I know I haven’t posted much lately…
Posted by Gypsy on Oct 29, 2006
…I’d write an excuse, but any of these will do.
Real life
Posted by Gypsy on Oct 26, 2006
Anyone who knows me personally knows I have a bit of an unhealthy addiction to the Internet and, more specifically, message boards. Up until recently, I only posted regularly on one, but lately I’ve been posting on an offshoot of the first board. Essentially, it’s some of the same people, just smaller and, until recently, relatively drama free.
I think when people spend an insane amount of time on message boards start to forget that a screen name is more than just words on a screen. It’s more than just pixels. There is a real person on the other end of that name. A real person that may just be hiding behind that screen name saying things he wouldn’t say to someone’s face. Or a real person saying mean things because they are too far away to say it to someone’s face. Or a real person being hurt by what is being said about them. I know I’ve fallen into all three categories at some point or another, though the first one very very rarely.
The Internet has destroyed empathy. Because a writer can’t see the look on someone’s face when he says something bad about someone, he can delude himself into thinking what he said wasn’t really that bad at all. It’s really quite sad. I won’t say people hide behind the Internet, but this lack of face-to-face communication has led people to say things they normally wouldn’t, even if they do practically SHOUT that they would say it to someone’s face. In this aspect, technology is a horrible thing. It’s pushed us to a point where humans behave in an appalling manner while in public. (And don’t for one minute think that because you post in your Spiderman pjs from the privacy of your own home that you aren’t in public. The Internet is a public place and should be treated like one.)
Even worse, the Internet has destroyed privacy. I’m a very open person. Anyone who has been reading this blog for a while knows that about me. So when there is an aspect of my life that I choose to keep private, then it must be important to me that it stays private. And I’m sure that’s true for many people. Unfortunately, there are people out there who feel entitled, thanks to the Internet, to have any information about someone ready and at their fingertips in an instant. And who have no qualms about sharing even the most ridiculous of rumors about someone as if it were fact.
It really does make me wonder if humans weren’t better off without technology.
Anthrax for cars…
Posted by Gypsy on Oct 19, 2006
This week has confirmed for me something I already knew about myself. I am anthrax for cars. It seems no matter what I do right, I still find a way to ruin even the most perfect of cars. Earlier this week, I caused one car’s battery to die. I only drove it 10 feet, turned it off and when I went to start it 30 minutes later it was dead. Then, miraculously enough, 4 hours later I try again and it worked.
But tonight was the real kicker. The one that’s going to cost me $200. About halfway home from work, my car started to shake. At first I thought maybe it was just from debris on the road. After all, they’ve been doing construction there for about 4 months. But it’s a freshly paved road so there was no way it was causing that much shaking. So I pulled over and what do I find but this:
That’s a pretty decent size gash. So I go to the back and pull out the donut and the jack and get to work on changing it. (My daddy’s a mechanic and I might not know a ton about fixing cars, but at least he made sure I knew how to change a tire.) As I’m jacking up the car, a nice guy pulls over and proceeds to help me change the tire. Well change it for me that is. (Hey, just because I know how to change a tire doesn’t mean I’m not going to accept help when it’s offered.)
So I finish jacking the car up and the guy takes off the tire. And this is what I see on the other side:
To give you a point of reference, I can stick my whole fist through the hole. Not cool at all. First this tomorrow morning I’m going to the mechanic to get a set of new tires (might as well replace two since I have to replace one) and get them rotated. I’ve been putting this off a little while anyway, so it’s not that big a deal. Well, except that whole part where it’s an extra $200 expense I wasn’t expecting.
And he’s off…
Posted by Gypsy on Oct 18, 2006
My baby brother left on Sunday for Iraq. I haven’t heard from my mom in a couple days, but I’m assuming he’s there safe and sound by now. Well, as safe as anyone in a combat zone can be. It’s going to be a long year, but I’m confident that he’ll come home safe and sound. Of course, that doesn’t mean that me and my mom won’t be spending the next year sharing prozac, but we’ll manage. I know the Army has given him the proper training and his brothers in the unit will be there to keep each other safe.
I have his address if anyone wants to send him care packages and the like. Some ideas, if you need them, are iTunes gift cards and AAFES phone cards.
As much as I’m worried about him, I’m also a little worried about his wife, Chryssie. I know what it’s like to have a husband deployed and all the stress and fights it causes. It’s even worse being 3,000 miles from home, like I was and she is. Luckily, I’m only a 5 hour drive away and she knows she welcome here whenever she wants to visit.
And now, because I don’t want to get all deep and start crying, I’m going to photo-whore him out:
