Old friends
On many occasions, I have applauded Facebook for reconnecting me with scores of high school friends. I love love love FB for this. The late 80’s at Valhalla was a special time, and we were a great group of kids. Turns out, we are pretty spectacular adults, too.
Here’s another reason why FB is awesome. On my way to the ITB trade show, I posted a note in my status saying I was on my way to Berlin. Class of ’87 Mark Anderson happened to land in Berlin on the same day, noticed my status and asked if I had free time for dinner. I did. And we met. 20+ years since we’d seen each other, we caught up over plates of Wiener Schnitzel at Berlin’s famous Borchardt Restaurant. We finished with drinks at another popular watering hole, Newton’s.
Good friends can be determined by how few beats are skipped in a conversation. If you feel like you just spoke yesterday, you’ve got a good friend. If it feels more like you are trying to get better acquainted with the newbie at the office and are struggling for conversation, then chances are you were not that good of friends in the first place. Mark and I didn’t skip a beat. His humor is still dry and witty and his company is still easily enjoyed. It was a good throw-back to high school and I enjoyed the visit tremendously. It was great to see you Mark!!!
And all because of that Facebook thingy!!! Now if I could just get you all to get on skype – I could actually talk with some of you versus exchanging emails! ;p
Ridiculous Headlines
During a few recent and very news worthy events, I was watching CNN to try to get some solid information on a few stories. What I saw was a screen where the reporters kept quoting twitter and facebook entries and using these notes as news. I was not impressed. I’m sorry, folks, but that to me is lazy reporting.
In the past week or so, there have been a few news stories which I’ve bookmarked because they simply made me shake my head and think, “This is why I do not live in the U.S.” I’m not saying that Vietnam is better or perfect or whatever, just pointing out that there are many ridiculous things which happen in the U.S., too. Land of the free? Sure, so long as you don’t tweet. And God forbid you offend anyone with a nude nymph. Since when did Americans become so easily offended? It’s a stupid wine label!!!
While it is always good to be on alert and be aware, the whole big bad world is not out to get you and there is no danger lurking around every corner. I hate travel stories like the one on the front page of MSN the other day. That does nothing to boost travel & tourism.
Anywhoo… just have a look at these stories and tell me what you think. I’m sure there are many more out there to make my head keep shaking, and I am quite certain you would find plenty of head-shaking material in Vietnam. So we are even….
Woman sued over tweet about mold
An apartment management company is seeking $50,000 in damages in one of the first libel lawsuits involving the social-networking site Twitter.
Posted by Mai Ling at MSN Real Estate on Tuesday, July 28, 2009 11:35 AM
Be careful what you tweet about.
A Chicago woman is being sued by her apartment management company, accused of writing a Twitter post that “maliciously and wrongfully” criticized her apartment and the management company. <read more>
Wine ban in Alabama could mean big bucks for vintner
The label with a nude nymph offends the state’s liquor control board.
Posted by Elizabeth Strott on Friday, July 31, 2009 8:09 AM
A ban can mean big business. At least, that’s what Bill Leigon, president of Hahn Family Wines in Soledad, Calif., is hoping.
The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board recently told stores and restaurants to stop serving Cycles Gladiator wine because of the label, which features a naked nymph, The Associated Press reported late Thursday. <read more>
The World’s Worst Travel Scams
There’s no shortage of thieves out there, both at home and abroad, cooking up ways to get their hands on your money. Here are some of their favorite travel scams. <read more>
On the Bright Side,
Shanna
I just love Facebook!
I don’t remember this moment…Jenny and I were inseparable then. And I can see I still have braces. Plus the hair is total indication this is my sophomore year in high school.
I don’t know how many of you are hooked up on Facebook, but if you aren’t, I would highly recommend it. Perhaps my 20 year reunion stirred up all too many emotions. Recently, I have reconnected with so many people from high school, it’s been just wonderful. The Class of ’88 was something special, but we were surrounded by other great classes. I was lucky to grow up with so many terrific people.
Of course, I’ve met a ton of people here in Vietnam, and so that circle of friends is growing nearly every day. But I’ve also gotten back in touch with people I used to work with at AFI, my sorority sisters, and lots of the UCSB gang, and stay in touch with oodles of people I’ve met on my travels. I am totally a people person, and so I couldn’t be happier to be in touch and stay in tune to everyone’s lives.
One fun aspect of Facebook is the photo albums. I don’t tend to post photos there, since I have my website. But I love looking at other people’s photos. The one on this post was added by an classmate. Some people are going nuts with the scanners and some very old and sometimes scary photos are popping up. This one isn’t too bad, but the 80’s were not so kind to us – horrible era in fashion.
I’m not so pleased that Facebook keeps changing its format and layout, but I’ll stick with it, because I am so delighted to have these old friends back in my life – even if in the slightest way…
On the Bright Side,
Shanna
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