Happy Father’s Day?

Grinding My Gears

Maybe January is just wearing on me, but everyone is getting on my nerves lately. And by everyone, I mean just the people I come in contact with (pretty much only my reflection). Since the worst month ever is almost over, I thought I would vent with these examples of how terrible society is now.

On Twitter there was a promoted hash tag to tweet your name with no vowels. Simple enough. I don’t know why people would randomly want to tweet their name with no vowels, but whatever. It’s the simple things, really. On Twitter, you can click the hash tag and it will take you to the responses of other accounts who typed the hash tag in their tweet. Here are some examples:

How is this real? I’m pretty sure none of them are joking because no one would openly admit to not knowing what vowels are. How is this even possible? I didn’t realize that there are people in the world who just think letters are letters and that’s it. No vowels or consonants. Just letters.

My next example happened in real life. I know, how weird that I would be out of the house bed. I was at the post office and a lady of about 60 years old came in, gray hair and everything. She starts speaking loudly to the person behind the counter about how she’s been listening to a lot of new wave music. “I really like David BAowie.” She pronounced the “Bow” part of his name the way that someone takes a bow, not like a bow that you put in your hair. The wrong way. It was awful. I couldn’t stop starring/being offended. If you don’t know how a person’s name is pronounced, don’t say it. It’s so simple. Or, I don’t know, look it up online? She’s clearly a savvy old lady, listening to new wave music which I don’t even think David Bowie technically fits under, but whatevs. Plus, why would you just assume that the woman at the post office cares about your life at all?

Nothing about this moment was hunky dory.

Another weird moment happened to me in my safe haven, Sephora. I got a suh-weet gift card from my mom for Christmas and I wanted to buy a little trinket. After searching around the store and not finding Yves Saint Laurent, I asked one of the employees if they carried their products. She said not at the moment, but they’ll get them in March. “Oh, that’s not too bad.” I said. To which she responded, “I know, thank God.” Yes, we should definitely thank God for that. Not for our health or safety or that you’re employed, but let’s thank him for the introduction of YSL products into this Sephora location. Okay. Yes.

I know it’s just a phrase, but it really irked me for some reason. And trust me, I’m not saying that I’m the sharpest tool in the shed by any means. I haven’t known the meaning of certain words before and mispronounced them as well. It happens to everyone. But if it’s something so simple, then shouldn’t it just be common knowledge by this point?

Tomorrow is February. Almost out of the winter months…

Status Updates

Why do I have to live in a world where people update their statuses daily? Or even hourly? It’s so depressing. I’m not saying that I’ve never updated a status or told the internet my plans for the day, but at least I can recognize that it’s stupid.

With Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. humans have become more narcissistic than ever. It’s just a big jumble of comments and likes and ratings and favorites and reblogs and retweets and words that shouldn’t even exist but they do. For some reason, we as people, feel that others would be interested in the trivial moments of our lives. I could literally care less what you ate for breakfast or what you bought at Target. Why do people feel the need to tell their “friends” that their dog is sick or it’s their dad’s birthday? LIKE, WHO CARES?!?!

That doesn’t even look like a thumb.

The first thing I see when I log into Facebook is a little bar that says, “How are you feeling, Lily?” It’s like a little prompt to help me make a status. I’m pretty sure I can figure out how to type words and form a complete sentence. It’s almost offensive.

Tweeting is probably the worst. Where some people just treat it as a status update, others like myself treat it as comedy hour. And some people (everyone besides me) just aren’t funny. And it’s painful! But again, why do we feel the need to share our jokes and funny thoughts with people? Can’t we just share them with our friends and leave it at that?

Instagram is like a status update paired with pictures. It’s hard for me to describe how much I don’t care about the funny face your dog made or the vacation you went on with your BFFs. Why do want other people to see these moments? Are these people just constantly at the ready with their phone cameras out, waiting for something interesting to happen? Shouldn’t these people be, I don’t know, at work?

Status updates have become a part of life. They’re normal. It’s only when you take a step back and analyze what everyone is doing, that it feels unhealthy and fake. What are we trying to prove? That we live normal lives? That we have stories that are worth commenting on? That we can make people jealous with our travel photos? What is it? Why do we want to share every moment of our lives with everyone we know?

When I was younger, people would warn kid’s my age, not to put any personal information on the internet. It’s slightly different now.

The Benefits of Being Online

The world has changed incredibly in the span of twenty years. When I was little, my family didn’t have a computer. I don’t remember having one until I was at least 9. Even then I don’t think I ever went “online”. The only activity that I did on the computer was typing my name over and over again in different fonts. I still do that on occasion.

Now it seems that I can’t go a day without being online. I have to check my “stuff” which consists of email, twitter, blogs, facebook, tumblr, pinterest…the list goes on. Of course there are times when I’m away and can’t check my stuff. Those are the times when I’m sitting in a corner and rocking myself back and forth.

One might look at this scenario and think my online life is unhealthy. Fortunately, I’m one of the light cases. I know for a fact that teenagers stay online for hours and hours on end. Even if they aren’t physically at a computer, they can still go online with their phones. I know I’m painting an extreme picture, but the internet, despite being a big time-waster, is actually an amazing thing.

We are able to connect with people around the world without leaving our homes (or beds…in my case). We are able to meet friends, share stories, and fall in love online. Some would even say it’s easier to meet people online because no one is judging you by your appearance, just by what you say.

Personally, I am more relaxed when I’m talking to people online than in real-life. Online, you can choose to respond to a conversation whenever and however you want to. You can take the time to think about what you want to say before your say it. You can eloquently word your input instead of trying to come up with the right words in your head. Everything is smoother and thought out. We can really be our best selves online for that reason.

Will we turn into drones that don’t know how to talk in the future? Possibly. Will we go blind from the light of our computers constantly being shone into our eyes? Most likely. But we’ll have many more acquaintances than we ever could have met in our own day to day lives. We can relate to others and realize that others can relate to us. We can comfort and be comforted. We can laugh and share thought-provoking stories. And that might be worth something in the long run.

 

Computer Lovin’

I don’t know about you guys, but I spend a lot of time on my computer. Whenever I’m babysitting or volunteering, I feel super detached. Like I’m missing out on all the fun stuff that’s happening online. But I also feel better about myself too–like I’m not completely dependent on my computer.

I have a strict computer routine. I always check my mail first. I’ve started to realize that I’m one of the only people left that uses an AOL account. Come on guys, tried and true! There’s something great about hearing “You’ve got mail!” when you wake up. It’s like I’m basically Meg Ryan. AOL has treated me well throughout the years. My screen name used to be Londonlady88. I was born in 87, but 88 just sounds better. AMIRITE?

Next I go on word press, read my comments, read other blogs, comment on other blogs, yadda yadda. You know the drill. This takes a while because I’m a slow reader and a long commenter. If I have something good to write about, I’ll write it in the morning, otherwise I’ll brainstorm and eventually ask someone what I should write about. I’m not creative at all.

Then I’ll go on facebook and poke around. Nothing new or cool happens there anymore. I used to be an avid facebook user. Not so much anymore. I’ve fought with myself about deleting it. The only reason I haven’t deleted it yet is because I want to get all of my pictures off of the site and onto my computer. Seems like so much work. I heard facebook won’t actually let anyone fully delete their account. Apparently you can only deactivate it. Mark Zuckerburg/Jessie Eisenberg is such a creep.

Twitter is a desperate attempt for online stimulation. There are some really funny people on there. So I like to read their 140 character quips. As you’ve probably already guessed, I’m pretty funny on twitter too, but I don’t have anywhere near the number of followers that I should. This is always depressing.

These guys usually make me laugh the most. I don't know any of them personally, but I wish I did.

Lastly, I’ll visit Pinterest so I can dream about what my life could be like. This is highly addictive. That’s why I save it for last, right when my computer is about to run out of battery. When this happens, I just give up on everything and go walk around outside.

There have been many times when Paul has come home and I have my computer on my lap. I look up and say, “Oh hey, how was work?!” and then I look down and start typing again. I’m pretty sure he loves this because he asked me if I love my computer more than him. I don’t think it’s fair to make me choose.

Fall Favo(u)rites

This is going to be a seasonal break from my posts aboot Canada to talk about some of my favorite things in fall. Lets get started, shall we?

1. “Someone Like You” by Adele. Such a good song. I listen to it at least once a day. I think my neighbors are starting to get creeped/going to kill me. The song’s lyrics are kind of weird, “Nevermind, I’ll find someone like you.” Like, you’re really awesome and I love you but you don’t love me, so I’ll settle for someone like you, but they won’t be as good as you. Hmm that’s a pretty bad sitch. I’m still not convinced that Adele isn’t singing about Nutella though.

2. Pizza. I got such a good deal on pizza at Costco (I know, I know. I shop there now). It was 4 pizzas for $12. I think they are meant for at least two people, but surprisingly, I am able to finish them off without any help.

3. My birthday. It was on October 5th and even though I am getting super old (24 blehh), it’s still really nice to have 100 notifications on facebook. I felt the love. And if you didn’t wish me happy birthday, you are officially dead to me.

Perfect. Purrfect.

4. Pictures of cats. Cats are so awesome. And pictures of cats dressed up or just being weird really make me happy. Cats always look like they hate the world and it never ceases to put a smile on my face.

5. “Big Wheels” by Down With Webster. I really just like this song for the music video. It’s got a video game theme and I am kind of obsessed with gaming. There is a scene in the video where the band is go-kart racing and they filmed it like Mario Kart. I really appreciated it.

6. The Pacific Ocean. I can walk to the beach from my apartment in about 15 minutes. Granted, its cold outside and the water is freezing, but its kind of a great luxury to live by the ocean and stare out into it’s vastness. Yes, I’m gay.

7. Tweeting. I know, I know! A little slow on the uptake. The word “tweeting” kind of makes me want to re-think my life, but there is something so great about being able to write a message to some of my favorite celebs in hopes that they might read it. It seems kind of vain at times, but hey, if you like listening to yourself talk (or reading your own words) then it’s definitely for you.

8. Animal Crossing. Okay this is a video game for Wii where you start a life in this town and you make friends and eventually establish yourself as a capable townsperson. I was explaining to Paul how its really cool because you have to work for this guy in the town in order to pay off your house. And Paul was like, “Oh that’s weird. I have to do that in real life.” No one understands me. I was really stressed in this game trying to make a living. How belittling.

9. Tumblr. You can use tumblr for lots of different things. Many people use it to blog or to post pictures that they have taken. I post pictures of things that I wish I had. It’s like a virtual scrapbook of dreams. Yes. And on that note, I am finished.