28 Days Later

Here I am at the end of 28 days away from Facebook. What have I been up to?

Books I've Read:
Morrissey: Autobiography (UK Edition)
Why Can't I Be You - Allie Larkin
Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell
Summer In A Glass: The Coming of Age of Winemaking in the Finger Lakes - Evan Dawson

Movies I've Seen:
The Monuments Men
The Way Way Back

Blog Entries I've Written = 29

Pounds Lost = 2

Exercise Classes Attended = 8 (guessing at this since I only started recording on Feb 18th)

Nights Spent Snuggling on the Coach with Sammy & McKinley while watching many episodes of Poirot on Netflix = Too numerous to count

Outings Out Into the Cold to See Friends Socially That Weren't Connected to Work/Boards/Organizational Events = 3

Phone Calls to Parents = Three. One 2-hour call and one 1.5-hour call and one 40-minute call.

New Beers/Ciders Imbibed = 7
Southern Tier Brewing - 2XOne
Southern Tier Brewing - Grand Arbor
Otter Creek Brewing - Citra Mantra
Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits - Tongue Buckler
Stella Artois - Cidre
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery - 75 Minute IPA
Lagunitas Brewing Company - A Little Sumpin' Wild Ale

Musical Rehearsals Attended - 2. Will increase exponentially in the next week

Paczkis Consumed Prior to Fat Tuesday - One solitary over-filled, seemingly double-glazed wonder

Tickets Purchased To See Morrissey In Concert at Artpark: - 3. One for me and 2 for my cousin and his friend.

Buffalo Sabres Traded: Two

Facebook-Free Month - A Two-Week Update

As of yesterday, I had gone somewhat Facebook-Free for two weeks. The "somewhat" is a bone of contention for me because I still have to log in to do updates to the work Facebook page. In fact, not even a week into my month-long hiatus I got an email full of pictures from my boss asking if they could be uploaded to the work page.

Logging in means there are glances at the top item in my newsfeed. Other times, clicking on shortened-urls in my Twitter feed that have led me to a Facebook post or image. Then there is the dilemma whether to allow 3rd-party apps, like FourSquare or Untappd, to send my update to just Twitter or to both that and Facebook. I'd say I definitely cheated when I used Selective Tweets  to send Matt a Valentine's Day wish to Facebook by adding "#fb" at the end of my tweet.

The negative newsfeed was the big reason why I wanted to take a break from Facebook for awhile. While it feels good to not have that sitting in the background constantly, I feel like I am missing out on stuff happening in my friends' lives. My first week away, some high school friends posted quite a set of hilarious (so I'm told) pictures of Friday night fun. One of them even taunted me via Twitter,

"there are pics on FB... You can enjoy them on March 1st ha ha"

Schedules have aligned so that I've had more face time than Face(book) time with some friends lately, but those get-togethers wouldn't have happened if not for the use of Facebook Messenger. Then there are friends who live far away who I wouldn't be able to keep up with if not for the dialogue we maintain on each others Facebook posts because they're not emailing/texting/phone call types. I'm definitely missing those people right now. I even thought about name-dropping them in this post but the list is getting rather long in my head.

This morning I was reading an article online about The Pub, a popular local bar that had a devastating fire last month. In it, it mentioned how pictures were being posted on the establishment's Facebook page of the interior of the bar and of work being done. I sighed, knowing that I wouldn't get to see them for another 2 weeks.

And then I thought, "There's nothing saying I HAVE to stay off Facebook for a month. It's a self-imposed hiatus." Of course, I'm not a fan of quitting a project early. It's one of the reasons why I steadfastly continue growing my hair out even though it's at a length that's driving me nuts. So onward I plow. I suppose it's a good thing that what I miss most about not being on Facebook is how it helps enhance actual relationships I have as opposed to missing the myriad of link bait that fills the newsfeed.

Supressing the Depressing News Feed

Another truth for why I decided to take a break from Facebook is that I've been suffering a bit of depression while reading my feed the last month or more. There is a lot of negativity out there whether it's the same depressing news item posted repeatedly or general ignorance. I can handle news in a radio/tv/print and even news blogs because you know what to anticipate when tuning into those sources whereas with Facebook you can be happily scrolling along, cooing at baby or puppy pictures before being smacked in the face with some new awful truth about how we're destroying earth or how the Republicans hate women.

Unsurprisingly, someone did a study about this and found that Facebook makes us unhappy. Of course, it's not that Facebook is the problem. Psychologist Timothy Wilson had this to say:

"Getting rid of Facebook wouldn’t change the fact that our attention is, more and more frequently, forgetting the path to proper, fulfilling engagement."

One could argue that by using blogging as an alternative to being on Facebook this month that I'm not attacking the real issues of why I'm feeling unhappy, but I'd argue back that at least this is a more engaging use of the Internet versus passively trolling my news feed. Additionally, at the end of the day a blog post I wrote and can readily access is far more fulfilling than a Facebook wall of links with a line or two of text that is near impossible to search.

Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967-2014)

I may be off Facebook but sad news has a way of finding you. There are few details at this moment, but Fairport/Rochester, NY native Philip Seymour Hoffman has been found dead in his NYC apartment. I've enjoyed his films over the years and am saddened that such a great talent is gone at so young an age. Here's his wiki for details about his life and work.

Here's the post I did after Philip won an Oscar for Capote.

Updates:

CNN's initial story before Monday's autopsy

The Atlantic Wire: Philip Seymour Hoffman and the Ethos of the Uncool

Rolling Stone's David Fear's obituary for Philip Seymour Hoffman

Too Old For Tumblr?

There have been news stories out in recent weeks about studies that are heralding the future demise of Facebook. I asked a few friends with kids where the young ones are now hanging out if Facebook isn't so cool. The answer I've gotten back is Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram. I actively use Twitter, although not as much as I had been using Facebook. I've avoided even creating an account for Instagram because of major privacy and use concerns. Tumblr was something I wasn't quite as familiar with even though I subscribed to a few Tumblr-based sites. I had even looked into starting up my own Tumblr using the name of this blog as a way to move content from one platform to the next, but couldn't find the interest in following through. It occurred to me that I may have just become too old for Tumblr.

Leave me a comment about where you're contributing content or just hanging out social media-wise these days. If you're brave or don't give a toss, tell me your age too. I'm curious.

Welcome Back, Welcome Back

It feels odd to title this post with a line from the theme song from a show I may have only seen a few times as a kid (Welcome Back, Cotter). That said, it is appropriate. Welcome back to posting, at least for the next month. Welcome back to readers who may be surprised to seeing a post pop up in their RSS feed or in their Twitter feed. Welcome, in general, to any new people checking in to see what I'm up to.

I'm using the short month of February to take a breather from Facebook. I've done media blackouts before but they've never worked because they were very much all or nothing. I'm opting to just take away my personal interaction with Facebook, aside from work responsibilities, for 28 days. I'll still be using Twitter, email, chat, and even Facebook messaging since a few people I converse with like to reach me that way. One of my friends asked if I would be blogging more and I thought,

"Well? Should I? I do like to share links to stories, music videos, silly videos, and other nonsense. I could save all of them for 1 post every day or every other day depending. It's been so long. Would anyone even read it? Would anyone comment?"

The more I thought about, the more it made sense to try. Facebook has been horribly distracting in the sense that I have a stack of books on my coffee table I want to read. I have music for the high school production of "Annie Get Your Gun" to practice. The house needs some love and care. There are exercise classes and even at-home routines I want to do. There is so much life to be lived. Maybe taking a break from Facebook but still sharing via the ol' "In Java.." would be just the trick. And so it goes.