Happy Tuesday on Facebook!

After sleeping through most of yesterday - woke up refreshed today, thought of stitching, started, and then - oops - fell asleep again... What is wrong with me???

Through roughly 1 hour of stitching, I was contemplating a question.... 

This cartoon is made with an application called Bitstrip. It can be found on Facebook, and when you first sign up, it lets you create an avatar based on your picture. Then, you can start playing - choose different topics to post about, use friends' avatars... a cartoon world, and a funny one at that! 

Here is a conversation with my husband that I bitstripped a couple of weeks ago.

Besides Bitstrip, there are a few other features I use on Facebook. Games (of course), although I try to not get addicted. Lately, I have been noticing how more and more games want you to spend real cash to advance in their virtual picture world... (no thank you, by the way - I have real bills to pay). 

Then, there is my own page - For the Love of Stitching, that I try to update regularly with pictures of finished projects - and thoughts on stitching and life. I hope my followers like my posts... and look at my pictures. 

And last, but not least - Facebook groups. I belong to about 5 or six cross stitch groups on Facebook. I don't post very often, but I try to do it regularly. And what a joy it is to share my progress with the like-minded people, to get props, compliments, "likes" and comments... With no living stitchers nearby, Facebook contact is about the only regular communication I have with ladies and gentlemen (yes, men cross stitch too) that appreciate this form of art. 

Recently, several things regarding Facebook came to my attention. One - that some people join Facebook groups to advertise their services. While on some groups it may be fine, on others it is strictly prohibited. It is common courtesy to ask the administrators of the group about running ads - and also not to get offended if/when the answer is "no." Come on, people, there is enough advertisement in our life... Most of us joined the group(s) we are in to connect and share, not to buy stuff... 

Two - a few people, it seems, join the group, hang out for a few days/weeks, and then create their own group - a "carbon copy" of the one they are in: same daily topics, same challenges, questions, in some cases even the same background pictures... I get it that these people are looking for attention, recognition, respect - but is this the right way to get it? By stealing someone else's ideas? If you want to be recognized for your achievements - then work on your own achievements, don't steal others' work. Because sooner or later the truth will come out - and you will end up a laughing stock. Not the kind of attention anyone would want. 

In conclusion, I want to say thank you to the Administrator and her friendly (but strict) assistants of one of my favorite stitching groups. Remember - no matter what happens, you are doing a good thing. You help us all by bringing us together. Don't give up.

Happy Stitching! 

A Quick Note on Oscar Articles

           So the Oscar ceremony has not even started, but the Internet was already buzzing with the headlines like, "ridiculously beautiful couples," "worst dressed celebrities", "embarrassing moments at Oscars" etc. Because the reporters did not have anything to say about this year's event - it has not started yet - they dug into the previous years' news. And you know what? Not a single article seemed to say anything nice about anybody. Even seemingly flattering articles were full of "undercover" poison: the winner's speech was bad, or the actress' dress was sheer... 

            Why is it the reporters sound so... bitter? Do they think that, if they actually say something nice about the actors, or do some real research into their career, we, the audience, will not read them? Do they seriously believe that we are going to pay attention only to gossip? or is it an illustration of a famous saying, "Every time a friend succeeds, I die a little"? Is it envy?

The season for tearjerkers?

Recently, everywhere I go online I find various tearjerker stories: a baby talking to his mother from inside her womb, a little boy who can't afford to buy a doll... In the end, we find out that the baby was getting aborted, and the boy was buying the doll for his little sister so "mommy could give it to her when she goes to heaven...." Each story is aimed at a particular issue: abortion and loss/poverty/giving in these two instances, "daily miracles" of love and forgiveness, and treasuring friends over possessions. The list of topics can go on, and on, and on. At the end of each story, as if to add guilt to tears, the post asks "to re-post if it touched your heart or do nothing if it did not."
I guess my heart is just untouchable, because I never re-post these stories. For one, I do not believe in chain letters, and that's what these stories basically are. The people that posted these did not write them, they just hit "re-post" (or "share") and made it "theirs" for the day. And while hitting "Share" shows them to be sensitive and understanding, what does it do for anyone - except overload internet?
That was "for one"... For "two" (sounds too weird), over the years I have come to recognize all the stories that get posted. It seems several stories - always the same - go out every year around September - beginning of October, they reach their peak around Thanksgiving and slow down right after Christmas. The story about the little boy with the doll was seen by me every year for the past ten years. My once-sensitive heart was aching the first time I read it, but eventually sympathy gave way to cold recognition of a gimmick.

Which is what it is... A gimmick, an advertisement of sympathy and compassion - online, for everyone to see. Instead of doing something real - hit "Like" and "Share" in your corner of virtual space. That's just...

This says it all.