Somebody New to Blame?

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beantownbubba
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Somebody New to Blame?

Post by beantownbubba »

Wordman gracefully withdraws from facebook and the site almost immediately goes down. Coincidence? I think not. Could be Clams's fault but maybe mollusk man has a new partner in blame.
What used to be is gone and what ought to be ought not to be so hard

John A Arkansawyer
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Re: Somebody New to Blame?

Post by John A Arkansawyer »

The sooner we put those assholes in the grave&piss on the dirt above it, the better off we'll be

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Clams
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Re: Somebody New to Blame?

Post by Clams »

beantownbubba wrote:Wordman gracefully withdraws from facebook and the site almost immediately goes down. Coincidence? I think not. Could be Clams's fault but maybe mollusk man has a new partner in blame.
Well I did read his post
Everyone needs a friend, everyone needs a fuck

John A Arkansawyer
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Re: Somebody New to Blame?

Post by John A Arkansawyer »

Clams wrote:
beantownbubba wrote:Wordman gracefully withdraws from facebook and the site almost immediately goes down. Coincidence? I think not. Could be Clams's fault but maybe mollusk man has a new partner in blame.
Well I did read his post
Proof of collusion!
The sooner we put those assholes in the grave&piss on the dirt above it, the better off we'll be

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phungi
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Re: Somebody New to Blame?

Post by phungi »

beantownbubba wrote:Wordman gracefully withdraws from facebook and the site almost immediately goes down. Coincidence? I think not. Could be Clams's fault but maybe mollusk man has a new partner in blame.
More like Wordman pens a Wordman-worthy essay on eminent plans to withdraw from Facebook in one week's time. As much as I enjoy the Clams/Blame combo, I think this one was the Social Media Irony Gods speaking...
We got messed up minds for these messed up times...

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glennrwordman
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Re: Somebody New to Blame?

Post by glennrwordman »

phungi wrote:
beantownbubba wrote:Wordman gracefully withdraws from facebook and the site almost immediately goes down. Coincidence? I think not. Could be Clams's fault but maybe mollusk man has a new partner in blame.
More like Wordman pens a Wordman-worthy essay on eminent plans to withdraw from Facebook in one week's time. As much as I enjoy the Clams/Blame combo, I think this one was the Social Media Irony Gods speaking...
I know nothing. I take the fifth (night of my drinking). I accept no blame, I feel no guilt. If nominated I will not run, and if elected, I will not serve...
I’d have a lot of nerve to go feigning shock and outrage/If I'd been my example I’d be worse

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pearlbeer
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Re: Somebody New to Blame?

Post by pearlbeer »

Where is the essay?

I recently deleted my Facebook account as well with much less fanfare.
Love each other, Motherfuckers!

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glennrwordman
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Re: Somebody New to Blame?

Post by glennrwordman »

pearlbeer wrote:Where is the essay?

I recently deleted my Facebook account as well with much less fanfare.
It wasn't an essay; it was a note explaining to my friends why I was shutting it down. I've been pretty active on FB in a lot of different areas, and reading some other writing on actually having a process in getting off the Book of Face, if one was fairly active, one of the consistent suggestions was: give people a few days/a week to see that you're off. A lot of the note was about not wanting to "lose" people. Social media is so encompassing, where so much of our interactions happen, and is SUCH a time-suck. For me, I just needed to stop.

This is what I wrote (OK, maybe it IS an essay! My handle IS wordman, for Cooley's sake!) (TL;DR: Glenn is no longer on Facebook. Holler).
----------
As of next Monday, April 22, I've decided to at least temporarily deactivate my personal social media accounts, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. (For business purposes only, I'll be on Facebook and Twitter for Books on Call and my Reading Series).

I've thought quite a bit about this. Just a few weeks ago, I reconnected with someone who I'd spent much positive quality time while I was living in Baltimore, at a time when I desperately needed positive people to be around. (I believe it was in the aftermath of a terrible break up. Ah, my 20s...) And there is *no way* we'd have re-connected had we both not posted on another friend's "wall". It was wonderful to speak with him...later, on the phone, hearing his voice, laughter, pauses, and particularities.

Since 2007, when Jim Stellato convinced me to join the nascent social network, I've had literally hundreds of such occurrences. People coming back to me. Friendships rekindled, and new friendships, many at great distances, kept aflame via seeing the daily, weekly, monthly happenings in so many friends’ lives, all online. I know if I disengage, there will be old connections lost, and new re-connections not made, and new connections potentially withered.

But I have found over time that the time I spent in virtuality has come at a cost of engaging the world I am actually in; the clear dangers of a loss of privacy, of my personal data being used without my consent; the enormous literal *time* spent browsing, "liking", commenting, instead of writing, talking, walking, bike riding, reading books (I only have about a thousand unread, not even considering the library), starting the day away from screens, actively listening to music, seeing people in the flesh, all the ten thousand things one can do in this city that I mention at the top of every reading I host...I’m doing so much less of that, and I very acutely feel the loss. I know myself: I can be "out", but if the option is there, I will see how so-and-so's doing (online), and if so-and-so's kid got into Bowdoin (online), etc., etc., etc…

But I can call people. I can send email. I can write an actual letter. And, if you live anywhere near New York--or wherever Andrea and I wind up next--we can visit, shake hands, hug, laugh, nod our heads to music, throw a ball, ride bikes, and see each other, in person. I want more of that, and I feel that the online options detract from that goal. Almost all of the most meaningful connections I’ve made have quickly moved from social media to real life, to, depending on geography, meeting in person. (You can't share bourbon with pixels).

In addition, more broadly, I want to have a less constant assault of information coming at me, especially during this monumentally stressful time in our country. My (surely shared by many) sense of concern and worry about the direction of this country under the Trump administration is stoked continually by immersing myself in the news, on social media. (I plan to cut way back on internet use in general). My nervous system needs a break. It needs a shady tree to sit under, for a spell...BUT I also want to get more involved, taking the time I save to actually work on a campaign(s), volunteer, maybe even get hired on to the next President’s campaign…there’s important work to do. I’d like to DO it, as opposed to just read about, and freak out.

There is also the time it sucks away from the search for a new job or new entrepreneurial move to re-start my career. I have been on a path; I want and need to dedicate as much psychic and intellectual space as I can to getting back on it.

This is for me, mind you. My deal, and mine alone. I don't plan to proselytize for a "Luddite existence" (Hey, do follow PageTurners and Books On Call NYC on Twitter and Facebook!), or withdraw to a cabin in the woods and grow my own toilet paper. I absolutely get how much fun it is to be able to "keep up" with so many people. But, for me, I need to keep up with other things, for now, for at least a while.

Of course I will miss things, literally and figuratively. (And I KNOW you'll miss my cat pictures; Andrea will likely still post them, though!) I will now depend on other means--and on many of you--to find out about concerts, gatherings of friends, all sorts of things that germinate online, on Facebook, via Twitter.

So, I'll put this out there: my email is **glennraucher AT gmail DOT com**. Send a note to me there, or via Messenger over the next week, and I will happily share all my relevant information: phone, address, all of it. Give me *your* details: phone, address, email...I WILL write. I will, if you like, even call you (being mindful of time zone differences!) You may, if my plan is successful, even find a *handwritten letter* in your mailbox at some point. When was the last time that happened? So, send me your info. It's safer with me that with Zuckerberg.

I’ll be around. Let's connect IRL.

Glenn
I’d have a lot of nerve to go feigning shock and outrage/If I'd been my example I’d be worse

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Rocky
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Re: Somebody New to Blame?

Post by Rocky »

Hey word. I know this wasn't meant to be a manifesto but I enjoyed reading your thoughts on the subject.

I'm surprised I haven't read more about folks wanting to spend more time having actual fun than posting about virtual fun. Hell some folks may be to dull to even understand there is a difference.

Can't share bourbon with pixels. :mrgreen:
By the time you drop them I'll be gone
And you'll be right where they fall the rest of your life

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glennrwordman
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Re: Somebody New to Blame?

Post by glennrwordman »

Rocky wrote:Hey word. I know this wasn't meant to be a manifesto but I enjoyed reading your thoughts on the subject.

I'm surprised I haven't read more about folks wanting to spend more time having actual fun than posting about virtual fun. Hell some folks may be to dull to even understand there is a difference.

Can't share bourbon with pixels. :mrgreen:
I think a lot of folks are just...tired. In NYC, where it's an effort to get outside because there are 8.5 million people milling about like zombies, 4.75 million of them looking down at their cell phones, it can be exhausting just to get from point to point. And with lots of folks "working hard for shrinking pay" (-P. Hood), by the time you get home worn out, it's just easier to "connect" online, and feel like you've actually connected.

And in places like 3DD, there IS more of a feeling of having done so. But for me--and I tried to make that point in what I wrote: if you're good with the social media, go with Dog--I felt I needed to disconnect there in order to re-connect elsewhere.

It's been a week; I don't miss it. There was a friend's health crisis that erupted and developed into a group helping situation, but I got pulled in by a mutual friend within a day. I'm OK with that. Now, if I miss Homecoming on-sale, I'll be pissed. (That's why I'm on the DBT email list!)

(And I always share my Bourbon...)
I’d have a lot of nerve to go feigning shock and outrage/If I'd been my example I’d be worse

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Flea
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Re: Somebody New to Blame?

Post by Flea »

glennrwordman wrote:
Rocky wrote:Hey word. I know this wasn't meant to be a manifesto but I enjoyed reading your thoughts on the subject.

I'm surprised I haven't read more about folks wanting to spend more time having actual fun than posting about virtual fun. Hell some folks may be to dull to even understand there is a difference.

Can't share bourbon with pixels. :mrgreen:
I think a lot of folks are just...tired. In NYC, where it's an effort to get outside because there are 8.5 million people milling about like zombies, 4.75 million of them looking down at their cell phones, it can be exhausting just to get from point to point. And with lots of folks "working hard for shrinking pay" (-P. Hood), by the time you get home worn out, it's just easier to "connect" online, and feel like you've actually connected.

And in places like 3DD, there IS more of a feeling of having done so. But for me--and I tried to make that point in what I wrote: if you're good with the social media, go with Dog--I felt I needed to disconnect there in order to re-connect elsewhere.

It's been a week; I don't miss it. There was a friend's health crisis that erupted and developed into a group helping situation, but I got pulled in by a mutual friend within a day. I'm OK with that. Now, if I miss Homecoming on-sale, I'll be pissed. (That's why I'm on the DBT email list!)

(And I always share my Bourbon...)
You shared no bourbon with me in February. Motherfucker. I'm going straight to the Book of Face to defriend you.
Now it's dark.

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Clams
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Re: Somebody New to Blame?

Post by Clams »

Flea wrote:
glennrwordman wrote:
Rocky wrote:Hey word. I know this wasn't meant to be a manifesto but I enjoyed reading your thoughts on the subject.

I'm surprised I haven't read more about folks wanting to spend more time having actual fun than posting about virtual fun. Hell some folks may be to dull to even understand there is a difference.

Can't share bourbon with pixels. :mrgreen:
I think a lot of folks are just...tired. In NYC, where it's an effort to get outside because there are 8.5 million people milling about like zombies, 4.75 million of them looking down at their cell phones, it can be exhausting just to get from point to point. And with lots of folks "working hard for shrinking pay" (-P. Hood), by the time you get home worn out, it's just easier to "connect" online, and feel like you've actually connected.

And in places like 3DD, there IS more of a feeling of having done so. But for me--and I tried to make that point in what I wrote: if you're good with the social media, go with Dog--I felt I needed to disconnect there in order to re-connect elsewhere.

It's been a week; I don't miss it. There was a friend's health crisis that erupted and developed into a group helping situation, but I got pulled in by a mutual friend within a day. I'm OK with that. Now, if I miss Homecoming on-sale, I'll be pissed. (That's why I'm on the DBT email list!)

(And I always share my Bourbon...)
You shared no bourbon with me in February. Motherfucker. I'm going straight to the Book of Face to defriend you.
Not only does Wordman ALWAYS share his bourbon, but he brings the good stuff.
Last edited by Clams on Mon Apr 29, 2019 10:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Everyone needs a friend, everyone needs a fuck

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Flea
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Re: Somebody New to Blame?

Post by Flea »

I've never been a bourbon guy, but I'm willing to learn.
Now it's dark.

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Flea
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Re: Somebody New to Blame?

Post by Flea »

I need to figure out a way to get to at least one of the Brooklyn shows on the cheap. I'll bring cookies.
Now it's dark.

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