(Un) Lucky Number 7

 Maybe it’s just me, but, have you ever gone on Facebook and someone has amazing pics of their vacation to an exotic locale posted, someone else has adorable pictures of their new baby, and yet another person has an update about the amazing box seats they secured at the yankee game, and you think, “What am I doing with my life?? I am one pathetic loser!”  Social media has this dichotomous way of all at once connecting and alienating us.   Since starting my blog I have been so excited every morning to go onto Facebook because friends and acquaintances have been giving me amazing, loving and supportive feedback for my posts, this is when it is clear to me how brilliant and positive social websites can be.  If I didn’t have a Facebook profile, I couldn’t post a link to my blog and share it with people I care about, and I wouldn’t wake up in the morning to such lovely feedback.  I have friends in far flung places, who will attest I’m sure, that I am terrible at staying in touch.  I hate the phone and inexplicably am terrible at email as well.  For us Facebook is a quick and easy “cliff-notes” into each others day to day lives.  We see the status updates, the pictures and we get a sense of each other’s routines.  I love Facebook when it is a link to my friends and loved ones, it can provide humor, heartfelt insight, and a peek into milestones, celebrations and daily occurrences we may otherwise not be privy to.  However, there are other times when it feels like everyone else is living the dream and I am living the mundane reality.  Engagements! Promotions! New babies! Marriages! New homes!  Exotic vacations!!!!  Meanwhile my status reads, "A soda machine accidentally gave me a free diet coke!  Score suckers!" Ugh!

Number  seven on my "List" is to become more tech savvy.  I am at odds with my want and need to become more clued into the web and all it can offer, and my nostalgia for the way things were.  I remember when email was introduced kids!  I mean seriously!  At the time I thought this was the most amazing magical invention ever.  I was studying in London so it was perfect timing, my friend explained it to me (like I was a 5 year old, I might add) and I was incredulous.  “Let me get this straight, you write a paragraph, you enter their weird little name addressything and you hit send??  And they write you back?? In a matter of minutes sometimes?!!!!  AMAZING!”  My college friends back at home loved nothing more than reading and laughing at my drunken emails sent after a few pints at the pub, in which I would vacillate between euphoria and rage and every other word was completely butchered.  Remember when everyone had an AOL account?  I do.  When to connect to the internet you had to use a dial up modem?   I literally remember when I first got on the internet, again I was completely blown away and confounded, “You type ANYTHING into the search engine and information about it comes up?  Anything??”  (I was even more astonished to find there were actually other people out there who also were addicted to Scandinavian pop music.  Here I thought I was all alone in the world!)  By the way it was my Mother who had to show me how to use the internet, I was 19.  Come on!  Why is my Mother more technologically astute than me?  Always!  

 I just started this blog and I’m embarrassed to say that I have no idea how to add to the design, insert a column here, update there, no idea!  My MOTHER started talking about RSS feeds and stumble upon and my response was, “Blink, blink. Hunh??”  When I was about 7 years old my father brought home an early Apple computer for us girls to play with, we were all obsessed with it, he explained to us how to use it, word processor, some simple games, easy enough right?  For everyone else perhaps, but when I sat down to use it I dragged the ENTIRE operating system and threw it in the cute little garbage can in the lower corner of the screen.  Why?  Because I was seven and the garbage looked intriguing.  And, when you threw stuff in it it made a crunching noise!  Imagine my horror and surprise when the screen went blank and a little sad faced computer appeared staring back at me.  End of computer fun-times everyone, Mandy decided to literally throw the computer in the TRASH!!  My sister said it was the first, and probably the last, time she heard our Father say the “F” word.  Clearly the technology and I were not friends from an early age. 

 I want to become more web proficient and I need to if I want this to be an interesting and successful blog.  And I am going to be honest, I do want his to be successful!  I want as many people as possible to read it, share their experiences, share feedback, advice.  Therefore I am embracing social media, I am keeping up with Facebook, I joined Twitter!  (Seems a little self obsessed the whole tweeting thing but the kids say it’s cool)  My next task: tackle number seven on my "List", therefore, I have enlisted the help of my web guru, my MOTHER.  She has agreed to help me get more web proficient and learn all these ins and outs of blogging, tweeting, stumbling, (bumbling in my case) and making me realize there is so much more to the web than ordering clothes and cosmetics.  Who knew?!  Interwebs for Dummies here I come!

Comments

[Missy]

Mandy, I laughed out loud reading this. I am even more tech-stupid than you are! And, exsqueeze me, but you did have another nerdy cohort who shared in your love of Scandi pop groups ; )

Also, no one is going to post depressing news on FB. "I lost my job", "my husband cheated on me", etc... Keep that in mind. Although, how amusing would that be if someone decided to post only Debbie Downer type shit. keepin' it real for a change! xoxo

[Michelle]

One way to make the blog even better is to look at some really good, successful blogs. Christy has a much better list than me, but two I adore both for content and aesthetically:
mightygirl.com
dooce.com

[Robin]

I love it! And I was laughing at Missy's post too. Chris can help you with the tech stuff too - and design - and if you do go the route of Debbie Downer he has a lot of stories he can offer up.

[wil-e]

This post killed me, you are a great writer. I am currently reading through all your posts and they are definitely brightening up my day!