Internet
Facing Down Facebook
Jan 10th
Well, I’ve finally gone and done it. I have entered the social networking scene by creating my own Facebook page. Truth be told, I didn’t actually create it on my own. No, daughter Jenny, who for years swore she would likely die if I ever did so, was the one who actually encouraged me to take the plunge and guided me through the process. She managed to convince me by pointing out that several of my siblings and in-laws, nieces and nephews and high school and college pals had their own online profiles, and I could more easily keep in touch with them and they with me if I joined in. Another benefit is that while she’s in Europe, I’ll be able to check her page for updates on her travels and view photos she posts (I do expect some personal emails as well, though!).
Just a few days before she left, we sat down at my computer and she explained to me about creating a profile, “friending” people, replying to comments on my wall and all the rest. The next thing I knew, my email inbox was flooded with notices telling me who’s friended me, posted a comment, or responded to a thread and . . . WHAT??!! Already, only a few days into this new venture, and I am swamped with all kinds of input (and I haven’t even got all the Christmas stuff put away — I have no time for this!!). Jenny tried to give me a few more pointers and threw in a little Facebook etiquette: “If someone asks to friend you, you should accept. I don’t think you should “poke” anybody, though.” (What does that mean? Is it obscene or rude or does she just think it isn’t “age appropriate”?) Then, off she goes back to Chicago en route to Europe for two months, leaving me to fear I’m going to deeply offend someone by either inadvertantly ignoring a friend request or committing some horrible Internet faux pas.
Do you sense panic setting in? You are very astute! Actually, I believe this is just a temporary reaction to my introduction to a particular corner of the Web I’ve happily managed to ignore up to now. I always resent the time it takes me to wrap my head around new technology (and my ignorance until I feel I’ve conquered it). I have already seen the benefits and enjoyed this additional link to friends and family, but I can also see where it could become a time-consuming monster if I let it.
Updating my own wall and viewing and commenting on others’ could gobble enormous amounts of time alone, but I’ve also gotten a glimpse at some of the “apps” or role-playing types of programs associated with Facebook that one can lose oneself in. Both of my girls have “farms” where they raise and harvest crops, and I’ve seen where others apparently run “restaurants.” Sorry, I’ve got a real garden, and that takes enough time as it is; and figuring out what’s for dinner tonight is as close to running an eatery as I want to get. Who has the time to do all this? College students with boring classes? Homebound invalids? Maybe, but apparently working people and busy young mothers, too. I seriously cannot fathom the appeal there at all. Perhaps it’s just a bit of escapism, but I’d rather read a book or see a movie for that!
I’m looking forward to reading an article in an upcoming issue of Global Traveler which will examine the social networking phenomenon. With my tech expert gallavanting around Europe, I’ll be in need of a little additional guidance to get me through this traumatic experience.
– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader
Travel Plans
Nov 21st
My younger daughter, Jenny, is preparing for study and travel abroad in the new year, and so her focus for the last several months has been on where to go, how long to stay in each place and how to get there. Being a child of the Internet age, she has of course done extensive research, visiting numerous travel websites, plotting various itineraries and comparing fares to get the most out of her time and money. Bright and detail-oriented, she has tackled the task with gusto and not a little pleasure, but one aspect of the trip has made planning it more than a little challenging: she will be traveling with seven other girls.
Last spring Jenny learned she would be one of 12 senior Loyola nursing students to serve her community health clinical experience in Guildford, a small city located in Surrey, southwest of London. Four days a week for over a month she will get a first-hand look at Great Britain’s public health service. On long weekends and before and after that term she plans to get in as much travel on the British Isles and the Continent as possible. For two-plus weeks before her study starts, several of her nursing friends will be visiting a slew of cities. Starting in Madrid, they’ll go on to Barcelona, Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, Munich and Berlin.
Just hammering out that itinerary took some effort, as you can imagine trying to accomodate the wishes of eight young ladies might. When it seemed no one was moving to start nailing down flights and accomodations as this fall term ticked away, Jenny went into full travel agent mode and spent hours finding the most efficient and economical links between cities and options for overnight stays. Frustration struck when, just days before the girls were to gather, credit cards in hand, to book their intercity flights together after agreeing on the details, one of the group finally decided she wanted to explore other options. What about train travel? (More expensive than flying, overall, Jen had already found.) Do we really need to worry about reserving hostels in advance when we’ll be traveling in the off-season? (With eight of us? Are you kidding!?) More than anything, Jenny was more than a little upset that at that late date someone had finally decided to jump in after she had spent so much time and effort on behalf of the entire bunch.
Everything was put on hold for another week as a few of the girls went off to a Student Travel Agency office and came back with an alternate plan that added another city and some Eurail travel — and at least $400 to the bill. The benefits were that the agent would be able to book and reserve all their travel and accomodations at once and bill each traveler separately. Jenny graciously (well, okay, I heard some grumbling) decided she’d just go along with the new plan. She did warn me, however, that if there was any complaining during their travels from the others about not having any money to spend on food or shopping, she might find it difficult to bite her tongue.
Her dad and I have mostly sat back and observed this process, offering a sympathetic ear and only a little advice. We know that all of this is part of learning to be a world traveler, and although Jen has been fortunate to travel abroad twice already, this is her first experience at taking the reins herself. My hope is that once all the bother of nailing down the mundane but necessary details of the trip is done, she and her friends will be able to really enjoy each destination and each other as they explore these new places together.
– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader
Graphic Novels
Nov 14th
I was driving around running errands yesterday and pondering, among other things, what book I should read next. Just a few days earlier, fellow GT blogger John Wroblewski had written about some of the books and authors he enjoyed. He mentioned some which I had not heard of before but which sounded like the kind of thing I would like. I can get in a bit of a rut with what I choose to read — same genres or authors or subject matter –Â so I like getting a nudge in a new direction now and then.
I had my radio tuned to the local public radio station (if there is a decent local news/talk radio station in this valley, I have yet to find it) and only listening with half an ear when I realized the current interview was with an author . . . of a graphic book. Now, that’s definitely a subject I know next to nothing about. They’re basically comic books, right? Mostly about superheroes or science fiction/fantasy subject matter, biggest fans are kind of nerdy young men? I vaguely was aware that several had given rise to some very popular recent movies (V for Vendetta, The Dark Knight, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, The Watchmen). As a former English teacher and avid reader, I’m all for anything that will encourage kids — and older folks, too — to get away from a screen and read, but this format has never enticed me personally.
Having a healthy imagination, I’ve never felt the need to have pictures help tell a story when well-chosen words will do (although I greatly appreciate, even now, a beautifully illustrated children’s book). And as I said, action/science fiction/superhero stories as a whole aren’t very high on my list of preferred genres. But I’m always open to something new and decided it’s high time I checked out these graphic novels. Listening to the NPR interview, the first thing I learned is that not all of these books are fiction. The author of the one under discussion, Michael Keller, just completed a graphic interpretation of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. As I listened to the interview, I began to understand that presenting information or a story in the graphic format could allow a writer to present ideas and demonstrate concepts or theories in a way that the written word alone could not — much as there are certain things one can do or show in an animated film that are impossible or at least fall short in a live-action movie. Seems so obvious, yes?
Poking around the Internet last night, I found that, indeed, the format has been dominated by adventure and sci-fi stories, but that’s not the whole story. Back in 1992, the Pulitzer committee gave a special award to Art Spiegelman for his graphic memoir Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, about his father, a Holocaust survivor. In 2005, Time magazine included Spiegelman in its list of 100 Most Influential People in the world. There are graphic books for kids, tweens, teens and adults, and the subject matter can be light or very heavy. Though fiction dominates, one can find subjects from biography to science, history to philosophy. A recent publication, The Book of Genesis Illustrated by Robert Crumb (anyone out there old enough to remember Fritz the Cat?),  gives what one reviewer calls “a new perspective on this ancient work” and says the detailed artwork makes the text (from the King James Bible) more accessible to all, no matter their religious background or beliefs.
I have to say, reading some of the reviews on graphicnovelreporter.com‘s website has me eager to check out this genre and some of the very intriguing-sounding titles listed there. I’d be curious if anyone reading this blog has delved into the graphic novel world and has any comments/recommendations to make.
– Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader
I See You!
Apr 25th
I have never tried to hide the fact that while I don’t shun technology, I am also not one to quickly embrace the latest gizmo that comes on the market. I’ve blogged in the past about “getting gadgetized” and how it’s not so much a fear of technology that holds me back but my impatience and a lack of time to devote to learning/installing what I need to put something new to use. Okay, if I’m going to be completely honest, I’m lazy, too. If I don’t think the benefits to me will outweigh the hassle (and expense) of adjusting to some new toy, I figure I don’t need it.
Lucky for me, I am prevented from remaining permanently in the Stone Age (or at least the VHS and cassette player age) by my loved ones. My husband, possessing what I have come to believe is an innate male trait, keeps our entertainment systems up to date . . . and thankfully knows how it all works. And my younger daughter has always been my go-to girl when I have any kind of computer question: “Jenny, how do I download the pictures from my camera to the computer? How do I delete these songs from my list? Show me again that thing you did in Excel.” She’s the one who handed me down her old iPod and introduced me to the iTunes store, too. She has long been well-acquainted with the various social networking sites, but I have no interest at present in joining one; a stance she seems to equally have no interest in changing (not surprising!). Just this past week, though, she nudged her dad and I into our latest techno adventure — Skypeing.
Both Jenny and big sister Sarah have webcams built into their computers, and after spending Easter weekend together and setting up their communications, they decided to get us in on the fun. Harry’s laptop also has a built-in camera, so after walking us through the free sign-up, Jenny had us hanging up our phone and chatting with her online, face-to-face, so to speak. For those of you who are uninitiated (and I doubt anyone reading this is), Skype allows you to make unlimited free calls over the Internet on computer, iPhone or PDAs. You can do so with or without the camera (we found we can teleconference with audio but not video–yet), but of course the whole point is to be able to see each other. With both girls in Chicago and us here in Oregon, it’s great to be able to see them in between our infrequent visits with each other. It means Jenny can show me the cute new top she bought instead of just describing it, and we will be able to show her live shots of our new home once we move in. I’m sure we will find lots of situations where we will be thankful for the ability to not just talk to each other but see each other, too — if for no other reason than the comfort of seeing that loving and familiar face.
Ain’t technology great?!
Patty Vanikiotis, proofreader
