The Just Thought I'd Share Thread

[Macfanforever]

Its spring time here in Connecticut and almost all the snow is melted.

[WildHearted]

Originally Posted by vivfox

I'm not familiar with her but I agree with you how totally cool this is.

Haha, thanks!

She's a 20 year old actress / singer / songwriter. Her first big role was on Broadway in the musical 13 and for the past few years she was the lead on a Nick show that recently ended. Now she's doing filmwork and working on an album.

[MoonSister75]

Originally Posted by WildHearted

Earlier in the week I covered a song by Liz Gillies and tweeted it to her... and by some miracle she saw it, bothered to listen to it, and liked it enough to tweet me back about it.

Just thought I'd share cause it pretty much made my week. I love her.

what a beautiful song and beautiful voice! thanks for sharing

Originally Posted by vivfox

My new sig pic in all its glory for MoonSister75 or anybody else. The person who posted this pic had the color distorted somehow.

Originally Posted by Macfanforever

Its spring time here in Connecticut and almost all the snow is melted.

Its just raining here in wales, and then raining, and raining some more. Its a good thing that I don't mind the rain!

[moon]

Originally Posted by WildHearted

Earlier in the week I covered a song by Liz Gillies and tweeted it to her... and by some miracle she saw it, bothered to listen to it, and liked it enough to tweet me back about it.

Just thought I'd share cause it pretty much made my week. I love her.

Made my day. You have a beautiful voice. Keep singing. RT "@Summer_Grace Still not over this song. Had to cover it. http://t.co/POcKK4wxAZ …

— Elizabeth Gillies (@LizGillies) December 16, 2013

Still can't believe it, wow, Liz answered you!!! Don't know who's my idol now, your or She. BOTH!!!!!!!!! Both have beautiful voices, are so talented, and have a lot, lot, LOT of Future. I'm happy for you because you are a great singer. And Liz is one of the girls I love in this hard world!!!!!
Woah, sorry, but the feelings of the end of year are affecting me.

[MoonSister75]

Just to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, or Nadolig Llawen in welsh

[Dex]

Originally Posted by MoonSister75

Just to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, or Nadolig Llawen in welsh

Whenever i hear that phrase, I always think of the Gavin and Stacey bit where Pam thinks it's pronounced "Nadori Clarin". Gets me every time.

Happy Christmas all! I've had a rather good one. Might watch a few of the Christmas episodes of Frasier before calling it a night. Yeah, I'm cool. Sex me.

[MoonSister75]

Originally Posted by Dex

Whenever i hear that phrase, I always think of the Gavin and Stacey bit where Pam thinks it's pronounced "Nadori Clarin". Gets me every time.

Happy Christmas all! I've had a rather good one. Might watch a few of the Christmas episodes of Frasier before calling it a night. Yeah, I'm cool. Sex me.

I haven't seen Gavin and Stacey (it was during my no TV era) but from what I heard, it did sound very funny.

Glad you had a good Christmas Day. My Christmas has been quite good too!

[Dex]

Originally Posted by MoonSister75

I haven't seen Gavin and Stacey (it was during my no TV era) but from what I heard, it did sound very funny.

What's stopping you now!? That show is so so genius. Probably my favourite ever, as boring a choice as it may seem (it strikes me a bit like saying Friends is your favourite show, if only because of it's insane mainstream popularity).

[MoonSister75]

Originally Posted by Dex

What's stopping you now!? That show is so so genius. Probably my favourite ever, as boring a choice as it may seem (it strikes me a bit like saying Friends is your favourite show, if only because of it's insane mainstream popularity).

Limited TV watching time is what is stopping me. By the time my daughter is asleep, I'm usually too tired to watch TV. But as you have mentioned just how brilliant it is, I shall make a big effort to track down some episodes and have a look.

[MoonSister75]

A friend just sent this to me and I was so grateful to receive it, I thought it might be good to share it. I watched a documentary about this lady a year ago and read her book. It looks like they have now made a film about her too. Some of this may be upsetting to watch as she is a holocaust survivor (now 110 years old!), but she is so inspirational I wanted to post it.
So for any one that is interested, its about the power of music

[KarmaContestant]

I just thought I'd share...

I started waitching Ja'ime: Private School Girl. What a ridiculous show. Totally ridiculous. And I love it.

I quit Facebook on Tuesday. Not entirely sure why, but it's been on my mind for a while. It could be the rose-colored lenses of nostalgia, but I'm pretty sure I had a more satisfying social life before Facebook...when I made time for people.

[Dex]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

I just thought I'd share...

I started waitching Ja'ime: Private School Girl. What a ridiculous show. Totally ridiculous. And I love it.

I quit Facebook on Tuesday. Not entirely sure why, but it's been on my mind for a while. It could be the rose-colored lenses of nostalgia, but I'm pretty sure I had a more satisfying social life before Facebook...when I made time for people.

Funnily enough, I find the opposite. I feel like I give more time to more people because of Facebook facilitating such efficient and easy communication with them. I see way more of people than I ever did pre-Facebook.

Let us know if/how things change for you, socially. I'm quite interested in how social media impacts people in different ways.

[louielouie2000]

Originally Posted by KarmaContestant

I quit Facebook on Tuesday. Not entirely sure why, but it's been on my mind for a while. It could be the rose-colored lenses of nostalgia, but I'm pretty sure I had a more satisfying social life before Facebook...when I made time for people.

Originally Posted by Dex

Funnily enough, I find the opposite. I feel like I give more time to more people because of Facebook facilitating such efficient and easy communication with them. I see way more of people than I ever did pre-Facebook.

Let us know if/how things change for you, socially. I'm quite interested in how social media impacts people in different ways.

I have to take a break from Facebook about once a year. I just get so very sick of people's constant BS, and the never ending stories about how Facebook is selling our information, etc. So I'll deactivate Facebook for a few weeks, and I'm in utter bliss. In the end, I invariably reactivate my account, because people start giving me crap about it. Plus, it's the only way I keep in contact with some relatives & old friends. I *REALLY* hate being a slave to this very abusive app.

[Dex]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

I have to take a break from Facebook about once a year. I just get so very sick of people's constant BS, and the never ending stories about how Facebook is selling our information, etc. So I'll deactivate Facebook for a few weeks, and I'm in utter bliss. In the end, I invariably reactivate my account, because people start giving me crap about it. Plus, it's the only way I keep in contact with some relatives & old friends. I *REALLY* hate being a slave to this very abusive app.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I have 90% of my friends "hidden" from my feed, because people do annoy me like crazy.

The "Facebook selling our information" stories don't bother me in and of themselves. I honestly didn't really ever expect my information to be kept private on a free internet website. I simply don't put much personal information on it. Those "check in at x location" things, for example, are ones I take issue with. Not a good idea. I don't even use my real name on Facebook. I'm of the age where dangers of the internet were vigorously beaten into us at school. "Don't use your real name" was rule 1. Then here comes Facebook saying "You MUST use your real name". No, Facebook, I think you'll find I don't. But most of my peers take no issue with it so maybe I'm a bit of a tinfoil-hat type.

[KarmaContestant]

Originally Posted by Dex

Funnily enough, I find the opposite. I feel like I give more time to more people because of Facebook facilitating such efficient and easy communication with them. I see way more of people than I ever did pre-Facebook.

In the beginning, Facebook was great for exactly the reason you mention - it was easy and convenient to facilitate social networking, *offline*, by using an online tool.

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

I have to take a break from Facebook about once a year. I just get so very sick of people's constant BS, and the never ending stories about how Facebook is selling our information, etc. So I'll deactivate Facebook for a few weeks, and I'm in utter bliss. In the end, I invariably reactivate my account, because people start giving me crap about it. Plus, it's the only way I keep in contact with some relatives & old friends. I *REALLY* hate being a slave to this very abusive app.

This is my first time deactivating it - but it's been on my mind almost every single day since June or July. I've even talked about it on Facebook, but that is not a wise decision. People will give you every reason under the sun why you should stay for their benefit.

Initially, I thought I'd unfriend everyone who lived in the Denver area. My logic was that if a friend is five miles away, it's a total shame that I have to keep up with them by reading Facebook posts. I was only going to keep family and long-distance friends. Ultimately, I decided an all-or-nothing approach was best for me.

Originally Posted by Dex

Oh, don't get me wrong, I have 90% of my friends "hidden" from my feed, because people do annoy me like crazy.

But see, if you have to hide them from your feed - what's the point in having that connection at all? I'm only asking rhetorically, but it's a practive I lived by. Hiding someone just says you're ashamed or embarrased of them, for whatever reason. I unfriended my own grandmother over a political argument. I certainly wasn't just going to hide her posts. It seems...well, terribly fake.

I know everyone has different reasons they love or hate Facebook. I can admit there was a time when Facebook was exciting and fun. Now, I'm checking it 35-50 times a day on my phone just to share outrage about this news event or what he said or she said. It's a complete waste of time, and *speaking only for myself* I suspect I might have been using Facebook as a way to avoid actual, face-to-face socialization. Why drive or walk to see anybody? I already know every damn thought they've had for the past five years!? Facebook makes everyone far less interesting than they really are!

Also, I find the same is true of many of my friends, though they don't recognize it or they ignore it, by choice. People I've known for 20 years never seem to have time to get together for a drink. To go dancing. To go to dinner. To hang and listen to music or talk about books or talk about life. But they are always online, on Facebook.

I took a serious look at myself and my friendships over the past 6 months, and with an honest eye I saw that the people I felt the most connected to and had the most actual face-to-face time with, or even time on the phone, were the people who were not on Facebook or who had already left Facebook for the same reasons. We have to put effort into keeping in touch, and it feels glorious. Good relationships don't just happen, and I don't consider the effort put into Facebook to have a good return for the time investment.

The connections on Facebook are superficial and extremely voyeuristic. People are too easily offended because they lack the tone of your voice and your facial expressions to go with your words, and so they take things personally or misunderstand completely. Even long-term, close friends will misconstrue meaning and intent.

More often than not, friends aren't sharing anything real about themselves. They just share news, recipes and funny internet memes. Or vague statements that leave you wondering if they just need a hug. I just don't have time for it anymore. More truthfully, I don't want to make time for it anymore. Got a problem? Call me. I'm not sifting through Facebook to find out they've had a bad day.

I don't know how long I'll stay away. Keep in mind, I am 40. When I was a young adult, we used libraries to read, went to stores to buy things, and gathered *in the same place* to share ideas. We had parties. There's certainly a nostalgia factor for me in leaving Facebook; I have some sort of hope that without it, I'll be a better friend. I'll call. I'll come over. I'll care about your life and what's happening because it's not in my face all the time.

Or so I'd like to believe.

Lastly, I don't care if my information is being sold. I'm a law abiding, 40 year old gay man. I get up, I work, I eat, I like music, I rarely watch TV, I'm an avid gardener. I have a liking for local craft beer. Whoopdie-doo.