3312

I've found myself being more and more withdrawn from social media lately. There is so much animus going on every time I open a page that it has kept me from wanting to even be online. I get that with the internet there will always be contention. Usually it is two opposing view points holding a pissing contest for attention. Just like on the playground in school one kid has to prove he's better than another by assailing another. I get that we all need our ego stroked and need to feel superior at something at some point in time, but I've seen more and more groups attacking individuals online and it has been a major turn off. I have no problem with groups attacking other groups, that's just the way life is, but the individual attacks I've seen really show me how juvenile some people can be. It's sad really. But it isn't the individual attacks. I think the whole social media scene has become poisoned by the rancor that some people harbor. Group thought abounds and the whole place is becoming more of a cesspool. I know I can't point a finger without one coming back at me, and I admit I spew forth my fair share of negativity, but I am working on it. To anybody that feels like I've been a cyber bully in the past, I'm sorry. That being said, I will still defend myself as unfledged as that may sound, but I vow to personally hold myself to higher standards than the group bashing I have taken part of in the past. This is also not to say I won't partaking in some locker room ribbing of others either, but the direct support of genuinely hateful attacks will be squashed. Sports teams, cars, etc. are still open season, so if you have a NASCAR sticker on your Ford, I'm probably gonna refer to you as in inbred hillbilly, but even inbred hillbillies deserve the right to be made fun of for their tastes, not who they are. As long as it stays good natured, we can still trade buying rounds at the end of the night. So, that being said, I might be dropping a few of you from my social circles, but I also might be adding a few I wouldn't have thought of before just because I'm trying to be a better person, not a bitter person.

3480

I cannot believe how lax I have been with my postings. I doesn’t feel like it has been 25 days since the last time I posted, but the calendar doesn’t lie.  One thing that that tells me is, writing is far more inspired than I initially thought.  I’m not sure why I haven’t been inspired to post anything.  There has been plenty going on in the world.  From Crimea to MH370, the news has been filled with plenty.  Perhaps I’m just a little burnt out.  Maybe it’s spring fever.  Spring definitely hits Arizona sooner than anywhere else I’ve been which is quite odd considering for the most part we don’t have a winter.  The weather here has been fantastic, and although we have had a sever lack of rain which means summer will be dreadful, I have enjoyed it.  Many a day has been spent with windows and doors open, letting the warm breeze flow throughout the house.  I’m sure the neighbors will be glad when the temps heat up and the sounds of music flowing out of my abode are muted.  Although in my defense, I at least play a variety of music depending on my mood, and not just the same repetitive cumbia music that my neighbors blare. At least the wonderful smells from their backyard grill compensate somewhat for the ear pollution that is emanating from their speakers.  All this is still only mildly annoying. Here I sit and complain about first world problems when at this moment global boundaries are being redrawn and the families of 237 people must come to grips with the fact they will never be seen again, and nobody knows why. I think tonight, as I grill something while imbibing in an Angry Orchard cider, I will try to reflect more positively on what I have and worry less about my first world problems.
I’d also like to thank anybody that still reads this blog.  I know I have strayed far from my original goal.  So in trying to be more faithful to this little space on the web, I again ask if there is anything you would like me to blog about, just let me know.  I definitely am opinionated and appreciate interactions.  Don’t be afraid to broach a topic, you never know what dialogue can lead to.