It’s Facebook’s Fault

As you can see by my long absence from this blog, my high school reunion back in October took a lot out of me.  Recovery from it has been a long and painful process.  So many cougars!  So much animal print!  (Note:  my leopard-print jumpsuit was at the cleaners that night.  Once again, I was a fashion FAIL!) 

And how does one erase the memory of exhausting and fruitless political discussions with once-reasonable former classmates, who, like me, were brought up in working middle-class families, by parents who probably belonged to unions and were probably Kennedy-worshiping Dems back in the day, who have now become angry, right-wing conservatives?  (Why are they always so angry?  Oh… perhaps it’s because they are stuck with Romney for their presidential nominee.  I’d be angry too.)  I found this odd given our common socio-economic backgrounds.  It was draining.  It was mind-numbing.  Or maybe I am just remembering my reaction to the trauma of the cash bar.  Don’t get me started on that.  But all in all, a lovely evening.

Then came the holidays, which sucked the life out of me as they usually do.  But in a good way. 

But by far, the greatest contributor to my absence has been my new-found addiction to Facebook (which will not be replacing my old-found addiction to wine!).  Yes, it’s true, I was a former detractor of Facebook.  This is well-documented.  I thought it was lame.  (It kinda is.)  And a time-waster.  (Most definitely.)  But in many ways it is gratifying.  I have seen happy family photos of old friends, their children, and in some cases, their grandchildren.  I am glad to know they’re doing well.  I now know the musical tastes, political leanings, and hobbies of many of my friends.  Some post interesting articles that we all can comment on.  We rate them by “Liking” or “Disliking” them with a handy little button.  So efficient.  Like most things these days, this Like/Dislike button feature just reinforces the knee-jerk response we computer-addicted humans have developed when faced with nuanced discourse and complex issues.  You hardly have to think at all!  Darwin was right!  Animals (and humans are animals) DO adapt to the circumstances they find themselves in.  Sometimes the circumstance is called Facebook.

We tease each other.  We’ve seen who must always have the last word.  All in all, harmless fun.  No one has stolen my identity or unleashed a demonic virus into my computer.  Yet. 

I realize my absence from this blog has deprived you all from reading about the usual topics:  my fondness for wine, Thanksgiving, Christmas, wine-centric vacation destinations, New Year’s resolutions (spoiler:  I never keep any of them), and Weight Watchers’ continued stalking of me—because I ONCE clicked on their website for information.  ONCE. 

So, 4.7 readers of this blog (including me), you can thank Facebook for that.