Happy Memorial Day. And a huge thank you to all those who serve or who have served in our armed forces!

Facebook and the Allusion of Grandeur

Okay so I'm a Facebookian now. A lot of people I know have been using Facebook for years. I've had an account but never even looked at it to see what it was. I was bored the other day so I checked it out.

The main feature on Facebook is "The Wall." This is bascially a place for you to post short messages about what you're up to at the time (such as: "I started reading Angels & Deamons today" or "I just found a really great Mexican restaurant in Vegas" or "I can't wait for the season finale of American Idol"). When you post something, it automatically shows up on your friends' walls as well. So when they log into Facebook, they can quickly, at-a-glance, see what's going on in your life.

So basically the whole system opperates on the assumption that people actually care about what you're doing at any given hour of the day. Saddly enough, it seems to be true.

I actually find it quite interesting to check my Facebook and see what my "friends" are up to. Some are talking about how excited they are for the Survivor Finale; I wouldn't have known they were fans of the show otherwise. Others are preparing to run a half-marathon and are posting about how they're preparing. My best friend, Rich, recently posted pictures of his kids and the crafts they made at school. These wall postings are all very interesting.

What's annoying (but rare it seems) is when someone takes up wall space with a comment like "I'm bored" or "I'm tired."

You can, of course, post comments on your friends' wall postings as well.

BUT HERE'S THE BEST PART! I've discovered the JEWEL to Facebook (it was no secret, but I'm new and just found it). You can set up your cell phone to be able to text a posting directly to your wall. What this means is that now I can be anywhere in the world and send a text to Facebook about what I'm doing (assuming, of course, that anyone actually cares... regardless of that answer, it's still fun).

I have a friend (another choir teacher) that is currently on his choir trip and he's been posting all weekend about the progress of his trip via text message from his cell phone. He's posting how his kids did at the competition, etc. I'd know nothing about his experience otherwise.

Another great thing I recently discovered, is that when I text in a post to my wall, and someone comments on my post, that comment is sent to me as a text, to which I can text a response to the comment. And all of this is logged on my Facebook Wall for all my other "friends" to see.

So I'm hooked. I'm totally into the facebook thing. Unfortunately, a LOT of you (that read my blog) are not. It's unfortuante because I'd be interested to read each day what you're thinking about, what you're up to, what is annoying you, what you're excited about, what fun thing happened today. And just look how easy it'd be??? You don't even have to ever GO to the Facebook homepage. After it's set up, you could send that info to all your "friends" via text to your Facebook wall.

So what are you waiting for? Go check out my Facebook page, add me as a friend if you don't have me already, and GET STARTED.

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Jason Dougherty's Profile

I just set up my phone so that i can post directly to my blog via text message. This is so awesome. Also i just started using Facebook a lot, go check me out!

Real Superhero: Shadowhare

This is the best story I've ever heard. Apparently there is a guy in Cincinatti that has literally put on a cape and mask and has begun roaming the streets as a superhero. The guy doesn't actually have any powers so I guess he's not "super" but he claims to protect the citizens and help the homeless.

I watched a few videos about the guy and it looks like most of his time is spent whole-heartedly and genuienly helping the homeless. I commend him for that. His costume is silly and he walks around in broad daylight but after watching a few videos and reading a few articles, I actually find myself feeling a bit of hope--which is his self-proclaimed goal.

You need to do yourself a favor and read this article: http://www.wlwt.com/news/19305002/detail.html

In addition to the video posted here on this blog, I recommend the "web only" video about a day in the life of Shadowhare (or just click here: http://www.wlwt.com/video/19322147/index.html)