I took a week off so I could meditate on being more pithy for y'all. But now I'm back.
08 February, 2012
25 January, 2012
17 January, 2012
Sh!t that Annoys Me Wednesday, 1-18-2012 Extra Special Edition
Most weeks I muse about stuff that has annoyed me, some current, some past, Today I want to discuss very recent events, though not a new problem. I've probably even talked about it before in various forms, but now it's really gotten out of hand.
On Monday I went to bed with a song in my heart and a dream on my pillow. On Tuesday I woke up removed from Facebook groups and unfriended by people. It was the internet equivalent of coming into the cafeteria to find my seat at the lunch table was no longer available.
And why, you might ask, was I deleted in the middle of the night by cowardly emotional troglodytes? Maybe it's because I happen to be friends with other people the admins of these groups dislike. Maybe it's because I had the audacity (or maybe just the sheer balls) to publicly disagree with an admin in a group, even after I was called an "@sshole" because I dared to be offended by someone's statement. Truly, I was called this name and told I was, in essence, not allowed to interpret someone's statement the way I did because no one else was offended by it. I'm sorry, so now because I'm in this group I'm supposed to buy into your hive-mind and think and feel the way YOU want me to? After I pointed out this incredibly biased view I was then personally attacked by the admin of the group and of course, in the middle of the night, under the cloak of darkness, I was kicked out of the group.
Here's the essence of communication: it's not the intent, it's the interpretation. All communication is 70% interpretation; the other 30% is comprised of the message and how the message was transmitted. Everyone has the right to interpret a statement the way they want. It's like sexual harassment. It doesn't matter if you didn't mean to offend someone, it's whether they were offended that matters. And I was told I wasn't allowed to be offended because X person didn't "mean it that way." Go cyber bullying.
In truth, I really wasn't *that* offended by the original statement, but I did comment about it (and my comment didn't even say I was offended or upset,) and I was attacked for doing so. The reaction I got is what really pissed me off, so I decided to push the envelope a little bit. And in so doing, I exposed the poor behavior of several people. What would have been the adult thing to do was for the person who said the offensive remark to just say "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that." She never did, instead I had several people, including an admin of the group call me an asshole, say they were "sick of my attitude" and accuse me of attacking people in other groups.
Honestly, I don't care because the group was being dominated by one person, who has an obvious and serious need for attention, given the amount of times daily they need to essentially say "look at me, look at me." Indeed this one person posted in the group daily more times than I had in the previous 2 or 3 months. I'm suprised at how much "my attitude" was conveyed give how infrequently I posted. I must have super powers for communication. Or maybe you were just interpreting things wrong. Shame on you, don't you KNOW how to interpret things exactly the way I intended?
So why, if I don't care about being kicked, am I writing this post? Yes, I don't care that I was kicked or unfriended. What really pisses me off is the high school mentailty behind all of it. The people who kicked me also tried to smear me to others, innocent people, just to hurt me. And all they really did is hurt those others and for that they should be ashamed of themselves. It's just sneaky to do that shit in the middle of the night. Have the balls to tell me to my face. And please, tell me, and the rest of the group why you're deleting people. What is the real reason? Of course, they never will, because it's much better this way. They can kick out whomever they want and then talk shit about them without any reprecussions. So I'm posting this for transparency. I know the type of people who were behind kicking me from the groups and I'm sure they are smearing me to others as I type this. Well, that reflects more on their quality as a human being more than it does on me. Normally I wouldn't even respond to this juvenile bullshit, but I also feel that people should have an ability to defend themselves against accusations,a nd since I've been cut off from the areas where the events occurred, I'll use this as my forum.
Thank you for reading.
If you or someone you know has been the target of bullying, here are some resources:
Cyberbullying US
11 January, 2012
Sh!t That Annoys Me Wednesday 1-11-2011
I've had two weeks to get annoyed about new things. Let's have a look!
06 January, 2012
Look at my Hat, My Hat is Amazing.
I haven't been posting regularly, mainly because I've been breaking the time limit for eating an entire pound cake building a person and frankly I've been rather fatigued, so much so I can barely log into Star Wars The Old Republic. But I just had to share this. Every once in a while you come across something (an article of clothing, accessory, a lipstick) that you love so much it practically defines you for a time. For me, it's this Hat:
05 January, 2012
Oh the Magnificent kittehs!
Sorry I've been MIA for 2 weeks of Sh!t that annoys me Wednesday. I could give excuses, but I hate when people do that. So instead, here's a bunch of cute kittehs.
And isn't this awesome:
23 December, 2011
The Incredible Life of a Painted Moonkin
A little while ago I mentioned a post that was flying around Facebook about things children of the 1990s will have to tell their kids about. First I was flabbergasted as how shallow most (well, all) the entries on that list were, I mean, c'mon Boy Meets World and Beanie Babies? I decided to make a list of things that have happened during my lifetime that either I will have to tell my unborn hatchling about, or they will have to learn from a history class that's far better than what we have in America (since the government seems to believe NOT funding education will make the schools better.)
So, in no particular order, here are some things I thought about this morning that I have experienced or saw within my life time, but will be a complete mystery to the moonkid unless I impart my wisdom.
1. The fall of the Berlin Wall (1989-1990.) When the Berlin Wall was constructed, Germany was cut in half, literally severing families from each other. During school, we learned of "East Germany" and "West Germany," as they were distinct countries rather than a unified Germany. Some who braved going over the wall had lost their lives in the pursuit of being free, or just being a whole family. Visitation beyond the wall began in November of 1989, and the wall was completely gone by October of 1990. I remember seeing families united on the news, families that had been separated nearly 30 years, and the joy the world felt that there was now a unified Germany.
2. The Space Shuttle Challenger. On January 28, 1986, all of our school tuned in to watch the Space Shuttle Challenger lift off into space, it never made it out of Earth's atmosphere. We watched in horror as all seven of the Challenger's crew were killed in the explosion. The shuttle fleet was grounded for the next two and a half years, but those of us who watched the failed launch will always remember that day.
3. Also in 1986, Halley's Comet made its orbit past the Earth. Halley's comet can only be seen from Earth every 75-76 years, so this was also a pretty big deal. In 1986, it became the first comet to be investigated in detail. It is predicted to come back in 2061, around the time my child is 48 years old.
4. In my lifetime, I also saw the end of the Cold War. Growing up, all our maps had "U.S.S.R" where "Russia" is printed today. In effect, there was no Russia, just the Soviet Union. Even residents there were not called "Russians," but "Soviets" (although occasionally you would hear the terms "Reds," "Russkies," and "Commies.") Something also in the news that we rarely even think about today is "defection," where citizens of the USSR would seek asylum in the United States (and other free countries.)
5. The invention of the personal computer. There were two primary companies in this: Apple Macintosh and International Business Machines (known as IBM.) But no one who saw the following will have forgotten it:
Our original computer was a PC, and that's what I've always had since. I've always been better with PCs, and well, I always felt Steve Jobs was a douche, so it worked out well in that. Our original computer must have weighed 40 pounds or such, it was a huge unit, set up on a desk in the closet of a room in the basement. Windows didn't exist, so to access any file, one had to enter a series of file names. Games were on 5.25 inch floppies and even cassettes (yes, they looked just like audio cassettes, but they were game cartridges.) And now I have seen the invention of the Tablet computer, whose screen is smaller than our old PC, but damn they are a lot lighter.
6. I remember when out phone company starting offering call waiting, caller ID, 3 way calling, and eventually voicemail, all technologies that are standard with phone service today. After these major technological breakthroughs for teenagers came the cellular phone, eventually called the "cell phone" and now plain old "phone." The first cellular phones required us to carry around a bag to help transmit the signal (I remember bringing one to my college orientation) and hold a brick to your head to talk.7. The videotape format war. Many people of my generation may have missed this altogether even back then, but I lived in a gadget household and it was well known. The videotape format war refers to the conflict between the VHS and the Betamax videotape formats. Eventually VHS won out (though true believers today will still tell you Beta was the superior format.) The war is entirely moot today, with the advent of DVDs and BluRay discs, but in the early days it was quite the war.
8. Pong. The first home video game from Atari.
9. The "invention" of the Internet. By the way "Internet" is a proper noun that should be capitalized. Anyway, I remember when Internet access came to the masses. Chat rooms were all the rage and people were inundated with Internet Service Provider's (ISP's) CDs awarding users 14 days of Internet access. Who could forget all those AOL, Prodigy, and Netscape discs. Anyone remember NetZero? The "free" Internet where your viewable screen was smaller than our old IBM but for all the glaring, flashing ads...
10. The release of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. I could go on & on about why this is so important, but really, it boils down to the magic I feel whenever I watch it, like it was the first time. (The original release, though I don't buy all those added scenes. Original release only!) Indeed, A New Hope was the first movie I saw in the theater, and although I was very young at the time, it started something that has affected me my entire life. And of 2010, it was the second-highest grossing film of all time, and for good reason.
11. The downfall of Western Civilization. Some say that the West never had civilization (other than that fabulous game by Sid Meier) but I would suggest that we are witnessing the downfall right now. I would posit that this downfall is marked by the absence of rational thought, the disconnection or human beings (as a result of the Internet, which is bringing us closer, right?) the loss of tradition, politeness and basic ability to spell, and the overwhelming selfishness and entitlement seen in the generation coming of age today. These experiences I have listed above served to humble me as a person and I am proud to have been a part of them, even if just as a spectator. But I see a trend today where people are missing these types events, (if they are even occurring, I suggest that breakthroughs and history are declining like the US educational system) in favor of Keeping up with the Kardashians. While the Internet has put the world at our fingertips, we have become exceedingly more self absorbed. Rather than being more worldly, it is making us more repressive and more biased. We have lost the ability to "walk a mile in another's shoes."
Some of you may read these and remember. Some of you may roll your eyes thinking how old and cranky I am. But all of these events affected my life in a profound enough way that I still think of them today, and I hope my own child will have experiences just as profound.
21 December, 2011
Sh!t that annoys me Wednesday 12-21-2011
Contrary to popular belief, chubby people aren't jolly, we just get annoyed faster....
14 December, 2011
12 December, 2011
I'll have a Blue Christmas without You...
A Facebook group of which I am a member, Never Too Much Sparkle, has a weekly makeup theme and this week's was "Blue Winter." I decided to take a stab at it since 1) I don't wear blues very often for fear of looking like Mimi from Drew Carey and 2) I was actually going out into public for something more than a yogurt run so I thought I could at least make myself presentable. Yes, I'm an opportunistic crabby pants. A picture-heavy post to follow.
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