Facebook Schmacebook

So, after almost one whole week of signing up to spurt out my little commentaries on "FB" and catching up on snippets of other people's info, photos etc and even posting some of my own photos from my UK trip last year (so family can see them....finally) - I've decided that I still don't think Facebook is really for me.

Maybe I'm fickle....and it was 'fun while it lasted', but I have to admit the novelty has quickly worn off and I still don't much like this slightly in-your-face feeling of being notified of every little update from everyone else's friends of friends of friends etc. - most of whom are still complete strangers to me. Perhaps I really am just anti-social after all.

But added to that, I got playing around on FB last night - doing the inevitable 'where are they now' search of friends, ex-friends, ex-friends-friends and ex-boyfriends - when I realized that your privacy settings on your own site aren't necessarily in place if someone goes to one of your 'friends' sites and then follows your comments on there....and then they can read your notes, see your photos etc. Like a back door to getting into your Facebook page - uninvited.

Which is sort of how I got caught up in evesdropping (what would the FB equivalent to that be, I wonder) on the lives of people I knew - at Uni, at school ......and when I worked in the Maldive Islands many moons ago - 16 years almost....eeek! To my significant/surprising envy, I discovered that many of them are still globe-trotting, visiting some outstanding places and obviously have some spectacular photos and experiences to share.....all of which merely served to add fuel to my fiery wanderlust and itchy feet.

 Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland 

For ten years I too was one of those people, to the extent that some of my relatives nicknamed me the Globetrotter. I lived and worked in France (Paris + Bordeaux), Germany (Trier/Mosel + Bonn), Switzerland, Belgium and the Maldives for several months at a time before finally moving to Canada.

 Maldives, Indian Ocean 

I successfully found jobs based in England that still took me all around Europe - sometimes several times a week/month. I spoke French and German fluently every day - flipping seamlessly from one language into the next depending on who I was talking to. I even found I could make up some Spanish, Dutch and Swedish based on what I knew of French & German. And yet it also feels so horribly long ago too.

I sorely miss using the languages - there's so very little opportunity here although I did manage some TV/Film translations and a stint in tourism for Intrawest for a while. There are aspects to my current job I quite like, but the company is moving more and more into projects with Alberta's oilsands and gas companies which I find hard to accept. You don't have to delve too far into their work to discover that oilsand projects are devastating to the environment - tantamount to raping and pillaging the land and wildlife as far as I'm concerned (and as far as David Suzuki is concerned too).

I'd be lying if I said I don't feel glued to the spot sometimes when I know there's still so much out there. And suffice to say, I want to travel and live somewhere else for a while. I go through this feeling quite regularly actually, it never really goes away, and each time I do, I start to panic about time and opportunity running away and life passing me by. At the same time, I get nervous of kidding myself about the grass being any greener so I try once again to just shut up, stuff it down and wait it out.... 'This too shall pass' right?.....but that's also what I'm afraid of. I'm not sure I want to keep letting it pass, I want to act upon it.

I know Lorne's feeling the same and since we sadly lost Otto (who's health was a major priority over us making any major life changes) the thought has once again crossed our minds to make a move, go on an adventure. So much to see that it often feels like there's too little time - unless you win the lottery, of course.

Anyhow, that's the dilemma....simmering away on the back burner.....again!

But for today, I think me and FaceBook will probably break up.


(P.S. Within minutes of posting this I thought I'd quickly google my blog in case my boss can find it.....and I came across another Katrina Wright.....doing something I'd love to do.....or should be doing. Heck, Lorne's an Editor - maybe we should do this together. Is it a sign?)