Behold! Embarrassing Ipod Songs Come to Life!

The other day I asked the goons over on Facebook what their most embarrassing songs were on their iPods. This is what I got. 

NKOTB- The Right Stuff

The entire Sasha Fierce album from an unlikely source.

Christopher Cross' "Sailing"  (Yeah, that's pretty bad.  But I have the theme song from the movie 'Arthur' by him so I'm in the same boat. Pun totally intended.) Dawn, this one's for you. Get zen.  Both songs make me feel like I'm five and riding in my parents Datsun 200SX while I chew on the upholstery piping. 

Lisa, Lisa and the Cult Jam

All Night Long by Lionel Richie

Sexy Back by Justin Timberlake (Oh, I'm sorry?  That's embarrassing? Embarrassing is having 'Dick in a Box' on your iPod. Everyone has Sexy Back.)

Jesse Mccartney, Beautiful Soul.  (I don't even know what to do with that except to say, at least it isn't a Justin Beiber song.)  It pains me to even link to this one.  Blargh.

More NKOTB with Popsicle. (I didn't even know this song existed.) I plastered my walls with Rick Astley back in the day and not Dorchester's finest thank you very much.  Yes, there's like four Rick Astley songs on my player too.  Watching the video for Never Gonna Give You Up totally makes me realize I liked boys in junior high based on how much they looked like Rick. Sigh...

29 different Kanye West songs.  And I actually don't see a problem with this one.  OK, it's me.  I have 29 Kanye West songs on my iPod.  I don't care. I fully admit to lovin' me some Kanye.  You can't tell me nuthin'.  TD went to sleep listening to Touch the Sky  and Heard Em Say her first six months. 

I also admit to having Mahna Mahna and the theme song to the Muppets on there. It totally relaxes me and puts me in a good mood each time. 

Slave 4 U by Britney.  Of all the songs, that one has to have some sort of kinky meaning behind it as a choice for the pod.

I found I'm Too Sexy by Right Said Fred (tell me you aren't catwalking your living room hearing this mouthing every single word), Positive K's "I Got a Man" (can I please have a round of applause for all the styles in that video? Damn! The 90's were cruel. Can someone tell me why there is a full mango on a plate in the video's cafe scene?) and Chris Rock's 'No Sex in the Champagne  Room' on mine.


What is the most embarrassing, cringeworthy, would die if someone heard you belting it out on the treadmill song on your Ipod or MP3 player?

I Dream in Facebook

It's true that I've been known to "think" in Facebook before.  Now I'm apparently dreaming in Facebook.  I woke up this morning only to realize that in my dreams last night I had taken a job at Facebook.  OK, I might also  be reading too many online Bachelor (on the wings of loooovvve..) forums lately but that's not the point.  As I spent my first week getting acclimated in my new job at FB, what I did I'm not entirely sure, I realized that all the people I worked with were people I had had 'friended'.  For reals, y'all.  This dream was a straight up social media nightmare.

Everywhere I turned in my office I saw someone's goofy profile picture.  Status quotes hung above their heads changing frequently as they posted yet again another mind-numbing stimulating thought about what they were doing with their day.  Do you know what it is like to work with someone you haven't seen since elementary school? This office was riddled with old conflicts, past jealousies and tired wounds.  Stressful didn't even begin to describe it. 

I think it is time I take a long, hard look at ol' FB.  I've been trying to declare it dead for weeks now anyway.  It's so 2009 after all.

Republicans, Democrats and a Social Media Experiment

I'm going to conduct a social/social media experiment here and I would love it if you would play along.  Over the next few days I will post the following question on Facebook, blogs and Twitter to name just a few.  Please submit your comments and thoughts here or on those outlets. I'll compile the results and we'll see how successful we are in both the social media and social arenas.

QUESTION:

When you think of the terms 'Republican' and 'Democrat' what words, adjectives and/or phrases jump to mind?

Be honest.  

You will see the results in a few days.  Thanks for helping me out, passing it along and hopefully we will all learn a thing or two when this is complete. 

The End of Silence

Last week I conducted a little bit of an experiment. I took myself out of the world of forever Twittering, using Facebook and the rest of the 24/7 social media frenzy. I used it for only work purposes and that was that. I did it because I wanted to see if I noticed a difference in myself and how my week played out via work and with family.

Here's what I noticed-

Initially, it wasn't that hard to cut myself off from Twitter. I still posted items for work but I didn't 140 character it up all through the day.

I got annoyed when people made fun of me for doing this whole #week of silence. Or when they called me to ask why I was still blogging. Um...work. Gah.

By the middle of the week I felt like I was missing out on things. I missed my friends who I talk to through Twitter and know IRL (that's 'in real life'). That's how we communicate. Email just doesn't work for us that often.

I read more blogs and diversified.

I felt less scattered and was able to concentrate on what was going on around me more. I can't say I got more accomplished because I was really sick all week and dealing with a sick baby too. I had no energy and quite frankly, the break from the Internet was just what my tired, sick body and brain needed.

I read more and absorbed more of what I was reading too. Yes, really. That stack of papers and magazines that piles up on my sideboard was gone by the middle of the week. I felt more informed and not about what Britney Spears.

I'm sure there is more, the week was sort of a mess with all the sickness that was involved, the never-ending rain and overall crankiness that all that can bring on. While I'm back on, I definitely saw the benefits of taking a break from everything for a while. Stepping away from it all always opens up my creativity and leaves me feeling calmer. It's worth doing and I know I will again in the future.

Got a case of Twitter Twitches?

Yesterday, Day 1 in my 'week of silence' turned out to be better than I thought. The fact that The Comedian, H and I are all down for the count with a horrific phlegm-producing monster that destroys tissues in a nanosecond is probably the reason. When your nose is on fire, dripping like a hose and your whole body feels like it was an extra on Night of the Living Dead, well, being offline isn't too difficult.

I had my moments though.

7 a.m. - I put up my blog post and that was all. I didn't even check my work email. I felt so proud but the feeling was fleeting when I owned up to the fact that I could just as easily grab my phone to check my email. Also? I felt like I had been hit by a maniacal Thomas the Train. So there's that.

8:45 a.m.- Normally I am in the car line at TD's school doing the whole drop-off thing. We have our own "moment of silence" each morning as I read tweets and check my emails. The radio is blaring and I'm already in multi-media mode frenzy. Being sick, excused me from this as H did the depositing of the dictator.

9:30 a.m.- "Isn't Kristen supposed to be on CNN today?" I muse aloud. I should check. On Twitter. Like every five seconds. GAH! I can't! A few seconds later I think, "No one would know..." My precious no social media veneer has a crack in it. If I don't actually tweet then who is to know if I'm still trolling twitter. "BWAHAHAHA!"

10:00 a.m.- Realize I am now compelled to turn the volume on the TV to even numbers just like H. It is no longer fun to tease him with odd number decibels. My life is in shambles. "You people are morons!" H and I yell at a news story on CNN, which is about getting multiple opinions when you try to pawn something. Turns out not everyone is giving you an honest answer. Wow. Just, um, wow. This is news?

12 p.m.- Kristen has come and gone on CNN. I've only used Twitter for good (read: work posts) and not snarky or banal comments about the state of my neighbors lawn. I have not even opened Facebook.

As the day wears on, it does become a bit harder to control my urge to just pick up my phone and tweet away or check out what my third grade arch nemesis is doing on Facebook. I did listen to NPR while making dinner. The sound of whining and coughing had to be drowned out. I was sick of listening to myself after all. Oddly enough, I found the urge to check and play with my phone came in the moments while I was waiting for something to happen. Like the microwave to be done well, microwaving something. I couldn't just be. I had to be doing something. Waiting for twenty seconds with my own thoughts has become difficult. Quite frankly, that is freaky.

Here is what I noticed after only one day. I did in some small way feel like I was missing my friends and how their days were going. However, I also managed to read three quarters of my brand new Marie Clare magazine in one sitting because I wasn't busy watching TV, playing with my phone or my computer all at the same time. Could it be that in another day my brain will slow down a bit and iron itself out into more cohesive thoughts?

Powering Down

I have become what I loathe. Last night I found myself in the middle of girls night with a strong case of Twitter-itch. Not to be confused with jock-itch. I could blame it on my lack of dinner and a bit of wine but really it has more to do with my affliction known as Twitter addiction.

I like me some social media and networking, I do.

Symptoms include:

-Wanting, scratch that, "needing" to check Twitter about every 2.5 seconds. If I can't. It's a big FAIL.

-Believing with all my black heart that UberTwitter is quite possibly the prettiest symbol to don my Blackberry screen. I can extol the virtues of UberTwitter to total strangers. A 'squee' is usually involved.

-The need to be 'in the know' is always at the forefront of my mind. However, all I end up knowing is what is happening on Twitter, that Jon&Kate (a show I don't even watch) are feuding again courtesy of Mamapop and a bunch of other nonsense that no one cares about except about four other bloggers. It's pretty futile and I'm quite sure it makes me a dork.

I could go on but my attention span and writing capabilities are almost nil due to Twitters 140 character limit. Facebook now just makes me cranky. Network Blog um, thingies exhaust me. I'm a member of like ninety bazillion now.

So here is the thing. Starting Monday I will be powering down and logging off from all this stuff and focusing on the quiet. Silence. I will revisit what actually goes on in my brain and the world around me. I think that the idea of hearing my dishwasher hum and the birds outside beats the sounds of Speidi. I'll only use Twitter to send out my posts and other work-related writings. There will be no blog networking sites. No Facebooking. No DVR on while an audio book plays on the CD player and trying to read work emails while sitting in the school car line. I'll read. I'll listen. In 'powering down' I think I'll not only clear my mind but also find I can use it more effectively. Maybe I will actually want to write again.

Either that or I'll crack from the lack of "news" and run crying and gasping for my Tweets declaring my love for you all in 140 characters or less. I'll wager that Facebook will still make me cranky though.

If you want to join me in this week-long challenge. Well, go right ahead. #silence.

Do You Think in Facebook?

My addiction to Facebook was becoming too much, so for the past few weeks I've tried to ignore it. I'm not poking anyone or sending any garden variety type items anyone's way. Who really needs a virtual Mai Tai? Not me. I dream about zombies enough, I don't need to be attacked by them online. After a few days sans FB I realized something. My need to post my status in tiny sentences had taken over my thoughts. I had begun to think in Facebook.

For example, I would all of a sudden be thinking about the Muppets and Pigs in Space and my brain would process it this way-

Vicky is thinking of Pigs in Space. Next time on Pigs in Space...

or

Vicky thinks that Victoria Secret needs to get a new ad campaign. It's only been a decade and they are still hawking their Angel bra as the best bra "ever!" Snooorre...

and

Vicky thinks that Facebook has turned her into Jimmy from Seinfeld.