or something like that.) So, you can guess how much I love this. From xkcd, where the larger version may be viewed and laughed at . It appears to be slightly out of date (I’d guess that Facebook is a wee bit bigger than it appears on this map), but still entertaining. I happened to see this graphic over my brother’s shoulder a few minutes ago.

As you may be aware , ever since getting a Facebook account (i.e. succumbing to the pretty permanent fad on campus), I've been alternately amused and frustrated by certain aspects of it. In fact, I was just criticizing its creation of people who have lots of "friends" but few-to-no close, intimate confidantes. I called it "faceless friendship." And now I've finally gotten around to reading "Loneliness in Numbers," an article in the latest Atlantic magazine that points out that the coming-of-age of the Internet and the social media thereof has also brought about (or maybe highlighted) the advent of another phenomenon--loneliness in the midst of connectivity. The author makes some good points. One of my favorite observations: Acquaintances are easy to maintain with casual, group emails and Holiday notes. But real friends? They take time and energy--both to develop, and to nurture or maintain. And the key observation: And the more ... time anyone s...

Totally on a different note about Facebook. I just went through and deleted all those useless quiz applications on my Facebook account. However, I did keep a few.... Just saying. Apparently, the geeks have the best senses of humor. Also, I myself wrote the "What kind of clock are you" one, with my roommate. My favorite, though, was the math equation one, and then "what are you?" one (very similar to the random object quiz).

So yeah... my little hermanita woke up at like five-thirty this morning, no kidding. I woke up then too, as I do almost every day (and then try to fall back asleep). I did manage to fall asleep again, and slept till eight. That was amazing. Anyhow. Here is a random bunch of links I found this week: Interesting Pile. My roommate and I love this kind of thing. Most random link compilations on the Net. You can play piano on Ohio. No joke. Fun Flash game. One of the London newspapers will be distributed free. (That's my obligatory journalism note. :D ) Star Wars is soon to be remade... collaboratively . This "blog" is fantabulously "funny" and "amazing." (Grammar Nazis only!) Sweet photos of Detriot. I just love photography. And a few various related articles that perked my interest: The importance of real-life relationships. On a journalism-related blog. Who'da thunk? What we lose when technology mediates a relationship from a blog about church ...

Seems like anytime an article on one of my favorite websites comes up talking about Facebook, I gravitate towards it. This time it was a blog post , informing me that FB has upwards of 300 million users (and finally turned a profit). I could guess that most of the newer users are the moms of the old users who heard about what their kids were doing... but I won't. I could guess that some of the newer users are kids in middle school whose friends talked them into doing it... but I won't. What I will guess is that FB will be superseded by something yet unheard of. Or maybe something that's around now, like.... oh, maybe video-game consoles?

I kinda got fed up with Facebook last night, finally. It's been coming on for a while now. I read an article a couple months back about Facebook's disturbing side, and the sort of things expressed in the article--a concern about Facebook taking up more of my thoughts and time than Bible study, and the frivolity of most of the website's function--have been my own thoughts on the subject for some time now. Facebook's unique purpose, as I understand it, is to re-initiate contact with long-lost friends or friends who have moved away (or friends who didn't move away with you). And sometimes that works. But what is the main function of Facebook, practically? It's used to keep up with friends you see every other day anyway. And when you're home for the summer--the time in which it ought to serve its greatest purpose, if you intend to stay friends with your college acquaintances--instead of being somewhat useful, it degenerates into a way to waste time (i.e. t...

I wanted to title this one "Observations upon the economy, engagement, and work environments" but that's just a little too long for my taste.... but observations they are, notwithstanding any title change, and here they follow. 1. My itty bitty town's largest employer announced today it will close in a year. This little town practically subsists upon the tax revenues from this particular business. And now... the town's already facing deficit issues, and this will only exacerbate the problems. Not to mention the twelve hundred or so who will soon be unemployed. Throw in a union and you have quite a little mess. 2. My pastor's daughter got engaged to her boyfriend of... three or four years! I knew it was coming, and probably this summer was my guess, but his asking her on the top of the Eiffel Tower at night was a perfectly lovely way to do it, in my opinion (and in probably everyone else's too!). (She was on a school trip in Europe, and he flew there f...

My roommate is now dating someone... a good guy, and her co-lead in the school musical. Also, one of my other girl-friends has just started dating her SI leader (the guy who leads a weekly study group for her history class). It's gotta be something in the air... like allergies. I'm immune, apparently.

So, whilst my sister and brother watch CSI, X-Files and Numbers on DVD from the library, I tend to meander my way through the internet. Thus, I find myriad links for my Delicious bookmarks. How to tell the difference between a violin and an accordion. Hilarious, from a blog I just discovered via the link list on this other newly-discovered blog. This guy is the same age I am and writes for Boundless . His latest article is about Facebook and its tendency to wreak havoc on its users' priorities. Very good. A fascinating counter to bias in news media, and its accompanying blog . From the creator of the Shakespearian Insulter--or rather, its Web incarnation (which is incredibly fun, if you haven't already tried it)--comes the Poem of the Masses . Basically, you contribute one line... and on it goes.... Peruse at your pleasure. :-)

A Facebook meme I recently filled out was the "Are you a homeschooler?" type. (All you readers who are my FB friends have seen it, most likely.) It made me think about all the stereotypical trademarks of homeschoolers... the denim jumpers, the school days in pajamas, and all that. And all the assumptions that people have about homeschoolers.... for example, You have been asked more than 10 times in your life: [ ] If you wear pajamas to school (close to ten though) [ ] If you get perfect grades because your mom grades you (a couple times though) [x] If your mom teaches you or if somebody else's mom does [ ] How do you meet people (I did get this sometimes) [x] Why you aren't in school (people asked my mom anyway; made for some good convos) [x] If you get days off whenever you want [ ] If you're going to be home schooled through college [ ] If you have a big family [ ] What your parents are protecting you from [ ] To quote something famous [x] For the answer, bec...

Or close. The Facebook-style edition of Pride & Prejudice is too funny. I love it!

I stumbled on a funny blog post over at the New York Times tonight! According to them, this is how you fill out one of those "25 random things about me" lists on Facebook... 9. Mention small adversity, like long commute or annoying neighbor, and the unexpected, preferably funny, way you overcome it. 10. Cite an actual random thing that comes to mind while writing this list. 11. “Admit” that you always identified with weird ancillary character on popular TV show in 7th grade, as if you didn’t know that everyone in retrospect agrees that was the best character. 12. Expose something genuine and poignant about yourself, such as untimely death of close relative or rare genetic condition. 13. Express heartfelt thanks to friends or family for helping you through #12, or just for being there, or whatever. 14. Conclude sentimental portion of list by citing the scene in movie X that always makes you cry. Could also be a lyric, or a memory, so long as it involves crying. 15. Something...