The Modern Town Halls
Sorry that I went so long without a post - I was still somewhat depressed with Dubya. I was also very busy with other things but I'm making excuses now, and if I started making too many excuses - I'd be a politician. So lets have out with it - I'm a LAZY ASS.
That being said....
People ask me why I spend so much time on the internet. They do notice how I spend up to an hour or two each day looking at various websites and forums, all the while getting mad, sad, or glad about something I've read or seen. A few people even asked if I had a social life outside of the web or do I really think that I'll gain any sort of fulfillment from a computer screen filled with web pages, emails, and instant messages.
Well, yes and no.
The Case for Yes, The Internet Offers Fulfillment
There are two things that really stand to further my happiness on the internet: learning new things and meeting new people. Let's take the former. I've learned some amazing things that I would have never known unless I lived at the library. Somehow - my mechanically dis-inclined nature was turned around by reading and researching various car repair/installs on the web. I can now fully take apart my car's suspension and put it back together at a different height within 3 hours.
I've learned how to shop for cars better on the internet. While buying our most recent cars - it was a matter of visitinghttp://www.carbuyingtips.com to get all the info I needed to buy a new car. I saved thousands and saved time - while being able to justify the new cars.
I've learned how people in different countries view us ugly Americans. Much as I thought, they think of us as backwards, pickup loving, NASCAR cheering, and DUBYA loving Southerners who worship isolationism as much as "The Dukes of Hazzard." Okay, they're partially right - I did love that General Lee driving duo of Bo and Luke Duke. Oh yeah, and don't forget Daisy Duke - she invented a whole new fashion industry out of cutoff jeans.
In addition, the internet has let meet new people whom I would never meet in my life.
Let's take for example a good friend of mine - Dawn. About a year and a half ago - I would have never known anyone outside of the residents in my program and Chi's friends. Partly becaues I just moved out from Minnesota, but also because there was no real good way to meet people. There were those who were friendly enough - but wanted less to do with me and more to do with me listening to them. I found that a year and a half ago most people didn't want to invest the extra time of getting past the "hello" and "how are you" to "what do you love to do" and "what interests you most." Heaven forbid. That would require actually hanging out with those people again - and you could never guarantee that your second investment of time in them would yield any common interest or hobby. It took me 3 "hang outs" with one guy to realize that he was a jerk and a staunch "I love white people so much I think we should all be albino" republican. What a waste of my time.
The internet does away with that. No more wasted "hang outs" or emails. You see, the internet has forums - places where people with similar interests congregate to discuss similar topics. Such topics can include, specific car makes, hi end audio, reality TV, etc. Furthermore, by their nature - you can have a discussion that doesn't require you to be present at all times. You can post a commment and come back to it hours or days later to see what other people feel about it - and not feel like you were rude to anyone in the process. That way, you can forgo the useless "hang outs" and find people who are more inclined to actually enjoy the same things as you! Furthermore, you can't "see" the other members - which removes the stigma of gender and race that can sometimes hinder friendships (it shouldn't in my ideological dreams, but it does in my crappy reality).
Oh, back to Dawn. Well, last September, I bought a new Audi A4. I soon got involved with an Audizine.com website and posted there frequently. In that same month, I went to an Audi meet - a gathering of Audi enthusiasts in the bay area to talk and admire each other's Audi's. I know, to most of the world - it sounds ridiculous and reeks of superficialism (if that's even a word). But in reality, the meets are a nice way to openly talk about your hobby, no matter how ridiculous, expensive, or gauche it is. At that first meet, I met Dawn and soon got to talking to her via instant messaging and the Audizine.com forum - I soon realized that she was a great person and a very positive one - someone that was very interested not only in her hobbies but in me as a person - which was and is still very rare.
All of this came to fruition last Friday - when I was in the Hospital visiting area while she was getting a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) for severe inflammation of her gallbladder. I'll cut to the chase (I'll blog about her surgery another time) but me being there and worrying about her outcome reminded me of how I would have never met a person like Dawn had I not "wasted my time" on the internet. How lucky I was to spend some online time in the Audi forums. Like a modern town hall - friendships can be made online.
Oh man, another long blog - I think I ramble too much. But I guess its like eating at McDonald's - you don't do it for awhile and all of a sudden it you have to do it big the one time you do do it so as to justify the existence of Mcdonald's (or my blog). That was a hell of a run-on sentence if I've ever seen one.
That being said....
People ask me why I spend so much time on the internet. They do notice how I spend up to an hour or two each day looking at various websites and forums, all the while getting mad, sad, or glad about something I've read or seen. A few people even asked if I had a social life outside of the web or do I really think that I'll gain any sort of fulfillment from a computer screen filled with web pages, emails, and instant messages.
Well, yes and no.
The Case for Yes, The Internet Offers Fulfillment
There are two things that really stand to further my happiness on the internet: learning new things and meeting new people. Let's take the former. I've learned some amazing things that I would have never known unless I lived at the library. Somehow - my mechanically dis-inclined nature was turned around by reading and researching various car repair/installs on the web. I can now fully take apart my car's suspension and put it back together at a different height within 3 hours.
I've learned how to shop for cars better on the internet. While buying our most recent cars - it was a matter of visiting
I've learned how people in different countries view us ugly Americans. Much as I thought, they think of us as backwards, pickup loving, NASCAR cheering, and DUBYA loving Southerners who worship isolationism as much as "The Dukes of Hazzard." Okay, they're partially right - I did love that General Lee driving duo of Bo and Luke Duke. Oh yeah, and don't forget Daisy Duke - she invented a whole new fashion industry out of cutoff jeans.
In addition, the internet has let meet new people whom I would never meet in my life.
Let's take for example a good friend of mine - Dawn. About a year and a half ago - I would have never known anyone outside of the residents in my program and Chi's friends. Partly becaues I just moved out from Minnesota, but also because there was no real good way to meet people. There were those who were friendly enough - but wanted less to do with me and more to do with me listening to them. I found that a year and a half ago most people didn't want to invest the extra time of getting past the "hello" and "how are you" to "what do you love to do" and "what interests you most." Heaven forbid. That would require actually hanging out with those people again - and you could never guarantee that your second investment of time in them would yield any common interest or hobby. It took me 3 "hang outs" with one guy to realize that he was a jerk and a staunch "I love white people so much I think we should all be albino" republican. What a waste of my time.
The internet does away with that. No more wasted "hang outs" or emails. You see, the internet has forums - places where people with similar interests congregate to discuss similar topics. Such topics can include, specific car makes, hi end audio, reality TV, etc. Furthermore, by their nature - you can have a discussion that doesn't require you to be present at all times. You can post a commment and come back to it hours or days later to see what other people feel about it - and not feel like you were rude to anyone in the process. That way, you can forgo the useless "hang outs" and find people who are more inclined to actually enjoy the same things as you! Furthermore, you can't "see" the other members - which removes the stigma of gender and race that can sometimes hinder friendships (it shouldn't in my ideological dreams, but it does in my crappy reality).
Oh, back to Dawn. Well, last September, I bought a new Audi A4. I soon got involved with an Audizine.com website and posted there frequently. In that same month, I went to an Audi meet - a gathering of Audi enthusiasts in the bay area to talk and admire each other's Audi's. I know, to most of the world - it sounds ridiculous and reeks of superficialism (if that's even a word). But in reality, the meets are a nice way to openly talk about your hobby, no matter how ridiculous, expensive, or gauche it is. At that first meet, I met Dawn and soon got to talking to her via instant messaging and the Audizine.com forum - I soon realized that she was a great person and a very positive one - someone that was very interested not only in her hobbies but in me as a person - which was and is still very rare.
All of this came to fruition last Friday - when I was in the Hospital visiting area while she was getting a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) for severe inflammation of her gallbladder. I'll cut to the chase (I'll blog about her surgery another time) but me being there and worrying about her outcome reminded me of how I would have never met a person like Dawn had I not "wasted my time" on the internet. How lucky I was to spend some online time in the Audi forums. Like a modern town hall - friendships can be made online.
Oh man, another long blog - I think I ramble too much. But I guess its like eating at McDonald's - you don't do it for awhile and all of a sudden it you have to do it big the one time you do do it so as to justify the existence of Mcdonald's (or my blog). That was a hell of a run-on sentence if I've ever seen one.
posted by Richard at 11:39 PM
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