Social Networking is not Spam Networking

I love social networking - facebook, twitter, etc. - but I'm getting weary of everyone trying to turn what's supposedly "social" into a way to try to sell - promote - market - advertise something. I'm fed up. It's called SOCIAL networking. It's not designed for you to use it to ram your product down my throat. It's where you're supposed to connect with people, and be social, not advertise your latest widget. Is there nowhere we can go online to just be social without people abusing the system?

It's like when someone invites you to lunch and you think they want to visit with you, when really what they want to do is pick your brain about some project they have going. At least be honest with me. If you get me to lunch under false pretenses, and I happen to already be in a bad mood, I might give you some really bad advice. "No, really, I think the printed condoms are really the way to go... absolutely... it's innovative... no one else is doing it... it's the best idea ever."

I've been using facebook and twitter for awhile, and it has only become so commercial in the last few months. It's like there was a seminar somewhere that told everyone to start using facebook to promote anything that crossed their minds. Well, I'm telling you - stop it. You're going to run off all of the actual humans who are just here for social networking and then you're just all going to be promoting to other promoters.

I don't mind a facebook group that's designed for the purpose of promotion. I know what I'm getting into. And it may well be that I am interested in what is offered there. I wouldn't have signed on if I weren't. But don't create an ID that leads me to believe you want to be social if all you really want is to promote something.

Let me explain... "social" means you interact with people. It does not mean it's a one way street of you just dropping your promotion into my world. There are systems set up to accommodate things like blog entries... they show up in your feed... if people want to read them, they can. I welcome the occasional note about a particularly interesting blog, event, link, etc. but if that's your whole reason for being on twitter or facebook that's not social, that's spam.

Yes, I can block you, unfollow you or unfriend you. And I have. And I will again. But why do you want to make me go to that work? Why aren't you just honest up front and let me decide if I want to get your promotional announcements or not? I know why. Because if you were honest no one would accept you into their list. This is NOT the way to win friends and influence people. This is the way to tick people off.

There's a backlash coming. I'm no self-proclaimed social networking guru or anything, (many of whom are social spammers themselves) but you can mark my words. It's a comin'. Just like a thunderstorm you can't see but you can feel in the air. We're annoyed by spam in our email, and we're going to get ruthless about spam in our social networking.

Yeah, we have the control in social networking. But, you know what, we have the control in email too and it doesn't stop people from raising their blood pressure to dangerous extremes when they get yet another viagra ad. (And when did the vast majority of men become impotent anyway. I've not witnessed this problem myself, but given the number of ads for such things it must be an epidemic. But I digress.)

We could all just delete our email spam but whole industries have sprung up around ridding us of that pesky stuff. The same thing is about to happen to social spam, too. I'm not saying it will happen next week, but I'm saying it's a comin'.

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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com. All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.

Ramblings, Books, Social Capital and Tourism Missteps

For reasons I can't explain, I've suddenly become attracted to these sorts of jars. I've bought a number of them in the last few weeks - mostly clear - although a scored these amber colored ones recently. And, one of them is very tall. What will I do with it? I have absolutely no idea. I'll get back to you. But it speaks to me.

I have a long history with things "speaking to me." Everything from small crafts at the fair to my house had to "speak to me." You can imagine how much the realtor who was showing me houses appreciated that. At one point she asked me how she would know if it spoke to me. I assured her I would let her know. I think she wanted something more definitive.

When I walked into the house I ended up buying I was barely in the door when I said, loudly, "It speaks to me!" She wheeled around from near the archway between the living room and dining room and said, "Really?" "Yup. Definitely. It speaks to me." She looked dumbfounded and decided there was no reason to question it any further. In her defense, the baby blue carpet with the oil stains and the hideous wallpaper border that was losing its grip in multiple places, combined with the hospital pallor shade of paint on everything didn't show the house off to its best. But it spoke to me. And still does.

Today is a momentous occasion. I have been without the abdominal binder for about 10 hours now. I haven't had it off for more than a short time - well under an hour - since surgery. I woke up with it on and have had it on since except for showering. I'm starting to get used to not having it on, but I'm not quite there yet.

I still haven't been upstairs in my house. Maybe next week. I am being so overly cautious it's not even funny but I so don't ever want to have to do anything involving incisions ever again. Ever.

I'm rambling because it has been a very full work day followed by the excitement of the Russell Brand/Jimmy Fallon twitter experiment and I'm ready to hit the hay soon. My nighttime reading tonight is the new book from Daniel Pink. He will be here this fall for a Dillon Lecture. Another book in my stack is Jacki Lyden's book, Daughter of the Queen of Sheba, because she will be here next month.

I just finished Nancy Pickard's book, the Virgin of Small Plains, that is the Kansas Reads selection - the whole state is reading the same book. I didn't finish it until late last night so I missed last night's book discussion at the library - I didn't want it ruined for me since it's a mystery. But I'm looking forward to seeing her when she's here in a couple of weeks. The book is very good.

Other things on my mind these days... economic development and tourism. I'm always interested in both of those but a couple of things have brought them to the forefront again. I was in a meeting Monday night - by accident - about social capital. I went for a meeting of another group that usually meets in that room and they weren't there but this meeting was going on and since I'm so interested I couldn't resist staying. That got me thinking along these lines again.

Today I was looking through the AAA magazine and thinking about the ads for various towns. Towns make the same mistakes over and over again.

First of all is promoting a town instead of a region - as if people are going to materialize in your town without going through any others - these being towns that don't even have airports.

Second is speaking about things in the local vernacular that means absolutely nothing to people who don't live in the region. A prime example is Kansas towns using "Flint Hills." The first time someone mentioned that to me after I moved here I had no idea what they were talking about. I don't think anyone else does either. But Kansas towns promote the "Flint Hills" as if they're a nationally recognized phenomenon. You could substitute dozens of things for "Flint Hills," I'm just using that as an example.

Third, the entire tourism industry is advertising driven. Those visitor's guides - they're not designed for tourists - they're designed for advertisers and for CVBs to make money from ads or at least to break even. The problem in the tourism industry is that no one is paying any attention to the tourist. People have forgotten who the customer is. Well, actually, they haven't. It's just that their customer is the advertiser and the tourist doesn't seem to be anyone's customer.

Well, I'm too weary to go into economic development tonight... I'll have to save that juicy topic for another time.
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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com. All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.

Ad Hoc Book Group

Today I did one of those things I do every year, often with little success - I planted seeds in peat pots. I'm not sure why I haven't yet learned this life lesson that this doesn't generally work well for me. I just like to think it's because I'm optimistic. And I planted things today that I've never planted before.

Today I planted lots of sweet peas and hollyhocks. I've never had any of either and they both seem perfect for me. Sharon, landscaper friend extraordinaire, tells me apparently I want a "cottage garden." I think she's right. I've always wanted a profusion of plants and blooms - of all different sorts, living harmoniously. I have no idea how to achieve this, of course, but I feel all the more inspired to try because Sharon has generously made my front flower bed ready to receive plants. I have had success with some things from seed, so maybe this will be a banner year for me.

It has been a long day for me. I had one of those days that has happened a few times since surgery - I could have stayed in bed all day long. I mean ALL day long. My body was saying, "please, please, please, let me sleep... I need to sleep... please, don't make me get up... I need to rest." Unfortunately for my body, I had a board meeting tonight and had to prepare for it, so that wasn't possible. But very shortly I will be laying my body down for some much needed rest.

I'm thinking about another ad-hoc book group to discuss "The Geography of Bliss." It was a great book and I think it would be a good one for a group to discuss.

The ad-hoc book group is very ... well ... ad-hoc. When I run across a book I think friends would enjoy I just send an email and post a note on the blog saying, "hey, lets get together and discuss this at some point in the not too distant future." I'm guessing this will be April or May. I'm just not up to entertaining yet. Anyway, eventually I'll pick a date and whoever wants to come over can come, I'll make dessert, and we discuss. So, if you think you might want to do this at some future time, pick up a copy of "The Geography of Bliss" by Eric Weiner.

I like to give people plenty of time to read the book. I think you will find this book wonderful. The first page tells you this guy can write. If his name is familiar it's because he has worked at NPR for years.

I also don't have a schedule because I think this is a key to getting groups together these days. I don't think anyone wants to have another "second Thursday every month" event on their calendar for a group where you're going to be missed if you're not there. I know I don't. This way there's no commitment beyond one night and one book. If you're reading this and interested, consider this your official invitation. I will post details here as they develop.

In addition, I think we'll soon have a writer's group in Hutchinson. I've talked about starting one off and on and have an opportunity to meet with a number of other writers at an upcoming event. So, I'm going to ask if any of them would like to get together on a regular basis to discuss our work. Again, we may do it ad-hoc. We'll see how that all develops. But, I'm excited by the possibilities. I have a couple of folks who have emailed at various times asking if there is a group, so soon we'll be able to say "yes" to that.
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Check http://www.patsyterrell.com/ for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com. All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.

Really... I'm doing well

Today I've had three people ask me if what I'm saying on the blog about how things are medically is really true. Am I really OK? Yes. I am. I'm healing very well. More than one doctor is surprised at my recovery. They all agree it's because I was so active during my hospital stay and since then. (Say it with me now... "people who are ambulatory after surgery have far less risk of blood clots."

The incision is all healed up. I'm starting to bend more, which is good. Tomorrow is six weeks, which means I can increase my activity level after tomorrow. I'm feeling good overall.

I have been completely truthful here about the situation, recovery, etc. I'm not hiding anything. I really am doing well and I appreciate everyone's continued good thoughts, prayers and well wishes.

I went to see the cardiologist today. I had yet another EKG. I've lost track of how many that makes in the last six weeks - they must be a miracle test. He listened to my heart, felt my pulse, declared my a-fib nothing more than an annoyance, and told me to come back in six months. I was hoping for a better solution, but "annoyance" is much better than "problem," so I am just going to be thankful for it and hope the medication continues to work better as time goes on.

So, that's the medical update for those who have said I'm not providing enough info. I'm just healing more every day and being careful to not overdo. Every week or two I wake up one day and feel significantly better than I did the day before. Overall it's going well.
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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com. All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.

Worn and Whiney

I am getting worn and I'm whiney, so please feel free to stop reading now.

OK, that was your fair warning.

Tuesday will be six weeks since surgery, which is a magic time, when I can increase some things I do. I'm supposed to be very cautious for eight weeks, so there's still two more weeks ahead, but I am getting so weary of not being "normal."

Greg has been very gracious, but I know he's getting tired of having to do things around the house that I can't bend to do. I'm certainly getting tired of having to ask him to do them. I will be so glad to be able to do those things for myself.

I have had some pain the last couple of days on the left side of my tummy. It feels very much like a pulled muscle, which may well be what it is. It does not feel like an internal injury of any sort - just a pulled muscle when I move a certain way. Right now it feels fine but sometimes when I stand up and move it can take my breath away for a few seconds. I'm sure it will improve over time.

I've become overly sensitive to people expecting me to be completely normal at this point. I've done really well, and I think because people see me up and about they expect that everything is completely normal. It's not. I'm not well yet. I'm doing great, and I am healing well, but I'm not at 100% and I simply can't yet do everything I would like to do and that others would like for me to do. I sometimes have to stop from screaming, "Hey! this wasn't just a hang nail. This was major. I need some time to be back to normal in every way. Stop pushing me." So far I've been able to bite my tongue, although a couple of people have really tested that. Never mind that I haven't yet had time to process wondering if I would die, which I really do need to process.

I'm whiney tonight. I'm not sure why. It will pass. Quickly. Because I'll make it pass quickly. This is just a blip. I'm going to chalk it up to daylight savings time and take this extra hour I'm awake to count my blessings, which is a far better use of it than being whiney.
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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com. All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.

Introducing Dour Kitty

This is a vase I bought at a yard sale yesterday. I love the pink with the glitter. But my favorite part is the kitty's expression. The frown is molded in the ceramic and then accented with paint. For some reason, this just strikes me as hilarious and I think it will become a fixture. He's already sitting on the shelf in the kitchen and when I have more flowers, I will pick some and put in there. Of course, I'll share another photo at that time.

I've dubbed him "dour kitty" and from now on, anything I discuss on the blog that is lacking in some way will get one through five "dour kitties" to illustrate disillusionment, disappointment or disgust.

Today I will be awarding a dour kitty to weather forecasters. Only because I know they have noble intentions are they getting only one dour kitty.

Greg, Mark, Terry, Sharon and I went to see Watchmen this afternoon (NO spoilers). The guys had read the series, Sharon and I had not. I enjoyed it, but it is violent. I mean, really violent. At times I felt like I needed some background, but it was a good movie. The look of it is great. I'm sure it will win a slew of awards for direction and shooting and editing and all of that.

In the middle of it, the movie ground to a halt, the lights came on, and someone announced there was a tornado warning and we should all proceed to the exit to go to the tornado shelter. So, we file out, like everyone from the other theatres is doing, and we go out into the waning rain and walk a short distance outside to a mall corridor.

We were some of the last folks out and we never actually went inside. Instead, we stood outside and looked at the clouds. The non-tornadic clouds. Like we've never seen clouds before.

This dour kitty is for weather forecasters. They pretend to know what is going to happen and get people all worked up. Witness that today we had a 30% chance of rain. It has poured, more than once. I realize that we may not be able to know exactly what is going to happen. I can accept that, but then stop pretending you know and acting all authoritative.

People die because weather forecasters exaggerate the danger when there is none. Trust me, there are only so many times you can be herded out into the rain to look at clouds before you start to doubt the wisdom of the weather people who are telling you to do that. Eventually, you start ignoring them, because they've cried wolf too many times. Then, when something major does happen, you're caught completely unaware.

The only reason so many people in Greensburg survived is because they called it a "Tornado emergency" because it was so dire. People took that seriously. Thank goodness. But, if they had called it a warning, more people would have ignored it because you can only get motivated to spend time in your musty basement for no particular reason only so many times. And those of us who live in Kansas have been sent to our basements multiple times for no real purpose.

I don't think for a moment that forecasters have anything but the best of intentions, but they need to be more honest about what is and is not a real emergency. And they need to be honest about what they do and do not really know.
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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com. All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.

Sandhills State Park

It was a sunny day today and I wanted to take advantage of it. So, I took a late lunch and drove out to Sandhills State Park north of town for a walk on the trail.



This time of year there isn't a lot of color in the landscape yet, but there is plenty of texture. Today I was struck by the different kinds of tree bark you could find on a quick walk.









As is often the case, I had the whole place to myself, even on a gorgeous day.

I did some other errands today, too. I've had two good days in a row now. Mark is headed down for the weekend, so I hope I feel good tomorrow and Sunday too. He's coming down so we can all go see the Watchman movie together. I haven't read it, but they tell me it's going to be good. And Wil Wheaton likes it, and I tend to agree with his assessments most of the time, so I'm betting I'll like it too.

Otherwise, the day was work and a couple of other experiences. One was a Dillard's employee seeking me out and it seeming there was a real reason. The other was a stop at a yard sale where I purchased a small vase/figurine, which we have dubbed, "Dour Kitty." Needless to say, photos will follow.
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Check www.patsyterrell.com for the blog, art, and more. Friend me on facebook.com. Follow me at twitter.com. All text and photos on this website are copyright Patsy Terrell, unless otherwise noted. None are to be used without permission. Thank you.