i *am* ready for some football

The chilly weather this weekend was downright fall-like. (The Weather Channel had deemed "Julytober" Note to TWC - combining words doesn't always work as well as Sharknado.)  The weather was perfect for my twenty-some-odd mile walk on Saturday.  I didn't sweat, didn't want to pass out from the heat, I was thankful!  On Sunday though, I woke up and put on the most comfortable snuggly clothes I could find...my big Packers sweatshirt and capris.  And it was cold and sunny-ish and we went to the store and all I wanted to buy was cheese, sausage and crackers and bugles and chili dip and pretzels and ranch dip...and I WANTED FOOTBALL FOOD!!!  And football! 

And it didn't help that my Twitter and Instagram feeds were full of pictures of Packers training camp. 

Full pads today. QB Aaron Rodgers on the move early in practice. #Packers pic.twitter.com/2d8T3GBmAI
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) July 28, 2013

And to top it all off...Clay's back!  Aren't you as excited as I am?

Their bikes were too small, so Clay just stopped to say hello to these triplets in 52 jerseys. #Packers pic.twitter.com/AunUawidAM
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) July 28, 2013

Gah!  The cuteness!

Okay, I love living in a place with four distinct seasons and I'm not quite ready for summer to be over, but this little taste of fall and football season leaves me wanting more. 

and the geeks shall inherit the earth

SDCC was last weekend, (that's San Diego Comic-Con, for those of you not in the know), and with so much going on in the world of sci-fi and fantasy, the "geek" label is thrown around like a frisbee at
Bonnaroo.  Who's a geek, who's not geeky enough, girls and fake geekery, yadda yadda yadda...

So, now "geek" is something that's exclusive as well?  In that case, I don't know if I'm a geek or not.  I know I'm pretty dang geeky when it comes to some things, but whether or not I fit into the new definition of the "geek" label is beyond me.

I grew up not only playing with Barbies and My Little Ponies, but also with Transformers and Star Wars figures.  When I watched TV, my favorite shows were Wonder Woman, He-Man and Super Friends.  I had a crush on Christopher Reeve as Superman and David Bowie in Labyrinth.  These were in the mainstream, not fringe entertainment.

The same can be said for entertainment today.  We're in the land of 80's remakes like Transformers and GI Joe and not only that, but comic book characters rule the world of movies and cartoons.  Avengers, Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, (Green) Arrow, sadly still no Wonder Woman though...they're everywhere.  It's rare that you find anyone who doesn't watch any of these.

So, I guess where my confusion lies is if all of these characters and story lines are so mainstream, when does a fan cross into the "geek" category?  Are we all geeks or are there certain criteria that need to be adhered to? 

I've read that they now have geek clubs in schools where you have to answer certain questions in order to be accepted.  Seriously?  Geekdom is something you can be excluded from now?  Something you have to study to attain?  I just do not get this.

And there are throngs of women/girls who feel like they're not accepted.  That they're being labeled as "fake geek".  How can you be fake geek?  I just can't wrap my head around this.  This whole issue has been summarized in one music video by The Doubleclicks....



So, here I am...  You know what my interests were when I grew up.  I still love watching the original sci-fi & fantasy movies I watched as a kid, I'm a huge fan of the new Marvel movies, still strive to be Wonder Woman, but I've never owned a comic book (well, until this year), never got into role playing games, Dungeons & Dragons (except for the 80's cartoon), and I don't know the names of the aliens sitting behind Jabba the Hut's throne in Return of the Jedi.  To throw everyone for a loop, let's also throw in the fact that I greatly enjoy watching football as well.  (*gasp*)  Where do I fall on the geek scale?

And does it really matter?

Just be yourself, my friends!  Like what you like, be okay with what you don't like.  Don't feel like you have to conform to standards to be accepted, and most important of all, always follow Wheaton's Law:

Don't be a dick.

no, i'm not on the face book

Today is my first full day off of Facebook - I deactivated my account yesterday evening.  Jaws dropped across the land when I warned them of my impending departure.  You see, I was always on Facebook.  No matter where I was, work, home, car, and it was sucking the life out of me!  Even if I wasn't posting anything, it was on somewhere in the background, frequently refreshed, so I wouldn't miss a minute of what was going on.

And what was going on anyway? 

Not a whole lot.

Most of the people who I really wanted to see updates on fell into two categories: They rarely ever posted or they also posted things via Twitter, Instagram and/or blogs.  And yet I kept hitting refresh.  I'd keep getting frustrated by the things I was seeing from other people- the memes, the reposting without researching, the constant outrage, the incessant need for attention.  And I'd keep refreshing.   I'd go for periods of days without posting anything, but I just. kept. refreshing.

A few months ago, I came to the realization that this wasn't a productive way to spend my time (ya think?) and knew that I wanted to let it go completely, but I couldn't just yet.  I was in the midst of planning a class reunion and that was our main means of communication, so instead of leaving completely, I drastically reduced the number of people on my friends list by about half, only keeping my classmates, close family, and the few closer friends I wanted to try to keep in touch with.  The purge gave me a great feeling.  I wasn't done yet, but at least it was a start.

Once the reunion was over a couple of weeks ago, I was ready to leave completely.  Any responsibilities I had on there, I was sure to give to other completely competent people.  Any pages I was watching on Facebook for news or information I found on Twitter and started following them there instead.  Those friends who fell into the "also posting on Twitter/Instagram/blog" category, I made sure to follow on those other sites.  I started a new blog which I'd actually give my family the link to (as opposed to this one) to keep them up to date on pictures of events and non-events.  I put all of my contact information on my page for a few days so that people would have the time to jot it all down or add me to their bookmarks before anything I posted disappeared.

Last night, when I was sure I had done all I could, I deactivated my account.  This is no simple task.  You have to go through three different security measures and on top of it all, they throw up a page with 5 random friends on it saying how much they are going to miss you when you're gone.  Of the people they listed, I might agree with one, but seriously?  They play the guilt card?  I finally made it through the gauntlet of "are you sure"s and was free.

I'm hoping to stay off forever.  My husband and close friends laugh at me - they're pretty sure I can't do it. 

My friend sent this to me.  I thanked him for his vote of confidence.

Barring any type of emergency where I need to get in touch with two hundred people at once or the need to keep up with something going on that I can only do via that medium, I think I can probably do this.  Sure, it's going to be difficult, but I have other things that can occupy my time and I have pretty good willpower.  And hey, maybe my hubby and I will have actual conversations at night now instead of both of us sitting there, laptops on our laps, hitting refresh every 5 minutes.

THAT will be refreshing.

why i will probably never land another job

I've been employed by the same company for almost eleven years now.  I can't remember the last job interview I had because when I came to this company, I was hired back by someone I had worked for previously.  No need for an interview. 

As any person who is looking to expand their horizons would do, I get job opening emails and tips for getting the perfect new job posted in my facebook feed that I rarely ever look at unless feeling exceptionally bored or inspired (go figure). 

Today I clicked on a link titled "How to Answer the Top 10 Job Interview Questions" and discovered that there is no way I could do this these days.  When I was looking for a job back in the day, I just needed a job.  Entry level.  As long as I could show up on time, speak intelligently and smile, I was in.  Now that I have more experience and would be looking for a position suited to that experience, and adding in the lack of available jobs compared to the number of people looking for those jobs, there are games that need to be played.  There are keywords to be spoken, research to be done.  And that's if you even get to the interview process.  The resume bots are out there scanning for keywords that probably don't even apply to the specific position you're looking for.  Miss one of those words and you're passed over. 

I admire the people who have the ambition to go out there, research every single company they might be interested in, puff themselves up, practice the perfect handshake, rehearse their interview answers in front of a mirror, but it's just not something I can do.  It's just not me.  (Of course, if I were out of a job, I suppose I could do anything out of desperation.)  So with that in mind I just have to say, all of you out there looking for a job and going through this, I truly wish you the best of luck. The world of the job search is just crazy!

Side note: No, if prospective employers are out there googling my name, they will not find this blog.  I'm not completely insane.