I’m getting absolutely nothing done today.
Back in the days of television and real paper and pens I seemed to get a lot more done.
It all started when I opened Facebook this a.m. and saw a Glenn Beck post that a childhood friend had liked. I try to be open-minded, but how could someone who seemed of above average intelligence as a child not only read and not question such an ignorant man, but not be ashamed to pass on the drivel? I followed the link and could not make heads or tails of the rant that I found. I honestly could not figure out what the topic was because there were no content statements that linked it to any news event or person or process or fact that I could find. The most factual info I could find was a reference to a Saudi situation. I had to exit the site and do about 10 minutes of research to figure out what the conspiracy theory Beck was ranting about even related to. I don’t get it. Why do people want to live their lives in fear and ignorance and believe the worst of people. I just don’t get it.
So then I went into my office and attempted to start working.
I did install the Genesis Framework and the Metro Theme on my blog site’s server, activated them, and activated a couple of plugins. For some people, that might be an achievement I suppose, but I always know when I’m actually in a funk and denying it; rather than writing, I start playing around with structure instead of content.
I did want to convert the site to a more secure setup, but I knew I was avoiding the cognitive dissonance that often accompanies trying to understand the contradictions that inform most people’s lives. Are these folks dumb or purposely ignorant?
Then one thing led to another and I started looking around for a picture of the farm I grew up on to use as a background for the site, and before I knew it I was deeply enmeshed in stalking my ex’s wife on Twitter.
I haven’t seen my old boyfriend that I lived with in my 20s since April of 1989. I last spoke with him on the phone in June of that same year. I married. He dropped all friends that knew me and hurt many people who cared about him by doing so. I knew he married eventually, had a kid, and lived within a few minutes of the rest of his family very close to where he grew up. I guess I just wanted to know what he looked like.
I found a Twitpic of him that his wife had shared a few weeks ago after perusing accounts of the nieces and nephews and other relatives who might have mentioned him. I eventually figured out what his wife’s twitter handle was and just like that I was looking at a recent pic of him.
My hubby and I got old and fat, but this guy looked severely thin to the point of wasting. Either he is ill or he never learned to cook for himself.
So what is the point of this? I’m not sure, but it sure is surprising what you can find out about someone even if they have no cyber-footprint by searching accounts of people who may know them. I saved the pic so I can show some folks who knew him way back when and usually ask about whether I have ever heard anything from him when I see them. I guess I feel a bit weird about having done that. I don’t usually do anything that would impinge on another’s privacy. But I spent 15 years with this guy and I wondered what happened to him. Was I wrong to do this? Does it count as stalking? Have you ever done anything like this? Do you think people have stalked you online?