IN YOUR FACE…book

When I was younger, I was a very good letter writer. Family, friends…I even created handmade cards to send for holidays and special occasions…to heck with Hallmark! I have since become very bad at letter writing. I am not sure why and it is probably some kind of aversion. I am not sure why. Then e-mail came along. It is a way to stay in contact, convenient and instant. That’s not a bad thing…right? Some people say that e-mail is a cop-out; a disconnected way to communicate. I disagree! If you take the time to compose a letter via e-mail to a friend or loved one, it takes the same effort and thought and you are simply relieving that person from having to decipher bad penmanship. I am running around the farm to get to the barn (and make appoint), but Enter Facebook! It is a social networking clearing house for connecting and keeping up with friends and loved ones. I was bludgeoned into joining by a dear friend (thanks Jos!). I have never been a chat room person, or a video gamer, or otherwise receptive to posting public opinion for any reason. I joined! I connected! I became mildly obsessed! I am now able to keep in daily touch with people who are very important to me, and I enjoy it! But wait! Facebook is free. While they encourage you to connect and communicate with friends and loved ones, they also inundate you with “Farm Town, Farmville, pillow fights, food fights, Mafia Wars”. Holy Crap! There are any number of other “gamer”” occupational therapy applications to get you to spend too much time on their interface. I admit that I got hooked on Farm Town. I diligently built a farm that earned “Farm coins” to the tune of nearly 2 million, but then again, they are “Farm coins” and worthless in the real world of overpriced health insurance and mortgage foreclosures…I gotcher 2 million right here buddy! Another drawback to the concept is there are those who submit posts that at best read like listening to half of a phone conversation, and those that obviously gained access to their Facebook account after 1 too many glasses of wine. I intentionally keep my posts light, humorous and/or thought provoking to entertain and well, provoke thought without indoctrinating anyone to a serious or particular point of view. That crap has other venues for posting and venting. At the end of the day, I am glad I joined Facebook, but at the same time (and don’t hold your breath) I may just sit down and hand write a letter to someone.