Monday, October 26, 2009

Things I'll Never Understand

There are things in life I'll never really understand. Like how or why anyone would need to send 800 text messages in one day. Why people need unlimited calling on their cell, etc. To start with, I don't have time to text 800 times a day, and since I haven't yet learned to do it with my toes (apparently teenagers can), while also painting my nails and working, then I'm going to have to pass. When I switched to tmobile, I signed up for the MyFaves plan, that allows you to call five of your favorite people an unlimited amount of time. Then you have minutes for everyone else. The lady wanted to sell my 1000 minutes. I disagreed, pointing out that the five people were likly the only ones I'd call 99% of the time.

When MySpace first started, I was writing and had sold a book, and everyone insisted that I was missing out on the viral marketing event of a lifetime, so I NEEDED a page. Yeah. My first thought was "I don't have time to mess with building a MySpace page. I need to be writing books." My second thought was "And then I'd have to get FRIENDS." But I spent a weekend cussing over the software and finally put up a page. I have no idea how many friends I have, but they kept showing up. BTW - I don't think I've actually looked at that page in almost a year.

Have you guessed yet that I'm an overworked introvert? My workdays are seven days a week, currently 14-18 hours/day given the day job, next book and other things I'm working on. I don't have time to pee, much less to have friends. I do have a few, in case you're wondering. I call them when I'm driving to and from work because that's the only time I can't be typing. They understand - hell, they're busy people, too.

So then Facebook comes around and again, the pressure begins. So now I have a Facebook page, but again, I haven't been there in forever, except to approve people. And what the heck are tweets? Never mind. I don't think I want to know since that sounds like something that would involve answering my phone. Why do people tweet? Either some people have far more interesting lives than I do, or they're just as boring and THINK they are interesting. Do I really need to tweet everyone that I finished a page on my book, or ate a bowl of cereal, or remembered to walk the dog?

Then there's those obnoxious Christmas letters - you know the kind. Where it details out all the wonderful things that Ken, Barbie and Muffy did last year. I guess I don't see the point unless you're sending those letters to people over 80 who don't use the Internet. Nowadays, I figure anyone important already knows everything that's going on with me between the blogging and MySpacing and Facebooking and Tweeting, heck we know more about people than necessary. And those that don't know probably aren't that important and wouldn't give a whit if I sent a letter anyway.

We are fast becoming an "On Demand" society. We want every single need/want filled immediately upon thought of it. So when does anyone ever sit back and enjoy it?

You have to wonder.

Deadly DeLeon

12 comments:

Elle J Rossi said...

Great post!

It is so hard to manage our time these days. As writers who want others to read our work, I think it is imperative that we self-market. Unfortunately, that does mean FB and MySpace and probably even twitter (even though I don't get that one). So how do we find the time to do all this and still write, write, write? How about family? We seem to be spending less and less time together.

Here's what I've decided to do. I'm going to treat all of it like a job. I have to show up between such and such time and then I punch out. The rest of my day is completely family time with no interruptions! But within that job I still have to compartmentalize, don't I? Now I have to break it down even further and that's just taking up too much of my time...again. Plus I still have to squeeze in my day job. Okay, I give up!

Elle

Keri Ford said...

I have a short attention span, so I need things like twitter, blogs and email to keep me writing. I write a section, a play, I edit, then I play. It's my system.

I dont' myspace/facebook, but I do twitter. As with eveyrthing else, you either get/use twitter or you don't. I use it everday, but it just didn't work for how my cp likes to function, I suppose you could say.

Terri Osburn said...

I am so with you on this. I fully admit I spend too much time checking out blogs during the day, but once I get home at night, I almost never look at a blog other than the one I'm on. And even then not so much.

I'm on Facebook and do like to check once or twice a day to see what's up with friends. Of course, I also have *friends* on there I've never heard of or met. But I like Facebook because it stays right there and if a convo happens on a status, I can see it all in one place.

Twitter is much too scattered, so I only check there maybe twice a week. I have no idea how some people on there get anything done. There are people who are on there every minute that they're awake. What's up with that?!

Tori Lennox said...

I love Facebook. I usually have it open all day long. But I avoid MySpace like the plague unless one of the handful of people I have as friends there who aren't also on FB have something to say. And I really don't get Twitter either.

But I love love love Facebook. But maybe that's because I connected with cousins I never knew I had and we've become fast friends. :)

Brandy said...

I joined Facebook from pressure to keep up with friends and a few authors I like (they update when a release is near). I don't tweet, I don't have a myspace and I'm staying that way!

Jana DeLeon said...

Elle - I give up too. What I have found is that usually my health is the first thing to give. I eat bad, don't exercise, etc. Not good in the long run for anyone. But until I find a better way....

Jana DeLeon said...

Keri - My distractions include peeing and switching from one writing job to another for variety. Every once and a while, I sleep or walk the dog. LOL

Jana DeLeon said...

Terri - Apparently some people are superhuman, independently wealthy or live in a cardbox box with a netbook and a cell phone. That's all I can figure on the time end of things. I'm fast and hyper-efficient and still don't have time to do "most" much less "all."

Jana DeLeon said...

Tori - Well, then I'm glad it's worked out for you. Given the family I already have, I'm in no hurry to meet more. LOL

Jana DeLeon said...

Brandy - apparently myspace is dead, so you're safe on that end. I probably need to take mine down. Yet another thing to do, right?

Leona said...

I have the same problem. My friend brought me kicking and screaming into the twentieth century. It's hard enough to find time to write much less all the other stuff.

However, Linda Lael Miller, whom I got to have tea with at her book signing in Ellensburg WA. (I worked with her brother :D) told me that facebook or myspace (if you have followers, this being more for the YA audience) can be used for web presence. Of course, she has her own blog, LOL

It seems to be a personal preference how you do it, but most readers want to see an online presence, I think. Has that been other's experience as well?

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