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Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Facebook. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

I guess I say nothing, because what's the point?


I miss the library.
Just before I stopped leaving the house altogether, I went for a walk and ran into an older neighbor who told me he is "not buying into all the bullshit." He stood too close and he exhaled his cigarette smoke and he sneered and told me he's just coming home from giving his friend a ride somewhere, that he's not changing anything just because of some virus. He's not the only person that I know who is angrily objecting to the one thing being asked of us: to use an abundance of caution right now, which means to isolate at home so that we can all band together and kill this terrible bug. 
I understand that the lockdown protestors, especially the ones suiting up to apparently shoot someone (?) are frustrated and terrified. But are they not seeing the same updates that I'm seeing? 
link
"BOSTON (CBS) — There were 1,524 new coronavirus cases and 104 additional deaths reported Monday. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health said there have now been 56,462 total cases with 3,003 total deaths in the state.
A total of 244,887 people have been tested in Massachusetts, with 8,787 new tests announced in the last 24 hours.
As of Monday, 3,892 people are currently hospitalized for a coronavirus-related illness, which represents seven percent of all current cases in Massachusetts.
Middlesex County has the most cases with 12,953, followed by Suffolk County with 11,883 cases and Essex County with 7,708.
Long-term care facilities in Massachusetts have been significantly impacted by the coronavirus. A total of 10,635 residents and staff have tested positive. As of Monday, 1,698 residents in those facilities have died from the virus.
There are 8,455 cases among people under 30 years old, 25,937 cases are among people ages 30-59, 7,709 cases between people aged 60-69, and 14,071 cases in people over 70."

Two days ago my friend David posted a Facebook rant about the "bullshit" shelter-in-place advisory and he wrote "wake the fuck up" and called for revolt. Now there is a guy in my Twitter feed fighting everyone about masks, citing it's the mask that's causing him to not be able to breathe. He claimed to pass out while wearing one, and is declaring his liberties are under attack and he's going without food because he is "not allowed inside the grocery store." He also writes, "You are being lied to by media and have for for years. Patients are being treated wrong. There is a virus there always a viruses. It's how your immune systems works. Ventilators are killing people. Not the virus."
Get that? It's face masks and ventilators that actually killed fifty-thousand people, the virus is no problem whatsoever.
There's some incredibly dangerous, magical thinking out there. I don't even know what to say anymore. I guess I say nothing, because what's the point? ∎

Saturday, April 25, 2020

Out of an abundance of caution: In response to a Facebook rant


Yes, most if not all of us have been in contact with it already! Yet we are all putting up with this bullshit! WTF people wake the fuck up, we locked down stopped it's spread built our immunity so now it's time to get back at it! We have something called an immune system remember, if we didn't the human race wouldn't have survived for thousands and thousands and thousands of years! Notice, I didn't say, get the economy moving again, no because that i can give 2 shits about that, but what I do give a shit about is people's livelihoods and purpose, that is what I care about! Stop being cowards of fear and rise up as you profess Americans do, tell our elected officials, they for sure aren't our leaders, to stick it and let's leave our lockdown and get going!
PS, I'm not a Trump supporter, no not at all but I refuse to give up my freedoms cause some asshole told me too! Wake the fuck up all, step outside, mingle with your neighbors and start a revolution, you will be fine and all of us will be too! Let's go!
When the next objective is jump off a bridge to save someone else, I already see who will! I didn't say you had to agree, only said maybe perhaps you alt to consider what the powers that be are saying, and I won't back down and said it before that this thing ain't as contagious as they say and that I bet most of us have come in contact with it already and we are fine! I had a sore throat, runny nose and slight fever in January and l bet it was covit, I want a test for the antibodies and i bet I already have them and that is what this article is about so back the fuck up, if you don't agree so be it, i don't give a fuck! But I refuse to accept something cause someone told me too, if you don't like that then unfriended me, I can give two shits

Dear David,
I feel your aggression. I feel it hit my gut as Fear. I know you want to believe "most if not all of us" have "been in contact" with Covid-19, because that would mean that you've survived already. It would mean you won and there's no need to panic. You want to know that most of us are going to make it. Most of all you don't want to be alone. In your heart you know the truth: we will not all make it. I turned 50 on Tuesday. I wondered if that was my last birthday. I expect it might be. I know why you're angry, buddy. I really do. I know too why you wish "this thing ain't as contagious as they say." But you just said we'll all get it...either it's contagious as hell, or it's not contagious. Both things can't be true. I know you're casting about for another answer, any answer. But Dave, there is no question that many, many people are dying. 

I'm trying to save what's left of my sanity so I was avoiding the news for about a week. But all that did was delay me seeing the truth: how in that one week we went from 3000 dead to 7000, then another week to 20,000 and today it's over 50,000 dead. That's all in the last six weeks. It's still trending upward, and it's not flattening out yet. Experts waffle on the message and what we should do: wear a mask, do not wear a mask, go to church, go to the grocery store. The trend is still going up no matter what we try. More die every week. 

And now they're finding that It doesn't care how old you are, and It doesn't care what your job is, and you don't have immunity from getting it again. It's going to keep coming for your lungs, your heart and possibly some other organs. It's getting children. It's wiping out whole families. It even got some cats. Covid-19 might be an Extinction Event, and we don't know because we are only at the beginning of it and they don't know what It is. It gets on everything and It won't stop killing until it wears Itself right out. THAT'S why we're all on lockdown, Dave. Not because anyone wants to take away your freedom. It's so we don't all die. David, it is wiping us out, zone by zone, all over the whole world. The truth is that top scientific minds don't even know what it is, so THIS is what we are trying. Isolation may be our only weapon we have against the virus. Can you hang in with us, David. We need you.

What you're feeling is terror. That's what everyone is feeling. I can see why people are storming the nation's government with guns. This Covid-19 level of terror is why they've been keeping their guns by their beds all this time. They needed their guns to protect their homes and family. Now this deadly enemy has finally come roaring in like they always knew it would, and a gun is no use after all. But it's all they have and they want SOMEONE to do SOMETHING. They are angry and terrified.

You sound so angry I'm afraid you're going to storm off to join one of these protests. Please don't. You're literally risking your life. What are you protesting? An abundance of caution is all that is being asked of us. We've already failed the planet, failed our children and failed ourselves, must we also fail in doing this most possible thing: stay. the fuck. home. 

HOME is where you SHOULD be right now. Isn't Home what you've been fighting for since the dawn of man? Home is what it's all been about. Home is your one true freedom-washed, pristine den of do-whatever-the-heck-you-want while you're in here place. It's your castle, you're the king in your Home. Don't you wanna be where you're the king? Home is where you SHOULD be right now. Not at the bowling alley, not at the Cheesecake Factory. All that is being asked of us is to use an abundance of caution, and for most that includes staying home and finding ways to help each other through this. That's all we need to do, to go home and help each other hunker down so we can all band together to try to kill this bug. 

I know the helpless feeling where you want to threaten something, someone, anyone in order to be normal again. Trump supporters are showing the grasping desperation of a people who want to get back to 2016 when they could have voted for the email lady instead of this rolling shitshow. 

Back in 2016, this is exactly what we were afraid of, or something like it. It's the monster we've all been drawing, writing about, animating and putting on ice all these centuries. It's here. It's...Outside. I know you're tired of hearing it but: we need you to please Stay Inside. Just until it goes away. Don't be the people in horror movies that go galumphing out in a blaze of gory because they ran TOWARDS the monster.

I understand why you want to rage against something. But don't let it be your friends and family. Please, please don't go full-bore like this Offline, at anyone or anything. You're venting, and that's okay. But please just stay home and tell everyone to go home, be with your family. If you live alone, make yourselves into groups who check in on each other. This is the only time in my life you're going to hear me say this but: USE FACEBOOK. We let Zuckerdrag milk our very souls dry to make his life a super-special one, let's USE this Thing that we made to keep in touch with everyone: IT'S TIME TO KEEP IN TOUCH WITH EVERYONE. GodDAMN you're making me support FACEBOOK. And also: Stop laughing at the Animal Crossing people, they're getting it right. We may have destroyed the real world worshiping our big fat old capitalist ball sacks, but we have cultivated this stupid digital one. Let's get our money's worth off this bitch. If you know a Friend who needs more Friends, tell them to Friend me, I'm pretty okay most of the time. I am heavily medicated. Let's meet in Facebook Groups and discuss side effects and how much we need to sleep. I have easy recipes that use potatoes.

David, I love you and I just don't want you to die. Please stay the fuck home. Out of an abundance of caution.

@SuperLowBudge

Wednesday, November 27, 2019

In Other Words: You're Posting Wrong

It is November 27th 2019, and I've re-activated Facebook after one full calendar year. To the day. Know what I've noticed? It's still a mess. Having said that, I've missed almost everyone. I wish the platform hadn't gotten so revolting. It seems there could have been a sustainable business model that didn't require vanquishing the very soul of the nation, but Zuckerberg gonna Suckerdrag. Truth is I'm better without the bitch, so I'm only back briefly. I'm giving myself six weeks to gather contact info for Friends I want to keep in touch with, and then I am deleting Facebook. But while I'm here...

Among the lesser trials of having Facebook in one's life is watching in real time the devolution of written communication. Can you believe how lazy everyone's getting about...well, words? People out here subbing out words for other words that aren't the right words...and worse, making up new meanings. I saw someone say something is "timely" and only through careful consideration of her post did I realize she meant "time sensitive." Girl. You don't want to mix those up. People using words and expressions they don't understand gets me right in the gonads. You guys, can we be more sure about what we're saying?

"Hear, hear!"

Don't type "Here! Here!"  "Hear, hear!" is the missive you're looking for when in strong agreement with a Friend's post. "Here, here!" doesn't make any sense. You can look it up or you can trust me, I'm a writer. To wit: "Everyone deserves clean air, water, affordable nutrition and health care as a human right."
"Hear, hear!"

For all intents and purposes 

This speaky-speak qualifier is what I call "junk" and as editor I'd cross it out hard. But if you're gonna use it, at least use IT, not its muddy inbred cousin "for all intensive purposes." For all intents and purposes, the clause modifies the content of whatever you just said, presupposing every possible intent and purpose. Don't say "for all intensive purposes." What would that even be.

All of a sudden

The first person I ever heard say "all of the sudden" was my then-future husband Joe, but I have since heard it from other people. Not a lot of people. But enough to show me it wasn't a Joe-only thing or a New Jersey (where he's from) thing. I don't know if "All of the sudden" is grammatically incorrect, it just sounds weird, doesn't it? The sudden what. Implies there's only one "sudden."

By accident

I theorize as follows: people who say something happened "on accident" do so because they're using a certain prepositional logic: because we say "on purpose" when we purposely cause an event, surely  it's "on accident" when we blunderbuss our way to disaster. Dude, no. It's "by accident" and "on purpose."

 

Saturday, December 8, 2018

EIGHT DAYS A FREAK

RIP Michelle's Facebook Account (2008 - 2018)


Facebook self-disrupted in three ways in my opinion. So I'm out, at least for having a personal profile on the platform. At some point I'll likely create a #GenXReport Group or Page or whatever the new thing will be, by then. Because they keep changing the platform for no reason. But for a personal Facebook account, since December 1st, I am Deactivated.

#DeactivateFacebook

I went with Deactivate for now because that allows me to keep using Messenger. Simone told me that in October when we all spent the weekend together, and that's when I decided that it was finally time to get the hell outta there. Speaking of Simone: Always keep your friends who are way smarter than you are, thank you, Simone. Speaking of smart friends? Today Jenny messaged me with the video below. It is a musical number about the unfortunate devolution of Facebook. "This made me think of you,"Jenny wrote. "Love it," I replied. And I do.



Thursday, November 15, 2018

#ThrowbackThursday (Blogcast: April 10, 2018)

Here is one of my "Blogcast" posts from earlier in the year. Regular followers will know that I made an attempt to convert my blog to an audio-only format...no edits! But it didn't work. Because that was a truly terrible idea. And I am sure I'll try it again anyway, because I never learn, do I? This Blogcast, titled "We Got The President We Deserve," is about how digital marketers have been utilizing the data we all put online, that it was never a secret, how all of you opted into participating, and I give some examples in the retail world, and then I show how the same principles apply to CAMPAIGN MARKETING, which in the case of Election 2016 included Russian manipulation of public sentiment against Clinton. Because of the "no edit" rule I foolishly made, I ramble. I'm way better in printed material, guys.

I recorded this Blogcast while Mark Zuckerberg was testifying before Congress on April 10th, right after I heard some old fart politician ask Zuck a question and pronounce "content" as "conTENT," proving once again that these old farts have zero idea what they're even talking about because they're analog thinkers in a digital world, y'all. 
They don't get it. They gotta go, man.

 
Listen as SuperLowBudge explains how some of this shit works. 
If you don't know what you're doing, just get offline and go do something else. 
Otherwise, you in danger, y'all.

Thursday, September 13, 2018

6 years ago


Sunday, April 8, 2018

Whatever it was probably involved chocolate.

thought I made it clear about the cake balls.

Friday, May 26, 2017

I Don't Often Go To Big Stadium Rock Shows

But When I Do, There Is No Line At The Ladies' Room.


All men, and me. Every time.




Thursday, May 4, 2017

"I wonder if Joey's on his way home yet...Nope."
Pretty cool job ya got there, Stretch.


Sunday, April 16, 2017

Meme What You Say


Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Here's A Reminder About That Time You Cut Your Bangs Too Short

"Michelle, we care about you and your terrible decisions.
We thought we'd remind you not to make any decisions at all at 3am, especially not to spontaneously cut bangs.
Michelle, you're not good spontaneous in the morning.
You're better when you pause. Pause next time, Michelle.
Pause for longer."

Friday, March 17, 2017


Monday, January 16, 2017

FB Questionnaire: Top 10 Records of My Teens

Sixteen.
This latest Facebook questionnaire asks you to name the top ten records of your teen years. This one sparked more than a few, shall we say, enthusiastic discussions among my social network. There were some near-Unfriending incidents. Granted, mine is a particularly musically-charged gang of misfits. Dear friends absolutely demolish each other over hot button issues such as whether or not Billy Squire got robbed. (Update: Don't @ me.)

Songs in the Key of Life - Stevie Wonder


Colour By Numbers - Culture Club

Purple Rain - Prince
Rocky Horror Picture Show - soundtrack
Working Class Dog - Rick Springfield
Rapture - Anita Baker


Pretty in Pink - soundtrack
Thriller - Michael Jackson
Love Songs - The Beatles (compilation)

*Runners-Up
Dream Into Action - Howard Jones
No Parlez - Paul Young


Even Now - Barry Manilow
Afterburner - ZZ Top

Off the Coast of Me - Kid Creole and the Coconuts

Sunday, January 1, 2017

FB Questionnaire: Holiday Games



1. What was the last thing you put in your mouth?
I am glad that I saw this after breakfast and not right when I woke up. Because a tangerine, then...

Monday, November 14, 2016

Oh, Nini...I get you, little pig


No Facebook for me, as of late, so what was the first thing I saw when I logged in today? Cynthia's post about her pet pig. Nini is a real life pig in the city! But she still forages. Will you look at the satisfied smile on that pig? Thought you'd all love this pig the way that I do. That'll do, Nini. That'll do.

Sept 29 Update:
@CynthVonBuhler 
I came back to tag "New York." Cynthia von Buhler is a gifted artist, writer and illustrator, and she produces and performs on various stages with bands and immersive theatre shows. 

If you have the means, by all means, do see/hear/experience something Cynthia.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

Another Facebook Thing: 3 Characters That Define You

Neelix, Janine and Jo March

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Happy National Siblings Day!

March 2011 - TT the Bear's Place, Cambridge, MA
(Photo: Randi Millman)

Thursday, December 31, 2015

Just when I decide to write more and Facebook less...

...a friend I never see gets the cutest puppy in the world. 


Must see all puppy pics forever.


Thursday, July 30, 2015

Michelle DiPoala

Does anyone in the family know how to spell our last name?
Because it looks like we're all just winging it.

Friday, April 10, 2015