I really hate the new timeline profile on facebook. I feel violated and privy to way too much information every time I visit the site now. Do I need to know that some guy friend just viewed a “shawty is thick” video? Does he even realize that I know he watched that? Is it necessary for me to know every single article my friends are reading? I’m friends with a lot of attorneys, that happens to be a whole hell of a lot of articles! It’s an information overload every time I look at my newsfeed.

Its impossible now to click on a link that a friend may have shared without being hounded to allow this or that app to access my personal information- no thank you! Why does The Huffington Post and Yahoo News need to know who I am and what I look like? Just because I want to quickly glance at an article? I think not!

I’m hearing myself and I know that to a lot of you I seem like a crazy old lady. The younger generation probably doesn’t care about privacy invasions and doesn’t mind the new intrusiveness of fb (no matter how many of their friends get fired for something they said on their twitter or fb account). But I don’t care! I remember when you had to have a “.edu” email to even join facebook. Now its become this monster, this ridiculous behemoth machine that will stop at nothing in order to profit off of the trust of the very people that made it this big in the first place.

Its nice to know I’m not the only one who feels this way, or did you miss the news of all the Instagram users who are deleting their accounts because of fb’s 1 billion dollar purchase and fears over changing privacy policies?

I would rather go back to the old fb where things were deliberately shared. I’d like to go back to the days when it was easy to adjust my privacy settings and control who shared in my content. I am not loving the new fb. And so I wait for it to go, by way of blackplanet, friendster, and myspace, and fade into the annals of internet/social media history.

Lately I have gotten into the habit of going to bed right when I get home from work, which at times can be as early as 7 or 8pm. I usually wake up around 3 or 4am and it’s my time. No phone calls, no red light blinking on my blackberry. Just me and my silence. I have been infinitely more productive. I wax poetic on twitter and facebook, read my favorite blogs and go through magazines that had started to accumulate uselessly in the corners of my room….

My latest projects include cleaning up my links on Firefox, feng shui-ing my room and working on my vision board. I love this quiet, private me time….

Loving “Sistah Vegan” edited by A. Breeze Harper:

“People choosing veganism offer a number of distinct rationales, from practical to ethical: disliking meat; love of animals; health concerns; politico-economic commitments; and philosophical or spiritual beliefs. Many people who are vegans endorse several of these rationales simultaneously.”

Yes! Finally, an acknowledgement that there are different reasons that people become vegan/vegetarian….we are not all animal lovers! (I am far from that, in fact! LOL)

“People who choose veganism based on health concerns are often worried about the effect of stressed, diseased, and/or drugged animal flesh on the human body”

Me, me, me!! LOL

-Excerpt from “Veganism and Ecowomanism” by Layli Phillips in “Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak on Food, Identity, Health and Society” edited by A. Breeze Harper.

I never have been and never will be ashamed to be myself: flaws and all. I do my best to live my life with no regrets. I am the person I was meant to be living the life that I was meant to live. I care little for speculation or gossip about me. If you want to study what I am doing, you are more than welcome. I am the portrait of personal happiness and no one can ever take that away from me. I feel sorry for those who wish to restrict the lives of others with judgments and pronouncements of what’s morally correct or what someone of my age should be doing. I listen to the beat of my own internal drum. I have always been that way. And I strive to make sure it will never change.

I wish you all the peace and happiness that comes with finally feeling free to just be yourself!

I am deeply saddened by the news of Whitney Houston’s passing. At this point I still do not know what happened, although I assume that it was some sort of an overdose. When reports confirmed that she was dead, I unplugged my phone and stopped all communication. Though MJ’s passing saddened me deeply, Whitney’s feels like I’ve lost an old friend.

“You Give Good Love” is one of my favorite songs of all time. Her So Emotional album punctuated some major hi-lights of my younger years. I can still recall how I felt when I first saw the “So Emotional” video. She was so pretty, so young. The perfect 80s bob and that cropped leather jacket.

It brings tears to my eyes to try and describe Whitney’s voice. It defies description. Whitney’s voice is like the waves in the ocean, like a strong fresh wind blowing right into your face. I truly loved her voice. I can’t tell you the countless amount of times that her voice has uplifted my spirit. She was a true gift to the world.

It all just feels like a lot. Michael Jackson. Don Cornelius. Whitney Houston. Does no one get old anymore? The people that I grew up on all destined to leave us in shocking ways? I don’t understand it.

I send condolences to Bobbi Kristina and the Houston family. And I mourn her passing deeply. The world has lost a great gift. It is such a shame.

In exactly one month, I will officially be a year older. My birthday. You got here quick man!

Here we are, on the first day of Nanowrimo. I wish everyone the best of luck.

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