#26Acts

So you know how I'm now on Twitter?  Well after the events of the past week, I haven't been happier that I joined.  Tomorrow will mark a week since the horrific tragedy that struck Sandy Hook school in Connecticut.  It is still so hard to believe and tears still come to my eyes when the adorable faces of those innocent children flash across the TV screen.  With tears of sadness has also come tears of joy.  Ann Curry, the NBC news correspondent, is one of the people I follow on Twitter.  I am not sure why I started following her months ago, but I did.  Shortly after the Sandy Hook tragedy, she tweeted out a basic suggestion:  "Imagine if everyone went out and committed to 20 acts of kindness for everyone child lost in Newtown?"  The response has been overwhelming to say the least.  People started tweeting to her what they were doing as random acts of kindness and then she would re-tweet those tweets.  These re-tweets from Ann started filling up my twitter news feed and I find myself checking twitter more often just to see what people were doing for strangers everywhere.  People then suggested changing it to 26 acts, one for every person that died at the school that day.  It is so cool to know that although we may not see it for ourselves everyday, there are good people in this world that are willing to make a difference for the better.  One of my favorites that I've seen is a guy that said he got on the city bus and he told the driver he wanted to pay for the next 26 people to board the bus.  The driver looked at him and simply said "Ann Curry follower?"  If you haven't heard about #26Acts yet, I am sure you will soon.  Newspapers and TV stations have started picking up this story because it is spreading like wildfire.  I myself did one random act yesterday and plan to do more.  If you haven't heard about this yet, check it out, you won't regret it!  And because I feel it's part of my duty as a semi-"published" writer (ha ha, - as if), I am spreading the word and encouraging you to do at least one random act of kindness for someone in the near future.  You'll love it.  I promise.  Check out this link and this link to get your heart all warm and fuzzy.  And see just a glimpse of Ann's twitter feed below:
Again, Merry Christmas!

Caved.

Well...I've done it.  I've caved to the Twitter craze and I'm lovin' it.  Twitter is my new Pinterest.  Scary, isn't it?  Now I have yet to actually "tweet" and understand all the ins and outs of it, but I still love it.  I actually got myself a screen name (screen name: such an old school, AOL term, isn't it??) and started an account a couple months ago.  My friend told me that she's on it just so she can follow celebrities.  So I took the plunge and did the same thing and have yet to regret it. Well, maybe I regret the half hour of sleep I am losing at night while checking my Twitter feed instead of going to bed, but still, it's addicting.  Did I know who was singing next at the CMA awards because they were an hour ahead of us and I was following them on Twitter while watching the awards?  Yes.  Did I know about the fan at the Twins game last week who shaved a Mauer "jersey" into his back hair and I hadn't even seen any of the game or news that night?  Yes.  Why?  Because I follow CMT and MLB on Twitter so I know every move, instantly!  It really is a sickness.
A few of my favorite celebrities that I follow:  Ryan Seacrest, Joan Rivers and Ellen DeGeneres.  Ryan for the ins and outs on what he's doing in the world.  The guy is probably the busiest guy in Hollywood, yet you feel like you could be his best buddy.  Right now he's in London prepping for Olympic coverage for the Today Show.  He's an awesome one to follow becasue I truly believe it's him that's tweeting, not some PR person doing it for him.  He snaps pictures of himself, him with his interviewees and then types a little blurb about it.  It's like I'm right there with him, getting the inside scoop on whether Mihael Phelps thinks he will be back in 2016.
Joan Rivers for her hilarious comments on whatever Hollywood scandal is currently happening and also that she too, gives us an inside look on her personal life.  This week she must be hanging out with her grandson becasue she is tweeting non-stop pictures of him and her hanging out at all these fun places.  Of course I have yet to see her in some "regular, fair-going, hot dog-eating clothing", but still, it's cool that although she can be a nasty, harsh B on the red carpet, she seems like she's a great, hands-on Grandma.
And Ellen for her basic humor of course.  She has "classic joke Monday" where she tweets jokes that a nine year old would tell, but they still give me a chuckle.  Like: "Why can't you push an envelope?"..."Becasue it's stationary."  :)
And let's not forget about my favorite, "regular joe" Tweeter.  Declan Goff, my friend Caitlin's brother.  This guy is 19 years old and knows more about sports than anyone I know.  He is going to school to be sports announcer and as a freshman in college, already is interning (as an on air commentator) for the St. Paul Saints.  This guy's going places...mark my words.  Following him on Twitter lets me know how Mauer batted for the night or that so-and-so from whatever team threw a no-hitter.  He also throws in random comments about life in general that crack me up.
Anyway, there you have it.  I'm a Twitter junkie.  Don't judge.

Disconnect...

What would happen to the world if everyone disconnected for a week? I don't know about you, but I secretly like it when I go up North or go on vacation and don't have phone or internet service. It's not so much the internet, but how the internet is being used that's getting to me... Social Media has gotten Out Of Hand. You can't go anywhere or do anything without seeing a "like us on Facebook", "follow us on Twitter" or one of those funky looking barcodes to scan and get more (more than likely useless) information. I really want to know how businesses survived, or for that matter, how the world spun without these lame, 'I have to know what you are doing at every single waking moment of your life', sites.

As probably many do, I do my daily Monday-Friday getting ready for work routine with the news on in the background...my morning news of choice is KARE11. No reason really, I just like the gang they have giving me my daily news. Anyway, KARE has this contest going on right now...I haven't really heard the details, but I know it's something about the "Fan of the Day". OK, great. In my mind, we have to tell you why we think we are KARE's biggest fan and you will pick the winner based on whatever. Here's the part that bugs me. "Go to our Facebook page and tell us why you are KARE's biggest fan." So you are telling me that not only do I have to have internet access to join your stupid contest, but I also have to sign up for Facebook??? I could be some 15 year old kid who doesn't know who's President but just happened to hear about this contest and joined because they have nothing better to do than sit on Facebook all day, but the 82 year old widow next door who gets up at 5:00 am everyday to watch all four half-hours of your recycled newscasts can't win because she doesn't have Facebook page, let alone internet access?? What is wrong with this picture? I would love for a company to run a contest where there was NO web or email address, NO "follow us on Twitter", or No Facebook users allowed, and to top it off, "Only calls from Land Lines will be accepted". I wonder how many contestants they would get then.

As you saw from my post last week, I recently got my first 'smart phone'. I was hesitant to get one in the first place, but I knew it was inevitable at some point in my near future and the opportunity kind of landed in my lap. The kid who sold me the phone was talking up how you can 'connect to Facebook super easy' and 'check in' with the touch of a button. Excuse me,? "Check in"? Yeah, like I want to get someplace and 'check in' on my phone so not only does my entire list of so-called 'friends' know that I am out someplace and my house is vacant, but strangers can later come up to me and discuss how my trip to Target was. 'Oh yeah it was just fabulous, I got toilet paper and toothpaste, why?'
Needless to say, I will not be one of those people that has a permanent glow lighting their face from checking or updating their Facebook account constantly while out in public with their Human version of 'Friends'.

I know it's what the world is coming to and I know it makes businesses grow, and a lot of the time can be for a good cause, blah, blah, blah,...but I wish we could have a "No Social Media" week in America. Let's go back to good ol' fashioned face-to-face conversations. I bet a lot of people would actually be relieved. They wouldn't feel stressed when they see ten emails in their inbox telling them that So and So commented on Jane's Status, only to be disappointed when they see something totally boring like "Jane is making sandwiches". Well Jane, sorry to say, but you are actually "typing on Facebook", not 'making sandwiches', because it's virtually impossible to do both at the same time.