Yes, as many of you know, I am (and have been) rather opposed to MySpace. I can waste time like a champ as it is…so why do I need another site to peruse? And plus, all of the music, hideous colors, and sketchy code make for an entirely unappetizing site. I have yet to understand why MySpace is so popular.
Until tonight.
I got an email from a girl I knew in High School…she was a friend of my sister and dated one of my best friends. At any rate, my sister got a MySpace account and through that account, I happened to get an email from this girl. Boom…In an instant, lost and missing friends are no longer lost and missing. It is an interesting concept.
I spent a bit of time on MySpace tonight, clicking on faces and running through the list of folks that graduated from my high school. It was interesting to see the status of all of them….how some have kids, how some are single, how some never change, and how good little private school kids can still turn out in ways that you wouldn’t expect.
It was a fascinating experience. Never at any time in human history has there been so much information about us so public and so available. All of these people willingly place their lives online (I do the same…), unafraid of all of the ramification. Stalkers have to love MySpace. And this make friendships completely different–you can keep up with old friends without ever saying a word to them. You can watch their children go up without having to be involved in their lives. It’s like a television show…except you know the actors and actresses.
And out of all of this information, I wonder why people still clamor about the lack of privacy in society today. If you’re willing to post that information online, then why should we want privacy? It doesn’t seem to make much sense.
I don’t forsee MySpace of social networking going away any time soon, but I do wonder what sort of lives we are building by constructing these artificial and impersonal edifices on a place that only exists as a bunch of ones and zeroes.
Monthly Archives: August 2006
Slip and Slide, A Weekend Review
I made a quick trip to DFW this weekend for a visit and birthday celebration. Overall, it was a great weekend, but a few events stood out…here are some of the best:
Why did the cactus cross the road?
Because he was stuck to the chicken
- Erin Tooley
It’s no wonder she’s good with kids!!! (Ha…I’m sure you didn’t expect me to post that, huh?
2. I filled up my car in NRH today…I got a grand total of 3.5 gallons of gas. But I drove 180 miles. You do the math.
3. I was at the tail end of a massive wreck today. I’m pretty sure at least 16 cars were involved, and the last one (at the time) was right in front of me. Yea, the Jeep Wrangler nailed a pickup truck after locking up the brakes and sliding into it. Luckily the Jeep didn’t tip over, even though it did wobble a bit. I slammed on my brakes, skidded a bit, but stopped in plenty of time. I did, however, hit the brakes so quickly that I forgot to depress the clutch. So my car died on the freeway…but truly it was a mess. Lots of smashed cars pointing the wrong direction. Just imagine…
4) The sermon at my parents’ church meshed with what we talked about in Bible Study tonight…you gotta love that.
5) There were other good things, but not that interesting to write about, so I will leave you with these…
I’m Right, You’re Wrong
This a bit ironic:
The Christian Fundamentalist movement is one that believes that we’re right, you’re wrong, no matter what. And I saw a lot of that at Fox [News Channel]…we’re right, you’re wrong, no matter what.
Joseph Cafasso, Former Fox News Military & Counterterrorism Editor
Isn’t he saying that he’s right and they’re wrong because they believe that they are right and everyone who disagrees with them is wrong? It doesn’t seem like a defensible point…
Another Day in My Life
This discussion happened tonight between a girl and myself. Enjoy…
Girl -> “We should all [the entire group] go to the 24-Hour Starbucks.”
Me -> “Yea?”
Girl -> “Yea, I can get us free drinks and I know when it closes.”
Me -> “It’s not 24-Hour if it closes.”
- PAUSE -
Girl -> “They have to close sometime. You don’t expect them to work all of the time, do you?”
- BLANK STARE -
Girl -> “And plus if they didn’t close, they couldn’t clean it.”
Me -> “Really?”
Misery Loves Company
I realized today that misery does indeed love company. It’s a cliche, I know, but it does seem like the unhappiest people want to take you along for the ride–except it’s their miserable ride that they’re offering.
So why this post? I’m not sure, but I thought I’d share this momentous revelation with you…
Learning Through Difficulty
We’ve all been in situations like this: you’re sitting through a speaker or teacher that is not coherent and is struggling to say anything. Of course, whether or not they realize their difficulty is another story. At any rate, the teacher is not making much sense and your mind is wandering around, praying for the session to be over.
And you’re hating every minute of it.
Why are you hating it? For starters, you don’t feel like your learning anything, and you feel like you’re wasting your time. It’s altogether possible that you are wasting your time, but I say that is your fault.
Why? One of the best times to learn is through a situation like this.
The question is how you deal with the information and method of presentation. The first thing to consider is do you teach / lead like this when you’re the one that is speaking? That will nail you many times and make you quiet your angry thoughts. It’s tough to be upset at someone for doing the same things you do. The second thing to consider is the subject matter. Is it correct? If not, then you can consider what the truth is and compare it to what the speaker is saying. From there you can prepare the best method of stating reality.
These two methods help me to enjoy and learn from even the most taxing of speakers…
Meaningless Beauty
If I create something that is beautiful, stunning, and unique yet has no purpose, was it worth my time? Think of some of the most beautiful things you’ve ever seen…now think of how effectual they were. It’s not universal, but some of the best designed pieces cause little impact.
If I create something that has purpose yet is ugly, have I done a good job? Consider MySpace, arguably one of the ugliest and least cohesive designs on the internet. Is it effective? Maybe…they have scores of hits and have signed a multimillion dollar advertising contract.
In the end, purpose outweighs beauty hands-down. This is partially a lament and partially a realization of nature. However, the best things are the ones that combine good design and meaning.
It’s Time to Vote
That’s right folks, the brand new Champion Forest Website has been listed on The ChurchBeauty Website. The website is dedicated to beautiful church websites (as the name implies), and because we made the list, I’m encouraging ( / asking) you to visit the site and give our new website 5 stars. We’re on the homepage close to the bottom…
Check it out and vote: ChurchBeauty
Leadership and Foolish Choices
People make dumb decisions. We make scores of them everyday, all of which affect us to varying degrees. There are decisions with limited repercussions, such as eating one too many pieces of pizza at lunch. It’s a bad decision, but its ill effects are limited to minor post-meal discomfort.
Other decisions are more far-reaching. Choosing a job or place to live, or maybe your college or degree has a more distinct impact on your life. But what about the decisions that involve others?
As leaders, every decision you make has a snowball effect on others. Your choices cause large an unintended reactions in those you lead. If you tell someone X, and then choose to do Not-X (sorry for the strange philosophical terminology again…), you have undermined everything you have been saying.
We generally call this hypocrisy (which it is), but I think we fail to consider the realistic disturbance it causes in your leadership. So, you have said X and are acting upon Not-X, what happens to those who follow you? Do they choose to go with what you say, or do they choose to follow how you act?
Realistically, I don’t think most people will do either. Most people will take a third option: they leave. If the leadership of an organism does not present a cohesive nature, people naturally leave. Why is this? I don’t know, but I suspect there is an innate sense—an innate desire to follow the leaders that actually do what they say.
I write all of this to say: do your actions mesh with your words? Don’t let your foolish choices undermine what you have worked so hard to build.
X and Not-X
What happens when you’re equally afraid of two contradictory concepts, say X and Not-X. Logically, you cannot choose to have X and not have X at the same time, so they are, in theory, completely separate and non-relatable.
Both of these options present an equal amount of fear. You have to choose only one. Which one do you choose? Do you refuse to choose either?
Well, with any choice, there is usually a default answer. For example, I want to travel to Greece. I can choose to travel to Greece or I can choose not to travel to Greece. A lot of times we suppose the latter isn’t really a choice, but in spite of its default status (I’m not in Greece, so therefore I am continuing to choose not to visit Greece), it is a passive choice made in the mind. Even considering the passivity used in making the decision, it still causes an action in my life.
So back to my question…what do you choose if each option is equally perplexing?
I think you choose the one where you currently are. Or at least you choose whichever is closer to your current position. Fear breeds more fear and leads to an inability to change, therefore if you are afraid of X and Not-X, you will likely choose Not-X because you have not actively decided to choose X.
Why is this? I’m not sure what causes this complacency and fear, but I would wager that everyone suffers from this to a certain degree. These topics aren’t the standard fodder of friendly conversation, but I do watch decisions from afar and perhaps assume that they are made because of such fears. And like all things in life, I suffer from this like the rest.