Please don't leave a message at the beep.

Much of my childhood was spent "on the phone" with the cord stretched across our dining room and shut in the door to the upstairs as I sought a little privacy to talk to my friends. In a world without call waiting, I find it interesting that my parents allowed this as much as they did. Later we had a cordless phone and that solved some problems in that they didn't KNOW how much I was on it! As a child who lived in the country on a farm with no one but my siblings to play with, the phone and the mailman were my links to the outside world. I loved getting mail, but that's a different post!  Still I used to be pretty devoted to my phone and wanted to caller ID to see my missed calls, had staring matches with my answering machine, and all the other typical Bridget Jones things in college.

I actually fought getting a cell phone pretty hard way back when and now I look back and think that my reasons then were wise. No one should be that available.


I vacillate between using the phone for a good old chat with friends and between using it as a tool that doesn't warrant any unnecessary conversation.  If I'm calling someone local it's because I have a question or want to schedule something or make fairly immediate plans to get together and talk. I have little patience for an extended conversation when I'm not in a position to enjoy the talk. Because with the ease of cell phones one can answer anywhere and I frequently do, but just because I can respond and ask "what's up" doesn't mean I am in a position to hear a long story.

When it comes to leaving messages I frequently don't. Sometimes because the reason I'm calling was a pressing and immediate one and if the person I'm calling isn't available then the opportunity will expire by the time he/she is. Sometimes I'm just calling to chat and I'll leave a message saying as much. Or I will leave a detailed message that can be responded to specifically instead of playing phone tag and never getting down to the issue at hand. Better yet, if someone doesn't answer I will often text them why I was calling so that they can read it and respond when they can.  What I hate more than anything is wasting my minutes to listen to a voicemail that merely identifies the speaker and says "call me back." I can figure that out by my caller ID. In fact, I've started waiting to listen to messages until after 9 pm so I don't use my minutes on them. Yes, I'm that cheap.

I do have friends who almost exclusively text rather than talk on the phone and I tend to only talk to them when I'm driving and cannot text. This can become wearisome too when it means we are having an extended serious conversation and there are things I'd like to say but can't quite word it in that concise texting manner that also conveys my intended meaning. It's a skill and I'm working on it.

Recently I've been plagued with phone calls from a few people who seemingly call for little or no reason and get VERY irritated if I don't answer, saying things like "you are ignoring me," "no one is this busy," "you never answer my calls." It almost feels like bullying. The truth is my family, in particular, has an uncanny ability to call at exactly the wrong time.

I thought this went without saying. If I don't answer my phone it is because one of  six things is happening.
(1) I am entertaining guests or talking to someone face to face.

(2) I am at the cash register at a store (This is USUALLY what is going on)

(3) I am at a meeting or at work. (During the school year, I'm amazed at the number of people who expect me to answer my phone between 8-4 -- I'm working, people!)

(4) I am in a movie.  (I WISH this happened more)

(5) I am sleeping.

(6) It's in a different part of the house and I can't hear it or I'm outside and it's inside.

Better yet... just text me, I can read that even when I'm busy and then I know if you wanted to chat or had something that was time sensitive.  With more technology, it seems like the rules keep getting more and more complicated and that some folks just aren't keeping up and it causes all kinds of hurt feelings and misunderstandings. Perhaps I just need to change my outgoing message to include some more specific explanation of what is going on that day! Until then, please forgive me. There is no (7) on the list. I promise.


(7) I am avoiding you because I don't like you and don't want to talk to you.

The Art of Self-Editing

This is almost painful to watch. Come on, kids, life is about taking risks. It's bittersweet. So dear. So awkward. So unlike reality, in that we're privy to both minds at once in this video. If we only had a God's eye view, it would be so much easier. Of course, at 2 am... with the help of a little alcohol the filter seems a bit less intrusive. :)

Does Tweeting Make me a Twit?

Despite the fact that I have managed to take a class on Twitter for Teachers and teach two workshops on social media, I remain a bit of a skeptic. I find it intriguing. I suspect there really is no fighting it. Yet, I'm not sure we really understand the way that social media is altering our reality, our literacies.

Today I was struck by a NY Times article from a few weeks ago, I Tweet, Therefore I Am. And one slice in particular:

"Back in the 1950s, the sociologist Erving Goffman famously argued that all of life is performance: we act out a role in every interaction, adapting it based on the nature of the relationship or context at hand. Twitter has extended that metaphor to include aspects of our experience that used to be considered off-set: eating pizza in bed, reading a book in the tub, thinking a thought anywhere, flossing. Effectively, it makes the greasepaint permanent, blurring the lines not only between public and private but also between the authentic and contrived self. If all the world was once a stage, it has now become a reality TV show: we mere players are not just aware of the camera; we mug for it."

And I don't think Twitter is the only target here. I'm sure this can be said for all forms of social media, this blog included. I'm not sure the realization is enough to change anything for me, but awareness is worth something, I think.

article found via Swiss Miss

Woo Hoo.

I've gone and done it. Given in to peer pressure and purchased my own Droid Incredible. I'm super excited now that it's in my paws. Of course, that's what it feels like I have--paws--when I try to type on it or make a phone call. I've accidentally called a dozen different people already. Sheesh. I was told to give it 2 weeks until I'm comfortable with the whole touch screen technology and I will. I think I may need to watch some tutorial videos, though, on how to set everything up.

We Live In the Age of Everything. Why Commit?

Just reading an article on branding and this bit really jumped out at me:

"There are 80 million Millennials aged 9-28 in the U.S. alone. Half are already in college or the workforce, and the women will be a tornado. They group around shared affinity more than shared nationality, they're prosumers, not consumers, and they care more about peer recommendation than corporate reputation. They grew up in a world where change is too fast to process, but they know one thing: If you wait a minute or two, something better is sure to be along. They live on an IV drip of real-time connection, and are fiercely interdependent. If you're a company, failing to consider their preferences would be, in their own vernacular, WOMBAT--a waste of money, brains, and time."

via Swiss Miss

What's in YOUR bag?

I am like a pack-mule climbing up and down three flights of stairs each day... lugging bag after bag. Generally one is a purse --but it's the size of a "bag."

One bag is usually full of student folders and no less than four books (two I'm reading and two more "just in case" and generally at least one or two professional reference materials, as well.)

And yesterday, I even lugged some workout clothes for our "Wellness Wednesdays" since I've committed to offering up my classroom once a week for some working out at 3:30. Woo hoo!

The best bag, though, was my "tech bag." I quite unintentionally had in this bag the following items:
a school Macbook
a school ipod touch
a school canon elph camera,
my sony camera
a school Flip camera
my creative zen mp3 player
my Asus eee netbook
a portable pink mouse
my red mouse pad
a full size school mouse
and an assortments of power cords and earbuds

--oh and I nearly forgot a portable CD player for those cds I've not had time to add to my MP3 player (which also happen to be the ones I want to listen to).

Good lord, I was a mugger's wet dream. Wow. Needless to say, I'll be taking more care in the future to not be such a liability to our school! (mugger, is that a word? There's not a lot of purse grabbing theft in my neck of the woods...)