Suzanne Calling

One of my major frustrations with Facebook, is that there is no way to contact them directly. When I had the annoyance of my house listed as a location, there was only a report box, and no listing of department emails or live chat or even a way to Tweet them. (OTOH, I had a Twitter question, posted an @Twitter on their feed and had an answer in 20 minutes.) Yeah, so that lack of direct contact is annoying, but most of the time, it's not a big deal. The latest dislike, the one you may not have noticed is that in the last two weeks, is that every post you make, or picture you place on your wall now has a location on it. Last week, I posted a picture of my new chair, and it took four tries and about twenty minutes on my phone and computer to finally post a picture that didn't have that 'near Tampa' when I was at school or 'near mytown' when I was at home. I hadn't even noticed it until my ex-husband's sister posted on my wall and sent me a message to ...

What happens on Facebook may not necessarily stay on Facebook. Over the weekend, a 'You know you grew up in (my hometown) when...' group cropped up on Facebook. It blossomed from about 30 people when I was invited in on Saturday morning to just short of 2,000 when I looked earlier. The trip down memory lane has been nice, but I think some people don't realize that when you join a group on Facebook, unless it is a closed group, whatever you say is out there for anyone with half a clue with Google to see if they search your name. My mindset has always been if I wouldn't say it to a person face to face, to my Nana, to my boss or to a member of the clergy, it's not going to be said on Facebook. My locked down wall is probably considered PG-13, not much more different from the blog. Anyway, some people just don't get the message. I've seen posts about the substances consumed and the underage drinking and well, that's not really all that bad...

This is what happens when you post on Facebook that you'll be attending the midnight showing of Harry Potter! (and there will be a review of the D-Box System and 3D tomorrow or Sunday-without spoilers) Suzanne: I solemnly swear I'll be up to no good tonight-and I won't spoil it for others... Frank: Voldemort is Harry's father and Hermoine is his twin sister? Suzanne: And the collective gasp opportunity in the movie theatre is thwarted once again-thanks, Frank! Frank: I didn't mention the little furry teddy-bear like creatures that help bring about the destruction of the evil empire or Voldemort returning to the light side.......oh damn Frank: There was an alternate ending where Harry joins up with Buffy the Vampire Slayer and they hunt and kill Bella Swan because "she's too fucking whiny" (Harry's words-not mine) but, Daniel Radcliffe thought it might tarnish him in the eyes of his fans who haven't seen him n...

I value my privacy. Crave it, even. I know that's hard to believe when I've been blogging for almost six years, have been a participant in message boards for twice as long and the information contained within both is chock-a-block with information that is personal in nature. However, my address and phone number are not out there. I don't want them out there. It's important to me to control what I share, and where I share it. Especially on Facebook. Even with my security settings customized and many things locked down, I don't feel comfortable with the information on there. If you are a friend, and a third party wants to contact you, unless I know that you've communicated together on the phone before, I don't give out phone numbers. I'll ask the one party to give me a phone number to pass on to the person they want to reach. It's the respectful thing to do in allowing the third party to grant information as he or she sees fit, right? Facebook...

Nigerian Scams. Irish Sweepstakes Scams. We've heard of them for years, but they're getting more insidious. Sunday night, as I was going to bed, I saw a weird message pass through my friend feed on Facebook. A 'friend in the computer' had posted earlier in the day and it was clear that she was at home in the northern US. The fact that a wall post went up at a late hour was odd (and I forget the actual gist of the message, just that it was out of character) When I got up the next morning, it was clear she'd been hacked. Not the sort of hacking that happens when your kids found you didn't log out of FB on your iPad sort of thing (which happens to a friend pretty much weekly with amusing results). No, this was the one that's going around where the scammer poses as your friend and says he or she is in a foreign country and needs your help. At the time that this scammer got into M's account, a handful of her friends who live further west were pinged i...

I know, I know. Long time readers are scratching their heads, figuring I was done with the Sunday music posts. It's time to resurrect this topic, because I like being able to prepare what I'll write about. Especially now that there will be three classes and a job to occupy most of my time! A friend started doing the 30 Day Song Challenge on Facebook last month and well, I had to do it. It was a meme with a twist, asking participants to name a song that reminded them of an event, a song that made them happy, guilty, or a song that they listened to when angry. It inspired a lot of thought. Some of the selections were tough. I really couldn't come up with one for guilty until Ed told me what his was (he took the challenge, too). In this space, I'd mentioned that we had three songs with the designation "Our Song." I posted one, he posted another. (We selected the same song to be played at our funeral) Some of the choices might not have been so difficult...

I've been saving these for months, hoping to do a spread of all of them, but I think there's enough for a blog post already. On Facebook, those ads on the right can bring some interesting and amusing things to the table. For instance, Living Social and Groupon have either "100 Things to do in (Your City Here)" or the more ambitious "365 Things to do in (that same city)." I live in Lakeland, Florida. The town covers a large geographic area, but folks, it's a small town. Downtown businesses, save for the restaurants, are closed by 6pm. If you want to see a movie, you're going to the outdoor mall on the south side of town or the drive in (which I prefer). So, imagine my surprise at the first '365 things..." picture-it was Niagara Falls. I assure you, Lakeland is quite flat and while there's a ton of water to be found, there are no falls. The next one featured a picture of a nice wooden roller coaster. The nearest amusement parks are ...

Yesterday, I reminded a FB friend about his informative Tweets a few years ago about the proper undergarments to ring in the new year. This piqued the interest of another of his friends and seeing that we had about 15 friends in common, she sent me a friend request. She also asked a question: What's the deal with the yellow underwear? I sent her the link and I got the coolest complement, in that she said she was laminating it and putting that post up on her mantle. However, as it is nearly New Year's Eve, you may be considering the things you desire in the coming year. To refresh your memory, yellow underwear is good for financial prosperity, red for romance, and black is very bad. Plan your undergarments accordingly.

I always loved playing Scrabble. In my house growing up, I was an avid reader, and my Dad capitalized on it. I was given a bunch of books about lexography and a deluxe edition of Scrabble. No one would play against me. Mind you, my siblings were at least five years older than me-they said they didn't want to get creamed. I still have that deluxe set, which has been used maybe a dozen or so times. Ed won't play, but then again, I've never asked him because he's not into board games. Thanks goes to Facebook, because now I can play. Friends, random strangers, anyone else who wants to play. One of my profs and a friend who writes professionally were willing to play against me-and promptly started wiping the floor with me. All those two letter and three letter combos? I knew they were at the front of my scrabble dictionary, but I never bothered to learn them. I'm a quick study, though. There have been a couple of wins, a draw and I've even gotten within a f...

It started with those words, and then today, when I saw this on a friend's Facebook status: Please put this on your status if you know, or are related to someone killed on Alderaan when it was obliterated by the Death Star. My wish is that people will understand that the Empire is a band of murdering scum. The Rebel Alliance wants only to bring peace to the galaxy, but the evil Empire continues to kill innocent civilians. 93% won't copy/paste this. Will YOU make this your status for at least one hour? and I had to add it to mine, because it made me chuckle so much. That's when the fun began. -comments about "Suzanne, use the Force" -one friend saying he was afraid to put that in his status, lest the Empire find him, he'll just be a quiet moisture farmer The friend who posted it had one of his friends stating that she'd missed the memo, since she was drunk in Mos Eisley. Or was it Maw? I commented that she was a brave woman to spend time in that hive of ...

The new Facebook gives you instant notifications, so when I was on there earlier, a status box came up "Jessica just answered a question about you! See what it is!" I figured, why not? Well, the trick is the application wants you to answer questions, like "Do you think Jane would rob a bank?" (true question that I found when I opened the page, that one. Hmmm.) Then you can see what questions your friends answered about you, with a catch. You have to actually use the Friend Quiz to find out who said what. No thanks, I'll just laugh at the questions. Want to join me? Do you think that Suzanne is a wannabe? (this must be the one Jessica answered-she said NO) Do you think that Suzanne has ever done anything they're ashamed of? Friend answered NO. (have to disagree with this one) Do you think that Suzanne has ever had a 1 night stand? Friend answered NO, and they must know my more conservative pov on that one! Do you think that Suzanne would sell you...

Lately, there's been interesting things afoot on Facebook. First, a message. "Help raise awareness for breast cancer research. Put your bra color in your status. Nothing else, just your color. Let's have some fun." I was game, so I put my color up (not boring, lol) and many of my friends did it, too. The funny part was when guys put up "Blue", "Navy" and "Turquoise." Interesting that they didn't know what was going on, but the ones who did it all chose shades of blue. Then it was retro week. Put up a picture of you when you were younger. I actually had one in my facebook photos because my sister Giggles scanned a picture of me from a vacation when I was eleven. It was comical, because I'm holding a cotton candy that was bigger than my head. It was cool to see all the pictures, to see what friends looked like as kids, how some people look like they did at ten and others look nothing like they did as a toddler. Not every...

sometimes it dredges up things from your past that were probably better buried. There is a lot that is enjoyable and good about Facebook, and I've got an entry soon about that, but today, I just want to tell you a story that I'd done my best to forget. When these types of things happen, I need a day or two to process the thoughts, what they do to me and how to write about it. If you haven't figured it out by now, this is my therapy. Whatever is bothering me will sooner or later end up written down. This is a long one, so if you want to grab a cup of coffee to mull over it or skip entirely, go right ahead. I think it speaks a lot about the person I've become. When I was 6 years old, my parents bought a house on the South Shore of LI. The town was chosen because, at that time, the schools were in the top 5 in the state. They pushed to get there when Giggles and I were young. On the first day of school (really second day-they kept me home the first day), I walk int...

If you hurry, you'll get the user name link you want at Facebook ! Bloggers may want to take their blog name. That's why I grabbed Suzanne Calling. Sorry to anyone who might actually possess that name-it's mine now! :D What are you still doing here? Go grab the name of your choice!

A Glimpse into the humor that you'll find early in the morning when you find both me and my brother in law checking out Facebook. Joe was in the mood for some pancakes, fixated on them, even. The wife and kids were asleep. This is what transpires: 6:58amJoseph Any precaution needed. I'm back, pored my coffee. 3 sleepin' slackers, 2 spoons of suger, and a hubbie that wants to go to ihop and im not in a pear tree At 6 in the morning my brother in law said to me 12 days of xmas....hunger is setting in 7:00amSuzanne lol 7:01amJoseph I should just go. It's called Ihop not wehop or theyhop,or wait til they wake up hop. 7:02amSuzanne LOL 7:03amJoseph IHOP should hire peter cottontail and hop the f&#* over here with some pancakes 7:03amSuzanne that I'd pay to see! 7:04amJoseph Had a great burger sun. and awesome Calamari yesterday 7:04amSuzanne shhh, Chef will nag me for some if he knows you had it [editor's note-Chef and Uncle Big Joe will conspire on what seafo...

This week has brought a rash of emails from the various reunion based sites. One of them, Reunion.com, sent an email to an address I only use for the blog that "BK has confirmed you as a friend." Only problem is that I don't know anyone by that name. Then I go to their website and I can't sign in, because my email is not one they have on file. Fine. (I vaguely remember this woman contacting me through another reunion site a few years ago, too.) Somewhere in Canada, there's a 56 year old woman with the same first middle and last name and she's got people looking for her! Then, I get a message in my Classmates inbox. "Are you part of the (last name) family that lived on G street?" That would be a no. In my sleepy hamlet (population 30,000), there were three families with the same last name. All three had girls named Kathy, but I was the only Suzanne. Based on her graduation year, she was probably looking for the Kathy with the same last name...

Facebook has revived friendships I thought had been gone forever. It's been cool 'chatting' with friends. One friend started a group for our college radio station, and through that, another handful of friends came back into my life. One guy, Brian, was an absolute riot. He started at the station a semester before I left, so we didn't get to know each other too well, but this is the guy who you cannot miss in a group of people. He's got everyone laughing. I made a comment on Brian's wall and now I've got friend request from one of his friends. It's common knowledge that random strangers will friend you on MySpace, but on Facebook, where odds are that you're using your full name? Not so much. Guess I join the ranks with Joyce and Ed-Joyce getting friended because she's a friend of me and Ed and not of that person, and Ed getting a friend request from someone he met last month for ten minutes. Perhaps others don't look at it the same wa...

I joined Facebook a while back, but have only embraced the site in the past couple of months. It's providing a pleasant walk down memory lane, while giving me plenty of food for thought. I was am a nerd/geek. Back in my middle and high school days, I only had a handful of friends-but they were good friends. How many of you have among your closest friends people that you met when you were 12? (Ed, don't answer this-you trump me by knowing Tim since you were 3!) Along the education and life path, there were people who I met who made a positive impression on me. I doubt I had as much of an impression on them, because I was the geek/nerd, the brainiac who didn't quite fit in. Those who got to know me beyond that exterior found out that I have a warped sense of humor and that I was a goofball. Once in college, I hit my stride. These people didn't know me, didn't know the 12 years of teasing and taunting. I got involved in ton of activities on campus and ended up...

how Facebook can put up in "People You May Know" the matron of honor of someone I do know. We have nothing else in common, she is not friends with anyone who IS a Facebook friend. I've never sent an email to her, so trolling my email address book doesn't wash here. No, I'm not in contact with the person who's wedding she was in, either. Weird how they came up with her. Small world, eh?