because it's my blog

Dear Facebook, I'm sorry, but i just don't Like you. i don't even like you. if you'd asked my opinion, i'd tell you directly (to your face) that if everyone unplugged themselves from you for just 1 day, productivity would soar, families would have a come-to-Jesus reunion over a nice pot roast, dogs would get walked, the economy would blast off, and i would look like Claudia Schiffer. well, maybe not that last bit, but for sure the rest. you've cheapened our relationships, and made talk cheap...replacing conversations with a mouse click over a word. you are a bad houseguest that won't leave. at first, you were kind of fun - the whole "connect with old friends" thing. but then, you became a national obsession, weaseling your way into marketing campaigns and advertising and even our american language. shame on you, or shame on us? oy - no shame anywhere...there's already too much of that in the world. but i remember a time when you called someone, or wrote an actual On Paper letter, to tell an actual friend some great news...not whip off a few pithy lines and hit "enter", sending it out into the entire world. it meant something. you were sharing actual news of something with a person that you had actually kept in touch with all these years because you actually liked them. not Liked them. and since when should i care that so-and-so is now friends with so-and-so, and 17 people Like this. or that a person who is friends with one of my friends has a child that just made pee-pee in the big boy potty? i'll be honest - i don't care. if that makes me a bad person, i'll find a way to live with myself. in my world, you can't Friend someone...you have to become their friend. it's a process that is not started & completed by clicking a mouse. you meet them, maybe go shopping or have lunch, maybe a pedicure, you know - girl stuff. if a connection forms, you nurture that bond, sharing your life's events and your hearts. at no point, in my region, do you ask to borrow wheat or brag about crops that no one can ever eat or touch. the Big Question used to be, "do you have email?" Then you had to have a website...or a blog...now it's facebook and twitter and whatever else. all ways to feel like you've connected with people. but it's not the same. and it isn't enough. really it isn't. yes - i'm aware that i'm writing this on a blog. but if i want to talk to you, i'll call. but my point is this: a few months ago, i walked into my livingroom, and there was my husband staring into his laptop, and his daughter staring into hers, and his son slouched on the couch texting. the TV is going. and i thought, "so this is the modern family?" so here's a challenge to y'all: unplug for a weekend. if that's too hard, do it for a day. a full 24 hours. start friday after dinner, and end saturday night or sunday morning. use the time to write letters, plan an activity with your family or your friends, make art, walk the dog, clean out that closet...there are a thousand things to do in Real Life that just can't be done well, or done at all, in the virtual world. and it is virtual ... vir·tu·al/ˈvərCHo͞oəl/ Adjective: 1. Almost or nearly as described, but not completely or according to strict definition 2. Not physically existing as such but made by software to appear to do so: "virtual images". this is my rant for the day. i write it because i like you, friend. late note: putting my money where my mouth is, i have deactivated my facebook account, so if you want to reach me, you'll have to kick it old school - with an email :)