Day 3 without Facebook

It's my birthday today.
No one has called me to wish me "happy birthday!" as of 5:00 pm.
No one has texted me to wish me "happy birthday!", but this point is moot because I don't have a cellphone at this present time.
I have received three e-mails today that wished me happy birthday: one from Badminton Central, one from Plenty of Fish, and one from my friend Kaylie, who is in Australia.
Two people on Skype have wished me happy birthday, but only after Skype notified them. They are mostly strangers to me.

You might be wondering: "Gabe, why are you being so whiny? It's not like you wished me happy birthday when my birthday rolled around!"
To that, I answer that two wrongs don't make a right.
The more important answer is that we're probably not good enough friends for me to a) have your cell # and/or b) I likely wouldn't be one of the people you'd invite to your birthday party.
I also can't keep up with the flood of birthdays that Facebook imposes on me. With Facebook gone for now, I feel it's more likely than before that I -will- wish you happy birthday, whenever it rolls around.

I do not have the funds, nor the desire to go get drunk at a pub like so many of my other friends do when their birthday rolls around. I would rather go on an adventure, or go to a park and maybe get drunk there, like my friend Mark and his crew once did earlier this summer. That was fun.

Made me chuckle. But then I realized they were being serious.

This will be the first birthday in many years that I don't have a flood of people on Facebook wishing me happy birthday; mostly people who once a year take three seconds out of their lives to type something on my wall, and then never speak to me again until next year. Should I act grateful? Social norms dictate that I should be grateful, but the truth is I'm annoyed more than anything.

I would be lying if I said I hadn't started to miss Facebook; there is some comfort there. But I remain absolute in my convictions that Facebook has not helped my social life one bit.

Hope you don't take this too personally, dear reader.

Day 1 without Facebook

It feels like a huge weight's been lifted off my shoulders
That's what I was hoping for, but I didn't expect it to happen so soon after deleting Facebook off my internetz.

I don't have to sign in to see if someone sent me a message.
I don't have to sign in to see if anyone posted on my wall.
I don't have to sign in to see if anyone invited me to an event I probably won't go to anyway.
I don't have to sign in to see what friend X ate for breakfast.
I don't have to sign in to "Like" a business page to get a coupon.
I don't have to sign in to see how hot girl Y is in picture Z.
I don't have to sign in to see what my friends did at a party.
I don't have to sign in to see random people wishing me "Happy Birthday!".
I don't have to sign in to see what friend X wrote on Y's picture.
I don't have to sign in to see what friend Y's boyfriend looks like.
I don't have to sign in to see pictures of memories that are more real than Facebook ever will be.

I'm finally free.

Exceptional

Inextrication

The drum lies in its dark red case, waiting for hands to strike it.
But no fingers ever touch it, for the master of the hands is afraid of it.

The guitar lies in its corner, gathering dust, waiting for fingers to pluck it.
But no hands ever pick it up.

The drum kit lies beside the door, waiting for sticks to hit it.
But no sticks ever hit it, for the sticks are nowhere to be found.

The keyboard lies on the bar, waiting for a virtuoso to play it.
But no virtuoso wants to touch it.

The bass lies between the bookcase and the wardrobe, waiting for a prodigy to finger it.
But no prodigy ever fingers it, for he is too far gone to remember it.

The mic lies in a dungeon, awaiting its owner.
But the owner rarely uses it.

The computer stirs, the blue and red lights turn on, and as it lets out its first dusty breath, I await my saviours.

I hope I can get it

Position Title: Student Blogger

Description 

“Either write something worth reading, or do something worth writing” quoth Benjamin Franklin.
If you love food, this is your opportunity to do both.
UeaT is the student-focused face of Food Services at the University of Toronto. We oversee food locations across the St. George campus and coordinate food-related events that get the university community thinking and talking about the food they eat.
Essential to our success is the contribution of our students – and that’s where you fit in. We need you to help deepen the conversation surrounding food on campus while promoting UeaT events, programs and initiatives.
The Student Bloggers will primarily be responsible for writing articles for the UeaT blog, developing content for a wide range of print and digital media projects, and using social media to get the conversation going.
Bloggers will also be expected to participate in events such as Field to Fork, Food Truck Fridays, Nutrition Week and March Madness, and to perform other duties to support the Food Services team as required.

Qualifications

• Current university student, enrolled in FT or PT studies for the 2013/2014 academic year

• No previous professional experience is required, but your cover letter should demonstrate that you have the writing and storytelling skills required to excel in this position.

• Knowledge of food (preparation, consumption, production, distribution, etc.) and/or issues of food security, nutrition and sustainability is an asset.

• Experience with WordPress (or other Content Management Systems) is an asset.

• Previous experience writing print material for publication is an asset.

• Previous experience writing for a blog and/or other social media forum is an asset.

Skills

• Strong communication skills (written and verbal)

• Able to convey a story through the written word

• Able to conduct original research

• Able to work independently or as a dedicated member of a small team

• Highly creative

This job seems AWESOME! I love food and blogging. This is taken from this job posting. Wish me luck! :)

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Musings from a UofT student

• Is it fair that students with laptops have an advantage over those who don't (in classes that use clickers) because they can look up the clicker questions on the PowerPoint slides when the prof uploads them to Blackboard right before class starts?
• Why do so many students go to lectures to watch videos and browse Facebook on their laptops?
• Why (in certain classes) do you have to pay money to look at an exam that you wrote?
• Why are students allowed to enroll in a "fake" Program of Study on ROSI to get into courses that are limited to students who are legitimately majoring or specializing in a given subject?
• Why does Robarts library close so early on Fridays?
• Why do the vast majority of food trucks/student cafeterias sell only junk food?
• Why am I not eligible for the 30% off tuition despite being only slightly older than people entering post-secondary right after high school?
• Why do I feel like a visible minority on the St. George campus?
• Why am I not allowed to pay for my full-time classes on a per-course basis during the academic year?
• Why do first-year students in lecture halls always sit at least two seats away from people they don't know?
• Why are textbooks so expensive?
• Why is important scholarly research paywalled to non-university students?
• Why are there intellectuals on campus who wander around and don't appear to be grounded in physical reality?

That's all I can really think of for now. I might decide to add some pictures to each bullet later on once I have all the pictures I need.

Have you got any musings to share?

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