Tag Archives: Facebook

June 24, 2011

Wink Wink Nudge Nudge

By Canadian Bald Guy

It’s been an interesting week…

My dad joined Facebook. Not only did he join Facebook, but he added me as a friend.  Not only did he add me as a friend, but he added Sunshine as a friend, too.  Not only did he do all that, but now he’s making comments on my wall.  I have to admit, I’m not entirely sure if I like this whole situation. I mean…my dad’s 65 and he has NEVER liked the internet so why start now?  Sunshine told me that he’s just lonely and this is just another way for him to cope…and to that end I suppose she’s right. It’s a bit awkward for me, but it’s not like I say or do anything on Facebook that I need to be ashamed of so it’s not really that big of a deal.

So now I’ve got my daughter AND my dad as “friends” on Facebook.

My son played his first “real” soccer game last night.  I say “real” because it was just 20 kids all under six years old kicking the ball (and each other’s shins). Ankle Biter?  He wanted to be the goalie because he just loves falling down and stopping the ball from going past him. On one hand, that’s pretty awesome because the goalie has a fairly important job on the team.  On the other hand, he loves to run and I’m surprised that he’d want a position where he’d have to stand still a lot of the time.

But when the time came and the first shot came his way, he was ready!!

INXS is playing here in two weeks. I’m still hoping it doesn’t sell out and I can find a way to scrounge up some money to get a ticket the day of the show online at a discount. I’ve always been a fan of the band, from the very first time I saw the video for “Original Sin” on a Saturday night video program from some local Bangor, ME television channel. I used to sneak out of bed on Friday and Saturday nights just to watch music videos (Friday Night Videos was on NBC at the time after The Tonight Show), so I grew up on bands with unique music videos that got a lot of play…one of them being INXS. 

And it’s cool to know I was a fan of the band before they really hit it big with “Kick“, which was their biggest selling album.  It was kinda cool to be able to follow a band through limited exposure to decent hit (with “Listen Like Thieves“) to major break-through. And through the years I remained a fan of the band, even after Michael Hutchence passed away.

So now JD Fortune (a fellow Maritimer!) is the lead singer of INXS, back with the band after initially winning the gig on a reality show that I absolutely loved called Rockstar: INXS.  Their first album as a band was awesome and he’s a perfect fit to sing their older songs, so my being a fan of the band has continued.

Okay…enough with THAT history lesson. Needless to say I’m hoping to score a ticket somehow before July 7th.

Sunshine and I are going on a date tomorrow night.  We’re going to a movie that we’ve been looking forward to seeing since we originally saw the red-band trailer for it: Bad Teacher.  She’s a Justin Timberlake fan so I think that helped sway her into wanting to watch this. I could be wrong, but this thing looks hilarious.

I’m down four pounds over the past week…which isn’t too bad, I guess. I’m trying to eat healthier, drink more water, and walk more. The only thing I’m not really doing enough of is walking. It’s been tough lately, especially at work. I used to make myself go for walks three times every day, but lately it’s been so bloody crazy at work that I’m lucky enough to even get up from my seat three times in day much less take breaks.

Even though it’s supposed to rain all weekend, I’m hoping to get some exercise at Sunshine’s. Ahem…yeah…that’s it…”exercise”.

Have a great weekend, everybody!!

4 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Thoughts on stuff

June 2, 2011

Should I “friend” my daughter on Facebook?

By Canadian Bald Guy

So I saw in the upper right-hand corner of my Facebook home page a friend recommendation.  I kinda did a double-take at first, not sure what to think.

My 12-year-old daughter has a Facebook account.

I shouldn’t be surprised, really.  I’m sure there are a ton of pre-teens with Facebook accounts.  I guess I couldn’t understand why Rugrat was recommended to me.  I mean, other than the last name how did Facebook make the connection?

I noted that her mom was linked to the account and I immediately felt a little bit better.  It wasn’t some account where she could go off and say anything…this was an account where the parent could view and see everything that was going on.

So I emailed her mom and asked if she thought it was a good idea if I “friended” her. She first replied by laughing, reading between the lines of my email and realizing I was a little freaked out by it all.  She told me that Rugrat has grown so much that she’s actually got stretch marks on her legs now (I mean…wow!) so they also thought she was mature enough to handle the responsibility of social media.

She then asked if I thought I was ready to share MY account with her. I only had to think for a second to realize that I don’t post “the world” on Facebook like others do. I post pics of my loved ones (and some silly pics that Rugrat would probably roll her eyes over), I post occasional YouTube links, and sometimes comment on other’s pages. Umm…that’s about it.

So no, I don’t think I’ve got anything I’d NOT want her to see on my Facebook account.  Which leads me to the question…should I “friend” my daughter on Facebook?

Ignore the fact that she might not “friend” me. For the sake of argument, let’s say that she does.  The question really is…SHOULD she?

What do you think?

21 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Facebook, family

February 9, 2010

The Facebook Fan Page vs. Twitter: What’s Better for Bloggers?

By Canadian Bald Guy

So you’re a blogger and you want to expand upon your readership.  You’ve seen your stats…you know how many people read your blog.  There’s only one more thing to do, right?

CREATE A FAN PAGE ON FACEBOOK!!!

Ummm…yeah.

I gotta be honest, I don’t really get that.  Maybe it’s because I’m a dude or I’m out of touch or something, because I just don’t understand the reason/rationale for creating a fan page on Facebook.

And don’t get me wrong…I’ve got some really good blogger friends who have accounts under their blogger aliases: QTMama, Yummy Mammy, SingleMomInTheCity, & MsSingleMama just to name a few.

My question then becomes: WHY?

I can understand wanting to connect with people who read your blog and NOT wanting to divulge a “real identity” with them.  Sure…that makes perfect sense. 

I can also understand the ego-stroke.  I mean, there are a LOT of reasons to blog…one of them being that you can develop a readership of people who actually want to read what you have to say.  That’s definitely good for the ego, especially if you’re having some down times (i.e. a primary reason to blog to begin with).

But do you really expand upon that readership by turning to Facebook?  I suppose there is a very real chance that people who read you currently will “friend you” or “become a fan”, then that may create interest in some of their friends who may eventually read what you’re writing.

It’s possible, I suppose.

Again, I can understand if bloggers want to get a little more personal with fellow bloggers while still remaining fairly anonymous.  I mean, I was friends with QTMama on Facebook before I was friends with the woman behind QTMama(because, quite frankly, I’m a little creepy and she wasn’t sure if she should let me know who she was).

I think, though, there is a LOT more to gain by using your blogger-name on a different social medium: Twitter. 

I’m an unapologetic Twitter fan.  I don’t think I spend too much time on it…in fact, I think I could stand to spend MORE time on it.  My hope is that people will see a tweet of mine and be slightly entertained or amused and then want to check out my blog.  Period…the end.

Of course, I hope that my tweets are witty enough that they sometimes get re-tweeted and that expands on my fanbase, in a similar veign of what people are doing on Facebook.

I just feel that Twitter is the better option of the two.  Facebook seems to be changing in terms of what people use it for. I know my own usage has decreased dramatically over the past year and I’m primarily using it for uploading pics of me and those I love.  Every once in awhile I’ll throw up a new phrase (I think I’ve still got a “pants on the ground” reference on mine), but that’s about it these days.

On Twitter, though…the opportunity to gain new readers is a lot higher.  People will follow you to increase their social media numbers.  But I’ve found that if the tweet is interesting, some of these new people…people you don’t really know and many of them fellow bloggers…will re-tweet and/or comment, thus increasing the viewing to other people in their own social media group.

I’m my own example, too.  There are probably three or four blogs that I follow now specifically because of tweets I’ve read on Twitter or responses to my own tweets that I’ve replied to.

But I go back to Facebook…

I guess I just don’t get it.  What, exactly, is the point of generating your own fan page for your blog?  What if you don’t get many followers on Facebook?  Does that mean anything? 

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

15 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Facebook, questions, Twitter

June 17, 2009

Confessions from a Cubicle: Training Day 2

By Canadian Bald Guy

Confessions from a Cubicle

Oh yeah, peeps…this isn’t just a one-night stand.  No, no, no…this is a 3-frickin’ day training session, baby!!

Somebody please shoot me now…

Ahem…

So this is a follow-up to yesterday’s tales from a training session (dang it…I just KNEW that I should have changed the title).  

So here’s the deal: sometimes I drift off a bit during the day.  It’s not like I actually fall asleep or anything…I just let my mind wander.    

What I usually do with one of these “Confessions” posts is just jot something down and then finish the thoughts once I’m home.  And for whatever reason, people seem to enjoy my random take on the world…

  • 9:01am — After going over a case study on flight attendants, I think about how uncomfortable planes make me.  I mean, I don’t know if I’d call it a phobia (like my fear of heights…yowza), but ever since 9/11 I just feel extremely uneasy about planes.  Then you hear about the crash in Buffalo or the tragedy of Air France, and it really makes you wonder.  Yes…technically speaking…they are the safest form of transportation around.  Still…
  • Me on Facebook9:33am –Y’know, Facebook just added the option of creating a “username” for your profile.  I’m telling you right now…the first person who is currently a “friend” and changes their real name to a “username” is GETTING UNFRIENDED.  Now, on a slightly separate note, if you want to “friend” me on Facebook (and yes…the real me, not a “fan page”)…please feel free to click the picture.  I mean, what’s the point of social media if you’re not gonna make connections with people??  AMIRIGHT???
  • 10:06am — I’ve been joking lately with Sunshine about the idea of becoming a full-time blogger.  After seeing Ms. Single Mama do it, I’ve been wondering how viable it would be.  Of course, HAVING READERS is probably important…as is writing for MORE THAN SIX MONTHS.  Semantics, I say….semantics!!  But just think, instead of beautiful leaves on awesome gold chains I could sell miniature pewter bald heads on sterling silver chains.  Yeah?  Whaddya think?  No?  Bah.
  • 10:31am — And who says learning can’t be entertaining at times?  We just watched this:
  • 1:10pm — Man, I’m gonna have a TON of email when I get back to the office.  I’m gonna be SOOOO behind.  Crap.
  • 1:45pm — During a case study, for whatever reason our team started talking about Metallica.  Don’t ask how we got there…it just happened.  And of course, as soon as I heard somebody say that their favorite song was “One”, my mind immediately went to this picture (if you don’t get it, don’t worry…it’s an ‘inside joke’ of sorts):

MetallicArmani

  • 3:12pm — Just spent 30+ minutes picking winners in a pretend horse race based on racing statistics.  Who says learning and gambling don’t mix?
  • 3:45pm — I know that Cher’s daughter just told the world that she wanted to become a dude, but I still think back to her singing career.  Well…she had one single.  And y’know what?  I still listen to it.  It ain’t that bad.  In fact, I think it’s a pretty dang decent country-pop-rock tune…
  • 4:36pm — Oh dear lord…I’ve got one more frickin’ day of this left???  Ugh…

10 comments   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in Confessions from a cubicle, entertainment, fears, happiness, love, music, relationships, Sunshine

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