Saturday, June 15, 2013

Facebook Thumbnails, Batch 3, and the Academic Avenger

Taking a break from Facebook--considering deleting my account (again)--partly because I get sooooo judgmental about what other people post, I start to despair of humanity (my own).

Example: 
Last week someone commented on a photo of a flowering strawberry plant, "I didn't know strawberries have flowers!"

Well, so, modern Americans don't know where our food comes from... or even what flowers are for. 
This is new information?
No. 
But my inner judge sprang into action.

I (daughter of a professor) imagine this figure as a comic book–style Academic Avenger (wearing academic regalia--the doctor of divinity robes, top & center, here, would fit) whose little eyes glow and its horned tail switches back and forth and steam comes out its nose.

It zaps people not so much because they Do Not Know Basic Things, which Academic Avenger finds forgivable (A.A. is benevolent/paternalistic), but because they don't feel ashamed that they don't know basic things and blithely display their ignorance on Facebook.

I don't like this part of me at all--I know how awful it is because I grew up with it directed at me. But it's super sticky and hard to remove---one of those styrofoam peanuts of the inner self.

FB can a good place for me to practice mindfulness and acceptance, to try to let go of this scornful judgment, which I inherited as a kind of Fundamentalism. But sometimes the triggers on FB come faster than I can handle gracefully, and then I know I need a break.

Also, I keep wanting to write more in-depth stuff but find I spend so much time posting fluff, I don't get around to it.
I like fluff! But not as a staple...

I somewhat regret posting all these images (with words) on such an ephemeral site as FB: I can't even see the full version of the oldest posts anymore. I don't entirely regret it though, because I always said FB is like chatting in the grocery store---not everything one says and does needs to be recorded for posterity.

Still... I want to save some remnants, so I screencapped the thumbnails on my "Photos" page on FB. 
This is the most recent batch, Spring/Summer 2013:
I started watercolor painting;  Glam Doll Donuts opened 2 blocks away; I started jogging, celebrated my 52nd birthday; Pope Benedict retired; Margaret Thatcher died; Minnesota legalized marriage equality for all; Star Trek Into Darkness came out and I loved it --and the lastest 7-Up film too, 56 Up.

 
 
 

6 comments:

LauraB said...

Wow! Strawberries have flowers?

Fresca said...

Why yes, Laura, they sure do! Isn't nature clever?

And so do cows have flowers---that's where the milk comes from. (Hm. Pretty close, actually...)

deanna said...

This is fascinating. "...one of those styrofoam peanuts of the inner self." I like that phrase.

I haven't looked at any blogs in a while so enjoyed your update.

I know strawberry plants have flowers, because my son planted some, and I have eaten the sweet results. :o) (My kid is teaching me where food comes from.)

deanna said...

I didn't mean to comment using my blogger account, but there you go. Now you have both "me's". Whoo hoo.

Fresca said...

DEANNA: Thanks for writing! You know, I don't know a whole lot of things! But I think I am learning that I don't like myself on FB!

deanna said...

Ha, Fresca, I came back to see what I wrote here the other night, because I'd had a bit more wine than usual...wasn't sure what I'd find... :o)

FB is such an odd dance; I hear you. For me it seems best to focus on sharing my pictures, but I get sucked in easily to emotional places I need to be wary of. May you find good places here and wherever; I hope to read your blog more often again.