Archives for April 2012
Twitter Is Dead!- Long Live Twitter!
Looking for Jenny at 867-5309 and was surprised when Jessie’s girl answered.
— TheJackB (@TheJackB) October 18, 2012
The rule of four is a law that establishes the number of social media platforms that a person can be upon. Said law was developed due to time constraints and an understanding that until the 32 hour day is created there simply isn’t time to participate in all of the available opportunities.
Long before I created said rule I had one that maintained that there wasn’t time for Twitter because it took too much time to maintain multiple blogs and I didn’t see how Twitter would add value.
Some time passes and in December of 2008 I determine that I cannot make an educated decision about Twitter without trying it out.
In less than two weeks I am convinced that Twitter is not only great fun but an excellent resource for making friends, gathering information and for promoting blog posts.
And for quite some time it was nothing but unicorns and rainbows for me- until it wasn’t. That is because we got lazy and started pumping out more links and engaging less.
That we isn’t the royal “we” it is you and I.
Yep, I include myself because when I took advantage of certain tools and resources I added to the chaos. In the midst of that I noticed that I wasn’t engaging as much as I used to. I didn’t have as many conversations and I began to wonder if we had killed Twitter.
Yep, the original Karate Kid and I once exchanged tweets. Pretty nifty stuff.
Anyhoo, a while back some blogging buddies told me that they also wondered if we had killed Twitter so I decided to conduct a little test to determine the truth of the matter.
I asked the Magic 8 Ball if Twitter was dead or alive and it told me that I should ask later. Well that doesn’t fly with me because as an all powerful blogger I am used to instant gratification so shook that sucker silly and found out that Twitter isn’t dead.
It has to be true because everyone knows that the Magic 8 ball doesn’t lie, unless we are talking about that time in college where it told me that the next girl I asked out would say yes. Or the many times it gave me the wrong numbers for the lotto.
Aside from those two situations it is always reliable, really.
Long live Twitter.
Write Now Words Worth Reading
A drowning man jumped on my head today or maybe it was a woman- I am not really sure. I just know that someone tried to save themselves by trying to suck me into their private darkness.
I didn’t appreciate it much. In fact I found it less than neighborly and downright irritating. I have my own darkness to contend with and there are already ten people standing on my shoulders.
There is a reason why I was given a massive set of shoulders and hands that look like meat paws. It is because I know how to keep going when the going gets tough. I never stop moving forward because once you lose that forward motion it is a bitch to start moving again.
But as I tell my children sometimes the unstoppable object meets the immovable and something has to give.
Using Art To Speak
Those four words above are both subhead and hyperlink. They’ll take you back to a post where I tried to use Wordle images to help tell some tells. There are several there but the one that grabs my attention now is this one.
It is from a post called The Bearer of Bad Tidings- One Less Set of Footsteps and it is about the death of my paternal grandfather. But really there is so much more tied up in it, far more than I can impart in these few words here.
I had to tell my father that his grandfather died. Several years before I had to tell my father that his little brother had died. Neither one of those were easy, but when my uncle died I also had to tell my grandfather that his son had died.
It is a horrible experience telling a parent that they have lost a child and obviously the memory has stuck with me. What can I say other than these are/were some of the most important me in my life. I don’t ever recommend making your grandfather cry.
The Important Things In Life
Grandpa died on June 24, 2006 and I can say that it was the beginning of massive changes in my life that I still feel to this day. There are lots of reasons why this is so and plenty of evidence to suggest that many of those changes are positive, but not all.
It was a moment where my online friends reached out and helped support me. A moment when I recognized the power of the blogosphere and the people within. Sometimes I forget about that. Sometimes I get lost in my own world and I forget about you.
But I like to think that I have gotten better about acknowledging that I am not alone here and that there are many others on this journey with me.
Maybe that is because it took time for me to realize how heavily my parents had begun to lean upon me. That is not a bad thing nor a complaint, but an acknowledgement of my recognition that they weren’t the same superheroes of my youth.
Yet in many ways they still are and that is the contradiction of being a grownup with aging parents. One day my own children will be old enough to really see me. One day they’ll see that I have always been this flawed individual who did his best but didn’t always get it done.
And if they don’t then the words I share here will probably shine some light on that, or maybe not. Maybe they’ll see this as nothing more than one daddy bloggers words.
Old Posts
Cruising through the blog I have stumbled onto some old posts that make me cringe and others that make me laugh. My kids may kill me but things like She Broke My Penis and My Penis is Sad are classic. Serendipity makes me smile too.
Some Days I Feel Broken and  The Cries Of the Broken Hearted take me other places and remind me of so many things. And these words, they resonate with me in ways that I can’t explain
So I am closing down the shop for a bit and hoping that you understand. The dreams of the past can meet the echoes of the future but only if I deal with the reality of today.
Just write my friends, just write.
The Social Media Echo Chamber Isn’t Really Important
This is really just a preview for a coming post in which we’ll talk about the myth of the social media echo chamber.
The Five Dumbest Dad Bloggers
The five dumbest dad bloggers is the sort of headline that sounds like linkbait but it is not. I am not trying to be clever or controversial. I haven’t ever thought about who the five smartest, dumbest or funniest are.
What I have thought about is how it has become increasingly popular for women to make comments about how dumb their husbands/boyfriends are. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard some woman talk about how their man isn’t measuring up in one way or another.
There are more than a handful of posts that I could point to that help promote the men are dumb/lazy/stupid or less than whatever it is we should be as well. I won’t be linking to any of those. They don’t need to receive any traffic from yours truly.
But I’ll ask a few questions that puzzle me.
- If he is so dumb why are you with him?
- What does it say about your judgment?
- What would you do if he spoke about you like that?
Just curious.
Children Are Important
I have been wrestling with whether to air out some dirty laundry here. It is not a simple decision because the consequences of my actions may not be borne solely by me. That is part of what makes the boundaries of blogging more challenging.
So I decided to speak in general terms. Children are not as dumb as some people might think. You can’t buy their love by seeing them once a year and presenting them with a big gift. Children want time with you. They deserve it.
Since I am the “mean” uncle I would be more than happy to tell you that you are an ungrateful putz who needs an attitude adjustment. If I believed that kicking your ass might accomplish something I might consider it. Not because it might be kind of fun but because the “mean” uncle doesn’t like it when our niece asks why you never show up for family events and leave early when you do.
You and I aren’t related by blood…that is good. That makes me happier because I might lose it if one of my siblings was like you. We were raised better than that and Ma & Pa Steiner shouldn’t be shamed in this fashion.
People Remember How You Make Them Feel
People remember how you make them feel. If you want to be popular and successful in most things you need to learn how to make people feel good. It is obviously not the sole requirement but it is significant.
One of the easiest ways for a business to distinguish itself from its competitors is to focus on people. Provide superior customer service and you will earn the gratitude and support of your customers.
As a father I try to be very aware of how I speak to my children because I know that my words hold more power. I know that the wrong words may stay with my children for years if not life. I don’t want them to be hurtful. I don’t want them to carry those around or to feel the sting unnecessarily.
Bloggers and People
I don’t know if I really want to write bloggers and people or if I shouldn’t say Bloggers are People. The latter is probably better than the former but it is so damn obvious it irks me.
Maybe what I should say/write is that once we post these words they last forever. We can edit and or delete them but you never know how many people see them before you make those changes. Once you click publish you lose control of these words and who knows where they go and what they are used for.
Got to get some shut eye, but before I go let me share this video with you. It is one that I have watched many times. It is a reminder to me about mental toughness. I think I need to work on that a bit, teach myself how to hold my tongue a little bit longer than I have.
And from an entirely different perspective it is a reminder that if I really try to do this I need to work much harder to get into the kind of shape it will take to qualify and complete it.
The Story of My Life Told Via Music
The story of my life as told via music- A five minute writing exercise. I guarantee this will be incomplete and that there are many songs that I will leave out, but… Bear in mind that due to time constraints I may not have linked to my favorite version of a particular song.
Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture Part 2– From about 3:40 to the end- that is me. There are no words, but it just works. The full versionwould work too. Â Go hear this live. It is amazing.
The Lord of the Rings SymphonyFull length- Love, love, love this.
Last of the Mohicans – Promontory– So many images in my head.
The Planets – Mars, the Bringer of War- Gustav Holst – Energy
Cats In The Cradle– Harry Chapin
And So It Goes– Bill Joel
Mess Around– Ray Charles
Night Time Is The Right Time– Ray Charles
It Should Have Been Me– Ray Charles
Where The Streets Have No Name– U2
I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For– U2
All I Want Is You / Where The Streets Have No Name– U2
May It Be– Enya
I Am The Walrus– The Beatles
In My Life– The Beatles and Johnny Cash
I Won’t Back Down– Johnny Cash/Tom Petty (both versions work for me- same goes for song above.)
Time is up. So much more should have been included here, but this is a decent start.