This Game of Thrones party snack spread should win the Iron Throne by rights
The most important thing that has every happened to me, my reason for living — Game of Thrones — is back on the air. Every Sunday I have a group of friends over to my apartment and we watch the magic and the madness unfold together. Usually I just put out some cheese and crackers, with enough wine to make Cersei proud. So imagine how huge my eyeballs got when I saw this spread show up in our Flickr pool…
My accidental social media experiment: How Facebook changed the way we define friendships
I have had a love/hate relationship with Facebook since the get-go. Yet, most of my online family, as well as former co-workers, classmates, and even long lost friends and family now connect there. Then the holidays came this year. A time of numerous social gatherings with friends and family you don’t see nearly enough. And a little phrase kept sticking in my brain. The first time I kind of just laughed it off. “Oh yeah, I saw that on Facebook.” Could I be divulging too much on social media?
So I decided to try my accidental experiment. I deactivated my Facebook account.
Cosplay storage solutions… from IKEA?
This past year I’ve started to dabble in cosplay. Even though I just have four costumes, I’m ALREADY feeling the storage pinch. That’s why this “IKEA bedroom stories” video, featuring a super-awesome cosplayer, made my day. Watch this and then let’s talk…
How writing erotic fan fiction changed my sex life
Since the beginning of my sexual awakening (or when my high school boyfriend put his hands down my pants), I loved sex. Along with sex, my other interests are TV shows, movies, and books. There is a particular workplace sitcom that I adore and almost exclusively write for. The bridge between these interests is not a long one, and soon I was writing erotic fan fiction. And yes, after (a little) personal deliberation, I told my husband that I was a fan fiction writer. But I don’t think the switch in our sex life really happened until he read My Really Long Fic.
An ode to the music shop: what was your first music purchase?
I have had a long term relationship with music stores since I was 11. My mom took me to see That Thing You Do! and I fell hard for everything: the dudes, the band, the music. I immediately asked if we could get the soundtrack, and shortly thereafter took my first intentional step into a music shop. Sure, I had been into them before, but never with a purpose — never when I was looking for something that would change my life.
How to feel safe participating in online communities
Active participating in online communities certainly isn’t for everyone, and it’s definitely important to take care of yourself and do what’s comfortable for you. But I’m going to share my lil’ story, since I noticed a lot of “Long Time Reader, First Time Commenter” comments on that post about the reader survey. This may not be helpful for anybody, but I thought I’d put it out there in case somebody needed to hear it.
Social Media Diet: Two years later, it’s still hard
Ok, it’s been two years since I committed Facebook social suicide, and a year since I bailed on Instagram. There was a while there where it was getting easier and easier to socially ignore Facebook. Yes, I have to be there for work, but I just didn’t miss it, socially.
Over the past few months though, I’ve started missing it. Part of it is realizing that even my husband uses Facebook constantly. My staff, my friends, my readers, my own spouse: all use Facebook all day, every day. My friends in LA? Facebook. My friends in Seattle? Facebook. My friends from Seattle who move away? Facebook.
Social Media Diet: Recognizing Instagram as a rat lever
I committed Facebook social suicide last year, and now I’ve decided to officially make the switch from Instagram back to Flickr. I have very strong feels about Flickr, and have a sense of needing to give it one last chance. And if I’m going to abandon it, it’s NOT going to be for Instagram. I’m also embarrassed at how shitty my photography has gotten over the six months I’ve been using Instagram. I’m also trying to recognize and remove the “rat levers” in my digital life…