Book and Facebook

I don't know why I've had such a hard time making myself sit down and write this post.  It's not as if there isn't anything to say!

First of all, I completed my task of not logging in to Facebook for two weeks!  (#13)  I had the little glitch at the beginning of having to do some messaging via Facebook, but then I truly did stay off for two weeks.  I even kept going a few extra days -- partially so that I would have actually been off for two whole weeks even after the initial messaging, but also because once I got over those first really rough days, I lost most of my desire to be on there at all.  I was afraid that once I logged back in I would get totally consumed and be right back where I was.  I really do have a decision to make about whether I want to go back to playing Castle Age and Sorority Life which are my two biggest time wasters on Facebook.  I really am tempted to make a clean sweep, delete the games, and unfriend all the people I added solely for the purpose of game playing.  I'm still thinking about it.  One thing I did realize during this Facebook moratorium is, in addition to time spent on there, just exactly how much mental energy I waste thinking about what I'm going to post and who's going to respond and which posts are going to garner the most responses.  When I wasn't logging on, I found a mental quietness that I haven't experienced in a long time.

I should explain here that whenever I think about writing letters or e-mails, I start writing them in my mind before I ever put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.  I think through different versions of what I might want to say, not to try to find the best version, but more so I don't forget things.  I like for my letters (and blog posts!) to read pretty much just as if they are a transcript of what I might say if I were speaking.  Well, Facebook became a part of that mental dialogue.  And because you can post on Facebook anytime, as opposed to letters or e-mails which are written only occasionally, that mental dialogue became almost constant.  I didn't realize how loud it was until it was suddenly gone!  Now I am not going to completely shun Facebook, but I do want to make a conscious decision to back off.  Who knew this would turn into such a profound revelation!

The other thing that I accomplished was finishing the first of my fifteen pre-determined books (#66), Empire Falls.  Now I started this one almost two months ago.  It does not normally take me this long to finish a book.  Not by a long shot.  For some reason, though, I was having a hard time pushing through on this one for a long time.  I didn't dislike it necessarily.  I think I was just sort of ambivalent.  But suddenly this weekend during my vacation out in Arizona I got caught up in it and the pages started flying by.  In fact, I read probably the last third of it during my flight back home and was disappointed when it ended.  The bulk of the action did seem weighted toward the end of the book, but I think that's because it was a study in small town life and not a lot happens in small towns.  Overall, I did enjoy the book, and I am definitely looking forward to hearing the author speak next month over at Butler.  Since I got in such a flurry of reading, I decided to move on to another book from the list and settled on The Fountainhead.  I made the mistake of reading a foreword that Ayn Rand wrote for the 25th anniversary of the book's publication before starting the actual story.  I say mistake because I think it set me up to dislike the book.  She came across as very self-satisfied and arrogant, and I didn't like the style of her writing.  But, and I say this being maybe 20 pages into it, I am happy to say that so far the book is nothing like what I expected after reading the intro.  In fact, I am most interested to see how things develop.  I was at the library today and did pick up The Alchemyst based on a friend's review, but I may end up putting that off for now.  Unless I decide to take it to work and read it on my lunches!  I almost always have several books going at the same time.  It's good to have options!

So after two months (and almost another half), things are still going well.  I feel good about the progress I have made on the list, but I need to keep reading through the list so I don't accidentally end up putting things off until the end.  Sometimes I read through them all and wonder what I was thinking when I put certain things on there!