It's good to read you again and please- sometime- say hello to the others you have mentioned as I have enjoyed them all. Mostly. :-)
The internet is not real nor a solution anymore than religion or other "isms". It cannot provide food,clothing,shelter,sex, balmy weather, health, etc. though it might indicate a direction for a multitude of things and ideas. And conversations in real life can be boring or guarded while there certainly are lively ideas all about. A couple of men took me under their wings and certainly straightened out my politics and the internet has often displayed the marvelous variety of the human mind and spirit- not that's it's really needed in everyday life but nonetheless is a cushion, so to speak. Did the printing press and use of the vernacular solve human problems? Has Democracy? People have long urged me to write but I think my days to shock/ delight and amaze have tempered- one friend just linked a mag for women writers over 60- how depressing! I think I finally got a handle on the plot of my own world and that was what really counted rather than writing batches of fiction or poems or adopting a shrink. Plus- when I was writing poetry the life expentancy of confessional poets was iffy though it boosted sales. It has been daring enough to stand up to real people and events. I do remember telling some cardplaying gangsters they would be going to hell for missing Sunday Mass when I was seven or eight- I didn't realize they were Jewish! I do think there are areas I still would like to work out- the impact of the Greatest Generation upon their children and the place of older single women versus older men in our present world. Reading Virginia Woolf, one simply knows this woman is bound to load her pockets with rocks and drown herself! Plus she is not that original but followed the lead of Proust and Joyce to wander the stream of cs. As Jung said of Joyce, I believe, some fall, others dive. But back, a bit, this is a very strange time- I still have all my body parts, general good health, good looks, money, a great home but I will die- I am sure of it! :-) I have travelled but now consider it a nightmare. I have volunteered. I have joined a university group in the past but found it too passive- maybe in my 80's, I'll try again. I do miss my children but have decided I do not wish to play tag-along esp. after 45 years of motherhood. So I guess my accomplishments of late have been to give up my ardent spirits, resume the joy of cooking, recapture a sense of humor,- really, a bunch of minor things. In contrast, I cannot seem to close the lid on my own mother and her world that no longer exists- now there was a supreme character if there ever was one! Perhaps life is nothing beyond a constant "becoming". How is hiking with all your smoking? On Jan 4, 8:00 am, frantheman <[email protected]> wrote: > Well, rigsy, your comment has finally had the (questionable) effect of > getting me back posting here! :-) > > I really don't see the problem with Facebook - as such. FB is neutral; > it's a communication platform - in that sense, a typical internet > application. The problems are the uses to which people put it. If they > want to spend their time taking care of virtual farms and answering > inane questions about their "friends," then that's their privilege. > Personally, I find it useful as a tool to keep in touch with family > and friends I have scattered around the world. (It's also good for > reminding me about peoples' birthdays - something I used to be very > bad at!) > > I've been thinking about this whole "real" vs. "virtual" issue on and > off for quite a while now. Observing my own life, I'm tending more and > more to simply reject the distinction. I've got one life and I live it > in all sorts of situations, on all sorts of levels, with all sorts of > different - wait for it, here comes a horrible "in"-word - > communities, most of which are overlapping in ways, just to make > everything more deliciously complex. And it's dynamic, in movement, > anyway. > > Let me give an example. Eighteen months ago I spent a large part of > the time I spent on-line here at "Minds Eye." Things have moved on > since and (in common with many others, if you look at the statistical > development over the past two years here) today I spend relatively > little time here (although I still read nearly everything posted > here). There are a number of reasons for this. In a development which > I regard as being largely coincidental many of those who used to be > heavily engaged (and with whom I was personally more closely engaged) > here started doing other things around the same time. In my own case, > I started blogging; according to the concept which I wanted to explore > for myself, this means writing in excess of 2000 words weekly which > involves quite a demand on the time available to me for other things, > including ME. Some others have gone the same way, Neil (Archytas), for > example, is also blogging intensively (http:// > allcoppedout.wordpress.com/). Others are doing various other things. > > This, however, does not mean that I have lost contact with them. > Ornamentalmind, Lee and Don Johnson spend a lot of time on Gravity - > oops, it's now calledhttp://www.convo.io/. Vam also posts regularly > there and does a lot of other stuff too. Although I'm not on reddit, I > know Chris spends a lot of time there. Molly is also blogging and > doing other stuff. Ian Pollard is quite involved in a family phase. > > Facebook allows me to stay in touch with all of them (and others, like > Gabby as well) - and I do. As life goes on, there's also a developing > pleasant interaction between "virtual" and "real" life - Allan (iam > deheretic) have already met and I hope to meet him again, and, if my > plans work out, I'll be meeting Vam for a hike in the Himalayas in > autumn. > > Form on the internet changes quickly - I have no idea what will be on > offer and happening by the end of 2012 (if the world hasn't ended by > then :-)) But issues, questions and, above all, people remain > basically the same - and that's what really important. Over a number > of years I have made good friends at Minds Eye and these friendships > have proved meaningful enough to survive and develop even when we > don't use ME as a platform for interaction much any more. FB is one > more tool which helps - even if I often get angry at it about lots of > different issues. > > Francis > > On 3 Jan., 15:29, rigsy03 <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > You are kidding! I think Facebook is another pathetic example of our > > psychotic world! The idea is not new- it used to be hawked as the > > Communion of Souls by the Catholics or the old popularity contest. > > It's like Lonely Hearts with "x" number of buddies in similar straits > > or collecting friends like Green Stamps- in the past- to redeem for a > > catalog item. How ephemeral life has become- even our finances are > > blithe spirits! Well, Goldman Sachs has just plunked down some dough > > for Facebook which is a great indication of its future demise! Have > > you considered this constant agitation via tech and media will wear > > out the human brain and make interpersonal/real body encounters > > obsolete? The NYTimes is also hawking the "Me marriage" as the new > > paradigm so life gets goofier everyday,imho. Anyway, read some of the > > great comments about GS via the NYTimes- at least I feel I have my > > head screwed on properly! :-) > > > On Jan 3, 4:11 am, iam deheretic <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > To my friend minds eye > > > I decided to get rid or the people on facebook I have nothing with in > > > common > > > with, ,, Please check your facebook and if I removed you by accident > > > please > > > let me know and I will place you back on my list.. > > > I like following members of minds eye on face book > > > Sincerely > > > Allan > > > -- > > > ( > > > ) > > > I_D Allan > > > > If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken > > > Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text -
