Monday, April 27, 2009

Anti-Social Networking?





I have been reluctantly getting into the social networking game but I've been surprised at some of the results of it. I decided to make a Myspace because my hubby was obsessed with it and I wanted to know what all the fuss was about. My child begged me for one so I gave in, but only if I knew the password and could go in and check it out from time to time. It's not an invasion of privacy if she knows, although she calls me the "Myspace Police" when I rant about some of her friend's posts and pages. See a prior blog post "I've Been Demoted" for more details.

I then tried Facebook because my friend wanted to give me "flair", which are digital pins with witty sayings on them which you can post on your profile. I liked the concept of Facebook but it wasn't fun and colorful like Myspace was. I found a lot of long lost friends which was cool, but also people whom I didn't care for found me which wasn't that great. It was a good way to quickly keep in touch and let people know things in a group instead of sending out mass emails. Overall, I think I use Facebook the most. My hubby doesn't like Facebook because he says it's too nosy. He doesn't want to know that Jane just brushed her teeth and is getting ready for work...ha ha.


My friend Jody is the Queen of Social Networking. She's even gone to the extreme of doing a "Lifecast" which is having her life constantly streaming on the web. She's a singer/songwriter and lives for the internet, so to her it wasn't strange to do such a thing. She was involved with the One Red Paperclip Project and was able to get her CD recorded. She then moved to New York from Arizona thanks to her internet friends who found her a place to live and showed her the ins and outs of the public transportation system. She was then tired of taking 1 1/2 hrs. to get to work each way so she pleaded her case to Ford at the Fiesta Movement and now she's zipping around in her Magenta Ford Fiesta!


Now this Twittering thing is kind of interesting. You can "follow" people's tweets, even if you don't know them like celebrities, musicians and t.v. personalities. It's kind of eavesdropping on their lives and some of their insights are very interesting. You can also follow "normal" people like your friends, if they follow you back, you can have a conversation. I'm following Diablo Cody from "Juno" fame, Martha Stewart, Ellen Degeneres and John Mayer. I'm not always around the internet to keep it interesting because Twitter is best when you are constantly interacting with it.

Of course I have this blog. I like to write and I find I have many things to write about. I am not as diligent at it as I could be but again, I don't live on the internet, I try to have a life. I don't even know if anyone reads it unless I ask them to, so it's kind of like a secret journal with the key just sitting out there to be used if someone wants to take a look!

Check out some different social networking sites and maybe you'll find one that fits. If not, there are the old standbys, land line telephone and good old paper and pen!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Trying to Make a Dollar Out of Fifteen Cents



After 6 years at my company, I was let go. Although I've initally freaked out and went through all the grieving phases, my husband assures me that we are going to be o.k. I get paralyzed when things change. I'm a girl of routine and planning. I can be spontaneous, if I plan it in advance! My calendar is all scribbled and my new ipod touch has all my stuff on the calendar with little reminder alerts routinely popping up.

Not having money coming in is not a good thing for me, a confirmed shopaholic. I am not an "expensive, designer" shopaholic, I'm a bargain, 99 cent store shopaholic. Both kinds end up with lots of stuff I don't need but with the latter, they were cheap or on sale.

It is hard to change this mentality but I am trying. Today, I only bought necessities...well I really needed the red vines! I took Amanda and I to Carl's Jr. because I had 2 coupons for free items, so I spent $1.59 on fries. I got laid off the weekend of our 23rd anniversary and of course we weren't in the mood for going out. I am planning on taking my guy to T.G.I. Fridays for dinner because I have a bogo coupon for Jack Daniel Meal which he loves, a coupon for a free dessert and a $25.00 gift card. If we plan on ordering drinks, then it may go a little over, but most of it will be F-R-E-E!
But you know the saying, when one door closes another one opens. Sunday I was called to participate in a focus group in Long Beach to look at car prototypes for $125. My friend needed me to run her Japanese Antique shop for a few days so she hired me. I just checked my bank balance and I received a refund for something I forgot about. So if this is any indication the way my luck will run, please keep it up.