Facebook: How Do I Use It?

A few years ago I set up a Facebook account. I faithfully filled in the ‘About Me’ section, and even took a special (but terrible) photo of myself for a profile picture. I requested my friends and my family to be my Facebook friends.

And then I got stuck.

What did one do with Facebook? Did one just post strange but cryptic things on their walls that might have a small chance of sparking an interesting conversation? Or was it about liking things and reposting pictures? Maybe it was about number. Maybe I needed to have the most friends. Or maybe it was about playing all those games that I saw in my news feed.

In the end I did nothing, and ignored Facebook for months.

And then I went away for a couple of weeks and made a heap of new friends. But the only problem was that none of them lived anywhere near me. How to keep in contact? The answer appeared to be Facebook. And so, I signed into my account, found my friends, and decided to give Facebook another try.

But I still don’t have it. I like reading about what happens with my friends. I like some of the pictures they post or share. But what am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to say? I’m still very much learning how to use Facebook properly. So tell me, what am I supposed to do?

And to all those lovely people who have come and commented and who comment on this post, I will answer your comments and visit your blogs. I just haven't had time this week, thanks to a uni assignment. And, in a random note, this is my 200 blog post. Go me!

Easter without the Easter Bunny

The other day, our hairdresser asked us if we celebrated Easter with the Easter Bunny. On hearing that we didn’t, she then asked, “Is your Easter boring then?”

I had to stop and think about that. Is it boring? Would it be more exciting if we believed that the Easter Bunny brought the eggs that we hunt each year? Are we missing out on something that would have made life so much better?

I was reminded of this while I was standing in mass on Good Friday, singing about the death of Jesus, feeling the sorrow of the day, and watching as some of the congregation wept silently. I remembered it at the Easter Vigil when we were singing with joy at his resurrection. I don’t know anything much about the Easter Bunny, but can he beat this?

My dad tells a story about a woman he used to know. She wasn’t a Catholic, but she always went to a Catholic mass for every Christmas and Easter. She liked to say that no one celebrated like the Catholics do.

The Easter Bunny. I don’t think we’re missing out on much really. Our Easter might not contain a bunny, but we do have the death and resurrection of Jesus. I think that our Easter is complete without it.

Dragons, Deadly and Delightful

Of the things I like most about writing and reading fantasy is the fact that there are dragons. Big, powerful dragons, and small, cute dragons. Wise, or childish. With a sense of humour or without. Dragons are amazing creatures.

One green dragons breathing green fire, drawn by my talented sister

If I had any sort of artistic talent besides drawing doodles, I think that I would use it to draw dragons. Big, beautiful dragons, with scaly bodies. They’d be colourful and fierce. They’d be perfect. Only, I don’t have enough drawing talent to draw them. So I’ll have to stick to reading about them and imagining them.

One red dragon breathing red fire. Again, drawn by my talented sister and not me.

And looking at the pictures that my talented sister draws of dragons. Even though my photos aren’t that good (I don’t seem to have any photography skills either), you can see that these definitely are dragons. Dragons, just how I imagine them. Don’t they look just like they’ve stepped out of a book, fire and all?

Dragons, big, brave and strong. Out of all the fantasy creatures, they are my favourites. What are yours?

Clueless

I sit down at my computer and open a new document. Today I’m going to write a blog post that is completely clever. It’s going to be cunningly composed. It’s going to be able…what? I’m clueless. I don’t have a subject to write about.

Is there a comic conversation I can create a post about? Was there a clever cat moment? Maybe I have a photo on my camera that could spark a creative thought. Can I remember a catastrophe to recount? If all else fails, I could eat some chocolate. It may not spark a post, but it would be delicious anyway, and very comforting.

A clever thought pops into my head. I shall ask my sister Charlotte to come up with a topic for me. Her creative mind teams with ideas that will surely provide me with a catchy title and a great post.  Or maybe I should close the post and think of other things, like characters and chases. Maybe then my mind will catch an amazing idea.

I might be clueless now, but I have my ways of chasing down a subject. My blank post can’t stay contentless forever. It would be a calamity!

Big Brother

My big brother Callum and I go shopping together. We’re going to buy a birthday present for his girlfriend. She wants a ring, not an engagement ring, but a pretty silver ring with little diamonds on it. We go into the shop together to pick it up. The assistant asks, “Is this for your girlfriend?” as she hands it to Callum. He nods.

We leave the shop together. I can’t help giggling at what the shop assistant must have thought. “I bet she thought that I was your girlfriend.” As I’m carrying the ring now, it’s very possible. We laugh together at the thought.

“Come and have a look at what I’ve done to my ute,” Callum calls. I drop everything and hurry out to see what he’s done the battered old ute he’s slowly restoring. It’s not my idea of a dream car, but somewhere inside the rusty, dented, broken-down vehicle, he sees something worth fixing it for. “Look, I’ve worked out how to get the steering wheel off. Do you want to help?” And for the next half hour we heat the steering wheel with a lethal looking heat gun until finally it give up and pops off.

Callum sticks his head round my bedroom door. “Hey Imogen, I’m going to the beach with my girlfriend. Do you want to come with us?” Do I want to come? I haven’t been to the beach in ages. I grin and race to get ready to go. He doesn’t mind me tagging along with him sometimes.

Most big brothers might not bother to take me shopping, or to include me in what they’re doing, or to take me somewhere fun when they’re already taking their girlfriend. Most brothers are not my brother. My brother is special.

April Adventures

“What are you doing in April?” Mum asks me. “Are you going to do that Blogging from A to Z challenge that you were telling me about?”

“Of course!”  I say. It sounds like a great idea. How could I miss out on it? Even though it’s the day before the challenge starts and I don’t have any subjects, no theme, and no clue if I’d be able to write 26 blog posts in a month, not to mention the fact that I haven’t even signed up yet, it sounds like a great adventure. There’s no way I’m not going to give it a try.

“But I thought you were doing Camp NaNoWriMo with me in April,” my younger sister Charlotte says. “Are you still going to do that if you do this blogging challenge?”

“Yes, I’m definitely still going to do Camp NaNoWriMo,” I say. I suppose I will be doing them both. There’s no way I’m going to miss out on Camp NaNoWriMo. I have a fantastic science fiction novel actually planned out, and I’m itching to get started.

“But how will you have time?” Mum asks. “You have your uni work, your music to practice. You have to keep up your running. How are you going to fit all of these things into your day?”

And that’s when I stop and think about this. What have I done? I’ve gotten myself mixed up in a whole bunch of challenges. Camp NaNoWriMo with its daily word count. A-Z Blogging challenge, with its daily post. Uni work with its daily work load. Daily music practice. Such a lot of challenges and adventures. How will I ever manage to keep up with them all?

Whoops. April wasn’t meant to be this busy. I suppose at this point I should be feeling overwhelmed, or sorry that I’ve gotten myself into such a lot of work. Maybe half way through the month, when I can’t think of what next to write in my novel, when I’ve run out of ideas for blog posts, and when the work is piling up, maybe then I’ll feel that I’ve got too much on my plate. But for now, I just feel excited.

April is the Month of Adventures it seems. So many exciting things to do this month. And I can’t wait.

Top Ten Movie Blogfest

Alex J Cavenaugh  is hosting a Top Ten Movies Blogfest, and the rules are simple. Post your top ten favourite movies. One rule. I broke it… Only a little. I only added three mini-series and one four movie series. It’s not so bad… Anyway, cheating aside, here are my top ten favourite movies in ascending order.

At place number ten we have Alice in Wonderland, the Tim Burton version. I wasn’t so sure I’d like this movie when I first heard of it. But after I actually saw it, I loved it. Cats that can turn into smoke? Shrinking and growing? The Mad Hatter? What more could I want from a movie?

In ninth place is Little Dorrit. Yes, I know this is a mini-series and therefore technically doesn’t count, but I never was very good with sticking to the rules. Little Dorrit is one of the only Charles Dickens I’ve seen so far, and it’s fantastic. Rags to riches to rags again. Old houses and cranky old ladies. It’s got some of everything.

Eighth is North and South, the mini-series adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell’s book. True the heroine has an annoying hat, but the other characters more than make up for that. The supporting cast is great. Some of my favourite characters are just the side ones.

Seventh place comes yet another mini-series, the last, I promise you. Pride and Prejudice. I’m an Austen girl at heart, and this has my sort of witty banter and the right touch of romance that isn’t too much. Sadly romance and I don’t get on very well unless it’s Jane Austen’s kind.

Sixth is The Avengers. Apart from loving period dramas, I’m also a big fan of superhero movies. There’s something about a bunch of people having a bunch of amazing powers that is just awesome. There’s some great lines and lots of action. My only bone to pick with this one is the way they did Thor and Loki, but apart from that, it was a great movie and one I don’t mind watching over and over again.

Fifth is the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Which again is technically a cheat, but it is the last time I cheat in this list. It has pirates, and a mad captain. Who could fail to like Captain Jack Sparrows, who’s plans always seem to be made up on the spot and always end up working in the strangest of ways?

Fourth is Tangled. I never much liked the actual fairy tale of Rapunzel. A girl named after a radish wasn’t my sort of thing. But a girl with a hundred feet of hair going to see lanterns and having crazy adventures is much better. Not to mention a small green reptile who happens to be one of the best characters…

At place number three is Thor. This is how a Norse god should be done. Hammers, hitting Thor with a bus, and Loki’s evil schemes. Frost giants, the rainbow bridge and Asgard just make things even better. Amazing movie.

Number two is How to Train Your Dragon. Dragons. Need I say more? Toothless is so cute. In fact he reminds me of my cat… And the rest of the dragon cast is amazing to. Wait, there were people in this movie I was supposed to like? I must have gotten distracted by the dragons.

And at last, at place number one is Megamind. A criminal genius with a giant blue head who thinks he’s the villain but is actually the hero? Way to turn the superhero cliché on its head. A hero who’s the bad guy? Plus all the awesomely quotable lines? It’s no wonder I’ve watched it so many times I can quote half the movie.

Hmm, I’m seeing a pattern here. Superheros, regency dramas, and animated movies. What are your top ten favourite movies?