Maybe it’s that time of year, when things start dying and we start preparing for long, dreary months.

Or maybe 2010 was just slated to be a wench of  a year.

But tonight, I’m having a hard time. My back is wrenched, and I’m off work again. I already don’t make enough. If you take away a week, well, the paycheck ain’t pretty.

I’m also seeing  a lot of people I know struggling.

With pain.

With sorrow.

With a loss, or a coming loss, of someone near to them.

And I feel powerless.

All I have to offer is virtual hugs, pats on the back and words.

And I know those mean something, but I’d love to do so much more.

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What’s that? No, I wasn’t at Blogher10, and this isn’t a recap post…for that. I was part of the BlogHer@Home team, with @masmom of Jaded Perspective and @beautifulwreck2

I also worked all weekend.

It was…crazy…interesting…exhausting…and so on.

So, without further ado, a few things I learned from juggling everything this weekend:

• I am nearly almost too old to live off 2 hours sleep and energy drinks
• I am capable of organization, of a sorts (Just don’t tell the husband)
• I CAN approach people when I need to
• Three-ways are fun (I meant on camera)<–when I went back and reread that, my clarification REALLY didn’t make it sound un-pervy. just trust me. Was not pervy.
  
• Hearing “Thank You” after putting forth a ton of effort gives a person the warm and fuzzies
• Not hearing “Thank You” can make a person feel stabby. With a spoon. Just ask the husband. PS multiple rainy days trapped inside with the kids also makes people stabby
• If a person feels stabby, a little sumfingsumfing can help
• Teamwork can produce miracle

That’s all I’ve got for right now. I learned so much about myself, and I walked away from the event with a greater confidence in my abilities. I have all of you who participated, attended or helped out to thank for that.

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I broke my blog. It was scary.

And I was veryvery lost.

But it’s all okay now. Thankfully. And I learned some things, too. Which is always cool.

But you may want to update your feed subscription. And if you notice an unusual hiccup or two, bear with me please!

Thank you,

Jen ThePsychobabble

PS Look!—>Pretty Buttons!

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I’ve written of how Facebook is clearly of the devil before. Part of my reasoning was the distracting games. They are like crack. My downfall was the original Farm Town. I wasn’t going to school at the time, and was only working part-time. So my farm was beautiful. It flourished. My crops rarely withered. If it wasn’t for the fact that my productivity was limited to an on-line game, I would have been proud.

But then life happened, I got busy and virtual farming got pushed to the back burner.

But just because I quit playing, doesn’t mean that everyone else did. My inbox was flooded with gift requests and neighbor requests. My feed was full of news about cows and crops. And I rolled my eyes at it. How annoying, I said. Nearly spam, I said.

Until a few weeks ago. Enter Frontierville.

I had some extra time one day, and this little “Try this new game!” ad popped up. So I did. And I got hooked. I’m building cabins and schools. I’m tending crops and animals. I’m clearing land and fighting critters.

And I’m clogging up my friends’ inboxes with gift requests and neighbor requests. I’m cluttering their feed stream with silly updates about how I just kicked a rattlesnake’s ass, or moved my spouse out to my homestead.

I’m eating crow, in other words. A big ol’ slice of humble pie. But, see, I can’t build those buildings on my own! I can’t unlock certain items until I have MORE neighbors! I need to harrass people, really! Otherwise I’ll be a Tenderfoot forever!

So, won’t you? Won’t you PLEASE? Won’t you be my neighbor?

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Yesterday* I posted over at Blogher@home about twitter, and some potential uses for it, and some basic guidelines. And then I asked for the readers to post why/how THEY use twitter, and to provide the link, so we could take a peek. (if you would like to play along, feel free to join in!)

Why do I use twitter…I was a blogger before I was signed up for twitter. I started seeing all these “follow me on twitter!” buttons pop up on some of my favorite reads. So I got curious and checked it out.

And then I was hooked. Initially, I followed those bloggers that lured me in to begin with. And my tweets were mainly “look! I posted!”

But then I found myself @replying to other people’s tweets. And having conversations with some really cool people.

And then, because of that tendency to run my mouth, I started posting random things that occurred to me. Usually things that I couldn’t post on my facebook status, because of the large number of siblings and cousins and aunts and so on. (Not that I’m EVER innapropriate…)

So I dabbled in the twitter. Communicated with a handful of people that I followed.
One day, I caught a tweet about the BlogHer conference, and I checked it out. My reaction was, “that’s cool, but not likely to happen.”
Luckily, I spotted a tweet about this on-line party for those of us who wouldn’t be at BlogHer, for whatever reason. And so I headed on over to check out Blogher@Home.

I met a TON of people, and my twitter list exploded. Now I have an awesome group of followers/followed that act as a support network, a discussion group, an idea base and a resource for information. And that’s why/how I use Twitter.

PS You can follow me, too! @thepsychobabble Just give me a holler so I know you’re not a robot, and I’ll follow you back;)

*Yes, I said explanation to come. It will. Eventually. Sorry.

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So Christmas is over. And it was good. And I am feeling fried. So I apologize in advance if this post isn’t as coherent as usual.

I’ve become convinced that Facebook may be a tool of the devil. There is some circumstantial evidence to support this.

Addicting games that distract you from getting “important” things done.

Reconnects you with people you didn’t actually want to get back in touch with.

Allows family, co-workers and friends to know when you are screwing around, or what you did last night.

Friends can tag you in unflattering, or incriminating, photos.

And the facebook status…..a potential weapon in the hands of the unwitting, the immature and the downright cruel.
You may be thinking that I’m talking about you, specifically. If so, let me assure that this isn’t about any specific incident,* but an observation on an apparently normal thing to do.

Scolding/insulting someone in a FaceBook status.
I get being mad at your boyfriend, but I don’t need to know that. And I don’t want to hear that he has a tiny dick, too.
Better yet are the ones directed to an unnamed “someone”. As in, “Someone really hurt me this weekend. I really thought I could trust someone. But apparently some people are just big cheating liars. Sigh.”**

Um, yeah, most of us? Can figure out in about 10seconds who “someone” is.

I suppose I don’t have much room to speak. I’m sure I’ve been more dramatic than I should have been. I guess I just feel that if you are angry enough to say something *about* someone, where they can hear/see it, than you’re probably angry enough to warrant saying something *to* that person.

* Really, I swear.
**This is just an example. If you have actually posted this, I swear it’s just a weird and freaky coincidence.

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Edited to Add: I should have wrote this in here to begin with, but I was upset. The hate wasn’t directed at me, this time around,(I’m sure I’ll get my share). I actually didn’t even know the poor woman who was attacked. I’d read her once or twice, but that was about it. I’m not linking, because I don’t want to drive traffic to the troll, but for those who are interested, you can google Madison Mcgraw to learn about this particular instance of cyberbullying

I’ve decided that the internet truly brings out the worst in some people. I think that the shield of semi-anonymity causes them to feel that they can say whatever they want. Like it won’t actually hurt anyone, because their actual name isn’t known. It’s a phenomena that even has it’s own name- Cyberbullying, and, unfortunately, it’s not limited to immature high school kids, or college students with issues.

No, we’re seeing grown adults, men and women alike, using the internet to reach out and kick someone.

Here’s the thing. Words hurt. Even anonymous ones. And once they’ve been thrown out there into cyberspace? There is no deleting them.

Oh sure, you can remove them from your facebook page, or your twitter stream, maybe delete that nasty blog post. But I promise you, in that short amount of time between the publish button and your regret? Someone saw it. They saw it via their tweetdeck, or their feed reader. They happened to be right there when you published, and caught it. Somehow, someone saw it.

Worse yet, maybe you have no regret. Maybe you don’t care that you made some pretty big leaps to reach a horrible assumption, and then broadcast it as “truth”

Or maybe, just maybe, it’s not about the person you’ve decide to dump a whole load of hate and anger on. Maybe you heard of something horrible happening, and instead of seeing an opportunity to reach out and help someone, maybe you saw a way to reach out and grab some attention. Even if it’s negative. Hey, they claim that there is no such thing as bad publicity, right?

I’m not going to stoop to your level. I’m not going to stand here and wish that something horrible happens to you, and you find yourself a target for hatred and anger, instead of compassion. I’m not going to publish names and addresses. If I did, I would be just as bad as you are.

But I will say this. What you did (are doing) crossed the line from “being skeptical” to “cyberbullying” quite awhile ago. Maybe it’s time for you to be the one who “throws the computer down the steps” and log off until you can get your anger back under control.

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