I'm having a not-so-gourd day, so I started browsing around the boards to amuse myself. Instead, I frightened myself when I found this thread and a Kenny Rogers song started going through my head - and then I read that Eddie had the same reaction. It's quite frightening to think my mind works like Eddie's. (Hi, Eddie!) I wish I had a good excuse like Katie who has moved to a new home. Instead, it's the day-to-day grind that has me worn down. The car keeps breaking down, the fridge leaks water at random moments (well, not so random, it usually happens about 10 minutes AFTER you wanted to be in bed), my son went to Guatemala and brought home bronchitis for the whole family - you get the drift. I keep slogging away, but every time I turn around, another dam* tribble falls out of the cupboard at my feet. I've been involved in some volunteer work for a cause I strongly believe in, but lately the administrative issues have been outweighing the real issues, and I feel like I am wasting my time. I'm giving strong consideration to pulling in my horns, resigning from my volunteer job and refocusing. I saw an ad Saturday night for a "life coach"; maybe I need to hire one? V., who dropped in to consdier dropping out

I don't much read Mysteries, they are like riddles, find a solution through a lot of twists and turns. I do admire those who write them for the same reason, twists and turns , a formula always different and still the same.

I like the comments by Joseph Bruchac about his life and read some of his stories. Today. for me, the highlight are the Gunter Grass quotes. While I don't like all of his writing, I know and understand where he is coming from, more like any other writer of his and my generation. Thanks, Don, for the voice from my world.

I can see that the end is coming for Facebook due to their unethical practices. That said, social media and online communities in general have been very helpful for me. As a very unpopular highschooler, I came online in the very early stages of the Internet. There I could find like-minded people who enjoyed my personality, of all ages. Those friendships, while virtual, were extremely important to me and helped ease some of the loneliness of my high school years. I met many of my current irl friends and husband on a local music messageboard. Through Facebook I have founded a very successful book club and found other moms, I belong to a low drama mom’s group that is great for support and problem solving. I would be a lot more isolated and have feeer friends without social media. I think some of the things that we blame on social media, for example, people not getting out and having real life friendships, can actually be at least partly blamed on a much larger structural forces in our society. How in the world could we expect two working parents, with the world’s most minimal vacation time, working 50 hours a week, in many cases uncompensated for the extra hours, to develop thriving time consuming friendships outside of work? It is only for the superhuman to do so. Life would be a lot more social if we had two hour lunches, worked near where we lived, had reasonable work weeks and had eight weeks of paid vacation. I’ll add two years’ parental leave and quality universal daycare to the list as well, haha. And maybe the ability to live near our families and extended families if we so choose.