Category: Culture

Culture – As seen from an international perspective.

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Culture Journal

Racial Unrest and other news

It is 8:49 AM on Sunday May 31st, 2020. I have asked myself many times this year if things could get any worse. I quit asking myself that question months ago yet things continue to get worse. At this point I’m wondering if we will see a bottom for a while or if things will simply continue to decline along a steady pace as the months and perhaps even years roll by?

I’m on the verge of deleting Facebook again. I would love to do this but again, doing so would mean losing contact with hundreds of people around the world forever. I’m tried of reading everyone’s opinions but I have to say it is fascinating how quickly people will forget teachings of love and respect and choose a side. I was very disappointed in the boomer generation adult when I myself because an adult and now I am equally, if not more-so disappointed in the adults of my own generation. Adults are supposed to be smart and have answers. I’m realizing adults are amazingly dumb and this is depressing.

As with many things in this blog this explanation is so my ancestors can have an accurate representation. As there are no like buttons nor room to comment I’m not interested in feedback. It would seem that around ninety percent of Americans will just parrot their choice of propaganda and I could just get that directly from the source if I were so inclined.

So what is happening and why?

It is because racism is deeply ingrained in American society. It is not something a sports star nor black president can cure although the media likes to think it can. Human beings on the overall are very tribal and it is very difficult to eliminate the instinct. Humans have always mixed but the tribal instinct remains. Take the Arab Moors conquering Spain over hundreds of years and now most Spanish have black hair and black eyes. You know what else Spaniards have? Ancient hatred for the Arabs even though Arab blood is in their veins. Let’s stick with Spain and look at Mexican society. The rulers are mostly white and at the bottom of the social order are the natives. You go up in social class depending on how much Spanish blood you have in your veins. These rulers then do not care much for the natives although native blood also runs in their veins.

Here in America racism courses strongly through American’s veins and although diluted much over the past century is still as strongly present and real as a Spaniard’s black eyes. African Americans started out in this country as slaves and have had a very hard road since due to this racism. Simply put, it has been much more difficult for them to build wealth and prosper due to racism. If racism could be removed completely I imagine society would be quite harmonious and everyone prospering. But no, the racism persists and injustice after injustice is perpetrated on African Americans. The current unrest is the direct result of a racist society.

Reading the news today I see white leaders telling people they are dishonoring the legacy of George Floyd by looting and rioting. Well, let’s state things clearly here. Both peaceful as well as violent protesting has occurred many times int the past but it rarely does anything. Just a few years ago the Occupy movement had people marching all over the place, holding rallies and lots of people speaking lots of words up on stage. Then it ended and nothing changed. I remember the L.A. riots in the news and seeing video of a man being pulled from his truck and almost killed. Guess what came of those riots? A damaged L.A. came out of them and not much else. So what will happen with these riots? There will be damage, people will get arrested and pepper sprayed, they will end, and nothing will have changed.

The only thing riots serve is to harden the opinions of those who already hold racist views. But I understand the need to protest and even those that want to break things. They live everyday under suspicion, in a society where the feeling of being an outcast is always there although to varying degrees depending on the environment, socioeconomic status, and mindset of the individuals. This is everyday life for them and something that those who do not experience it really cannot empathize with since they have no idea what it is like. However, let’s not pretend that all of the protesters motives are pure. There are more than a few who are thugs, to cause chaos and steal. You see these thugs looting stores. But then I ask myself what is the difference between them looting stores given the opportunity and white collar executives looting their customers (or anything that can be looted) given the opportunity? I remember Wells Fargo charging customers for accounts they didn’t want and then calling it “deepening the relationship.” Perhaps these looters are deepening their relationship with Best Buy? Taking for personal gain is the American way! This is also deeply ingrained in the DNA of this country. The only difference is the ones on top can get away with it whilst the ones on the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder cannot.

Let’s also be honest about the police and George Floyd. This is where I do not understand why white leaders keep saying “the legacy of George Floyd.” He was drunk and trying to pass counterfeit bills. He was not a role model. But here is the catch. When was the last time a white cop killed a white person for stealing? Reading the news I can count three times just in the past few months when extreme injustice occurred based on racism. Arbery, Edmondson and now Floyd. This is that native racism with the only difference from the past is it can now be easily recorded and shared when in the past it could not.

Looking at my Facebook feed half have taken the side of police and half on the side of the protesters. None have written a post trying to understand both sides. This is the important point my ancestors. The truly intelligent can delve into and try to honestly understand the other side. This is not a talent that comes naturally and takes work. This also creates the ironic outcome where expecting to receive more answers you’re own viewpoints become less stable. The results in more reading, and the more you read the more questions you will have and it will continue forever. It can cause anxiety to never be steadfast in your own opinions, to never have an eternally correct answer. But it is also exhilarating!

You’ll soon see that those who are so sure of their answers are the ones that know the least. These are the ones who are the most vocal. In my own feed it is those who did not go to college and received C grades in high school that post the most and are absolutely sure of their own opinions. The Left side of the spectrum is smarter than the Right on the overall. But the Left is also blinded by their arrogance and smugness. They simply see the other side as dumb and that they must teach them. Well, the Right doesn’t want to be taught and hates the Liberals for it. The Right prefers tradition, the way things are and doesn’t want all this change. There is nothing inherently wrong in their opinion. They like sticking with their own group and do not want to be “sensitive” for every new snowflake issue that comes up. I remember myself hating how at OSU we were always taught to be “sensitive” to one thing or another. Exaggerating a wee bit it was like “Hey, this mess of a human wants to identify as a transsexual saucepan with a fetish for spoons on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but straightly bi-sexual on Wednesdays except on the weekends when she/he/we/it/us/they – please use whatever pronoun they would like – would just like to be known as asexual Bruce. For God’s sake’s man, you had to be sensitive to something new every other day and if you weren’t you were a neanderthal.

So yes, I can very easily see both sides here and seeing both sides is a mark of intelligence which we simply do not have enough of especially at the moment.

In other news I want to pick on religion a bit. The Orthodox Church in Greece uses the same spoon to dish out Communion. This means the same spoon goes in the mouths of the entire congregation!

Spoonful of disease

Contrary to what science says, the Greek Orthodox Church insists it is impossible for any disease — including the coronavirus — to be transmitted through Communion. “In the holy chalice, it isn’t bread and wine. It is the body and blood of Christ,” said the Rev. Georgios Milkas, a theologian in the northern city of Thessaloniki. “And there is not a shred of suspicion of transmitting this virus, this disease, as in the holy chalice there is the Son and the Word of God.”

It is quotes and beliefs like these that make me feel like Agent Smith from the Matrix.

I hate this place. This zoo. This prison. This reality, whatever you want to call it, I can’t stand it any longer. It’s the smell, if there is such a thing. I feel saturated by it. I can taste your stink and every time I do, I fear that I’ve somehow been infected by it.

There is so much dumb in the world. I used to think we could trust the adults. As an adult myself I can see that becoming an adult is no cure for stupidity. I used to think that we could trust the President. Well, then I learned a lot about historical presidents. I learned that in a drunken rage Nixon ordered the atom bomb to be dropped a few times. I recently learned that Clinton is up to his ears in sleaze. And with Trump, well, it is something new with him everyday isn’t it. I also used to trust priests. Then I learned how many they abused even in my own parish. I was equally amazed at the nonexistent reaction from the parents. Since they were all absorbed into the religion priests doing something wrong just doesn’t compute. They say something like “Oh, well, he was a bad apple.” They are mentally unable to understand that the entire barrel is bad. Religion owns them, they are in a mental cage from which they can never escape no matter how much evidence is given. Jesus himself could come down out of the sky and say “You know what, this was all a joke.” The faithful would momentarily be shocked, unable to move until the brain swung into action. No, this isn’t true, you’re the Devil in disguise! This my ancestors is how religion works. Almost everyone will be the same religion as their parents. Technology, science and human knowledge will increase. Over time many more may be able to escape the mental cage of religion due to this knowledge or it could swing in reverse. The knowledge may be too much for many to bear and so they will cling to the familiar, to “the answers.” Clinging to anything is more secure than drifting out there in the unknown and usually all alone. As for me, I revel in it.

But going back to the spoon, it makes one want to say the trite phrase “Are you serious??!” This is akin to people of rational mind saying hey, you’re dishing out a spoonful of disease!!! And the response is, “No, no, the magic bread will gloriously remove any impurity!” Not only is this absurd but the thing itself is absurd. The magic break and wine was changed into flesh and blood and people want to eat it! I believe this goes back to pre-human times when eating that which you’ve conquered makes you stronger. Hey, Jesus, I am going to eat you. Jesus commanded us to eat him!

WTF

I really am in the Matrix aren’t it? People cannot get along due to the color of skin, the President is threatening to “release the hounds” like Mr. Burns on the Simpsons and some guy named Jesus is telling people to eat him and billions obey. Many of them with the same spoon. In a global pandemic.

The change from 2019 to 2020 was also us entering into a new dimension, an absurd timeline where nothing makes sense. Oh, well, just like being adrift all alone with no solid answer to ground myself on I will appreciate the experience of living in such an absurd time. I will write in my blog and still appreciate the blooming flowers, a nice glass of wine (not blood) and the beautiful sunsets. As is often said in the Tale of Genji, “This would is uncertain and nothing is secure.”

My life is as short and insignificant as the morning dew on a wisteria leaf.” – MdC

I was going to end there but just opened up my news and The NYT has an article of a reporter being shot with the headline “I’ve been shot!” You know what, if you’re going to go into what resembles a war zone you should probably be better prepared and not expect special treatment because you’re the media. This reminds me of a highly uncoordinated girl being asked to do some sort of physical activity. If she is not completely supported through the entire activity she will fall down in very dramatic fashion for all to see. She is a girl that can do nothing for herself unless given so much special treatment that it is actually done for her. Likewise, if you’re going to go into a riot zone you better have someone prepared for it. Not some weak person who expects her media badge will shield her from all going on around her.

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Culture

American Scam

Ever since I came back to the USA in 2006 I’ve always felt like I’m under constant assault from businesses trying to separate me from my money. Do you want this service, that service, can I upsize that for you, have you heard about our whatever. To top it all I decided to quit the Democrats when some smarmy fundraiser called me and after I expressed my disinterest said “Well, if I could just getcha to get out your credit card…” That was it.

In fact, that is a perfect motto for the way America is today. “If I could just getcha to get out your credit card.” It is used by everyone, even trusted organizations like churches, doctor’s offices, you name it. They all want you to “just getcha to get out your credit card.” America is much more of a business than it is an actual country in my opinion.

Well, I’m pretty astute: I have a spreadsheet which maximizes cash back on the various credit cards, I know my stuff when it comes to computers and the internet and I’m just not easily separated from my money…. until tonight.

My wife wants to take the kids to the circus and to do that we needed to buy tickets. Well, the adult 12.95 price for the first 100 was, of course, sold out. Being in America I imagine “the first 100” promotion never was. So, I bought the $20 ticket for both of us which should have come out to 40 dollars. Unfortunately the link took us to the nefarious Ticketmaster and so, of course, it ended up being $65 with all the fees and taxes included. I get it, it was displayed and I agreed. But it was the next part that got me.

It asked if I wanted to “protect my purchase” and there was no cost associated displayed. So I went ahead and did it. Lo and behold there is a $7 charge x 2 tickets which didn’t appear on the final bill but came separately from Allianz. I was amazed and usually being pretty astute was sure someone else had fallen for it and sure enough, Reddit told me so. Link:
https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/8wxecx/ticketmasters_ticket_isurance_is_a_scam/

Most of the comments say to read the fine print but that is not a good justification. There is fine print on everything, often 10 pages long and with all the purchases I have to make for a family I don’t have time to read the fine print with every small purchase like this. Instead I just trusted that it would have been displayed which is how it is normally done. Hiding the charge in fine print and appearing after the purchase is made is how things are not done. It is sneaky and designed to get people to pay for something they thought was free.

But this being America, no, many companies will use every trick in the book to try to get you to spend just a little more. From micro-transactions in games, to the “membership discount” at Safeway there is always something you need be aware of in order to not pay more than you should. Hell, even the discounts are a trick. I get many discount offers from the car dealerships for service only to find out that those things are pretty much worthless. I even told the rep when I was in for service last and said “Yea, at those coupons are worthless at Melody Toyota too!”

So again, usually I’m pretty sharp but I was taken tonight. Oh well, live and learn and there is a LOT to learn about keeping your money in America.

That makes me wonder about the masses. I’m college educated and pretty sharp when it comes to saving money. But go visit the DMV, or a water park and see all those people with vulgar tattoos on their bodies. Surely they are not very astute with their money. I wonder how they survive? I mean the banks make a ton off overdraft fees and so profit from those that can afford it the least.

America, one big money trap, it is the American way! It is sad this has become so normalized in our society that it is now a matter of fact. God forbid the same day check cashing services that have sprouted up like weeds. If people were smart about their money those places would go out of business fast!

I don’t even have to use the shady check cashing places as my example but could use the mainstream banks to illustrate my point. Bank of America used to robocall me imploring me to “not let the thieves take away everything I had worked so hard to earn,” in trying to get me to sign up for theft protection service. You know, I thought that is why I put my money in the bank in the first place. Isn’t that one of their main reasons for existing?

It goes even further ladies and gentlemen. At least I would have had to press a button to sign up for the service, Wells Fargo will sign you up for things and charge you a fee even without your knowledge! The company with an All-American pioneering wagon as their logo charges you fees for things they sign you up for without your knowledge.

I can imagine things will only get worse from here as MBA students figure out new and “out of the box” ways to separate more people from their money. We cannot even answer the phone anymore because it is sure to be some scam or another with a recording saying the IRS is about to have the cops come arrest me or from the Chinese Embassy telling me there is a problem with my citizenship.

Anyway, I’m just a bit perturbed with myself for actually falling for a scam. Thank God I didn’t click any of the five, yes five, other offers that popped up after I had bought the tickets!

Categories
Culture Internet Journal

The Internet in 2018 – My Thoughts

Privacy and the amount of information companies such as Facebook and Google have on their users has been brought to the forefront with the Cambridge Analytica debacle.  This has been a catalyst for me to reevaluate how I use the internet and where I want to go from here.

Frankly, I’m bored with the internet.  That sounds like such a ridiculous thing to say as the internet is absolutely amazing.  The problem is I’ve fallen into a rut where I hit the same websites everyday.  I briefly check Facebook but rarely post anymore; I check the BBC news, Reddit, and maybe Nexdoor; although I’m quickly learning I really don’t want to know so much about my complaining neighbors.  I’m starting to learn that I really don’t *enjoy* using visiting these websites.  I don’t enjoy the internet like I did when it first hit the mainstream and just randomly searching for websites.

It got me thinking about exactly why I don’t enjoy it anymore.  The first is perhaps the newness has finally worn off.  The next three reasons are the big ones though and those are:  the monetization of websites, personal data collection and the narcissistic nature of social media.  Starting with the monetization there are ads everywhere, it is all clickbait (The internet is shocked at *fill in the blank*) It is all just a bunch of crap and it is difficult to find a refuge where some website is not trying to make money off of you in one form or another.

I’ll leave personal data collection for last and go straight to social media.  I used to absolutely love it, reconnecting with old friends and seeing what their lives are like.  What I quickly realized however is that after a brief euphoria those old connections have faded and the catchup letters I was expecting never happened.  The connection with them on social media is a shadow of the face to face interactions I used to have and “likes” just don’t do it for me.  I’ve seen a million selfies of my friends and their kids but without the face to face bonding the friendship continues to fade away.  I’ve had my fill of Facebook, Instagram and so on.

Now on to personal data collection.  I was absolutely shocked to learn just how much Google knows about you. Checking out myactivity.google.com it appears that my android is recording everything I say and do.  Now I knew it did collect information but I didn’t realize the extent of this.  Although I have absolutely nothing to hide (hell I write an online journal of my entire life) this just makes me feel a little uneasy.  And so I’ve installed the Duck Duck Go extension for Chrome as well as put it on my cell phone.  However, that is only for searching, Google is still collecting every website I visit, where I’ve been, what I say and this is all downright creepy.  So as I write this post I’m charging up my old Nokia RAZR cell phone and might try an experiment.

This experiment is to see if I could live without a smartphone and thus Google tracking everything I do.  I really had to think about all the apps I use because I’ve become so reliant on them that I would certainly miss many of them.  The first and foremost is Google Maps.  It is very easy to use and lets me know the traffic conditions.  However, my old NAVI also can give me directions and the newer models would let me know about the traffic.  The second item is the camera because I do like taking pictures of my kids.  However, my wife has a shiny new iPhone X and takes plenty of pictures I could copy.  The third is text messaging and I cannot remember if my Nokia has this functionality but I’ll soon find out.

I think it would be very interesting to try disconnecting for a month or so.  I believe it would increase my happiness, let me focus more on life and all of its small joys that can go unnoticed when one always has their face in a screen.  I’d be able to read more books instead of seeing what is going on daily on the internet with Reddit.

For the news I have started reading The Columbus Dispatch on the iPad in the mornings and for me that is enough news for the day, especially since there doesn’t seem to be anything good in the news these days.

The internet in its current form makes me think of what Agent Smith said to Morpheus in the move The Matrix:

Can you hear me, Morpheus? I’m going to be honest with you. I hate this place, this zoo, this prison, this reality, whatever you want to call it. I can’t stand it any longer. It’s the smell, if there is such a thing. I feel saturated by it. I can taste your stink. And every time I do I feel I have somehow been infected by it. It’s repulsive, isn’t it? I must get out of here. I must get free and in this mind is the key, my key. Once Zion is destroyed there is no need for me to be here, don’t you understand? I need the codes. I have to get inside Zion, and you have to tell me how. You’re going to tell me or you’re going to die.

Just as Agent Smith wants to be free of The Matrix I feel as though I want to be free of all the data collection, the tracking, the advertisements, the hacking of my thoughts.

I say hacking because isn’t that what Fox News and CNN really do?  They post sensational articles and in a sense “hack” the way people think towards one end or another.  We are all being hacked by the internet and this was apparent in a recent post of someone I knew very well in my past.  She posted a pro-gun video and she is someone who wouldn’t have cared one way or another about guns in the past without some website, some propaganda telling her what to think.  This ‘hacking’ has actually changed the course of American history with all the talk of Russian “fake news.”  People now fall into one of two camps and it is the internet telling them how to think.  The majority rely on quips from news sites, from memes and from 3 minute reports telling them to be shocked and angry about something.

For me personally I cannot listen to any of this noise.  The only time I’ll listen is if I’m learning and for that they’d have to be readers and be reading good, in-depth articles.  Foreign Affairs, Stratfor, The Economist, The New Yorker, or any of the long, deep dives which many upstanding magazines offer but must be paid for and even more importantly read.  Only the most intelligent people will sit and read through an article that takes at least half an hour to 45 minutes to read.  Those offer real insights unlike the junk on the news or social media.

Anyway, like Agent Smith says he “hates this place,” I too find myself hating the current form of the internet.  I long for the internet in its primitive form, full of random websites where you could actually Google something and get interesting results.  Now all you get are the websites that will track you and if not try to sell you something directly want to sell your information to someone else.

And so, as my Nokia charges I think I’ll try to break free, to experience life without all of this noise of the internet.  I’ll try to break free from it all, except of course the golden nuggets of the internet such as Wikipedia, sites that don’t make the first page of a Google search.  We’ll see how this goes, it might be difficult.

Categories
Culture Journal

Journal Entry – Easter Sunday 2018

It is Easter Sunday 2018 @ 5:23 PM.

Yesterday I did the kids and adults karate classes and made it through just fine.  Hyphen (sp?) gave me a nice back kick to the gut and although it didn’t knock the wind out of me like Yoshi’s a few weeks ago it did knock me back.  I made it through the classes just fine even though I had taken a couple of weeks off.

My buddy Brandon sent me a text asking to play darts so as long as we could do it early I was happy to oblige.  We went to the Longboard Bar and it was nice to see they are redoing the room with the darts.  You can now see through to the main bar and they have two great paintings of Use Your Illusion I and II on the wall plus Metallica Ride the Lightning.  The addition of these paintings now makes this my official favorite bar in Pacifica.

I swept Brandon 4 – 0 in the darts:  two of the games were Cricket and two 501.  It is nice to see I’m still able to check out at the end of the game:  that is where you have to hit the outer circle of half the points you have left to win.  If you end up hitting any other number you either bust or need to ensure the points are even and try again on the half of that number.  After a while Peter and Kazuki joined us and we went over to Go Sushi for dinner.  It has been a very long time since I had dinner only with friends.  I then came back early because I really was pooped but before I went to bed I had to hide all the eggs and put the Easter baskets out for the kids to find in the morning.

My son woke up early and was very excited to find the eggs and baskets but had to wait for his brother to wake up before he could go on the hunt.  We then played outside for a bit then down to Rockaway for some Pokémon Go then back for tacos for lunch.  I then took another long nap because karate had really worn me out the day before.

As for Easter I remember the holiday fondly from my youth.  However, unlike my youth I find the rituals of the religious to be very strange.  I simply don’t understand how in this age, with all of our education, so many people can still subscribe to an ancient religion that makes no sense.

In other news I had to laugh at the Russian responses to the #Metoo movement in America:

Dmitry Peskov says “they earned hundreds of millions of dollars, and after 10 years they say that Weinstein is bad,” according to Russia’s Sputnik news service. He says “none of them went to the police, did not say ‘Weinstein raped me.’.. No! (they) wanted to earn $10 million.”

“What’s the name of a woman who slept with a man for $10 million?” he added. “Maybe, I’m speaking crudely, she’s called a prostitute.”

A few months ago they said that the #Metoo movement couldn’t happen in Russia because flirting is how babies are made.

As for me personally I think everyone (who deserves it) should be treated with respect.  We’re all trying to make the best we can of this life and all have very different experiences.  So while many women do have a very valid point I think that it might be going too far.  This was pointed out in a Dilbert cartoon where everyone had to wear “Anti-harassment” suits where everything you say when speaking with the opposite sex will first be transmitted to Human Resources to check for harassment, scrubbed then sent to the person you’re speaking with.

It seems to me that adults are acting like children and it is sad that we cannot even talk to each other without harassment and have to resort to this all blowing up like something you’d see in elementary school with the teachers having to get involved.

Along these same lines I was reading Reddit and there was a clip of a camera man who focused in on the cleavage of some actress who was wearing a very low cut dress.  Of course the purpose of this low cut dress is to call attention to the cleavage but if you do she’ll tell you her “eyes are up here.”  So show them off but you’re in trouble if you look.  It made me wonder how an advanced society would see the idiocy of our society now.  The women wear very uncomfortable high heels which were originally designed to be able to steady oneself whilst shooting arrows from a horse.  Along with these silly shoes they also show off their cleavage but demand nobody look or feel harassed.  So while I’m all for showing everyone respect it is hard to get on board when many situations are absolutely ridiculous.  Many women crave the attention which is apparent from their outfits but should they get it they cry foul.

I guess this is why I partly agree with the Russians on this point.

Anyway, that is enough for today, I better get back to the family.

Categories
Culture Journal

Journal Entry – 9.20.2016

It is 4:09 AM.  We ate pizza late last night which resulted in some very weird dreams for me.  So weird I don’t feel like writing them down in the dream journal but perhaps will write a line or two here.  I was in church and Duff McKagan of Guns ‘n Roses and his blonde girlfriend were sitting next to me.  I was nervous but able to ask him a few questions about the band.  Famous people are a bit touchy and difficult to deal with so I was nervous but he did answer a few.  Anyway, I prefer to let the memories of this dream just slip away never to be recalled again.

Today I have to go to the office for the Challenger sales training.  I’m not really opposed to this since it is free training and useful for my current job as well as other job opportunities.  The Challenger book also draws heavily on the method Grainger developed and it just so happens I worked at Grainger so already know what they’re going to teach.  I just don’t like sitting in a classroom all day when customers are trying to contact me and I cannot respond.  It is also a two day course so hopefully they won’t keep us all day.

One of my first thoughts today was how I’ve become so tired of everything tech being ‘social.’  Social is a big open forum where everyone is trying to be heard and they never shut up.  One cannot hear oneself think in such an environment.  What did he say?  What does she think?  Will I get any likes?  Have I offended others?  Should I read this random business article, or any of the tens of articles that a colleague I once knew shared?  Do I need to read this digest of ‘chatters’ where many colleagues feel the need to say something and for everyone else to read it?

*Reminds me of the Grinch as he complains about the noise the citizens of Whoville make but with a twist.  “Noise, noise noise, with their tweets and comments, their ceaseless chatters and shared this and shared that.  Postings, postings, postings, here and there and everywhere.  Pay attention to me they say, pay attention to the things I write and what I post.  ‘Like’ this and ‘like’ that, ‘likes’ ‘likes’ and comments, comments, comments, please do say something about my picture and like it as well!

How about not.  How about I shut out all the noise.  No more Facebook, I’ll delete the Salesforce chatter digest, I’m not reading any of the articles somebody I once knew who wears a suit shares on a daily basis and I drop out of this big forum where words continually stream from thousands of mouths.  Social has become to me like a lower level of purgatory that is close to hell.

I’ll become a digital hermit and this blog shall be my cave, located in a very remote and desolate part of the internet where very few have tread.  Here, I can be alone with my thoughts and in the dark silence of the early morning get to know myself.