BLOGAHOMA

The Necessity of Appearing in Your Own Face 

There are days when that is the last place
in the world where you want to be but you
have to be there, like a movie, because it
features you. ~ Richard Brautigan

Back in the 1950’s a popular TV show, “This is Your Life” aired for a decade. The premise: a person, some celebrity of a kind, would be the receiver (target) , then people, teachers, best friends, former dates, relatives and the like would be dredged up from their recent and distant past. The mystery person (standing off stage) would proceed to give the person hints, sometimes embarrassing, sometimes heart-warming; the celebrity would then try to guess.

Facebook is very much like “This is Your Life” but on steroids. For me it has turned out to be one stupendous open house where people from you life come out of the woodwork and onto you facebook. Three years ago I attempted to join but alas my generation had not come aboard so I ended up talking to myself.  (A blog is much better place for that.) Then on Christmas my daughter got me up and running again.  Like most I felt a little frustrated when I first looked at the maze they call Facebook.  Having left timidity behind years ago I opened the door and walked in.

 My easiest path for regrouping on Facebook is family due to mine being vast. I began finding cousins and collating them onto my Facebook. My sister Lucy (being influential as the first born of the cousins) coaxed a batch of them on and gregarious Aunt Pauline wrangled in more.  Now there are 70 people I am related to. 70! More than half of all my friends are actually related. After that followed the Lourdes Academy class of 1964 (I scanned in all the Senior pics and tagged them) followed by neighbors, and people I worked with from three previous jobs. Friends brought other friends and cousins brought the kids and their kids, kids. And pretty soon it was big open house where you never know who might walk in and whether you will recognize them.  But unlike an open house they won’t see the stunned expression on your face as you see how they have aged and visa versa, and no one offers you a cocktail although that might be a nice addition.

 And like an open house people will arrive and after they get reacquainted they will bring out the pictures of the their kids, grandkids, dogs, cars, vacations and the like. And the comments will come “adorable”, “nice family” “beautiful” etc. etc. And you are free to wonder among your guest as you get introduced to friends of friends, sisters of friends and it goes on. But there comes a time, like any party, when people are seated or standing and involved in a deeper more meaningful conversation. And you’ll want to be there because it features you.

From my original sculpted piece of the same name dreamt up after a night of insomnia.
Image and Animation by Muriel Fahrion on a MacBook with Cheetah 3D. Sound from SoundSnap.

The progress so far on Little Britches. It has been slow and not so steady. Hands are the HARDEST in any media but in 3D it’s close to impossible. I use Cheetah 3D because it is affordable and capable and I can figure out enough of it to do this.

:Going off Half-Blocked

I am going to come right out and say it. People are going off half-blocked in the frenzy of the election. There is NO excuse for this as there are so many balanced sources from which you can get your information on the Internet. What I am seeing a lot of this election are intelligent people who are not bothering to explore, novices to the internet who are haven’t learned the ins and outs of the net or intolerant people adding more to filler to the blanket of intolerance they wrap themselves in. The last group cannot be helped or guided by any form of logic but there is hope for the others.

I have gotten forwarded…forwarded…forwarded email with extremist views disguised as real deals. Usually the people who forward them have not checked out the voracity of the contents. I say, it’s not that hard to research.  Giving the source it is the only responsible thing to do. Didn’t everyone learn that in high school English class when they wrote their term papers? When I get forwarded emails I will research it and reply back citing legitimate links to the sender so they can be a little more informed. Debating the information has not gotten me anywhere however finding sources seems to occasionally work. I could obviously delete all forwarded email but occasionally one might hit that is intriguing or has the ring of truth that I will do a Google search and I, in process, become more informed myself.

Far right and the far left blogs I just avoid altogether. I read news feeds but never exclusively just one. I might stop CNN, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and NPR while throwing in a little Daily Show and Colbert Report just for laughs. Yes, and I know the last two lean left but they make digs on the Democratic side as well. I’m not opposed to checking out FOX for news (but not the commentary).

Twitter is another story. Currently it is featuring Hot Political Topics. I like to check it out to see what the buzz is about. If someone is off the mark and I can steer him or her to a solid source I will. It could be as simple as the twitter that claimed that Obama couldn’t be speaking in Denver because he was speaking in Ft. Collins that day. In few seconds that person could have checked to see he was doing both. So I posted a link. On Twitter you will also find twits from Aryan Nations that spew bile. It is not worth my while to even reply to that sort of junk. Because if your that extreme there is no logic.

I function from a logic base but also from a diversity and tolerance base. I vote Democrat generally but never a straight ticket. And that goes for this election as well. If you want my vote don’t send me scare propaganda, fear does not motivate my vote.

So in a election year that promises to be the biggest year in percentage of voter participation since 1908 according to Michael McDonald, an associate professor of politics and government at George Mason. University, get your facts straight and enjoy the amazing American political process.
politico.com
Here my top six biparitson websites I keep on my Bookmark Menu bar…

• Real Clear Politics…..Averages Polls, Presidential, Senatorial, Congressional etc.
• Pollster…. Similar to RCP but with very good daily commentary on election trends
• Early Voting…. Keep up with the early voting breaks down Rep/Dem , Black/White, Male/Female percentages
• Fair.org….Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Offers well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship.
• Twitter Election…..Fast moving hot political topics…What is happening in real time
• Snopes….Helps to debunk the “Urban Legends” of the Internet

The inevitable, the passing of Louis Fahrion, occurred this month; not particularly notable unless he was your husband, dad or Pap-Pap. He was 87 with complications of heart problems and diabetes which left his body pretty useless but his brain kept on keeping on. When his physical world collapsed his virtual world opened up. His first computer came about the time her turned 80 because of the nudging of his children and grandchildren. Not surprising to us he (being much brighter than the average welder) became computer savvy, digging into CAD programs and delving into the Internet knowledge dispensary. It was, I believe, what diverted his focus from his failing health to all the new things that was yet to be learned. He was on his third computer which was being continually upgraded by his daughter.

Pap-Pap shares a story with great grandson Gavin

When we returned to Ohio and West Virginia for my father-in-law’s funeral we took account of the (to be expected) physical things. Digging through his closets and dresser we found his clothes, Tyrolean hat, a drawer full of key fobs, books historical, technical and fiction, cufflinks, Masonic jewelry and notepads. But the expanded world of the computer proved more interesting. We weren’t there to hear his last words but we did find his last searches on Google.  On our winter visit we put Pap-Pap on Twitter, so even if he didn’t leave a “tweet”, he could follow his children and grandchildren on their day to day activities. My husband sifted through his computer files moving over what might of interest for posterity, letter, notes and Eureka! a personal memoir. Now that is the inheritance Michael really wanted, his dad’s memoirs.

The computer now wiped clean of Louis Fahrion’s files, sits in my daughters Family Consumer Science classroom as Luke would have wanted it, passing on keys of knowledge to the next generation.