Facebook Fan Here

I love Facebook. I think it's beyond cool that people you haven't seen in years and, in many cases, will never see again can be accessible through the click of a button.

Part of it with me is that I'm an incredibly nosy person. I like to see what's shaking with people, how my high school and college classmates are doing, and talking to people in a way that's somehow easier than e-mail. I mean, you log onto one account and can easily access everybody. It's genius : )

Sharing pictures is another valuable tool in the Facebook repertoire. I love pictures, and I've seen some pretty tremendous photography (and the pics are by people I actually know, which makes it somehow even cooler) via Facebook.

I am shocked sometimes by the status update feature. I tend to be very honest in my status updates, and sometimes I'll get to work and some of my co-workers will be like, "Is Belle feeling better? How was dinner with your mom? Your brother's baby is beautiful! What the hell is going on that you're posting Nirvana song lyrics?" and so on and so forth. When I was in the hospital a couple of months ago, I think I would have gone crazy without Facebook (which is in itself probably not the healthiest statement, I suppose :-)). It was wonderful to get so many well wishes and to be able to update people on the pancreatic turmoil without having to use the telephone (I deplore the telephone).

I realize that there is a dark side to both Facebook and that other social networking site (I have one of those as well, but only to keep tabs on Addie ... I do that through my Facebook too). However, for me, the joys of reconnecting with so many of my old friends (and having another way to communicate with new ones as well) make it more than worth it.

What do you think? Do you have a Facebook? A MySpace? If not, why? If so, do you love it as much as I do? Do you think sites like this are dangerous for children? At what age is it "okay" for a kid to have a Facebook or MySpace? Do you think it's wrong for parents to "spy on" their kids through these sites (note--Addie is well aware that the moment I am no longer her "friend" on either of these sites, she will not be allowed to have an account anymore, so I guess in my case "spy on" is not exactly accurate)?

An Old Post that Has Tremendous Value to Me

I haven't been on MySpace for ages (I upgraded to Facebook ... I'm such an internet junkie), but I recently remembered that I had done a little blogging there, so I figured I'd go through it. Most of it was obsolete, embarrassing, or just plain lame, but this one, ironically the first blog post there, struck a chord in me. Therefore, I'm putting it here. Just in case I ever get famous : )

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I just finished my novel. July 14, 2006 at 12:22 a.m. was a landmark minute for me

When I was in seventh grade, I had a dream about a bunch of kids getting tormented by a witch. That dream grew into a novel that I started writing while still a middle school student. It wasn't that good in retrospect.

However, that juvenile attempt at the "Great American Novel" gave birth to the novel that I just finished, a piece of writing that I am exceedingly proud of.

Even if it sucks, at least I can say that I wrote a novel. It might not be a very good novel, might not ever get published, but I finally finished something I started.

I'm going to bed now. It's very late, and I'm very tired. I wasn't going to start this blog until I had something worthwhile to write about, and now I'm too tired of writing (I wrote twenty-five pages today) to sound remotely literate or intelligent.

Oh well. I finished my novel after over fifteen years. That must mean something