Last time I posted, I sputtered about being undecided whether I like the instant communication we have these days. Well, ove the last few days, I have been thinking about the point I was trying to make. I may have figured out what I meant to say.

With unlimited text, instant messaging (IM) and Facebook status updates, we are able to instantly and continuously update people on our moods and situations.

I have come to realize that the old adage "I believe life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it" is very true. Dare I say that these days, technological break downs wreaking havoc on our lives happens more than ever. We have to buck up and move on; work around the problem. Sometimes it takes some time to see how it'll work out and how we should/should have react to a situation.  Facebook statuses allow people to put up how they are feeling at that exact moment. I am learning that it is often better to hold my immediate reactions and let the situation run its course.

The other day I was cruising to school and got frustrated with the instant nature of today's digital communication (I think). I have a group of friends with boring jobs and unlimited text, and as a result, they get what amounts to a play-by-play of my entire day. Anything that happens, I send them a text.

In addition, I can access Facebook on my phone, so at anytime I can update my status to reflect anyhtihgn that is going on that instant.

I can't tell yet, if that is a good thing or not. One the one hand, my endless texting keeps them entertained and gives me the feeling of being close to them. On the other, Its sort of an emotional roller coaster we are on. Not as much for the receiver, but for me; constantly trying to iterate the happenings of the day can be troublesome. Or, is it an instant venting is a good pressure releif valve for me. Instead of bottleing up emotions and irritations and joys and any other emotions, I just let them out through my thumbs.

For some reason I apparently cannot put into words right now, I do not like the nature of this beast, that is, the constant texting. Perhaps it feels like an invasion of privacy?? But alas, its not an invasion if I am giving all these people a wondow to peer in.

A good friend of mine decided it was high time we got the crew together for some video games (oh joy), drinking and general good times. What did he do?? Why, he sent a Facebook message out to us. The beauty of the method (the Facebook message to everyone at once) was that when we replied, every person on the 'mailing list' would get our responce, so each person was ont he same page as we sorted out the best time and date for the gathering. I was thinking about this today; the efficiency and streamlinization (is that a word??) of the process. At any given time, everyone involved knew as much as the next person.

Its not earth shattering, but I was just pleased that I found an instance that Facebook redeemed itself and was useful as opposed to a black hole pulling in all of my time.

A few weeks ago I told you about my chat room experiences in response to my class that's exploring online/digital communication and identity. I met a (assumed) girl in the chat room and we began texting. She lives in Miami. We communicated for a week or so and sorta lost touch. She is a friend on my instant messenger as well and we'd been playing IM tag for a few days. Last night we finally connected and I came to find out that she got a new phone.

I had assumed she gave up on our online-cross-country relationship, but it turned out she just lost her means of communicating with me.

So, Saturday night was the big night - the housewarming party. I enlisted the company of my friend Keith as I knew only one person at the party. On the drive up from Mankato to Brooklyn Park, I texted many people to get ideas for a housewarming gift. I settled on a bottel of wine. Throughouthte evening I texted Keith and finally gave up and called the boy with no answer. Oh well. Might as well go to a party full of strangers alone right??

I arrive at the party and get a warm greeting from the hostess and quizical looks from everyone else. She gave me a tour and then I settled in to watch Grandma play Guitar Hero.

I met her family and friends and ex boyfriend, and spent four hours at her house. As we all chatted, I couldn't help but notice how comfortable I felt; it seemed as though I had known all the people long before the party.

The next day the hostess adn I texted a bit; I thanked her for the invitation and she was glad I came. She also mentioned that she thought i made her ex-boyfriend-but-still-friend jealous, which we both found hilarious.

After i left he made comments that it was weird and or creepy that we met on Facebook. I agreed, but pointed out that it is getting less out of the ordinary each days - society is becoming more accepting of online relationships and are beginning to see it more as an acceptable avenue to meet people.

Totally glad I went to the party. I'm pleased to find that we get along just as well in person as we do online.