What kind of tape is best for creating a sculpture?

Heaven forbid, I'm at it again...I've been thinking and not just about random questions provided by my blogging software.  In fact have been thinking about social networking/blogging or more to the point how folks use these tools to "share" intentionally and unintentionally. 

I'm a recovering Facebook gamer, along the way I added several hundred "friends" via the gaming mechanism. Pulling the plug earlier this summer I defriended most of the gamers but kept a few as we had developed a connection beyond the game. 

Since that time, I've had a several leave after some very public displays of poor decision making including a couple of drunken co-dependants that would sit across the table from each other and type an argument online when they should have been talking face to face in private.  At the same time they were communicating privately and publicly (online) with mutual friends saying things that fueled their co-dependency even more.  In a "train wreck" sort of way it was fascinating to watch but after a while it just grew tiresome and frankly they hit too close to home on a professional level that in the end I was really happy to see them go. 

Then there were a couple of nasty divorce and custody issues that went into bizarroland rather quickly.  One pulled the plug herself when the briefest of hints of it became public.  I applaud her common sense.  The other example, it seems EVERYBODY had a point/side to make/take including both parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and the kids themselves and they posted it online, to which I ask WTH were these people thinking?  

Are people oblivious to the fact they are sharing this information?  In some cases I think they are...while others are doing it for the attention.  Still I really don't want to know who slept with who, caught what disease, and absconded with how much money.  Again too much like my day job.  Sorry I just don't need it in my off hours particularly with folks I don't even know or want to know beyond  a "number" needed for a game I'm no longer playing.

Seems pretty easy to me...thanks but no thanks and you're gone. Have you have observed such train wrecks?  What was your reaction?  Did you offer support or advice?  Are you still watching the train wreck or did you cut them off?  

If that isn't enough, what happens when folks you do know and care about do something unfortunate online?  For example, when they add less than charitable comments to posts, think better of it and suddenly delete them....do they not realize in many cases recipients may have a copy  in their mailbox anyway?  What about information leaks of a highly intimate nature that could be damaging both personally and professionally appearing in feeds for all to see?  Then there is having secrets outed because information was shared with some but not others or because of carelessness on the part of the secret holder(s).  Do you simply pretend you don't know? In this brave new world, what is the etiquette for this sort of thing?

Then I started thinking what are the rules about the intentional sharing under the cloak of anonymity in a blog?  The blogger is anonymous,  the readers may or may not be.  I've witnessed folks who pour their heart and soul into their blogs in a genuine effort to find comfort and solace; only to find unsolicited advice and criticism flung at them. Then there are those who respond expecting to be lauded for their support and witticism and become angered when the blogger responds only with a polite thank-you (which is the only thing required). 

I still shake my head when I think about the blog I lurked on for over a year, where the author created a charade where all readers were unknowing duped into his wacky world simply for book fodder. Not surprisingly the author received not glowing admiration but scorn from his readers after “coming clean”; thanking them for all the caring and sharing he had put them through and announced the newly finished book could be procured via amazon.com.uk.

For my blog I have chosen anonymity, however in my fledgling state I think it is safe to say most folks either know me in real life or know me from other aspects of my online life. At this time I provide the option of unmediated comments as they are few and I continue to go undetected by spamers. As a reader I tend to be a lurker and if I comment I usually will do so in the form of a private message until I get to know the author and their readers.  A little something that until recently I had not made available to my readers.   That has now been rectified; the biggest chore will be remembering to check it. Feel free to leave a anonymous comment saying check your email ;-)

So dear readers I ask, what kind of an online image have you created for yourself and how do you respond to such twaddle? Am I off base with reactions?  Talk to me please.

Blog Housekeeping

Now that the Las Vegas arc appears to be complete for now, the intent is to try and keep a Monday/Thursday schedule starting this week.  I even have Thursday's post rouxminating in my head as I type.  Here's a sneak peak into my head....   

Wait for it...wait for it.....

See you Thursday :-)

Advice from a caterpillar: meeting Linda Lou

Who are YOU?' said the Caterpillar.

 In true fashion, the Boo always worries about our personal safety when we visit Sin City. Given our propensity to meet-up with relative strangers (blogging friends), visit places like the Double Down (even in the daylight) and pull all nighters gambling, I guess I can see his point. In reality however, it’s more likely we are the ones your mother warned you about when we paint the town a lovely shade of fuchsia, or so we would like to think.

The residents and visitors of Vegas had no cause for alarm when the LMF and I joined the delightful Linda Lou at Ri Ra at Mandalay Place for lunch. Ok, perhaps I should edit that by saying: by unanimous vote our handsome young server, James (born near Dublin), could have had cause for worry but certainly not the general population. In addition to his charming Irish brogue and lovely smile he could also pour a decent pint of Guinness.

For the uninitiated, Linda Lou could be best describes as a funny, hard working, joyous, red hot granny, as well as, a published author of Bastard Husband: a love story, blogger and an occasional stand-up comic. Definitely a fun loving pistol…who is more charming in person than online, if that is even possible. Her blog is a must read for me.

Linda is also one of my greatest cheerleaders both in life and in my writing. This is no small task given the negative associations Sr. Ann left me with…way back in the day. For the life of me I could never understand and get over the sea of red that was the edited version of what she thought my prose should be. I’m not against constructive criticism and editing but I swear there was nothing left on the page after she was done. Needless to say it’s left me feeling paranoid for the better part of thirty years therefore this blog is huge step for me.

Anyway, the anticipation of meeting Linda Lou was surpassed only by actually meeting her. Our conversation ran the gamut: Vegas, love’s lost and found, travel, music, books, writing and even a smidgen of politics. After four hours and a table full of dead Guinness soldiers the only thing missing was the Irish tune “Whiskey in the Jar” playing in the background. To say we all hit it off would be an understatement; I took it as a good sign when she didn’t outright dismiss coming to see us in the “frozen chosen” months of Jan/Feb for a concert.

The landscape of  Los Vegas is forever changed; as if the LMF and I needed yet another reason to visit.  I can't imagine a future trip without at least a cup of coffee and a good story in the company of Linda Lou involved.  Our only regret, we have no photographic evidence of James or Linda Lou, despite the fact that BOTH of us had cameras with us. I choose to believe it was the hilarity of the company and not the Guinness that created this breech in vacation protocol..that's my story and I'm sticking to it ;-)

As the luck of the Irish would have it, this story has a tidy ending.  While walking back to our hotel, the LMF and I walked by NY, NY's Nine Fine Irishman just as the strains of ”Whiskey in the Jar” could be heard wafting out on Las Vegas Blvd.  Old friends, new friends, a pint or two of Guinness and a song; suddenly you have a memory in the making and a fine one it is indeed.