One more way to be distracted (and distracting)
Recently the chatter at work turned to pets, in particular those we had at earlier points in our lives. The various dogs and cats are mundane, but one person had been fortunate enough to have had a “walk on the wild side”. A skunk, when such things were allowed by the municipality, and a raccoon. One tale involved allowing the masked marauder out after a winter in the house. Gone for an afternoon, and then a scratching at the door. Himself was home, and he’d brought five more friends along to the party.
I’ve found the human equivalent over the last few days. Remember how people referred to avid readers as “always having their face stuck in a book”? Well, it’s now more than an expression. According to Wikipedia, Facebook now sits in the top ten of most visited web sites. If you’re a proponent of the Six Degrees Of Separation theory, this may finally provide some data.
I am as apt to Google the names of people I know as the next person, although I refrain from autogoogling more than once a day (joke). Here, in the matter of minutes, I found about half of my immediate family as well as a cross-section of those I’d gone to school with. Moreover, requesting to be a friend has made me feel immensely popular, which is a wonderful ego salve. Many of the gang provide pictures and up to date glimpses into where they are and how they spend their time, paid or otherwise. Great fun, as someone once said.
I’m far too newbie to make any commentary on the social dangers of corporate datamining, or the upswing in ‘crackbooking’; for now, the novelty is more fun than starting up the pool (which is leaking a little) or cooking meals (also done for today) or watching someone play Super Paper Mario on the Wii (torture). I’d better log back in and see who else I know…
