The All-Worlds Fair

I have gone and joined Facebook.

I feel like a freshman on the first day of school. I don't know where anything is or what the things I can see are for. Where's the swimming pool? The first thing I did was look for a FAQ that explained why everybody's scribblings on their walls were in third person. I thought that was something we weren't supposed to do.

I told my wife right after I did it, my confession I suppose. Her jaw dropped in horror: "YOU joined MySpace???!!!???" I thought from her tone and expression she had thought I said the Cubans really were invading Japan after the hit batter in the World Baseball Classic game. Then I realized she said MySpace. I took another breath, relieved it wasn't as bad as all that. I explained that like everybody I know that I talk to goes, Are you on Facebook? And when I said no, they acted like I had tazed them. "Then get on Facebook!" No discussion, no cooler heads prevailing. Just orders. Well, now I'm here.

And just like every other piece of technology that I champion and enjoy that is here... I haven't the foggiest idea what to do with it now that I have it. Maybe I'm old-fashioned. I know I'm not a Luddite: no one else I know has a 1080p camera that can shoot 24p as well.

Maybe I'm a late adopter. THAT might well be. I never thought I was. I always thought my learning curve was pretty steep. I can learn jobs really fast but it could be that using technology isn't the same kind of learned behavior that comes so easily to me. Then again... sitting on a shelf above my computer is a spring-loaded fly-killer in the shape of a gun. Pull the trigger and BAM! dead fly. I do have a soft spot for the simple machines.

Anyway, something to think about.

Happy St. Patrick's Day.