One of the reasons I enjoy Twitter (and microblogging on sites like Facebook) so much is that it captures small moments in time, records compelling pieces of insight, and provides an efficient opportunity to share a wide variety of things I consider important (for personal, professional and political reasons). I find it immensely satisfying to read these tweets, posts and updates as meandering narratives of our days.
But it’s also insightful to reflect on the patterns of our microblogging, and to see what (if anything) is illuminated by them. So at the end of this long and mostly unplugged holiday weekend, I generated a Tweetcloud based on language analysis of my Twitter posts for this past year. As a reflection of what I hope I’m contributing to the social universe, it’s both cheerful and motivating.
Hooray!
Here’s the link.
This is what life does. It lets you walk up to
the store to buy breakfast and the paper, on a
stiff knee. It lets you choose the way you have
your eggs, your coffee. Then it sits a fisherman
down beside you at the counter who says, Last night,
the channel was full of starfish. And you wonder,
is this a message, finally, or just another day?
– ‘Starfish’ by Eleanor Lerman
Whenever I had the occasion to spend Thanksgiving with one particular tribe of my extended family while I was growing up, my great uncle would make us pause during our Thanksgiving meal and share what we were most thankful for that particular year. When I was a kid, this spotlight on my gratitude was both exciting and terrifying. I always wanted to pick exactly the right thing to share, and use exactly the right words to explain why it deserved to be shared. As I got older, this ritual became much easier, even as prioritizing my appreciation remained a challenge. I just spoke from the heart, and stopped worrying whether it was right, or important enough, or even particularly articulate. And this is the way I say thanks these days: from the heart, and sloppy as whatever. I’m grateful for these Thanksgiving moments of terror because they helped me to recognize the abundance of my thankfulness, and to be open to sharing it just as I feel it.
Earlier this year, that same great uncle of mine passed away. When I got the news, I felt marooned in the limited knowledge I had about his life. As I get older, I am overwhelmed by how little I know about my family and friends (even when I know a lot), and how I often don’t realize someone’s influence until I feel his or her absence. I wish – of course, of course – I wish that I had one more time to thank him for his holiday tradition and for every way he impacted me as well as others.
Every year now seems marked by a new notice of our shared mortality, and by more signs to pay attention, to notice it all. I see more meaning, or I make it – I’m not sure which. My family, young and old alike, seem to be aging at an alarming rate. My life is full of friends with Books, Babies, and Big Decisions. It’s really scary sometimes. It becomes more and more clear: we’re all just passing through this life. I’d like to hope this realization prompts us to give more, help more, share more. It’s important for me to say this, to commit to honoring my abundance by helping out and loving as much as I can. To me, there’s no better way to celebrate this life.
So, as imperfect as this is: thank you to my family and friends, to all of you readers who’ve made the time, and to all of you surfers who have wandered here serendipitously.
Thank for you sharing in this life, real and virtual, with me.
We have more adventures together.
Star Trek, which is being released on DVD and Blu-Ray today, was an official sponsor of Sunday Night Football this past weekend. E. was watching the game, and I was putzing around online, but when we heard that official endorsement, we both stopped and said, “Whoah!”
Star Trek sponsoring the NFL. It looks like J. J. Abrams’ re-branding of the science fiction franchise is complete. Star Trek has been remasculinized. It’s too bad that women lose out in the bargain.
(Minor spoilers ahead.)
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This weekend, the Denver Roller Dolls‘ Mile High Club skated their way to a third place finish at the WFTDA National Tournament, rolling past the Kansas City Roller Warriors, the Windy City Rollers and, finally, the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls. Their only loss during the tournament was to the Oly Rollers, who dominated everyone to win the championship.
I made the trip to Philly on Saturday to see the second round of skating and cheer on my old league. At several points, current DRD skaters asked me, “Are you proud?” I was totally stunned by that question. To say that I’m proud is an understatement. I’m SUPER proud. And excited. And thankful. And relieved. And also sad. It’s complicated – because it’s roller derby.
Indulge me for a moment as I get into the way-back machine here, but my thoughts inevitably wind backwards on this matter. All the way to 2006, in fact, when we played our first interleague bout.
MHC Original Roster: Jersey Trouble, Friction VixXxen, Toxic T, Boo Boo Radley, Dharma Gedden, Ivona Killeau, Ro Chambeau, Primal Rage, Rockett, Disco-A-Go-Go, Daytona Beyotch, Diamond Lil, Sissy Rinkshaw, Ms. Drrrty, Sheila Tack, Angela Death
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I saw Jennifer Baichwal’s new documentary, Act of God, over the weekend and I’ve been mulling over that film – along with her award-winning documentary Manufactured Landscapes (2007) – all week. Both films are chock full of breathtaking imagery, and Baichwal’s directorial style, more contemplative than argumentative, is super refreshing. But the overall quality and impact of both films couldn’t be more different. ok
