This is why John Stewart is hilarious and brilliant. So without further ado, my own Good Thing/Bad thing post:
As many of you know (aside from posts about my blog) Kent and I are smack dab int he middle of a Facebook fast. Ah the Facebook fast is it a “good thing or a bad thing”? “Do I put it in my sad bag or ma happy bag?” as John Stewart (or was it Wolf Blitzer) so eloquently said. I knew it would be hard but I was completely wrong about the reasons. why. I thought I would miss it simply because I have grown accustomed to looking at it. You know habits and all that. At first it was just that. I found that at the times I would normally just mindlessly check it because I was bored in line or bored waiting for the kids in the pick up line at school I would hit the app button without even thinking and I would immediately close it again. Then I would laugh at myself and think this was a good idea. Kent had a great idea, he moved his app to the last page of apps on his phone so he wouldn’t do that. That has worked well for me too. I have to say for the first several days, I didn’t really miss Facebook. But then it started really getting tough. Here are the real issues I did not anticipate when I agreed to this fast.
- I didn’t realize how much I rely on FB as a productivity tool. FB is how I invite people to events. FB is how I remember people’s birthdays. FB is a way I get business and make connections for my writing. FB is how I let people know about job opportunities in our community and how I ask for help for friends in need. A simple post of “Hey, anyone out there have an extra air mattress?” actually garnered offers for about 50 (seriously) air mattresses I could borrow or even have.
- You guys provide me with sources of inspiration for my writing. You point out awesome articles, alert me to breaking news, remind me of the beauty of life and restore my faith in humanity.
- You keep me sane. When I am frustrated or angry or just need a friend. I can count on you all to listen and offer support and love, even from far away.
- I am an extrovert and even though I spend most of my weekdays by myself, logging on to FB when I have a down minute is like having a friend or 700 with me in the van. We laugh, cry, pray, read, share and just hang out together. People say FB can’t provide real community. I whole heartedly disagree. Does it have its limitations? Of course. But does it provide real relationship and community? Of course it does.
- FB is the only way I have to contact some of you and let’s be honest, I can’t call or visit or even email all of you in a single day, week or maybe even a year. However, when I stop by Facebook for a few brief minutes I can see Kellie Herrings beautiful kids in Virginia and hang out with my friend Eddie in CA and hear his latest special music performance at church. I can have my views challenged by friends who disagree with me and support my new friend who is struggling on the anniversary of her three year old son’s murder.
So yeah, Facebook fast: Good thing or bad thing? I think both.
Good thing: It has made me more aware of how and when I am looking at FB.
Good thing: It has given me more time for reading, praying and being “in the moment” even when that moment is just being still and doing nothing.
Good thing: This fast has made me thankful for all of you and what you add to my life. You my FB family are real and I love and miss hanging out with you. Thank you for being there for me.
Bad thing: I miss you all! I feel a little disconnected from about half of my friends.
Bad thing: I am missing people’s birthdays and events. Sorry everyone and Happy Birthday! I hope your special days were filled with family and friends, love and adventure.
All told, were I doing this again, I think I might have opted for a shorter fast. 🙂 So with that said, I thought I would share some things that you have missed from my life these past two weeks:
Because the universe was mocking me on the first day of the fast this happened…
I come home to find a package on my front porch so I figure Kent ordered something from Amazon. Upon further inspection I see it is actually from a store called the Sierra Trading post. Intrigued, I open it up. Odd. It is a  bath mat. Just a plain, white cotton bath mat. So I’m like, why the heck did Kent order a bath mat? We don’t need a bath mat. So I look for a packing slip. The bath mat is actually a gift…for Kent…from some guy named Patrick DeVine of Cleveland, Ohio. Now I am just perplexed. So I text Kent, “Do you know someone named Patrick DeVine?”
“No, Why?”
“He sent you a bath mat.”
“What? Is this a joke.”
“No. It is not a joke.”
I looked and looked but there was no gift card; no explanation whatsoever. Just a $12.76 bathmat ($19.88 with tax and shipping).
Kent and I have decided this will go down as the single strangest mail ever received in the history of our marriage. If they ever turn it into an Encyclopedia Brown story it will be called, “The Sierra Trading Post  Bath Mat Mystery.”
Day 2: The mocking continues…
On day two we sat one row behind and to the left of this guy at the Mavericks Game…
Sometimes it amazes me that there are so many freakishly talented people in the world…
27 Stunning Works Of Art You Won’t Believe Aren’t Photographs
Best Use of Tattoos (WARNING: photos of topless Breast cancer survivors)…
You Might See Tattoos In A New Light After You See Them On This Woman
Best Throwback…
This Aerobic Video Wins Everything
Most likely to give you all the feels…
I Have No Idea What to Title This. I’m Not Even Sure You Should READ It. Nets. We’ll Call It NETS.Â
Most likely to disarm the combatants in the battle of the sexes…
On Labeling Women ‘Crazy’
“At its base, calling women “crazy” is a way of waving away any behavior that men might find undesirable while simultaneously absolving those same men from responsibility.”
Most yummy…
10 Spectacular Fall Soup Recipes
Saddest/Best  law enforcement victory…
Nearly 400 children rescued and 348 adults arrested in Canadian child pornography bust
“Among those arrested were 40 school teachers, nine doctors and nurses, six law enforcement personnel, nine pastors and priests and three foster parents.”
Most likely to make you want to get a pertussis booster shot (also most likely to annoy my anti-vaxer friends)…
I’ve Got Whooping Cough. Thanks a Lot, Jenny McCarthy.
“At this writing, I have been coughing for 72 days.”
Because friction doesn’t have to mean division (Also see the one about labeling women crazy it has particular relevance here)…
On being divisive…
“And I wonder if it begins with acknowledging that friction doesn’t mean division.
We Christians suffer under this rather fanciful notion that no one in the early church ever argued about anything, that the first disciples of Jesus sat around singing hymns and munching on communion bread, nodding along in perfect agreement about how to apply the teachings of Jesus to their lives.
But the epistles would suggest otherwise. The epistles would suggest that when you throw together a group of people from vastly different ethnic, religious, socio-economic, and religious backgrounds there is going to be some serious friction. Within the early church raged debates over everything from the application of the Mosaic law, to whether Christians should eat food offered to idols, to how to handle the influx of widows in the church, to disagreements around circumcision, religious festivals, finances, missions, and theology.”
Most fun…
What Would I Say.com
“Just in Creation, to love and things.” Â – Michellebot
“DOMA is wearing the hat, of course!” – Michellebot
“630 includes dinner and of course, Ashley Judd’s amazing article.” – Michellebot
Best Use of Satire…
How Feminism Hurts Men
“Because of feminism, men must fight for a voice in the public sphere. In issues of theology, politics, science, and philosophy, the female perspective is often considered default, normal, and unbiased. Male perspectives are dismissed for being too subjective or too emotional. When we speak up, we are often dismissed as angry, rebellious, subversive, or dangerous.”
Because Smell-o-scope…
Have You Been Smoking Pot? Denver Police Have a New Way to Tell: The ‘Nasal Ranger’
“Denver police plan to use the “nose telescope” to enforce the ordinance.”
word of a woman 
Facebook sucks a lot of time out of some of my days and I don’t like that. But some days I learn a lot and I get to read what you have written and I really like that. Of all the things in this post I happened to click on Glennon’s “Net” post and it was so amazing. She came through so much and lived to tell the tale. Now I have another blog I must follow.