Sick, Facebook, Ice Cream

I have been too long away from writing here and it's all because of stupid sickness.

I don't like being away from writing for too long because my mood - which is already a precarious thing - gets incrementally worse as the days pass with no action and expression from me.

Plus I really hate disappointing my stalkers by not giving them their regular Sharon fix.   I'm nice like that.

Anyway, about two weeks ago my digestive system decided it was going to make me as miserable as possible and I am just now starting to feel a little bit better.  I couldn't even eat so you know if that was happening that I must have been pretty sick.  Drinking coffee was a particular problem, too, which is ridiculous because I don't even think that a bout of Black Plague could keep me from my sweet elixir of life coffee.

I drank tea for one day and that might have been what started my ascent to semi-wellness.  Not the tea itself, mind you...just the idea of having to drink that crap in lieu of coffee for any amount of time.

Tea is nice from time to time, don't get me wrong.  One time JP and I were both up in the middle of the night with insomnia and we made tea and ate toast and it was oddly this ridiculously romantic thing that we still talk about.  For us, though, it's always the little things.  Tea and toast at 3am.  And he always butters my toast for me just the way I like it (to the edges, full coverage).

Anyway, I don't trust people who drink tea regularly instead of coffee, do you?
There's something sneaky about every one of them.  And let's not forget how pretentious they are as they announce "I don't drink coffee" as they look down their nose at you, you slovenly coffee drinker you.
Okay, that was a tangent.

So I was pretty busy while I was away being sick, though.  For instance, I spent entire days perusing the Internet looking at a lot of things.  That wore me out in more ways than one.
For instance, people.
The people on the Internet make me want to climb into bed with the covers over my head for an extended period of time in order to hide from them.
They also make me want to punch them in their faces.

During this time period I also shut down my Facebook art page that has 600+ followers which was a direct result of the precarious mood thing I mentioned above.  That, and my mostly utter disdain for Facebook and its stupid, idiotic like button.  Did you know I very rarely click 'like' on Facebook?  It's the truth...it makes me feel stupid.  Like an automaton.


like...like...like...like...
What started it all was that I updated my website address on my Facebook page and apparently Facebook generates an automatic post that says something like "Sharon just updated her website address!"
And then, to my astonishment, a bunch of people 'liked' that post.
Like, what's to like about me updating a website address?!
I mean, does someone think "oh look, Sharon just updated her website address.  That's great.  I mean, wow, that's so terrific.  I really like that she did that.  Like, let me click that LIKE button to let her know that I like that she updated her website address."

See, the thing that gets me is that no one is thinking anymore.
No one is contemplating what they are seeing, nor are they subsequently gauging their own action/reaction to whatever it is anymore.  Do you know what I mean?
Liking everything without thinking about what you're liking is why people keep posting selfies and pictures of their food while they're eating it and of their vacations while they are on vacation!  The madness must stop.

I post my artwork to my Facebook page and usually I'll get a bunch of 'likes' and I hate to say this because it makes me sound like a big jerk but I don't know the value of their like because they're all liking everything that comes their way!
I don't want your like, I want your thought-out comment.  I want to hear that you like the artwork because the sky is pretty or it reminds you of something or you wish you were right there inside the scene.

From my About Me page:

"People don't slow down enough to look around and see the magical world they live in," she says. "I capture my photographs by taking long, aimless drives on endless beautiful back roads. But I am forever pulling over to let speeding cars pass me. They're going too fast to notice the beauty all around that I'm seeing and I think that's sad. I needed to find a way to make people see and feel again...to make them slow down, to pause for just a minute. That's where the fairytale, magical realism look of my artwork came from. By making things look a little bit wonky or whimsical...this gets their attention. This makes them see."

Apparently not anymore.

I did re-publish my Facebook page but right now I am unsure if I will keep it live.
Facebook does not allow me to disallow likes which is what I really want but the like button is what has made Mark Zuckerberg a gazillionaire as he sells all of our privacy and personal preferences to the millions who advertise on Facebook...so that's not changing anytime soon.

Ironically, I have to decide whether to...like it...or lump it.
And I'm leaning toward lumping it.

I'm also leaning toward another trip to my favorite ice cream place that just opened for the season.
JP took me there the other night because I've only been able to eat soft foods and what better soft food is there than ice cream?  Plus he knew that my standard cup of vanilla with chocolate jimmies/sprinkles and whipped cream would probably not do a lot for my digestive system but would do wonders for my mood problem.  And this place does not skimp on the whipped cream like Rita's some other lame-o places do which is exactly what the doctor would not have ordered which is why I avoid them.

After all, when all else fails - like your digestive system and society - there's always ice cream.


-Sharon