Statement, Share, Story

There are scads of different ways to communicate online.  Three of the most common are Facebook, Twitter and Blogs.  I got to thinking about why I prefer one method of communication over another. 

I have a Facebook account, a Twitter account and a blog.  But this is the only place I've spent much time.  It's largely how you like to communicate, and what level of response or interaction you prefer.

I created my Facebook and Twitter accounts about the same time.  I use Facebook from time to time, but I really don't feel comfortable on Facebook.  It seems to me that Facebook is designed for "sharing" what you're doing with your friends.  It's set up for people to comment via "like" or typing a comment.  It's great if you want to have people not only know what you're doing, but participate in talking about it.  Or at least that's how it seems to me.

I don't really want to have a conversation with people about what I just did.  I think the majority of the time I want to say something, I don't really want people to jump in and say, "oh how terrible" or "that's so awesome."   It's not me in person and it's not me online.

Then there's Twitter.  I do like Twitter a lot.  But Twitter is really only good for making a statement, or posing a short question.  I post to Twitter from time to time, but I don't think I think in one-liners all that much.  When I have something I want to say, it usually takes more than 150 characters to get it out.

So, after several years of floundering in social networking mediocrity, I've found a home.  Blogging is the bowl of porridge that's just the right temperature in the chair that's just the right size.  I don't post here to have conversations about what I'm thinking.  In fact, I try to forget you readers—those foolish enough to read this drivel—are even out there.  I like writing in the blog format because I can tell a story.  And those of you who know me know how I like to tell a story.  I suppose it's no surprise I found a home in blogging.


The Big Boy Update:   Several things on the baby boy front as eighteen months is a busy time.  He picks up new words every day.  Today, at the Farmer's Market, we gave him a small sample of corn on the cob.  He learned, "corn" quickly.  He also had fun with those little honey sticks (sealed straws with honey in them.)   In the realm of all things potty—and by that I mean he thinks everything is now potty related—he pats his, "buh-phu" (diaper) all day and says "potty" and "poop" so we keep taking him to the potty to see if anything has happened, is about to happen or is being pondered.    So far, not much action, but he is making connections and becoming aware of the process and bathroom.  At this point though, "potty" is not only that thing you sit on in the bathroom, it's what you do when you go and it's what comes out when you go.  It is a very overloaded word for him, but he's getting it.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She had her first meal including meat today.  I could choose between, "Cluck Cluck" and, "Gobble Gobble."  She got Cluck Cluck.  After eating that, she drooled on some crackers while I ate a Dove bar.  I gave her a little taste.  Then I got up to get a cloth to clean her and she screamed at me.  She was mad.  I came back and she looked at the Dove bar.  I gave her more.  Oh, I see now, she was mad I took the Dove bar away.  I fed her several more pieces of chocolate-covered ice cream until the bar was done.  Dessert met with her approval.

Fitness News:  Section name change from, "running update" to, "fitness news."  Running is fun, but so is swimming, and biking (when I have the seat at the right height and the suspension on, but that's another story.)   I didn't run today, but I did swim a hundred laps.  We had dinner with my cousin, her husband and their daughter, who is the most accomplished swimmer I know.  I asked her what was considered a "lap" so I could count how I was swimming correctly.  Was it down and back, or just down?  So now I have it on authority how to count my laps in swimming.  It takes me about an hour to swim one hundred laps at twenty five meters (or yards, not sure with this community pool what the true length is.)  I bet Olivia could swim those laps in less than half that time.