Keeping the Generation Gap Ajar: Part Tres

On Christmas Eve day, I was perusing my Facebook account and noticed that I had a new friend request. I clicked the link to find that it was my Tito Danny. I ignored the request so that I could take a moment to think about what it would mean to accept to be his "friend." I'm a fan of Tito Danny. He's funny, he drinks and he makes good conversation. He's one of my "older" relatives (I'm guessing 25 years my senior) whom I don't mind being around. Later that afternoon, I returned to Facebook and decided to search under the name "Makabenta." I found that my dad had also created an account. Interesting. I clicked "ignore" for Tito Danny's request and then headed off to dinner with the in-laws.

On Christmas Day, R and I, along with my brother, headed over to my folks' house for lunch. My parents recently returned from a 6-week stint in the Philippines and this was the first time they had all of us under one roof to share stories from their trip. As they began to tell us about how Patricia is in a band, and how she knows Miguel, my brother and I were quick to reply, "We know." My parents replied with, "How do you know these things?" And we replied in unison, "Through Facebook!"

And so the generation gap begins to close...

My dad 'fesses up that he too had joined Facebook, inspired by the few invitations he's received to join, the most recent from Tito Danny. I smiled, and then interjected, jokingly, but serious, "Just to let you know, dad, I will not be adding you as a 'friend' on Facebook." He seemed to have understood and admitted that he wasn't sure exactly how to use it, but that he had found a friend or two. We moved on to other subjects and no one seemed to have been bruised from the conversation about Facebook.

A few days later, I received another friend request. I clicked on the link to find that it was Tito Danny, again! Boy, this guy is persistent. Ha! In addition, I noticed a new name pop up in my "People you may know list:" Edgar Makabenta. Dad had also figured out how to add a profile picture; he selected his senior high school picture. "Appropriate," I thought, considering most people on Facebook are looking for long-lost friends. Considering my dad began to use text messaging before I did, I was sure that he would quickly catch on to Facebook.

For the last couple of days, my dad's picture and name have been popping up in my "People you may know" list, mocking me each time I log in. Today I decided to post a new status: "Liza thinks it's funny that her dad is in her 'People you may know' list." So far I've received a handful of status comments varying from people who have added all of their Tito's and Tita's, to people confessing that their worse fear is their parents joining Facebook.

Quite frankly, I have nothing to hide on Facebook. Everything is realistically portrayed, and I don't have an alter-ego or anything to hide. I've already invited my folks to read my blog at their leisure, but I guess Facebook is where I draw a virtual line in the sand. I'm just not ready for the gap to be closed, therefore I will keep it ajar. We can share notes about Facebook, I can teach you how to use applications, but Dad (and I mean this in the nicest, gentlest way possible): I love you like a father, but I will not be adding you as a "friend." Just sayin'.

Keeping the Generation Gap Ajar: Part Deux

One of my favorite aspects of Facebook is being able to live vicariously through my younger cousins scattered around the world. Magnolia, for example, born and raised in New York, is currently attending U.Mass and just completed a stint studying abroad in Spain. I'm still trying to catch up to all the places she's visited just in the last five years of her life! And from what I've seen on the many videos posted on FB, Manny, her younger brother, has progressed to be a pretty kick-ass skater. Then there's my cousin Isabel in Toronto, Canada. The last time I saw her she was about three-years old, and I doubt she remembers meeting me. My relatives say that we look alike, "could be sisters." She always seems to have so much fun with her friends, and she has the cutest little daughter. I look forward to reconnecting with my fellow "whitey" cousin (there are only a few of us pale as snow in the family *wink*). My cousin Patricia in the Philippines kills me with her photos. She sends me links to new bands, posts videos of her own band for me to check out and comments on the live shows I say I'm attending via my status updates. Her passion and dedication to playing the drums is beyond anything I've set out to accomplish. What's funny is she's also friends with my other cousin, Miguel, who is also in a band, lives in the Philippines, but happens to be related to me through my other side of my family (my father's side).

In this version 1.2 of the Facebook Generation Gap, I'm the one who is ten-years senior than my cousins. We have some catching up to do before we can create synonyms established in Part: 1; but through the beauty of Facebook, I've become the ubiquitous "friend" watching them go through the motions of being 20-something or younger.

Keeping the Generation Gap Ajar: Part I

I love the Internet. It's my means of entertainment, communication, information and to some degree, my livelihood. I'd guestimate that ninety-five percent of my work relies on the speed and reliability of the Internet. Take, for instance, my email account. Currently I have four email aliases (each representing a company that represents anywhere from one to five of its own clients) set up to funnel into my one main account. So in theory, I have a total of five email addresses! As of today, I have close to 4,000 emails in my inbox, 600 of which are unread. In addition to the hours I spend communicating for work and for personal reasons via email, I also rely on the trusty World Wide Web for research and to access a handful of Internet-based databases. Before, during and after my work projects, I also spend a great deal of time communicating with old and new friends on this social networking site called Facebook.

Facebook has been one of the most interesting social networks I've participated in to date. It's connected me to next-door neighbors from when I was seven, to family friends who I use to think were so much older than I because back in the day, while I was still admiring Hello Kitty and afraid of KISS posters, they were sweet 16, driving around, throwing cool house parties (before I knew what those were) and unknowingly exposing me to all sorts of music and trends.

Flash forward to today, and the age gap has closed. Despite our age differences, which range anywhere between 4 to 10 years my senior, we seem to have landed on the same page. What's retro to them, is also retro for me. The term "back in the day" has become synonymous for us all, regardless of whether you were six, nine or 16 years old at the time.

The virtual reunions through Facebook have been a joyous experience. It's amazing what you can learn about your friends on Facebook just through their status updates. Ironically, it's been the best way for me to feel connected to the people from the past and present, without being in their face.

When Words Collide...

The latest on Jon Favreau, courtesy of Gawker.  Apparently, he's all talk AND action.  Shout out to my cousin, Margarita, for keeping me, uh, abreast of the situation.

The Facebook Shame of Obama's Hottie Word Guy

Hottie 27-year-old chief speechwriter for Obama, Jon Favreau, acted inappropriately with a cardboard cut-out of Hillary Clinton at a party (HE GROPED IT) and it ended up on Facebook and now everyone's talking about the golden boy gone douche. What if it leads him to not get his White House appointment, now that Hillary is Secretary of State? He already sent an apology to the Clinton camp, for the crime of posing in photographs where he's "dancing with a life-sized cardboard cut-out of secretary of state-designate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and another where he's placed his hand on the cardboard former first lady's chest while a friend is offering her lips a beer," as the Washington Post put it. Come on, dude's 27—you have to take the good with the bad. And God knows what kind of hours ol' Obama has him working.


Clinton senior adviser Philippe Reines cast the photos as evidence of increased bonhomie between the formerly rival camps.

"Senator Clinton is pleased to learn of Jon's obvious interest in the State Department, and is currently reviewing his application," he said in an e-mail.

Ex-Radar online editor Alex Balk's response to that: "Holy crap, did Philippe Reines just say something that was actually funny and showed evidence of a sense of humor on the Clinton team’s part? Because we might want to write down the date if so."

Crushing

Earlier in the year I proclaimed my love for Jon Favreau to my BFs.

Photo credit: Jacob Silberberg for The New York Times

I discovered him while scanning the pages of the NY Times.  I'm a sucker for people who can write a damn good sentence.  I wonder what kind of love letters he could write.  My heart: *pitter-patter, pitter-patter* 

Back in the day, pre-myspace

Long before my days of myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn and all the other sites that occupy A LOT of my time now, I use to keep a blog on LiveJournal.com. As a shopkeeper, I would use the quiet mornings or take advantage of afternoon lulls typing away on my PowerBook G4 reminiscing, note taking and bantering about the most random things. On the daily, I would swap comments with my new virtual friends, explore other people's interests and enjoy my innocent adaptation to social networking.

Recently, my good friend LeeAnn sent me a blog link from my LiveJournal and flashes of blog posts crossed my mind. The account had been on my mind for months, but for the life of me, I could not remember my user name or the email account I assigned to it. LeeAnn had resurrected a time in my life that was so carefully noted and fortunately, preserved in the treasure chest of the World Wide Web.    

As November looms and temperatures hold steady at 90 degrees+ here in Los Angeles, I thought I'd share an old post from June 2005...

Summer in full swing  

01:52pm 22/06/2005

I can't believe it's Summer.

In the almost 30 years that I've lived in the San Fernando Valley/Los Angeles, I have taken note that all of the seasons are marked with an air of familiarity. Now I know many will argue that Southern California does not have a "change" in seasons, but if you've lived here as long as I have you will agree that there is indeed significant qualities that mark the change of seasons. Fall, for example, is always kicked off with the harsh, hot winds of the Santa Ana's. Night would come sooner, clearly indicating that the long summer days were gone, and the long nights of homework were back. I remember being on the playground of my elementary school, awaiting for Halloween, hating the static in my hair, the dryness of my skin, being whipped by dry dead leaves pushed around by hot winds, and the scent of the local brush fires lingering in the air. Winter would tease us during the months of November and December with sporadic rain showers that would taper off right before Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. The days would still be warm, but the evenings surprisingly chilly. Being a Sagittarius on the cusp of a Capricorn, I would celebrate my birthday with a smile, knowing two weeks of holiday vacation were days away. Spring would return almost over night. Day after day, the sky would remain a constant blue. The days would grow long again. Girls would exit their cocoons to flirt with boys, and boys with girls. We would enter the Summer, already tanned and glowing from the Spring days, only to become lazy from the hot Summer heat. Mirages of water would appear on the hot cement, then disappear as you got closer. The streets would empty as families would leave for their summer vacations, and stay-at-home kids would grow bored of the excess time on their hands. By August, we would reunite, share stories of our vacations and take full advantage of the long days.

Wiki, Wiki, Wiki, Wiki. (OMG, like) Shut UP!

Yes, I'm singing the lyrics to Nucleaus' song "Jam on It," but it was inspired by the research I'm doing on social networking and marketing. Bouncing back from window tab to tab--Facebook, Google, Gmail and SEOMOZ's Awards page, and 'tagging' articles into my del.icio.us account, I came across Wikipedia.  You know, that magnificent online destination that's growing as I type. I decided to plug in my family name for fun, just to see what would come up, and OMG, like, shut up! my great grandfather is listed. Actually, I forgot that my brother had already mentioned this to me a year or so ago.  Go great grandpops! You're WIcKId!

It's funny how Wiki has been the source of knowledge. When trivially stumped among friends, we'd conclude with, "hmm, that's one to Wiki."  Growing up, when I would pose a spelling or word question to my dad, he'd shoo me away in the direction of the book case and say, "I don't know, go ask Webster."  For future generations, I'm going to have to adapt that to, "I don't know, go ask Wiki." Instead of shooing the young one towards a laptop, I'll send it in a text or instant message.  Fortunately, I'll still be able to use dad's saying that I hated at the time, but love now, "Look with your eyes, not with your mouth."  Oh gosh, I might have to adapt that to, "Look with your eyes, not with your text."  Aww, it doesn't have the same effect. 

And now, for some entertainment.  

 

Unravel

These are a few of my favorite things...covered by Radiohead

Bjork:



And The Smiths:




And New Order!



My day is complete.

I had to add this one for fun. Thom Yorke getting his boogie on:

State of Emergency

On Tuesday morning, September 2, Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej declared a state of emergency in Bangkok following the street violence that occurred overnight between anti-government People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) supporters and the pro-government United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD).  In response to Thai protests, the U.S. Embassy said today:

"We wish to remind American citizens that even peaceful demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence.  American citizens are therefore urged to avoid the areas of demonstrations if possible, and to exercise caution if within the vicinity of any demonstrations."

This matter is not to be taken lightly; however, as long as the demonstrations are a distance away from the food markets, then it's all good.

The Space Face Off

Months ago, perhaps even a year or so ago, some friends and I were discussing the topic of: When are you too old for myspace?  We never really came up with an answer.  Maybe because no one wanted to admit that we were probably already too old, but all of us still wanted to have fun with it.  But now that Facebook is socially and professionally acceptable, I think the answer lingers...

Now that a majority of my friends are on Faceboook with complete profiles using their real names, accompanied by pictures of their kids, pets and professional portfolios--does this mean it's time to delete the myspace account?