Listen, just like your grandpa, I enjoy checking the weather multiple times a day to see what's going on with the clouds and sun. Once upon a time, I might have relied on The Weather Channel for this information. That was a simpler time, I'll admit. I only had to turn on the TV and wait for the forecast to roll through, along with some gentle commercials about stool softeners and diabetes.
As with all things, the internet changed this for the better several years ago. Now instant weather information was available at a moment's notice. Forecasts could be reviewed for the day ahead or even the week ahead, without having to wait for the top of the hour. This was a glorious period of time, a stint of years that I remember fondly, like an old dog.
Then IT happened.
I should have known that even www.weather.com would not be safe from the all-encompassing claws of SEO and link bait headlines. Now when I go to check the forecast, I have to avert my eyes from news headlines like "20 year old found dead" and "Rescuers rush to save baby on sailboat!"
Look. When I just want to see if it's going to be cloudy and will I need a jacket, I don't want to catch up on the news, especially not sensationalist news items that make me really sad. Checking the weather might make me unhappy if the forecast is extra cold or extra stormy, but up until now, it has never made me sad. The weather was a safe spot on the internet and on TV, where information was simply presented without preamble and for a few minutes, the sad tragedies of the world could be forgotten in a swirl of maps and dew points and chances of rain.
But no longer. And for that, I say - shame on you, internet. Shame.
Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label internet. Show all posts
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Digging Through The Thoughts of Past Me
I have found my old online journal. I have also found my husband's old online journal. We were both writing at the time, blissfully unaware of each other's existences.
At the turn of the year 2005, both Smiley and I took the same online questionnaire that was presumably all the rage across the internet back then. I thought it would be interesting to check out what we said. (My answers will be in green and Smiley's answers will be in red.)
Both surveys start out asking about our names and screennames. Boring! Let's get to the exciting stuff!
THREE THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
I said:
1. I can sing fairly well
2. I'm good at DDR
3. I'm good at leading groups and organizing stuff
Smiley said:
1. my outgoiness and ability to make poepel comfortable around me
2. my confidence
3. the great friends i've managed to get
This question is great. Here we see that I like the fact that I can "lead groups" and "organize stuff." Who knows what the heck I was organizing, but I felt like I was doing good enough at it to brag on the internet about it. Out of my three responses, I'm not sure I'd put any of them up there were I to fill out this questionnaire once more.
Meanwhile, Smiley sticks to making "poepel" comfortable around him. I thought about editing these responses for spelling and grammar, but boy would that be boring! His three responses are right in line with the Smiley I know.
THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
I said:
1. Big bugs
2. Being alone
3. Scary movies =p
Smiley said:
1. snow
2. ice
3. bad literature
Well, it would figure that both of us listed first the one thing that we would have to deal with should we someday meet over World of Warcraft and decide to spend the rest of our lives together. I stated that big bugs scare me and there are plenty of those down here in Florida! I guess I had to move to Florida though because Smiley listed that he was afraid of both snow AND ice. Perhaps if I had listed big bugs and ridiculously hot and humid summers AND an annoying lack of sidewalks, we'd be up in Illinois.
THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
I said:
1. Glasses or contacts
2. My purse
3. Taking a shower every day
Smiley said:
1. motorcyle
2. schrade multitool
3. toothbrush
I know, I know. These responses are REALLY boring. But I enjoy the reminder that I used to wear contacts in a different life and I'm trying to remember the last time I've showered two days in a row. (To be honest, that's partially because I've found that I actually feel cleaner showering every other day and partially because holy crap small babies are time consuming.)
It kills me that Smiley lists "toothbrush" as an everyday essential along with his multitool and motorcycle. It doesn't feel like a lowly toothbrush belongs on that list.
THREE NEW THINGS YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS
I said:
1. Stop biting my nails
2. Live peacefully with my mom
3. Get better at DDR ^^
Smiley said:
1. possibly alcohol on my 21st
2. probably get an xbox and join the ranks of the evil masses
3. my standup act again
I'm going to break this down, line by line. No, I haven't stopped biting my fingernails. Sorry past me. I no longer bite my nails so much that they bleed, if that's any consolation. But when I'm bored or anxious, all bets are off.
Those who know me in the present day may be surprised to know that I had a tough time getting along with my family while I was in high school. It was a bad case of "being a teenager and not having perspective." I don't think it got much better in 2005, but I did get better at it as I grew older.
Yeah, I'm pretty awesome at DDR now.
Smiley assures me that at this point in time, he had never drank alcohol. So that's something we had in common in 2005.
I'm told that he did, in fact, get an xbox.
Smiley continues to approach life with his trademark method of "not taking anything seriously, ever," but he has not segued into a successful standup career as of this posting date.
THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING
I said:
1. Teacher
2. Writer
3. erm... stay at home mom? ^^;;
Smiley said:
1. psychology
2. real estate development
3. real estate sales
I only included this because you might be wondering what the heck "^^;;" means. Well, it's a smiley face with giant anime-style sweatdrops. In other words, it means I was embarrassed and/or amused to suggest that I might consider staying at home with children some day. Silly past me.
THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
I said:
1. Get married and have a family ^^
2. Learn to knit more than just a scarf
3. Get over my fear of death. ^^;;
Smiley said:
1. break the sound barrier on a motorcycle
2. become a known name everwhere (IE celebrity status)
3. take over hosting duty on the daily show
These are all some legit goals, people! I knew from a young age that family would be really important to me. And knitting, apparently. I used to knit, but I literally couldn't do anything except make scarves of varying lengths and sizes. My biggest accomplishment was making scarves with two alternating colors.
I remain fearful of death.
Smiley dreamed big. I think that he could accomplish all of this in one go, if he plays his cards right. Presumably when I am reading through this entry ten years from now, I will be inspired to let you all know how it goes.
THREE KIDS NAMES
Smiley said:
1. chronos
2. methos
3. syus
This is a bonus question! I apparently did not answer it or deleted it, because I don't have a corresponding response. But we see here that even in 2004, Smiley was dedicated to naming his kids after the Highlander show's four horsemen of the apocalypse. I'm honestly surprised he didn't list all four names even though it only asked for three, because Smiley plays fast and loose with The Man's rules. I'm not surprised that he spelled Silas's name wrong.
At the turn of the year 2005, both Smiley and I took the same online questionnaire that was presumably all the rage across the internet back then. I thought it would be interesting to check out what we said. (My answers will be in green and Smiley's answers will be in red.)
Both surveys start out asking about our names and screennames. Boring! Let's get to the exciting stuff!
THREE THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
I said:
1. I can sing fairly well
2. I'm good at DDR
3. I'm good at leading groups and organizing stuff
Smiley said:
1. my outgoiness and ability to make poepel comfortable around me
2. my confidence
3. the great friends i've managed to get
This question is great. Here we see that I like the fact that I can "lead groups" and "organize stuff." Who knows what the heck I was organizing, but I felt like I was doing good enough at it to brag on the internet about it. Out of my three responses, I'm not sure I'd put any of them up there were I to fill out this questionnaire once more.
Meanwhile, Smiley sticks to making "poepel" comfortable around him. I thought about editing these responses for spelling and grammar, but boy would that be boring! His three responses are right in line with the Smiley I know.
THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
I said:
1. Big bugs
2. Being alone
3. Scary movies =p
Smiley said:
1. snow
2. ice
3. bad literature
Well, it would figure that both of us listed first the one thing that we would have to deal with should we someday meet over World of Warcraft and decide to spend the rest of our lives together. I stated that big bugs scare me and there are plenty of those down here in Florida! I guess I had to move to Florida though because Smiley listed that he was afraid of both snow AND ice. Perhaps if I had listed big bugs and ridiculously hot and humid summers AND an annoying lack of sidewalks, we'd be up in Illinois.
THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
I said:
1. Glasses or contacts
2. My purse
3. Taking a shower every day
Smiley said:
1. motorcyle
2. schrade multitool
3. toothbrush
I know, I know. These responses are REALLY boring. But I enjoy the reminder that I used to wear contacts in a different life and I'm trying to remember the last time I've showered two days in a row. (To be honest, that's partially because I've found that I actually feel cleaner showering every other day and partially because holy crap small babies are time consuming.)
It kills me that Smiley lists "toothbrush" as an everyday essential along with his multitool and motorcycle. It doesn't feel like a lowly toothbrush belongs on that list.
THREE NEW THINGS YOU WANT TO TRY IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS
I said:
1. Stop biting my nails
2. Live peacefully with my mom
3. Get better at DDR ^^
Smiley said:
1. possibly alcohol on my 21st
2. probably get an xbox and join the ranks of the evil masses
3. my standup act again
I'm going to break this down, line by line. No, I haven't stopped biting my fingernails. Sorry past me. I no longer bite my nails so much that they bleed, if that's any consolation. But when I'm bored or anxious, all bets are off.
Those who know me in the present day may be surprised to know that I had a tough time getting along with my family while I was in high school. It was a bad case of "being a teenager and not having perspective." I don't think it got much better in 2005, but I did get better at it as I grew older.
Yeah, I'm pretty awesome at DDR now.
Smiley assures me that at this point in time, he had never drank alcohol. So that's something we had in common in 2005.
I'm told that he did, in fact, get an xbox.
Smiley continues to approach life with his trademark method of "not taking anything seriously, ever," but he has not segued into a successful standup career as of this posting date.
THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING
I said:
1. Teacher
2. Writer
3. erm... stay at home mom? ^^;;
Smiley said:
1. psychology
2. real estate development
3. real estate sales
I only included this because you might be wondering what the heck "^^;;" means. Well, it's a smiley face with giant anime-style sweatdrops. In other words, it means I was embarrassed and/or amused to suggest that I might consider staying at home with children some day. Silly past me.
THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
I said:
1. Get married and have a family ^^
2. Learn to knit more than just a scarf
3. Get over my fear of death. ^^;;
Smiley said:
1. break the sound barrier on a motorcycle
2. become a known name everwhere (IE celebrity status)
3. take over hosting duty on the daily show
These are all some legit goals, people! I knew from a young age that family would be really important to me. And knitting, apparently. I used to knit, but I literally couldn't do anything except make scarves of varying lengths and sizes. My biggest accomplishment was making scarves with two alternating colors.
I remain fearful of death.
Smiley dreamed big. I think that he could accomplish all of this in one go, if he plays his cards right. Presumably when I am reading through this entry ten years from now, I will be inspired to let you all know how it goes.
THREE KIDS NAMES
Smiley said:
1. chronos
2. methos
3. syus
This is a bonus question! I apparently did not answer it or deleted it, because I don't have a corresponding response. But we see here that even in 2004, Smiley was dedicated to naming his kids after the Highlander show's four horsemen of the apocalypse. I'm honestly surprised he didn't list all four names even though it only asked for three, because Smiley plays fast and loose with The Man's rules. I'm not surprised that he spelled Silas's name wrong.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Touche, TV.
Sometimes, it's not hard to see how the TV and internet are conspiring against me. I present to you the following example:
On Sunday, I mentioned on Facebook that I would host dinner for some friends and that Smiley and I were debating doing a breakfast for dinner event or fancy grilled cheeses. After lengthy discussion and a craving for Smiley's amazing breakfast skillet, I went ahead and confirmed on Facebook that it would be breakfast for dinner.
And then I watched the TV and the only show worth watching was on fancy grilled cheeses. Argh!
On Sunday, I mentioned on Facebook that I would host dinner for some friends and that Smiley and I were debating doing a breakfast for dinner event or fancy grilled cheeses. After lengthy discussion and a craving for Smiley's amazing breakfast skillet, I went ahead and confirmed on Facebook that it would be breakfast for dinner.
And then I watched the TV and the only show worth watching was on fancy grilled cheeses. Argh!
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Blogging on the cell phone!
no internet due to a tree branch knocking down our power lines and cable line. blogging from my phone...not very efficient. hopefully the cable guys will be out on friday because for some reason i can not get my phone to capitalize or use punctuation besides a period. oy.
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