And you thought it was only funny in 140 characters

When I am not here, on twitter or facebook, the other place that I hide is tumblr. You may not have heard of tumblr, but it's a micro-blogging site. Think: twitter, but with no character limit. You can post pictures, video, quotes, text, whatever your little heart desires. It is a neat system. But that's not why I stay. I stay because it is home to some pretty neat and creative people. People who make things. And this is one of the things they made. It is well-executed. It is funny. It is inspired. Watch and tell me what you think.

What if twitter came to life? Reenactments of favorite tweets. PG-13 for some words and subject matter. If you want to watch the second one first, knock yourself out. The second one is a bit better, I think.

Twitter: The Criterion Collection from sween on Vimeo.

And, because once was not enough:

Twitter: The Criterion Collection, Vol II from Jen Oslislo on Vimeo.

T, who wishes I was this creative

You can't do the Time Warp again

I was twenty-two and sitting in Denny's, hands clasped over a steaming cup of "mug o' coffee." It was 3 a.m. Seated around a table were all of my friends, as we laughed and ate our Moons Over My Hammy, and Superbird sandwiches. The mood was jubilant, It was a Saturday night and we were in our element.

One of the girls, a doe-eyed, young 18 year old, was eating whipped cream, licking the spoon suggestiively as her black hair cascaded in ringlets down one side of her face. Some of the males sat, transfixed. The women rolled their eyes. I said, "Come on baby, we'll show you how it's done!" And the Whipped Cream Eating Contest was born. The rules were simple: be as sexy as possible while eating it, to the victor went the spoils. In the months following, I was to win the contest numerous times. I also taught the girls a really important skill party trick: how to tie a cherry stem in a knot....with your tongue. Just business as usual for us, the regulars at the Rocky Horror Picture Show.

Yes, the crazy midnight movie starring Tim Curry was a staple for me, because face it, in Central California, there isn't a whole lot to do! We would go to clubs until midnight and then head to the Dream Theatre in Monterey, where we watched the Rocky, including pantomiming the Devo video- the one with the Giant Baby (giant baby, for the win!). Our "cast" was too cheap to actually have costumes, so we stood up in the front and acted out and yelled lines. This was how we spent our weekends. (Did I mention there was copious amounts of alcohol involved beforehand for those who needed it?)

"It's just a jump to the left...."

After the show, we would go to Denny's and then to the beach and finally to one of the castmember's homes to crash around 5 a.m. It was a crazy time in my life, and I was young, and stupid, and thought I was immortal. There is much I would rather forget. But those midnight flicks in a popcorn-scented luxury film palace are ingrained in my psyche like the gum stuck to my shoes from the theatre floor. I still have fond memories when I hear the opening bars...

"And a step to the ri-i-i-i-ight"

Years later, I saw the Rocky on Mtv. And I was left flat. I wondered why I ever spent so much of my life reciting lines from a cult movie when I could have been, I don't know... what the heck do people do on weekends after midnight? Sleep? Pass out from drinking? Neither alternative really seemed like much of a choice. Still, my daughter doesn't get it, to her it is an immoral movie with a bunch of weirdos dressed in lingerie, and who would watch that. It's not her cup of tea (and I need to be grateful for that!)

"put your hands on your hips... and bring your knees in tiiiiiight."

The Long Beach gang from twitter has been tweeting about going to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show in San Pedro. Apparently, the first weekend of the month is lingerie night. And while that gives me an excuse to pull out my black velvet corset, my days of keeping those kinds of hours are long gone. With age, comes responsibility, as I am so wont to tell my daughter, and as such, I must attend to my family, forgoing midnight movies (which means I wouldn't be home until after 3 a.m. and that's too long to leave my daughter in charge, especially since she won't sleep with us gone). So, they will have to play without us.

But it's the pelvic thrusts...that really drive you insa-a-a-a-ane...

Do I feel a tinge of regret? A bit, but I recognize that I have a different life now. That dance has been done. It is major shuffling in order to go out at night, and with my kids special needs' , it is just too hard to go out for extended periods, beyond a few hours at night. The other night I went out for karaoke and stayed overnight in Los Angeles with JNerd. We had a good time, but not sure when or if we will do it again. There were...complications. As for the Rocky, the Sword of Damocles is hanging over my head.

but, just one more time, for grins...

"Let's do the Time Warp agaiiiiiiiiiiiiin...

Or, maybe not. It was the end of an era. Pretty sure it is good to keep it that way.

T, who played a pretty good Magenta once upon a time

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Know someone that's tweeting too hard? Report them! (well not really)

There's a new post over at Sweet Schoolin... how to teach your kids to think logically. Quick! go read it. I'll wait.

Are you back? Oh good! I wanted to share with you one of the funniest sites I have found in a long time. We all know those self-important blowhards *coughiamdiddycough* (over a MILLION followers and you follow back 135?) who believe they are God's Gift to Twitter. Well, now, put them where they belong!

A new (to me) website, Tweeting Too Hard, is ready to put them in their place. Here's how it works: You read that self-important tweet, roll your eyes. Then you head to Tweeting Too Hard and enter the URL of the status update and it shows up.

I just put this one in by one of the sexiest, most self-absorbed tweeps on twitter:
Now I'm getting greedy. I want more followers. Like a cult. We'll have an outfit that identfiies us, and everyone gets to be the Pope.@NathanFillion

It's like putting these people in the cage they deserve. Try it, it feels really good, I promise!

T,who swears if you report me, I'll find out where you live and leave flaming poop on your doorstep. Ok not really, but it sounds good

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How Do You Tweet? 4 Twitter Applications You Might Want To Try

With so many desktop applications out there for twitter so that I can feed my habit,I wanted to enable you review my top 4. I have used many, these stand out. I am still on the search for the perfect solution...and I like to play with tech. So, here goes:

Power Twitter:

Power Twitter is an add-on for Firefox. I used to use this, and it is quite good. It augments the twitter web page, so you actually access twitter through the web page. But some of the things that Power Twitter allows you to do:

• see links as actual names of links, huge plus because of the twitter vulnerabilities that were exploited a few months ago.
• has embedded media, both pictures and video..no need to click the links to see it, it shows up in your stream
• does not have search
• does not have groups or columns, it is straight twitter web interface
• mouseover avatars for recent tweets

I like Power Twitter, and is is a good choice if your followers are quite manageable. But I found that I needed something that allowed me to organize a bit better. So I switched to TweetDeck.

TweetDeck:

• Is a stand-alone application based upon Adobe Air that you download and use on your desktop
allows groups and columns according to how you set them up. You can have groups of friends, business, people who make you laugh..use your imagination
• allows searches to be incorporated into columns, so you can follow a topic site-wide, regardless of whether you follow the person. It updates automatically, just as your regular stream
• allows you to do everything with a follower simply by scrolling over the avatar. Reply, DM, Retweet, add to group, delete a tweet, everything can be done by mouseover. This, in my opinion, is the best feature of TweetDeck. Fast, and easy.
• Allows easy color change from Settings if you don't like black background and white type. I do not.
• reply window is right at the top, where you would naturally put your mouse
• allows adding Facebook to your columns to check friends' status at a glance (does not include messages or comments on the pages)
• only allows 10 columns, so you may run out of room if you have a lot of separate groups. I have over 3,000 friends 4 groups and a permanent search, and still have columns left, however
• Does NOT show link names, a weakness in my opinion
• does not have embedded media, again, a weakness

I was satisfied with TweetDeck, but some others were talking about Destroy Twitter. Faithful in relationships, I let my fickleness surface when it comes to tech toys. So I tried it.

Destroy Twitter:

• another stand-alone app with Adobe Air downloaded for desktop
• allows you to adjust the size by choosing regular or expanded view
• does not allow stretching of window, or a horizontal scroll bar, instead you must tab to see other columns, which I find cumbersome
• not as easy as TweetDeck to see search, you cannot have all columns showing at the same time
• colors are not as easy to change, but the Theme Builder at the site is extensive and allows you to upload your theme, and change them with ease. Once you realize where it is. Similar to Google themes
• allows exclusion of terms as well as global search
• has a beautiful user interface, artsy and well-thought out.
• supports, choice of is.gd, bit.ly, digg and migre.me, for links; for pictures: Twitgoo, TweetPhoto, TwitPic, Posterous, Mobypicture and img.ly
• I do miss the placement of the tweets window..in TweetDeck it is at the top, in Destroy Twitter it is in the left hand corner.
• also miss the ease of replies, DMs and all operations through mouseover on avatars like in TweetDeck
• does not convert URLs to names
• does not show media in the stream, still have to click on links in order to see pictures or video

Not able to leave well enough alone, I heard that Seesmic had an update, so I had to check that one out, too. DId I mention I am fickle?

Seesmic:

• also a downloadable desktop client application
• only one color option that I can see, but it is readable, gray background with light blue. Still, if you don't like blue, you may not enjoy the user interface..I found the colors uninspiring
• allows creation of groups, I am told an unlimited amount
• URL, image and shrink text (shorten URLS) buttons at the top, under the reply window
• support for multiple accounts (yay!) at the same time. This is huge!
• Facebook support
• can stretch window to the size you want
• has referenced tweets, underneath it mentions who the reply was to
• each column is a different color; in the future, being able to choose your own colors would be handy
• media also not shown in stream, must click on URLs to see it
• has the icons on the avatar, like TweetDeck. Love this feature, it is intuitive
• can drag columns into the order you want them. Also a great feature
• search is very easy, with a text box at the top right
• easy to add search columns, also
• cuuute (via my son) raccoon icon

Since I am reviewing these apps and I actually use them, let me tell you what I want (what I really, really want) If you wanna be my lover want me to LOVE your twitter client:

• Give me the look of Destroy Twitter, customizable themes
• URL names and media incorporated directly into my stream, a la Power Twitter
• searchable and columns, like TweetDeck, but make the column number unlimited or at least more than TEN
• multiple accounts supported, like Seesmic
• other social media platforms supported, digg, Jaiku, Pownce, Identi.ca, and RSS, to name a few, like gwibber (which is not available unless you do Linux, but has the right ideas, anyway)

So there you have it..my take on the desktop twitter applications I have tried. What did I miss? Which one do you just get excited over??

T, who is waiting for that great app, get with it, developers!

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I Took the Train To Glendale and ended up with a BOOK (Jen Lancaster's book-signing)

Last night, I took the train up to Glendale to hang with some of my twitter tweeps (is that even a word??) do the dinner thang and stalk Jen Lancaster at her Barnes & Noble booksigning. Because? It's a book, people! A funny book! And I am virtually taking you with me, aren't you lucky?

I WE, you and me, sat in relative comfort on the Amtrak, non-stop to Glendale to meet my beeyotch, Adrienne, who rocks so hard...she picks us up from the train station, then takes us home to O.C. because she is all shades of awesome like that.

After traveling around a mountain...it would seem that Glendale is built around a bunch of them... to get to the bank and a store where I could pick up some tacky 80's beads (yes, I have my own, but I forgot them. By the way, apparently tacky costume jewelry is something that nobody wears in Glendale, because we tried first the drug store and then Marshalls and I couldn't find anything except a really obnoxious silver multi-heart necklace with matching earrings that will blind you if I am in the sun, and give me second-degree burns). Still, I bought it, along with a very stylin' red striped glittery long scarf You know me and scarves. Then I put my hair up in a nice little side pony, (oh Mickey, you're so fine...and yes, I know that Toni Basil had her hair in pigtails, but work with me here!)

We got to the Cheesecake Factory, but there were no cheesecake-scented goddesses anywhere. Still, Adrienne put in our name, "twitter," and we waited. The hostess was excited about twitter, and that she was on it and tweet her, ok?

this is all of us..I grabbed the busboy to take the pic: @undomestic diva, @Adriennevh, @chrisDOTgo, @onetake and me

After dinner, we headed over to Barnes & Noble to meet Jen Lancaster. We bought our books, battled the B&N stormtroopers (no variations! Only what is written on the post-it!) and took our seats to wait. I was dying because I couldn't tweet a lot, since my battery on my G1 was almost dead. So I sat and people-watched, instead. We got the last seats in the last row, and people started lining up behind us. We felt special.

this is what success looks like...someday it will be my face on a poster, I swear it!

Undomestic Diva and her hypercolor tee-shirt... remember those?

We are rockin' the 80's. Except for Jen Lancaster, we were the ONLY two who dressed up for the "Eighties-themed" book tour. Notice the side pony tail, and killer shades. Everyone else? Kill joys. Gag me with a spoon, fer like, sure!

@redvu9395 took this picture, much better than the one the B&N stormtrooper took. Doesn't Jen Lancaster look Pretty In Preppy?

ETA: go and win yourself a copy of this bad-ass book, Undomestic Diva (my hero(ine) is givin' one away! Just go tell her who you would stalk and you're in it to win it!

T, who had a blast

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When others didn't share I didn't play with them anymore: twitter, you listening?

Or...it's called social NETWORKING for a reason!

Once again, in a massive twitter fail, twitter has jumped first, asked questions later. (and then not really listened to the answers!)

2800+ follow me. Of those, I follow 1800+ people. I listen to ALL of them. And their friends. If they say something I find interesting, I click over, and often follow them, too. It is how I find new people, and local people, events and tweetups, in order to actually, you know, meet real people and connect in real life. I have met a lot of really great people, both online and off. And a lot of that is attributed to seeing all replies.

And I would hope if you are following my stream, you do the same. But that isn't going to be an option anymore. Because twitter has taken that choice from you. The settings for @replies used to have three toggles:

• all replies
• replies of all you follow
• replies from those you follow to all of their followers.

You had a choice. Now, you don't.

The entire reason for social media is, well, social. To limit the options is not the wisest course for twitter to have taken. Power users like @chrisbrogan,@kevinrose @GeekMommy and others, who ooze social media and tweet things I really want to know? I will miss replies unless I am following all 10,000+ of their followers. I don't have time for that. This is just short-sighted on twitter's part. The value of twitter has always been discovery of new users, and the conversations that arise. Twitter has effectively crippled themselves. And explain how this will help those who do social media business on twitter?

What set twitter apart was the ability to hear ALL of the conversations or as much as you would like. It is like drinking from a firehose...not all want to do it, but some of us enjoy getting soaked in the conversation. Now, our streams became significantly less wet. If I wanted a drinking fountain, I would do iChat. I am looking to be immersed in the fountain of social media. I want to be soaked to the skin! So twitter has miscalculated here. Judging from the way #fixreplies is trending, I am thinking they will have to address this, whether they want to or not!

And twitter isn't the only option out there. There is Facebook, a platform that is gaining popularity with the last update. I can still see the things my friends (and theirs!) are up to. I can follow their friends, if I choose to do so. I have said before that Facebook feels like I am cheating on my boyfriend, Twitter, but breaking up is hard to do...not impossible.

Or there is @Scobleizer's baby, friendfeed, which uses all types of feeds to create a "superfeed" that is customized by you. You can add RSS, all of your social media sites...lots of choices.

Part of the problem here is that twitter has never cared what their user base wants...unless we are Ashton Kutcher. We have never been important to them, and they have made that clear from the beginning. Every time they change things, they announce, and that's it. Take it, and like it.

Facebook changed their user agreements based upon feedback. Entrecard changed their policies based upon what their users said. But twitter has remained unresponsive. I suspect this isn't about "convenience" for users, as much as scaling a terrible and shaky foundation. Twitter has always maintained it is not a messaging platform. And it was never created to be. And yet... that's exactly what it is. See: Identi.ca ...the open-source system that actually gets it right from the ground up.

Rather than punish users, the very users who have made twitter a household name, that gets them recognized on CNN and has Oprah following, they need to turn towards the myriad of build problems, the fail whales and the missteps, rather than remove features that users are actually well...using.

And, they need to listen to their users. Or their users just might not be there when push comes to shove.

Agree with me? GET SATISFACTION and tell Twitter exactly how you feel about this new change.

ETA: there is a work-around. start tweets without the @, so it becomes a mention rather than a reply. Then everyone will see it. As in, "Hey @namegoes here,..." But it's annoying, and the point is, we shouldn't have to do that. Also, it breaks threading on messages (so you can actually go back and figure out what someone was talking about!) and doesn't allow for RT through the web interface. We had the option, now we don't. And that's limiting. How many will not change their tweets as they post, and how many conversations will we miss out on because of it?

UPDATE: Twitter listened, and brought back @replies, sort of. But ony if EVERYONE doesn't start with either the replies arrow or tab, or doesn't start with the @... still not there yet, twitter, but we can see you are trying. Kind of.

T, who is beyond frustrated by their idiocy

Twitter Blog: Whoa, Feedback!

Weasels totally don't make good pets and he's not that hot, anyway

Social Media. Admit it, it's a time suck. You know it is. There are 400 bazillion places to sign up your name, and you have to anyway, so people don't snarf your really cool moniker. Because, you never know when someone will take your uber-hip name and go and post on kick-yer-puppy sites or I Hate The Blind and then people come to your blog and leave you hateful comments and you have to explain that, "No, that wasn't me, it was an impostor who was pretending to be me, I would never hurt sweet little innocent puppies (they're so cuuute) and blind people rock" but if it was weasels, that would be a different story, because weasels are mean and fast and will probably get in your bed and bite your butt, so that's why they don't make good pets and why this post isn't about the care and keeping of weasels. But if it was, it would kick ass and be the best post ever. But it's not.

And social media like twitter, Facebook, a thousand and one Ning networks, blog directories, blogs, blogs, more blogs (I pretty much only read the stuff from my Blogroll anymore and the people who leave comments here...sorry, I know you are a kick ass writer, or you wouldn't be in my Google Reader, but I just can't keep up with that crap. It just sits there, mocking me and multiplies exponentially. Once in a while I read a post or two, but they just keep adding up, kind of like Octomom's progeny. So know it isn't that I don't love you, I am just freaking overwhelmed!) Besides, since the bloggy-bloggy thing is a community, I want to be able to comment on the blogs I read, and there's only so much time in the day. CPS frowns on ignoring children in order to read blogs. Apparently, kids gotta eat. Regularly! Who knew? If you want to be in my blogroll, let me know, and I will send you the proper forms and I assume you have a notary near you? And can mail chocolate? As you know, I prefer the dark stuff.

Facebook, I don't really know why I am there. Twitter is my love, and I hang there pretty regularly, and kind of feel like when I visit Facebook, I am cheating on my boyfriend. Only he doesn't know it? And you know, this new guy, the one I am steppin' out with? I am beginning to see he really isn't that hot, in fact his teeth kind of separate in the middle and he yaps about football all the time and constantly asks what my name is, and gets it wrong, a lot. Today it's some Celtic thing and tomorrow he calls me a hippie name...and he mentioned something about my True Nature being Vulcan, maybe he is brain-damaged. And he always wants to know what I would take to a desert island (which is strange conversational fodder and I think he is feeling me up out because he is going to kidnap me and take me there and then I'll have to escape using dental floss and bamboo to make a killer raft because I have seen Gilligan's Island and Survivor, thank you) and he's always yammering on about people I don't know and don't care about, but they know my friends or something. So apparently I am supposed to care that they are getting groceries or upset that Dollhouse is being cancelled or something. So, yeah.

There was this one awesome thing he told me, quizzed me about What Random Object I Was and I ended up being a Fishbowl, which is totally not me, I am not all see-through and shallow...

"A clear sphere, your purpose is to hold something interesting, without being so interesting yourself. However, if you weren't there, another life would go down the toilet...."

So then he says:

You're stranded on a desert island. You brought one item, and now you're really irritated that you brought it.

• What is it?
• Playstation 3
• Duct Tape
• A weasel
• Dental Floss
• Box of tissues

Facebook was also all flirty and told me I could answer "a weasel" to every question about the Random Object, so I tried that, too... then I was a Drinking Straw:

"An excellent suck-up. Despite your festive exterior, you're ultimately hollow inside. However, you're bendy, and that flexibility will help in your search to find the chocolate milkshake to fill your hollow recesses."

I like chocolate. And milkshakes. I wonder if weasels like milkshakes...?

T, who clearly needs to spend less time online

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In the Scheme of Things, Does it Really Even Matter?

forgive me, but after today, with attending little Maddie Spohr's memorial, I am not so in the mood to write..so you get just a short blurb.

This last weekend, my beloved twitter was attacked by an evil 17 year old kid with too much time on his hands. Because I don't want to give him any more press than he is already getting...this made me think about security online, and how, well, it doesn't exist. Twitter is from the Belkin school of security, clearly, and well, this cartoon from User Friendly says it all...(click to enlarge)

I am holding out though. I need my twitter. I just wish they would get more serious about security.

T.

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GFCF Twitter Party, did you RSVP?

Tomorrow, I am a panelist at the Gluten Free Twitter Party. I run at 7:30. Look for the hashtag #gfree. To organize the tweets, you can use TweetChat, or TweetGrid. These services will pick on the the #gfree tweets so you can keep them straight. To enter, log on to the site, and enter room, type #gfree. And, you're there.

So, anything you wanted to know about the gluten-free, casein-free diet...ask me. My son has been on the diet since he was 5 years old. He is 10 now. So a bit over 5 years, he has been diet-compliant. Over the years, I have found what works and what doesn't. I would LOVE to share my knowledge, and hope it helps you.

If you have any specific questions, ask in comments...I will make sure to get you the information. There are also many giveways, which may entice you to attend.. free stuff is always fun.

As for GFCF... I am currently working on a list of GFCF fast food, just clearing a few items with the companies to make sure they are compliant. Be on the look out for that post soon.

T, who is in yer Twitter, tellin' you what to eat

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Quick! You Have 140 Characters To Tell Me How Much I Rock: Go!

Hey, and welcome if you came for the Ultimate Blogger Party! What? Over here, in the corner. What am I wearing? Oh. It's not a lampshade! ..it's a hat. Whut? Never mind! Grab a drink! And some chocolate, don't forget some chocolate. Let's talk about blogging, because, well, what else would you talk about at a party for bloggers? And remember, this is a conversation, so your input is wanted...

In the beginning, when I started three years ago, comments were currency. You "paid your respects" by leaving a quick comment for the owner of the blog. It was your calling card. If you cared enough to read, you left evidence that you had been there. In return, the blog owner often would visit you once in a while. It was a lot of fun.

As the Blogosphere ballooned exponentially, it was no longer possible to comment on every blog you visited. It became harder to get noticed and find a core readership. When the marketing of blogging took off, suddenly, blogging was a business, not just a pasttime, and everyone had a blog. Who had time to comment?

I have been noticing for a while now that though my comments have decreased, my traffic has increased. While I love that new people are finding me, I would really like it if you came out of hiding, so I can get to know you. I started blogging for the community, and the connection to others. But I have noticed that unless you are one of these rock star awesome bloggers with a legion of loyal subjects, your comments won't be where most of your interaction comes from.*

*Barring giveaways to entice people to your blog and "extra" chances to enter contests by tweeting your link, subbing to your feed in order to increase your exposure...all things I won't do here. I may, from time to time, do a giveaway, but I won't force you to tweet my link or subscribe to my feed or blog about my contest... that feels disingenuous to me. It's not the way I roll.

::tap, tap, is this thing on?:::

But if you're like me, you will keep writing, and hope the writing pulls the unsupecting victims minions worshippers readers in, and that your wit and aplomb keeps them here.

Enter twitter. With 140 characters to say just what's on your mind, twitter revolutionized the blogging scene. For some, it became a time suck, and their blogs weren't so important. We call them "microbloggers." For others, it became a way to stay connected to those they blogged with and meet new bloggers. There were almost as many ways to use twitter as there were twitter accounts!

Jump to today. I will often tweet a blog post, and it would seem that twitter has become the new blog comment forum. Followers will comment on the post, via twitter, and not on the blog itself. So I will check stats and comments on my blog and feel mildly discouraged to find few (compared to last year when the comments were more plentiful) Then I will remember that comments and kudos came through my twitter stream. It would appear that Twitter is the new comment system.

But I think I kind of miss the old one.

Just an aside, I think Comment Luv is one of the best things to happen to blogging. I love clicking on the last post that someone links through my comments. Might it be you?

T, who says come out, come out, whoever you are

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The Social Media Fishbowl

The Blogosphere is abuzz over David Prager and the fact that he was twittering and Ustreaming while a perfect stranger walked into his house, used his bathroom and passed out in his bed. I am late to the party, but I have been thinking about this, and I kind of understand it.

Don't get me wrong, I am not that far gone. There is no way this Mama Bear would stand by while someone played Goldilocks in my bed, and I'm sure most others would feel the same. If I was sitting at my computer when the person walked in, yeah, I would probably tweet it. But then I would be screaming, calling the police, and locking myself in the nearest room, in that order.

I think however, I get how this kind of thing happened. In this age of social media, with everything so connected, it can feel like living in a fishbowl. I have found the humor in every day situations, In times past, some would have said it was material for their novel. These days, we are standup comedians, and... it's all comedy material. :tap tap:: is this thing on? Some have said those who are involved in social media are self-absorbed. On the contrary, we are usually outgoing, (at least online) and want to share our lives with others. We see the value in people. It isn't that those involved are narcissistic, as we have been accused. We simply want to share in the experiment that is the Internet. If someone spends a great deal of time on the phone, he is not branded a narcissist, he is seen as socially agreeable.

So then, why is someone who spends time networking with friends considered less than that? I have many friends online. Some I have met and some I may never meet. Yes, there are degrees to those friendships. Some are lifelong, some are buddies, some are mere acquaintances. But they all matter to me. I have helped many with autism information, and I remember details about people because I genuinely care about what happens to them. And if they drop me a line and need my help, and it is within my power to do so, I will provide it. That's the beauty of social media.

Years ago,it was all about BBS systems. Later it was forums and email loops.Not to mention chat rooms, where people connected in real time. This is just an offshoot of those, as the Internet evolves. Today, it is possible to connect to more people than ever before. It is not narcissistic to be involved with others. On the contrary, it's what makes you human.

T, who really loves the rise of social media

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I Came From All Around Orange County Just To Tweet With You

Orange County Meet-up #tworco

This weekend I attended my first tweetup (that's where you get together with the people who live in your area who hang out on twitter). It was at The Jazz Kitchen at Downtown Disney. I wasn't sure what to expect, and arrived a bit late to find the first table full and it sort of felt like when you were in high school and walked in to find all the cool kids sitting at the table with no room left for you. (no, that's never happened to me either). So I took a deep breath and sat at the next table, praying others would show up. I brought J with me, so at least I wasn't sitting alone. I shouldn't have worried, very shortly, both tables were full. I had a very nice time and met some great people.

from left:@godotchris(can't see)@brd78,@melaclaro,@crispydragon,@SWgeek,@fstop23, @cloud79,@ladyblackwood,@mr_o,@kameelyan,@kirstenwright,@mannyaragon,@annwillmott

same, except @colorsign on right

from left:@ladyblackwood, @mr_o; on right:@fstop23

from left:@ksablan,@ocmarisa,@danasipper,@sipperphoto; Right:phraklet (next to @phraktyl, who you can't see)@ro, @cheapcheapcheap

@markdavidson,@DrYueh,(not sure),@thevixy

not pictured:@californiagirlj

If I misssed anyone, let me know, I will edit so I get it right. It was fun, and can't wait for the next one!

T, who was going to link all those names, but it is so late now I need to go to bed

And Filed Under BatShite Crazy...

just a quick post tonight, courtesy of @megfowler from twitter. She tweeted this, but I felt you had to see, too.

Just remember, no matter how much there is, there's always room for MORE crazy.

This woman needs grandkids, methinks...

T, what is the weirdest thing you ever taught your pet to do? My answer in comments...