Social un-networking

I’ve been messing around alot with social networking tools since I started this job: Flickr, Twitter, Goodreads, Last.fm mostly.  A while back I heard about Friendfeed and decided to try it too, but it seemed kind of boring because only one person I knew was a member.

Then a few weeks ago, I started using it again, in the interest of making more connections professionally.  I set up a gadget on my Google homepage and added the one person who told me and a coworker about it because he created a room which would create a network for something I’m doing at work.  (I’m sorry, that’s intentionally vague.  Read on.)

With the Google gadget on my homepage, I started to notice that I could watch comments, Flickr uploads, tweets and more all happening in real time.  Not only that, but I could see the activity of friends of the person who set up the room, and the activity of their friends, and so on.  Soon I was watching the online activity of lots and lots of people whom I had never met.  It was fascinating!

I thought it was important for me to observe what they were talking about, since we’re all in the same area of librarianship.

But then I started to try to participate in conversations.  And then I tried to start conversations.  And I sometimes would just read conversations happening.  And I got really sucked in!  It was like being at work and constantly seeing other people in the hallway talking about stuff that I thought I should be part of.  The thing is though, I didn’t understand what they were talking about.  So if I tried to jump in I could tell if what I said fell flat or made no sense to these people because there would be no reply to what I had said.  It was the equivalent of hanging out with people at a party, saying something, and having everyone stare at you.

Believe me, if you have to look in the Urban Dictionary to understand what people are talking about, you are not cool.  And when that’s happening at work, it’s enough to really shatter your confidence.

I talked to my BFF this weekend about it.  I was really upset.  I told him, you know, I don’t even know these people.  I feel like I need to social-network to stay on top of my job, but this just feels awful.  It’s not reality.  What is reality for me?  My husband-to-be, our kids, our life together.

I talked to my coworker about it, too.  This person pointed out rather objectively that this kind of thing goes on in our area of librarianship: one-upsmanship, popularity contests, herd behavior (my expression, not his), fads.  And he tries to avoid it like the plague.  I’m feeling that way, too.  I’m really turned off by this phenomenon.

I choose to be “friends” with people I know.

So, today I went into my social networking sites and I winnowed down my lists of friends and contacts.  Not because I don’t want to be your friend.  Just because, if I don’t know you in real-life, then I don’t feel I can connect with you virtually.

Some may see that as a limitation.

I see this as a relief.

Walk training, again

Walked this Sunday, 2.45 miles. Interesting, I walked pretty slow for the first 30 minutes, then bumped it up a bit, and didn’t have any hip pain this time. Does that mean I should warm up for a really long time every time?

Neighborhood walk
Find more Walks in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Babe’s ride across Indiana

My fiance, who is my personal hero and dreamboat, is going to do his big bike event starting Thursday of this week:  he is going to ride his bike solo across Indiana.

Friday morning he will be leaving from Ade and riding across Indiana, mostly on State Road 16.  He’ll stay overnight in probably Wabash and arrive on Saturday in Woodburn or Monroeville.

Last year I was amazed by the fact that he rode a century (100 miles), but that apparantly wasn’t far enough for this talented man!  The trip across Indiana is about 200 miles (taking into account that he won’t be riding on the highway).

He doesn’t know it, but I’m organizing a welcome party for him when he reaches the eastern border.  Want to come and join in the fun?

Call me on my cell phone Saturday and I’ll be able to tell you exactly when and where I’ll pick him up.

What have I been up to?

Click a picture to find out.

Nadal wins big!

New fare today

New fare today

Originally uploaded by mekiser

Bus fares went up today on Citilink buses. I bought my day pass for $3.00. Since free transfers are no longer offered, I bought a day pass for $3.00 which I used to transfer to my second bus. I’ll use this to get on the bus from work and transfer to the one going home.

Uploaded by mekiser on 7 Jul 08, 7.51AM EDT.

I’ll be here

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Lowering my expectations

This week my manager and I had a discussion. He wanted to see how I was doing vis-a-vis my new job, and one of the things he said was that he thought I should lower my expectations. He said my productivity is through the roof, and I need to pace myself or I would burn out. OK, he’s right. So the next day as I sat at a meeting with some staff about our phone system, I gave myself permission not to know everything and answer, “I don’t know”. I guess it has only been 4 months

Another way I need to lower my expectations, though, is with this walking thing. I thought it would be awesome to walk a half-marathon, and I started training from no walking to walking a lot. Then I ran out of time to do this, and it seemed an impossible task, and I gave up. (Also I found myself in a play where I was practicing four hours a night, three nights a week, then there were the plays themselves, and oh, I have this thing called a full-time job and a fiance and a son.)

I seem to do this a lot. I go from 0 to 100 in 30 seconds. It’s all or nothing. Black or white. No gray areas for me!

This is a destructive habit, and I’ve been doing it all my life, but each time I take on something new, I learn that I can’t do it all right away. Let’s just say I’m the kind who has to find out the hard way.

Well. My workplace has decided to invite people to be in the Fort-4-Fitness 4-mile walk/run as a team. Four miles I can do. It will be fun, there will be no pressure (because I’ve already walked an 8-mile stretch) and I will still have accomplished something when it’s over. And have developed a good habit (of lowering my expectations).

How sad, I saw a woman…

How sad, I saw a woman on the bus carrying her purse, her work bag and and entire freaking case of beer. I hope she didn’t have to walk too far. listen

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Sitting at the hair…

Sitting at the hair salon with Cortney and Ashley. Ashley is getting a haircut today. listen

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