I'm going to end this social media break experiment. This break lasted maybe two weeks. I didn't blog the last week because I didn't feel like I really had anything to say. It was fun being untethered to social media, but other things were making me a bit moody and I was beginning to feel disconnected to others. Being on a social media break was supposed to have the opposite effect. I have learned that I don't have to seek validation in others. So, all was not completely lost. I also rediscovered my old blogging voice. It's not quite exactly my old blogging voice, but I think it is close enough to my old self-deprecating persona. Yes, I shouldn't be so self-deprecating. It's a defense mechanism habit that is hella tough to break.
Anywho, to the random viewership that I may have received in the past two weeks. Talking this out helped. As for my other issues, well, I will have to deal with that at another time. Laters.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
Friday, December 4, 2015
Social Media Break, Day Eight
This post is hella late. I was busy taking care of something last night, and I completely forgot to blog. Daily blogging/journaling hasn't quite become a habit just yet.
A friend of mine asked me to blog for her geek site again. I've done a couple of articles about my history with Comic-Con and what to expect at Comic-Con on her site a few months ago. I lost a little steam immediately after the second article, but being the cool friend that she is, she still has the door open for me to continue to write for her.
I'm probably not going to move this series (or cross-post this series) to that site as this doesn't really fit the theme of World of Geek Stuff, but hopefully I can write about some of my other geek interests on that site again. I think the key for me is to not have it feel like a chore. I need writing or blogging to feel like some sort of creative expression.
In other news, I'm still hooked on that Adele song. I need to start listening to other music soon, because this is approaching near ridiculous levels. lol.
I think that's it for now. I'm either going to blog more tonight, or the frequency of my blogging is going to decrease. I haven't decided yet. See y'all later.
A friend of mine asked me to blog for her geek site again. I've done a couple of articles about my history with Comic-Con and what to expect at Comic-Con on her site a few months ago. I lost a little steam immediately after the second article, but being the cool friend that she is, she still has the door open for me to continue to write for her.
I'm probably not going to move this series (or cross-post this series) to that site as this doesn't really fit the theme of World of Geek Stuff, but hopefully I can write about some of my other geek interests on that site again. I think the key for me is to not have it feel like a chore. I need writing or blogging to feel like some sort of creative expression.
In other news, I'm still hooked on that Adele song. I need to start listening to other music soon, because this is approaching near ridiculous levels. lol.
I think that's it for now. I'm either going to blog more tonight, or the frequency of my blogging is going to decrease. I haven't decided yet. See y'all later.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
Social Media Break, Day Seven
So, it has been a week since I tried this little Social Media Break experiment. What have I learned?
I've learned that I can totally justify checking some notifications all in the name of not wanting to look like a jerk to people that I know.
I've learned that I still am hella wordy. I don't think I'm verbose because verbosity means that I actually some sort of command of vocabulary. I just like to talk.
I've learned that I am hella behind on some pop culture stuff, like Adele's new single, Hello.
I've learned that I looooooove Adele new single, Hello.
I've learned that I loooooove covers of Adele's new single, Hello, particularly the cover by Sabrina Carpenter. I can't get enough of this song.
I've learned that I don't really miss social media that much, particularly my big three of social media: Facebook, Twitter, Google+.
I think this social media break will be an annual tradition for me, provided that I remember to do so. I also have to see if I can actually last until Christmas or Christmas Eve before I start planning future breaks.
I'm sure that there is a lot more things that I've learned in the past week. I am definitely overlooking somethings. I might also be subconsciously leaving out a few things.
This isn't something that I've learned in the past week, but this is something that I need to write out there: I still have my issues, particularly my issues with being needy and looking for self-worth in other people's opinions. I don't know if that makes sense. N says it much better than I could. This ties into a deeper issue of not actually truly believing that people like me for who I am. That issue then goes into a new found discovery that I know that I'm not always completely honest with myself. I know that I can't trust myself, and if I can't trust myself, then I don't know if I can trust my normal everyday actions. I don't think I'm a "phony" in an sense (shout out to Holden Caulfield), but I don't know if my normal actions are really what I think and feel or if it is what I think people expect me to do, or the type of action that I believe is "socially acceptable."
Woah. That got semi-deep all of a sudden. I don't know if this blog is ready for that. Alls I know is, cancel your subscription cause you don't want none of these issues. hahaha. I can't take any credit for that saying. I heard it on a radio show about 15 years ago.
Well, that's going to be it for today. I really am okay. Writing has been therapeutic in a way. I haven't regularly blogged since I blogged my way through the Insanity Workout program. The tale end of those posts can be seen here and here. The beginning of that series can still be found on my old LiveJournal. I really do miss writing blogs. I just need to figure out how I want to blog moving forward.
See y'all later.
I've learned that I can totally justify checking some notifications all in the name of not wanting to look like a jerk to people that I know.
I've learned that I still am hella wordy. I don't think I'm verbose because verbosity means that I actually some sort of command of vocabulary. I just like to talk.
I've learned that I am hella behind on some pop culture stuff, like Adele's new single, Hello.
I've learned that I looooooove Adele new single, Hello.
I've learned that I loooooove covers of Adele's new single, Hello, particularly the cover by Sabrina Carpenter. I can't get enough of this song.
I've learned that I don't really miss social media that much, particularly my big three of social media: Facebook, Twitter, Google+.
I think this social media break will be an annual tradition for me, provided that I remember to do so. I also have to see if I can actually last until Christmas or Christmas Eve before I start planning future breaks.
I'm sure that there is a lot more things that I've learned in the past week. I am definitely overlooking somethings. I might also be subconsciously leaving out a few things.
This isn't something that I've learned in the past week, but this is something that I need to write out there: I still have my issues, particularly my issues with being needy and looking for self-worth in other people's opinions. I don't know if that makes sense. N says it much better than I could. This ties into a deeper issue of not actually truly believing that people like me for who I am. That issue then goes into a new found discovery that I know that I'm not always completely honest with myself. I know that I can't trust myself, and if I can't trust myself, then I don't know if I can trust my normal everyday actions. I don't think I'm a "phony" in an sense (shout out to Holden Caulfield), but I don't know if my normal actions are really what I think and feel or if it is what I think people expect me to do, or the type of action that I believe is "socially acceptable."
Woah. That got semi-deep all of a sudden. I don't know if this blog is ready for that. Alls I know is, cancel your subscription cause you don't want none of these issues. hahaha. I can't take any credit for that saying. I heard it on a radio show about 15 years ago.
Well, that's going to be it for today. I really am okay. Writing has been therapeutic in a way. I haven't regularly blogged since I blogged my way through the Insanity Workout program. The tale end of those posts can be seen here and here. The beginning of that series can still be found on my old LiveJournal. I really do miss writing blogs. I just need to figure out how I want to blog moving forward.
See y'all later.
Tuesday, December 1, 2015
Social Media Break, Day Six
It is a good thing that I'm attempting to take a break from social media because I have discovered my new emo song: Hello by Adele.
Yes, I am a bit behind in the times. Hell, people should be happy that I've discovered a new song from this year that isn't Taylor Swift. lol
I think the version of this song that I really like is the cover by Sabrina Carpenter of Girl Meets World fame:
Sabrina Carpenter sings her heart out on this version. She matches Adele's emotion from the original, at least from what I can tell. I'm no music expert. I'm just a guy who can appreciate someone pouring out their emotion in song.
Anywho, it really is a good thing that I'm taking a social media break because I would be sooooo plastering my Facebook feed with this song and other covers. Hell, I probably would have posted a new cover a day until I couldn't find any more of them, or until my friends all told me to shut the hell up. lol.
Gawd, this song is so haunting. I mean, the lyrics in a way don't make a whole lot sense. Why would you want to talk to someone when you've caused them a lot of pain and you've seen them finally move on? Is this just a desire to see if the other person still feels something for you? I don't get it. Maybe I'm not really supposed to get it, and it really doesn't matter. I mean, the voice and the way the song is sung is just soooo good. This song channels my inner 13 yo girl. No, I am not a 13 yo girl, though my friends would totally say that I act like one. lol
Well, that's it for today. I think I'm getting a bit better with this desire to always be checking social media. It's a bit tough when you want to share something, like a new found emo song and the million covers out there that just need to be shared, but I guess that's what this blog is for, right? That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Yes, I am a bit behind in the times. Hell, people should be happy that I've discovered a new song from this year that isn't Taylor Swift. lol
I think the version of this song that I really like is the cover by Sabrina Carpenter of Girl Meets World fame:
Sabrina Carpenter sings her heart out on this version. She matches Adele's emotion from the original, at least from what I can tell. I'm no music expert. I'm just a guy who can appreciate someone pouring out their emotion in song.
Anywho, it really is a good thing that I'm taking a social media break because I would be sooooo plastering my Facebook feed with this song and other covers. Hell, I probably would have posted a new cover a day until I couldn't find any more of them, or until my friends all told me to shut the hell up. lol.
Gawd, this song is so haunting. I mean, the lyrics in a way don't make a whole lot sense. Why would you want to talk to someone when you've caused them a lot of pain and you've seen them finally move on? Is this just a desire to see if the other person still feels something for you? I don't get it. Maybe I'm not really supposed to get it, and it really doesn't matter. I mean, the voice and the way the song is sung is just soooo good. This song channels my inner 13 yo girl. No, I am not a 13 yo girl, though my friends would totally say that I act like one. lol
Well, that's it for today. I think I'm getting a bit better with this desire to always be checking social media. It's a bit tough when you want to share something, like a new found emo song and the million covers out there that just need to be shared, but I guess that's what this blog is for, right? That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Social Media Break, Day Five
I forgot to blog last night. Maybe that's why I'm so gorram early. You know, health professionals all say that you have to get proper amounts of sleep and all that, but when you have "trained" your body to survive off 5-6 hours of sleep, do you know what typically happens? Your body decides that you want to now wake up after about 5-6 hours of sleep. This is bollocks, man. Absolutely bollocks. I should be sleeping for at least another hour and a half before I finally decided to get up at 4am. Maybe the scotch last night wasn't such a good idea.
I honestly think that Facebook knows when people are trying to take a break from their site. Randomly yesterday, I get an email that one of my friends had changed their status. I immediately thought that I had been tagged in it, so I messaged my friend to see what was the message. Nope. I wasn't tagged in any message. Effing Facebook, man. It's like their algorithm realizes that an account has gone dark for 5 whole days and it tries to get you back. That is just super shady. I don't know if that is exactly what happened, but I don't think people necessarily get emails of their friends changing their status when you aren't tagged in the stats. Curiouser and curiouser.
I survived the work day without having to succumb to going on social media. Yay, me. Let's see if I can survive a second work day. One day at a time, right? Why do I sound like I'm in some sort of 12 step program. This isn't like a real addiction, is it? I mean, social media is just a habit forming diversion to our every day normal lives, right?
I was reminded again yesterday that everyone has a different meaning to the word "interesting" based on their own life experiences. A friend of mine was lamenting on Monday that her life and weekend was boring and that nothing interesting really happens in her life. And yet, when we talk about all of the different things that have happened, she always has experiences that I consider as interesting and fascinating. I guess, I'm far more on the boring scale of life, which is fairly true. Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things. Okay, that was seriously the dorkiest thing I have ever done, and I have done a lot of dorky things. lol
Anyways, that's it for now. I'll try to remember to blog again tonight. I don't know how many more mundane things I can talk about. See y'all later.
I honestly think that Facebook knows when people are trying to take a break from their site. Randomly yesterday, I get an email that one of my friends had changed their status. I immediately thought that I had been tagged in it, so I messaged my friend to see what was the message. Nope. I wasn't tagged in any message. Effing Facebook, man. It's like their algorithm realizes that an account has gone dark for 5 whole days and it tries to get you back. That is just super shady. I don't know if that is exactly what happened, but I don't think people necessarily get emails of their friends changing their status when you aren't tagged in the stats. Curiouser and curiouser.
I survived the work day without having to succumb to going on social media. Yay, me. Let's see if I can survive a second work day. One day at a time, right? Why do I sound like I'm in some sort of 12 step program. This isn't like a real addiction, is it? I mean, social media is just a habit forming diversion to our every day normal lives, right?
I was reminded again yesterday that everyone has a different meaning to the word "interesting" based on their own life experiences. A friend of mine was lamenting on Monday that her life and weekend was boring and that nothing interesting really happens in her life. And yet, when we talk about all of the different things that have happened, she always has experiences that I consider as interesting and fascinating. I guess, I'm far more on the boring scale of life, which is fairly true. Adventure. Excitement. A Jedi craves not these things. Okay, that was seriously the dorkiest thing I have ever done, and I have done a lot of dorky things. lol
Anyways, that's it for now. I'll try to remember to blog again tonight. I don't know how many more mundane things I can talk about. See y'all later.
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Social Media Break, Day Four
Full disclosure early on: I had to go to Google Plus quickly today to turn off a Community notification. Getting email notifications is a quick way back to perusing social media sites regularly again.
Other that that quick peek into social media, I felt pretty good today. The urge to go and check what other people are posting does diminish over times. I didn't realize how much checking social media is like any other addiction. Going by my old smoking addiction, the toughest part is always the beginning. If I can get legitimately get through a week, then I'll be okay and the next three weeks should be a breeze. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
And speaking of addictions and new habits, Monday is the start of a new week and the end of the Thanksgiving weekend. A friend and I are going to start to hold each other accountable on our new diets. She and I had a weight loss challenge last year, and because of that competition, we both lost a ton of weight. Holding each other accountable should be great for us again this year. My biggest challenge is always sugar and chocolates. I have a sweet tooth, particularly for sugar. Last year, I cut out sugar for about a month and that helped to kick start a 30 pound weight loss. If I can do that until Christmas Eve, then I'll be golden. That's not really all that long from now, right? Right?
Monday is going to be a big test for my social media break, particularly during those work down times. I think I can get through those periods. I try not to check Facebook on my work computer a lot anyway. The bigger test will be trying to save articles and stuff on Google Plus for me to check later. I wonder if that counts as checking social media if all I'm doing is stashing an article away somewhere. That might not count as going on social media. This might be easier than I thought. Those sound like some famous last words on a completely non-binding pledge. lol
Looks like this is going to be a short entry today. I wonder if this is a trend or if this is just a by-product of a very uneventful Sunday. I guess we'll find out tomorrow. See y'all later.
Other that that quick peek into social media, I felt pretty good today. The urge to go and check what other people are posting does diminish over times. I didn't realize how much checking social media is like any other addiction. Going by my old smoking addiction, the toughest part is always the beginning. If I can get legitimately get through a week, then I'll be okay and the next three weeks should be a breeze. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
And speaking of addictions and new habits, Monday is the start of a new week and the end of the Thanksgiving weekend. A friend and I are going to start to hold each other accountable on our new diets. She and I had a weight loss challenge last year, and because of that competition, we both lost a ton of weight. Holding each other accountable should be great for us again this year. My biggest challenge is always sugar and chocolates. I have a sweet tooth, particularly for sugar. Last year, I cut out sugar for about a month and that helped to kick start a 30 pound weight loss. If I can do that until Christmas Eve, then I'll be golden. That's not really all that long from now, right? Right?
Monday is going to be a big test for my social media break, particularly during those work down times. I think I can get through those periods. I try not to check Facebook on my work computer a lot anyway. The bigger test will be trying to save articles and stuff on Google Plus for me to check later. I wonder if that counts as checking social media if all I'm doing is stashing an article away somewhere. That might not count as going on social media. This might be easier than I thought. Those sound like some famous last words on a completely non-binding pledge. lol
Looks like this is going to be a short entry today. I wonder if this is a trend or if this is just a by-product of a very uneventful Sunday. I guess we'll find out tomorrow. See y'all later.
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Social Media Break, Day Three
I'm changing the title of this series to Social Media Break rather than keeping with Social Media Free. I really am more on a Social Media Break than attempting to be free of Social Media, so this title makes better sense in my opinion.
I'm going to try to keep today's entry short because I'm full, I'm tired and I might be a little buzzed. Remember kids, tryptophan, insulin crash and alcohol do not mix. Not even a new episode of Doctor Who can keep me up tonight.
Today was generally not a good day. To borrow a quote for George R. R. Martin's Not A Blog on LiveJournal, life is miserable and full of pain. UCLA lost today to USC in football. It's time like this that I wonder why I am a sports fan at all. It has gotten to the point where most of the time that I watch any of my teams play, I'm more hoping that they don't lose than I am hoping that they win. When my team wins, I feel more of a temporary relief than anything else. Sure, there are times when I feel immense joy, like when my Giants won the World Series for the first time since they moved to San Francisco. Actually, that one was both immense relief and immense joy. Regardless, the moral is that I experience less joy as each year passes. I need to rediscover the love for sports. I also need to let go of that sadness when my team loses. That is one of the worst superficial emotional pains out there.
The bright side of taking a social media break during this time period is that I cannot see what the other fan base is saying. That helps ease the pain a little. The scotch is helping with the rest of that pain. lol. My Facebook feed is going to be loving the fact that I'm taking a break right now, cause I could totally see another round of drunken video postings coming up, if this deadly trio of typtophan, alcohol and insulin crash doesn't knock me out first.
In other news, I've held out on buying a Nexus 9 so far. My resolve is holding strong. I needed some help from Marie-Reine and Nicole, but so far so good. That is such a good deal, but it is a piece of technology that would hold no use for me other than being a semi-dedicated Chromecast remote and a possible vehicle for a secondary Clash of Clans account. The fact that I'm even thinking of getting a tablet for that Clash of Clans thing is reason enough why I shouldn't get it. It is such a frivolous piece of tech that I don't need. But, a discount of $200 is just soooooo good. I'll think more about this later.
In a bit of blog news, I was surprised to see that my last two blog posts have received some views out there. I mean, who the hell is reading this. lol. I didn't think I had an audience out there, but my Blogger stats say that it's being viewed out there. That's just crazy. I swear I'm not this insane, although I really might just be this boring. haha
And I'm now laughing at my own bad jokes. I think that is a sign that I need to sign off for the night. My last day of my hella long weekend ends tomorrow. I really should go out and enjoy the day tomorrow. Good thing I was able to finish Jessica Jones this weekend. That show was hella good. I highly recommend it.
Well, that's it for now. I'll try to shoehorn a blog post tomorrow. Laters.
I'm going to try to keep today's entry short because I'm full, I'm tired and I might be a little buzzed. Remember kids, tryptophan, insulin crash and alcohol do not mix. Not even a new episode of Doctor Who can keep me up tonight.
Today was generally not a good day. To borrow a quote for George R. R. Martin's Not A Blog on LiveJournal, life is miserable and full of pain. UCLA lost today to USC in football. It's time like this that I wonder why I am a sports fan at all. It has gotten to the point where most of the time that I watch any of my teams play, I'm more hoping that they don't lose than I am hoping that they win. When my team wins, I feel more of a temporary relief than anything else. Sure, there are times when I feel immense joy, like when my Giants won the World Series for the first time since they moved to San Francisco. Actually, that one was both immense relief and immense joy. Regardless, the moral is that I experience less joy as each year passes. I need to rediscover the love for sports. I also need to let go of that sadness when my team loses. That is one of the worst superficial emotional pains out there.
The bright side of taking a social media break during this time period is that I cannot see what the other fan base is saying. That helps ease the pain a little. The scotch is helping with the rest of that pain. lol. My Facebook feed is going to be loving the fact that I'm taking a break right now, cause I could totally see another round of drunken video postings coming up, if this deadly trio of typtophan, alcohol and insulin crash doesn't knock me out first.
In other news, I've held out on buying a Nexus 9 so far. My resolve is holding strong. I needed some help from Marie-Reine and Nicole, but so far so good. That is such a good deal, but it is a piece of technology that would hold no use for me other than being a semi-dedicated Chromecast remote and a possible vehicle for a secondary Clash of Clans account. The fact that I'm even thinking of getting a tablet for that Clash of Clans thing is reason enough why I shouldn't get it. It is such a frivolous piece of tech that I don't need. But, a discount of $200 is just soooooo good. I'll think more about this later.
In a bit of blog news, I was surprised to see that my last two blog posts have received some views out there. I mean, who the hell is reading this. lol. I didn't think I had an audience out there, but my Blogger stats say that it's being viewed out there. That's just crazy. I swear I'm not this insane, although I really might just be this boring. haha
And I'm now laughing at my own bad jokes. I think that is a sign that I need to sign off for the night. My last day of my hella long weekend ends tomorrow. I really should go out and enjoy the day tomorrow. Good thing I was able to finish Jessica Jones this weekend. That show was hella good. I highly recommend it.
Well, that's it for now. I'll try to shoehorn a blog post tomorrow. Laters.
Friday, November 27, 2015
Social Media Free, Day Two
Day two of trying to be social media free started off pretty well. The need to constantly check my three sites wasn't as strong today as it was on day one. I guess not posting anything kinda helps with that. Also, after about a day, any previous post would lose steam, so there would be less of a need to check to see how many "like" or "+1's" my "going away post" got.
I did some Black Friday shopping this morning online. I wonder if that is closer to doing a Cyber Monday on Black Friday since I didn't exactly go to a store? I don't know. I guess it really is all the same. I tried to stay away from shopping at Amazon because I'm having personal issues with their business practices, but I couldn't find anything I liked on ThinkGeek or the HBO Store, and some of the tech deals on Amazon were just too good to pass up. As of 11:30 pm PT, I have resisted buying a Nexus 9 from the Google Store. The 16-gig version is going for $199 while the 32-gig version is going for $279 on Black Friday. Those are amazing deals, however, I already have a tablet, and my personal tech purchase of the year is my handy dandy Dell laptop. I don't think I could justify another tech purchase.
I was semi-planning on seeing Creed today, but I ended up grabbing lunch with a work friend instead, followed by some Jessica Jones afterwards. It was fun hanging out with my work friend outside of work. We don't normally get a chance to grab lunch together as typically I have to cover for her when she goes to lunch, so this was a fun experience to hangout outside the work environment.
I'm still planning on checking out Creed this weekend. I have heard nothing but great reviews about it. I also want to check out Victor Frankenstein, but I have the distinct feeling that I just won't have the time to see all of the movies that I want to see. Oh well, it's not exactly the end of the world if I miss a couple of movies here or there. The one movie I can't miss is Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I mean, after being brought near to tears at Comic-Con, I would lose all geek cred if I missed this movie on opening weekend.
Now, full disclosure time on the social media: towards the end of the day, I did log on to both Facebook and Google Plus briefly. Here are my justifications. I logged onto Facebook when I got a friend request from one of my G+ friends. Since my Facebook posts are mostly private, my friend probably didn't see that I was on a social media break, and I didn't want to appear rude. With Google Plus, one of my friends had invited me to her TV Spoiler Community. Again, I didn't want to appear rude by not accepting, so I popped in quickly to accept the invitation. I didn't check my newsfeed at all. With Facebook, I saw my sister's new profile pic of her kids. I had to quickly close the browser because I knew that I would get sucked back into that whole Facebook world, and it is only day two. Hmmm. I'm already making a lot of allowances here. I really have to break this habit.
Other than those two quick moments of weakness, I think I've done well today. The next couple of days will be harder (#twss?). Saturday is a big college football day, and with the UCLA-USC football game being for the Pac-12 South title, everyone will be out representing on social media tomorrow. The big test will be on Monday. Going on the social media sites and sharing articles is normally a great way to pass the day during work when there is some downtime. I guess there is some actually work things I can do this week. Social media has become a big part of my work time routine. I need to create new habits during the work day.
Well, that's it for now. I still can't believe that I'm attempting to blog this. It's even harder (#twss?) to believe that I have this much to write. I don't exactly lead an exciting life as the words above can attest. I guess social media does tend to stifle some creativity, if blogging about your day can be considered creative. lol. Anywho, I don't know how long I can keep up this blogging experience, but it's something for me to think about for now. I'll see y'all next time.
I did some Black Friday shopping this morning online. I wonder if that is closer to doing a Cyber Monday on Black Friday since I didn't exactly go to a store? I don't know. I guess it really is all the same. I tried to stay away from shopping at Amazon because I'm having personal issues with their business practices, but I couldn't find anything I liked on ThinkGeek or the HBO Store, and some of the tech deals on Amazon were just too good to pass up. As of 11:30 pm PT, I have resisted buying a Nexus 9 from the Google Store. The 16-gig version is going for $199 while the 32-gig version is going for $279 on Black Friday. Those are amazing deals, however, I already have a tablet, and my personal tech purchase of the year is my handy dandy Dell laptop. I don't think I could justify another tech purchase.
I was semi-planning on seeing Creed today, but I ended up grabbing lunch with a work friend instead, followed by some Jessica Jones afterwards. It was fun hanging out with my work friend outside of work. We don't normally get a chance to grab lunch together as typically I have to cover for her when she goes to lunch, so this was a fun experience to hangout outside the work environment.
I'm still planning on checking out Creed this weekend. I have heard nothing but great reviews about it. I also want to check out Victor Frankenstein, but I have the distinct feeling that I just won't have the time to see all of the movies that I want to see. Oh well, it's not exactly the end of the world if I miss a couple of movies here or there. The one movie I can't miss is Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I mean, after being brought near to tears at Comic-Con, I would lose all geek cred if I missed this movie on opening weekend.
Now, full disclosure time on the social media: towards the end of the day, I did log on to both Facebook and Google Plus briefly. Here are my justifications. I logged onto Facebook when I got a friend request from one of my G+ friends. Since my Facebook posts are mostly private, my friend probably didn't see that I was on a social media break, and I didn't want to appear rude. With Google Plus, one of my friends had invited me to her TV Spoiler Community. Again, I didn't want to appear rude by not accepting, so I popped in quickly to accept the invitation. I didn't check my newsfeed at all. With Facebook, I saw my sister's new profile pic of her kids. I had to quickly close the browser because I knew that I would get sucked back into that whole Facebook world, and it is only day two. Hmmm. I'm already making a lot of allowances here. I really have to break this habit.
Other than those two quick moments of weakness, I think I've done well today. The next couple of days will be harder (#twss?). Saturday is a big college football day, and with the UCLA-USC football game being for the Pac-12 South title, everyone will be out representing on social media tomorrow. The big test will be on Monday. Going on the social media sites and sharing articles is normally a great way to pass the day during work when there is some downtime. I guess there is some actually work things I can do this week. Social media has become a big part of my work time routine. I need to create new habits during the work day.
Well, that's it for now. I still can't believe that I'm attempting to blog this. It's even harder (#twss?) to believe that I have this much to write. I don't exactly lead an exciting life as the words above can attest. I guess social media does tend to stifle some creativity, if blogging about your day can be considered creative. lol. Anywho, I don't know how long I can keep up this blogging experience, but it's something for me to think about for now. I'll see y'all next time.
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Social Media Free, Day One
I'm going to try a little personal experiment. I'm going to try to stay away from my big three of social media: Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ . This experiment is meant to go from Thanksgiving to Christmas. It can also stop at anytime. Now, if I break down and go to one of these sites before Christmas, it won't be the end of the world. The experiment can always restart right after that moment.
The impetus of this idea is the realization that I spend too much time on these sites, and I tend to express some of my borderline self-destructive tendencies on these sites. In other words, I get too emo and I spam my Facebook feed with random '80s and '90s videos that I can find on YouTube. Also, I was listening to a podcast with Bill Simmons and Judd Apatow where they mention that some modern day creativity might be stifled by the immediacy of social media posts. I need to re-focus some of my creative energy somewhere.
I can also see the irony of blogging about being Social Media Free. Some can see a personal blog as something of a social media outlet. I'm going to let this slide. I need some outlet to express myself. Plus, I don't think I really have an audience out there, so this is really just me howling at the proverbial wind.
So, on Thanksgiving Eve, I posted a little "going away" meme on Facebook and G+ with the only caption being #socialmediabrek. Yes, the irony of posting about a social media break is also not lost on me. Somehow, I felt the need to inform my friends on Facebook and my 2000+ followers on G+ that I was going away for a while. I might be a bit of a narcissist.
I also deleted the Facebook, G+ and Twitter apps from my phone and tablet. Theoretically, that should help with the temptation of checking these sites on a near constant basis for my source of validation from other people's opinion of me. I also turned off all email notifications from my "duties" of moderating some Communities on G+. Those Communities will just have to manage themselves without me.
With that being said, I have to confess that I cheated a bit. I can still check and clear G+ notifications from the main Google website. I also did log into Facebook at the beginning of the post to make sure that I had my personalized FB URL correct. But, I didn't visit my newsfeed or stream or whatever it is that the friends and followers feed stream thing is called nowadays. I don't know what people are doing and saying, and that's just going to have to be okay for me for now.
I did find myself checking my email more often today. That's not really going to do me any good as I wasn't expecting anything from anyone. I just needed something to do while I was sitting around. The immediacy of social media really is a habit that is hard to break. I'm going to need a lot of help and willpower with this one.
Well, that's going to be it for now. I needed to "document" this near one month journey of mine. I think I can do it. I mean, what do I really need to post on social media nowadays? Most of my Facebook posts lately have been music videos. I guess that can get old pretty quick.
One of these days, I'm going to actually talk about some of the things that have been bothering me, but today is not this day. I have no idea if anyone is going to see this other than me, but that's okay. I'm not trying to be famous or anything.
Anyways, until tomorrow, or whenever I decide to write next. Adios.
The impetus of this idea is the realization that I spend too much time on these sites, and I tend to express some of my borderline self-destructive tendencies on these sites. In other words, I get too emo and I spam my Facebook feed with random '80s and '90s videos that I can find on YouTube. Also, I was listening to a podcast with Bill Simmons and Judd Apatow where they mention that some modern day creativity might be stifled by the immediacy of social media posts. I need to re-focus some of my creative energy somewhere.
I can also see the irony of blogging about being Social Media Free. Some can see a personal blog as something of a social media outlet. I'm going to let this slide. I need some outlet to express myself. Plus, I don't think I really have an audience out there, so this is really just me howling at the proverbial wind.
So, on Thanksgiving Eve, I posted a little "going away" meme on Facebook and G+ with the only caption being #socialmediabrek. Yes, the irony of posting about a social media break is also not lost on me. Somehow, I felt the need to inform my friends on Facebook and my 2000+ followers on G+ that I was going away for a while. I might be a bit of a narcissist.
I also deleted the Facebook, G+ and Twitter apps from my phone and tablet. Theoretically, that should help with the temptation of checking these sites on a near constant basis for my source of validation from other people's opinion of me. I also turned off all email notifications from my "duties" of moderating some Communities on G+. Those Communities will just have to manage themselves without me.
With that being said, I have to confess that I cheated a bit. I can still check and clear G+ notifications from the main Google website. I also did log into Facebook at the beginning of the post to make sure that I had my personalized FB URL correct. But, I didn't visit my newsfeed or stream or whatever it is that the friends and followers feed stream thing is called nowadays. I don't know what people are doing and saying, and that's just going to have to be okay for me for now.
I did find myself checking my email more often today. That's not really going to do me any good as I wasn't expecting anything from anyone. I just needed something to do while I was sitting around. The immediacy of social media really is a habit that is hard to break. I'm going to need a lot of help and willpower with this one.
Well, that's going to be it for now. I needed to "document" this near one month journey of mine. I think I can do it. I mean, what do I really need to post on social media nowadays? Most of my Facebook posts lately have been music videos. I guess that can get old pretty quick.
One of these days, I'm going to actually talk about some of the things that have been bothering me, but today is not this day. I have no idea if anyone is going to see this other than me, but that's okay. I'm not trying to be famous or anything.
Anyways, until tomorrow, or whenever I decide to write next. Adios.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
How to Prepare for the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con: What to Expect
On my last post, I briefly went over my own experience and history with the San Diego Comic-Con.This installment will be...
Oh, and you can expect to see some cosplay.
Lots of cosplay:
Make sure you have your camera ready. Lots of people cosplay, and everyone wants to show off. Just be polite and ask if you can take their picture. Unless the cosplayers need to get somewhere, they are always willing to oblige for a picture or three.
Besides, you never know who might be under that Spider-Man mask.The Days Of Comic Con
Comic-Con takes place over the course of 5 days.: Wednesday night to Sunday.
Despite Preview Night turning into a day all on its own, Thursday is still considered the first day of Comic-Con.
You can expect lighter programming on Thursday than the other days, but when the Twilight movies were a thing, Thursdays at Comic-Con became as busy and as hectic as Saturday Hall H programming.Friday is Star Wars Day!
Friday is considered Star Wars day at Comic-Con because of the bevy of Star Wars related programming that day. Also, the first slides of the first Star Wars was shown in Comic-Con, so there will always be a deep connection between the film franchise and the show. With Star Wars: The Force Awakens coming out later this year, it is almost a sure bet that there will be a Star Wars panel in 2015.
In the last few years, Friday has also hosted panels for AMC’s The Walking Dead and HBO’s Game of Thrones in Hall H, a room that fits 6500 people. Having been to those panels, I can tell you that you have to line up early and no one leaves until at least those two panels are over.
The Will Eisner Awards are also held on Friday. The Eisners are the comic book equivalent of the Oscars. They are held at Indigo Ballroom of the Hilton Bayfront and they are open to anyone with a four-day badge or a Friday badge.
On other programming news, the second biggest room in the San Diego Convention Center is Ballroom 20 which seats about 2000 people. That room on Saturday hosts the Comic-Con Masquerade Ball. The Masquerade Ball is arguably the biggest event of Comic-Con. Morgan Spurlock’s documentary, Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope, dedicated a huge portion to the Masquerade Ball and what people have to go through to make that magic happen.
You can expect a lot of family friendly programming on Sunday. Sunday is not as hectic as the other days, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to stay in the Exhibit Hall to the very end. The rush to get out of the convention center rivals any mass crowd scene I’ve experienced.
Everything I’ve already mentioned does not even scratch the surface of all of the events at Comic-Con. There are off-site events like Nerd HQ, the the Nerdist, Walker Stalker Fan Fest and The Walking Dead Escape just to name a few.
As you can see, there is a lot to do at Comic-Con. This post was my attempt at showing what one can expect at the Comic-Con. On my next post, I will actually go over what you need to do to prepare for the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con. There is a lot to do with so little time. You will need to prepare and plan accordingly so that you can get the most out of your Comic-Con experience.
What Can You Expect at the San Diego Comic-Con.
As previously noted by this May 2013 article by Film School Rejects, the San Diego Comic-Con has about 130,000 attendees at a convention center with a square footage of 615,700 (an area larger than 10 football fields). What does that all mean? It means you can expect that there will be a lot of people, there will be a lot of walking, there will be a lot of waiting in line to get into places to check things out, and it will be hella crowded. But you are going to have a lot of fun while you’re there.Oh, and you can expect to see some cosplay.
Lots of cosplay:
Make sure you have your camera ready. Lots of people cosplay, and everyone wants to show off. Just be polite and ask if you can take their picture. Unless the cosplayers need to get somewhere, they are always willing to oblige for a picture or three.
Besides, you never know who might be under that Spider-Man mask.
The Days Of Comic Con
Comic-Con takes place over the course of 5 days.: Wednesday night to Sunday.
Wednesday night is Preview Night.
Not everyone can go to Preview Night. It used to be that there was no price difference between a 4-day pass and a 4-day pass with Preview Night. With the growing popularity of the show, Preview Night costs a little extra. Preview Night was meant to be where you could check out the Exhibit Hall the night before the show opens. It was never too hectic or too crowded and you could get freebies from many booths as well as having the opportunity to buy some Exclusives from places like Mattel or Hasbro. Those days are now a thing of the past. Preview Night is now all about getting Exclusives and watching Screenings, not that there’s anything wrong with that.Despite Preview Night turning into a day all on its own, Thursday is still considered the first day of Comic-Con.
You can expect lighter programming on Thursday than the other days, but when the Twilight movies were a thing, Thursdays at Comic-Con became as busy and as hectic as Saturday Hall H programming.
Friday is Star Wars Day!
Friday is considered Star Wars day at Comic-Con because of the bevy of Star Wars related programming that day. Also, the first slides of the first Star Wars was shown in Comic-Con, so there will always be a deep connection between the film franchise and the show. With Star Wars: The Force Awakens coming out later this year, it is almost a sure bet that there will be a Star Wars panel in 2015.
In the last few years, Friday has also hosted panels for AMC’s The Walking Dead and HBO’s Game of Thrones in Hall H, a room that fits 6500 people. Having been to those panels, I can tell you that you have to line up early and no one leaves until at least those two panels are over.
The Will Eisner Awards are also held on Friday. The Eisners are the comic book equivalent of the Oscars. They are held at Indigo Ballroom of the Hilton Bayfront and they are open to anyone with a four-day badge or a Friday badge.
Saturday is the big "Hollywood" day!
Saturday is what I like to call "movie panel day" as Hall H typically hosts the Warner Bros panel to start the day with Marvel Studios ending the day. With Marvel Studios potentially not coming to Comic-Con this year, there’ll be a Hulk-sized programming hole that will need to be filled. There will be plenty of studios that will be clamoring for just that spot in the programming schedule. When people say that Hollywood has taken over Comic-Con, they are typically talking about the stuff that happens in Hall H on Saturday.
On other programming news, the second biggest room in the San Diego Convention Center is Ballroom 20 which seats about 2000 people. That room on Saturday hosts the Comic-Con Masquerade Ball. The Masquerade Ball is arguably the biggest event of Comic-Con. Morgan Spurlock’s documentary, Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope, dedicated a huge portion to the Masquerade Ball and what people have to go through to make that magic happen.
Sunday is Kids Day!
You can expect a lot of family friendly programming on Sunday. Sunday is not as hectic as the other days, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to stay in the Exhibit Hall to the very end. The rush to get out of the convention center rivals any mass crowd scene I’ve experienced.
Everything I’ve already mentioned does not even scratch the surface of all of the events at Comic-Con. There are off-site events like Nerd HQ, the the Nerdist, Walker Stalker Fan Fest and The Walking Dead Escape just to name a few.
As you can see, there is a lot to do at Comic-Con. This post was my attempt at showing what one can expect at the Comic-Con. On my next post, I will actually go over what you need to do to prepare for the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con. There is a lot to do with so little time. You will need to prepare and plan accordingly so that you can get the most out of your Comic-Con experience.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
How to Prepare for the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con: My History and Introduction
The San Diego Comic-Con has been called many things: nerd prom, a gigantic pop-culture event, a celebration of the popular arts. Comic-Con is all of that and more. Comic-Con is one of the biggest pop-culture events in the world. Because of the scale of the show, preparing for Comic-Con requires a lot of planning and homework. Yes, something like Comic-Con should be fun, but planning and preparing for Comic-Con is the best way to get the most out of your experience.
Before I start with the “how to prepare for Comic-Con” advice, I would like to share my own history with the show, and particularly what going to Comic-Con unprepared is like. I have been going to Comic-Con since 2001. My first Comic-Con experience was as a day trip on a Saturday. My girlfriend and I had only heard of Comic-Con. Neither of us had ever been, and neither of us knew what was in store for us. We had decided that week to check out the world famous San Diego Comic-Con. Even back then, Comic-Con was already pretty well known. We just did not know the scope of the show.
We jumped in my car and drove to San Diego on a Saturday morning. We fought through typical Southern California Saturday traffic, we navigated our way through a crowded downtown San Diego to one of the Comic-Con parking lots, and we eventually made our way to the San Diego Convention Center through one of the free Comic-Con shuttles. Once we arrived at the convention center, we had to wait in a hella long line to get a registration pass for the day. Yes, there used to be a time when you could get passes to Comic-Con on the day of the show. After the 2+ hour traffic from Van Nuys to San Diego, plus what seemed to be at least an hour wait in line just to register, we were finally able to get into Comic-Con. We weren’t prepared for what we saw and experienced.
We saw a crowded Exhibit Hall with maybe 50-60,000 people all checking out the same booths. We saw a lot of people dressed as their favorite comic book character. We did not know about cosplaying back then. When we tried to go to a quiet part of the convention center, we just saw more people crowding around. When we tried to check out some programming, we saw more lines to get into some of these rooms. We thought the show was already huge and overcrowded and overwhelming. We did not prepare for Comic-Con. We did not know where to get food. We did not have any water with us. We didn’t even have any bags to help us carry around the free stuff we got or any of the cool and geeky things we bought. And then after the show, we fought our way through San Diego and Southern California traffic to make our way back home that same day.
However, when all was said and done, we didn’t know how good we had it back then. That first day seems like a nice quiet Comic-Con day now. To paraphrase Game of Thrones, we were sweet summer children.
The San Diego Comic-Con has only grown since then . I have witnessed first hand the incredible growth and popularity of Comic-Con.
What used to be a show where you can get tickets the same day is now a show that sells out in one hour.
Comic-Con used to cost around $50 for a 4 day pass with Preview Night. That same ticket costs about $200 now.
I was there before Hall H was ever a thing. Now for many people, Hall H is the only thing that matters.
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