The Atheist

So right off the bat, I'll tell you this isn't a post about religion, or lack of religion. It's about inadvertently taking what you hate the most in others' behavior and doing the same thing to counteract it.

Sometimes people get pretty offended about pushy religious fanatics who preach of fire and brimstone to those who do not share the same beliefs. It's easy to see why. Many of those people ignore the cardinal rule in almost every religion--do not judge. This hypocrisy can build up to shape some pretty angry reactions.

Someone I know as a lose acquaintance through mutual environmental interests is an atheist. He's a smart guy, and in person, he's very likable. But each day on Facebook, and multiple times each day, he shares post after post intimating how stupid people are to believe there is anything beyond the physical world of science we can see and touch and measure. His belief is just that, his. 

It's up to each one of us to decide not to judge others for what they believe, but it's quite interesting to see him proselytizing about atheism in the same way he must hate religious fanatics proselytizing about the right way to live.

I've see the same situation play out with some feminists who hate the strong, overbearing and domineering attitude of some men, yet use the same tactics to get their points across in the world. It's amusing. But people start to turn them off the same way...and there's a reason for it.

Ouch

I really am a super nice person. I’m just exhausted after a long day at work. And obviously, I can count on this moment for someone I haven’t spoken to in a very long time to IM me on Facebook.  The "conversation" went kind of like this:

Long Lost Friend: Hey. How are you?

Gropius: Very busy, but everything is fine. How in the world are you?

Long Lost Friend: I’m recently engaged.

Gropius: Oh congratulations!!  Tell me about him. It’s a him, right? Hahaha.

Long Lost Friend: HE lives in Sarasota and I’m moving closer. Will be working for the March of Dimes.

Gropius: That’s wonderful! Maybe you can get them to stop animal testing. Where are you living now?

Long Lost Friend: I live in Tampa.

Gropius: Still in your townhouse?

Long Lost Friend: Yes, but I’ll be selling it.

Gropius: Good luck in this market.

Long Lost Friend: I have to go now and do some work.


Oh. So now I get it. Being tired can transform a person into one you sincerely regret ever selecting with the instant message icon. Unfortunately, I was that person.  And I never want to be that person. Somewhere in the Universe I will be forgiven, and we can all love each other again. ...As long as this blog post isn't discovered by one Ms.-Soon-To-Be-Mrs. Long Lost Friend.

Social Media Time Warp

Can I just say that things have seemed a little social media weird lately?

I mean, honestly, Facebook, how many times are you going to pull some backwards change on us just to make sure we’re left trying to figure out something new about you? Cute. It’s like a man who you’ve been dating for a few months, who you’re just getting to like and understand. And bam! Then he goes and pulls some stupid crap just to convince you that you really don’t know him (and that he’s a big piss ant). Isn’t this behavior so…last decade?

That reminds me—I’m glad I’m married.

And New Year’s. What about it, you say? A St. Petersburg-based group I started following on Twitter yesterday responded with a direct message wishing me a Happy New Year's Eve. Since I had, in fact, locked myself in my office all day to get some things done, I really started thinking, “My God. Have I been in here for two months?” I actually picked up the phone and called someone (also in the office) just to check.

I changed tactics today and decided to work from home. Interesting way to spend New Year's Day.

The 3 "Anti" Facebook Reasons

Just when I had almost declared this evening non-blogworthy, I came across this. It's a response I just received from a friend who has been missing on Facebook for a while. "Gave up on Facebook?" was my question. Answer:

1. I never figured it out.
2. I think it’s adolescent in many ways.
3. I think it has great potential for identity theft and viruses…

Other than that, I LOVE IT…

It just seemed so mocking and sarcastic, I had to share it. Personally, it seems like the bad attitude all relates to his reason #1.

Crazy Facebook "Groups"

I hate to keep going back to Facebook, but there are quite a few remarkably entertaining things about it that I would be remiss as a good Gropius blogger in failing to mention.

The array of Facebook "Groups" is growing every day. You find the groups by observing what your friends have joined, by searching Facebook, or by accident (most cases, I suspect). For the most part, they are meaningless. Not much happens after you join them.

My two favorite groups to date (exclusively based on their concepts) are:

I Don't Care How Comfortable Your Crocs Are, You Look Like a Dumbass

People Against the Remake of "The Karate Kid" (When you click on this one to learn more, it says, "Sorry, this group isn't available right now.... Must be an exclusive "invitation only" group.)

It just doesn't get better than this, folks. Any other good Facebook Groups I've missed out on?

Facebook Status Lines: We Can Do Better Than This

I'd like to challenge all of you Gropius readers out there to get a little more creative with your status lines on Facebook to make things more interesting. It might involve a bit of guts, but we can do it, troops! Here are some examples:

• Gropius Jones is not sad that Marjorie North retired. She was mean and snotty to the masses, and I've never understood her methods for determining what fits "her beat."
• Gropius Miller is planning a food fight at the Bijou Cafe. Be there at 8 pm tonight.
• Gropius Smith would like to tell you that if you've ever settled with "Gropius is" as your status, you're not that original.
• Gropius Frangie would like to purchase the molar sculpture from last year's bayfront art display and drop it on top of anyone who mentions a spring training team in Sarasota again. Can't you move on?

Consider it the Gropius challenge. And if you're not already on Facebook, for the love of Mike, do it today. It's a handy tool that promises to push the human boundaries of procrastination when you have a cleaning project, a work assignment or other looming obligation.

Really, Facebook? REALLY?

Since I've been on Facebook, I've used it a bit to put the word out when there's a new posting on Gropius. This evening, after I posted the last post (completely harmless, I might add), it flagged this innocent little blog as "malicious." I'm guessing because it had the word "gay."

I will repeat the SNL skit by saying, "Really, Facebook? REALLY?"

If you read the blog (or if you know me), you know that I really have ZERO bias for or against anyone and ZERO tolerance for those who discriminate. The post was a musing on someone's silly quirk...having no real connection to anything objectionable about "gay."

Facebook, let's get serious here. Are you a tool to promote social networking, or are you a social networking Nazi? I think I know the answer...and Gropius may be banned from Facebook forever with that last dig. But it's worth it.

Facebook Frenzy

Allow me to diverge a bit from the insignificant events here in the Sarasota/Bradenton Florida area that are the subject of this blog. I need to get a few things off my chest about Facebook. Against all of my best judgement, I followed through with opening account and seeking "friends" who are also active in this online social networking tool. My observations thus far:

• It's somehow liberating and frustrating all-in-one to dig up all the long-lost relationships from the past. Liberating, as in "How wonderful to see this person, look what they're up to now." Frustrating, as in "What in God's name do I do with this now?" That door closed a million years ago, and here he or she is, staring me in the face again. I do like it...with some of them.
  
• You can invest some serious time in this thing. I've noticed that people are obsessive about the number of "friends" on their profile. Do you really have 352 friends? Really? They're really friends? This leads me to a weird point: hardly anyone I currently know is on this thing. It might be a good thing. If they were, I might never see them, except through digital exchanges on our "walls."
  
• It's cool that Audubon, Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth are all "causes" I can support through my Facebook page, but I can't find anyone who's navigated through the black hole of that feature to actually raise money for the cause. New user problem?
  
• No one seems to have gotten fat. At least from the photos they posted. This is becoming a great motivator to help me loose a few pounds and regain my exact high school weight. No offense, JennyCraig, NutriSystem, etc., but the whole idea of you sucks compared with the motivating power behind Facebook.
  
• Finally, Facebook has fully exposed me as the exact same (or similar) human being I was 10-12 years ago. Environmental nutcase, obsessive about details, overcurious about people (even the ones I could stand to loose), and devoting waaaay too much attention to silly things. No, I wouldn't have guessed some of the items in my life, but it feels good to have the same convictions as I always did. It's been 16 years since I've eaten a McDonald's hamburger, or any hamburger for that matter.
  
  
  I'm psyched about some of the folks I've reconnected with. Oh how their lives could be enriched with a little visit to Sarasota.

What now?