Are you a stalker? Do the math.

You're out with friends one night and you meet someone. They catch your eye, perhaps there's a spark. You are able to grab a first name, a sense of their circle of friends (maybe they are friends with a friend's boyfriend?), you have a conversation, but then, before you know it, the night is over. So the next morning you do what most do and few admit... you take all that you know of the person and begin searching online... you commence STALKAGE.

It's all well and good, but monitor yourself. If you shoot them a friend request, a message, and comment on their photos before you've even washed the bar stamp off your wrist, you might as well have shot yourself in the foot. Slow down, plant the seed, let it grow.

I hope this guide can help you and others prevent an eStalking catastrophe.

Network Down

It's pouring rain and we lose internet at work. Series of text messages that entertained me through the traumatic 30 minutes:

Kurt: FYI District Network is down.

Me: I figured. Happy hour?

Kurt: Still have power unfortunately

Kurt: Help, our trailer is floating away, send Diet Pepsi.

Me: I'll send it with my oxen and wagon.

Kurt: Very sustainable, Cormia would love it.

Me: Yay internet again. That was a scary and unproductive 30 minutes.

My Chart for Relationship Escalation

Cliffs Notes

C: this whole experience has been good for my ego... not just the sex part, but XXXX kept asking me more and more questions about my life and seemed impressed. Its nice to see your life through someone elses eyes.
Me:
it's nice to give people the edited highlights version
leave out all the bad stuff
C:
Oh yeah that too haha
Me:
gotta be careful not to give them all the highlights
then you start running out and repeating yourself
and then the bad parts start creeping to the surface
C:
You are so wise
Me:
and then the guy realizes he's been duped
ration out the good parts
throw in a mild bad part now and then
just to desensitize him
C:
mmhmm I am thinking we need to write a book
Me:
I'll enter this into my blog entry

Does gender influence the ability to "be here now"?

seth_b
but yeah ... with some of my chick friends its just a lot of GOSSIP

ubergheyness
yah

seth_b
dudes just talk about whats going on right then and there

chicks talk about everything else thats not happening right then and there

ubergheyness
girls are always worried about the past or the future

seth_b
like what happened yesterday or what they want to happen tomorrow

really kind of annoying

hehehe

Im over exaggerating a bit

ubergheyness
or they only talk about somethign related to a guy

that they need to find more guys to date or wish a guy would call them back

or they need to go shopping so they can look cute and get a guy

very sad

seth_b
geh ... yeah

thats why its so much easier to have dude friends

you just talk about the moment more I feel

ubergheyness
for sure

seth_b
or things that have happened that relate to that moment

like ... "dude this one time my buddy and I ....... "

did something that reminded you of something happening then

ubergheyness
yah not an out of the blue topic that they need to discuss to boost their own self esteem

or try to look good in front of people

seth_b
well ... I do that all the time

ie ... shirtless

The Question of the Ages: Myspace vs. Facebook

Here’s the deal, no question that Facebook has more active users now (at least in our age group of 25+) But let me share a little treatise I have had forming in my head over the past couple months. Humor me.

I enjoy computers, I’ve been called a “blogger”, I am an avid chatter on gChat, YIM, and AOL. I enjoy quickly sending messages to my friends about plans for the weekend, what we did last weekend, and simply exchanging messages to pass the time to get to the next weekend.

What do I love about these forms of communication? The same thing I love about text messaging. It’s communication that is short, simple, fast, and does not have to be synchronous. I can send Seth a message to stop cup-caking and come over for a beer, and he can get back to me when he’s done. I can text Jessica that Bon Jovi's “Shot through the heart” is on the radio and know she will laugh and I do not expect a reply.

So how does this translate to social networks? Well, I personally prefer similar uses in my SocNets as I do in my text messaging and email. Short, simple, succinct, and personal. The bulk of Myspace’s communications are comments made to another person, followed by bulletins (which include quizzes, spam invites, and random thoughts). It is quite the opposite on Facebook. Facebook thrives off of a continuous RSS-Style feed of self-proclamations. So-and-so loves this, So-and-so hates this, So-and-so is doing this. It’s like Twitter and Myspace hooked up at a party and ended up with a bastard love child that grew into an attention whore.

Really, I spend most of my time on Facebook hiding quizzes, comments, and making myself hard to find than I do reading all the crap people THINK I want to hear because they are so clever.

What happened to thinking of a person first and what you wanted to share with them later? Now when any event happens that you can fit in 40 characters or less, it’s ‘hurry to the “share” button before someone else posts it and steals the attention my witty recounting of it deserves’.

I wonder if I can turn this in to my teacher for extra credit.

KTHXBAI

Videos Galore

I've been making tons of videos and podcasts in class, so I figure I should post some up here before Flickr deletes them!!!







Summer Quarter 08