Looking out my window...

You Follow 44 People on Twitter

   
In case you don't recognize these birds, they are on one design in the backgrounds available for personalizing Twitter.

I mentioned to a friend of mine the other day that I "Tweet on Twitter." Her response made me think about Twitter vs Facebook. And, for some I suppose it's like a civil war among social media on the internet. Twitter is newer, I think.

Twitter is somewhat, I'm being nice, limited because you can only use up to 140 characters for someone to be able to read the message in its entirety without clicking. It's rather like haiku poetry in its limitation.

Facebook, on the other hand, has no such limitations. My friend, a Facebook fan, said "In Twitter you can't say much and who cares that you're having a cup of coffee?"

In the beginning of Twitter, theoretically you were supposed to answer the printed question "What are you doing right now?" or something like that. I agree that might be pretty boring. But, the people who didn't leave Twitter for Facebook, took Twitter around another corner. And, I think, those people are the more poetic and thoughtful people. I'd like to say smarter, but I don't want to offend anyone. And, by the way, I also use Facebook.

I first started with Facebook because I was looking for a group of people who were going through the same things I was, as newly diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. I found them. A group of suffering but supportive people who while in pain could give hope and strength to those in need. And I got lots of information about what was going on with the disease and its treatment.

Facebook is also an excellent way to keep in touch with family, IF they are also computer people.

Then I heard about Twitter and Tweets. I found it intriguing. But, who to follow? Twitter gives you suggestions from the information you give Twitter. I started by choosing @ebertchicago (Roger Ebert) someone I know through his work and went from there. Sometimes choosing people he followed. I'm very fond of my group. They appear to have similar political leanings as I do. Some are poetic. Some are damn funny. And others are way smart. I know them better than my Facebook friends. But I spend more time with them. Sometimes not tweeting for a few days and on other days several times all at once. Depends on what I have to say. And, I love freely writing and then trimming it down if needed. I think it's an art unto itself.

I wanted to give you a list of the 44 people I'm currently following on twitter because... oh, I don't know... you fill in the blank.

Download You follow 44 people

The above "Download...." is a link to a PDF Adobe file. Most of you should be able to double click or tap it for the whole document to open up.

And I'm happy to share them with you. You can find me @texaschiefs.

Birds of A Feather Flock Together

  Finches at Feeder Photo by Sharon

You'd think by looking at this picture the finches were starving to death. Let me assure you they are not, as they feed like this several times a day. I haven't as yet been able to photograph the "waiting line" on our fence. I shall keep on trying.

I think it's due to these little rascals the mighty cardinals have yet to return to us. Too crowded, especially when there are so many other feeders close by. We still enjoy listening to their songs.

 

Dream A Little Dream with Me

Last night I had a very long dream, or so it seemed. I don't remember it all, nor the details. What I do remember is the Chief and I kept running to different places trying to hide from someone whose goal seemed to be to harm or kill us. No matter how clever we were... we were found.

When I told the Chief about it I paused and said "maybe it was the grandchildren?" And we laughed.  We love them so much.

 

OTC* Laughter

I've written about laughter and humor before. I think it is the one thing that keeps me going. It gets my adrenalin and endorphins jumping.

Recently, on Face Book, a woman contacted me saying she had read my blog when she was feeling sad and it made her happy. Wow. It turns out we have so much in common it's freaky. I mean how we think, how we choose to be happy when that is not life's intention. We both like Lady Gaga (laugh if you want), the Coffee Party (as opposed to Tea Party) and Dexter (okay, so he's a serial killer), to name a few. She is an artist and her work makes me smile. She called me, yes meeee... a word smith!  Holy cow!

Now my mom might say those things (she however doesn't like Lady Gaga) but a complete stranger with no ties or reason to tell me this. What a wonderful gift to give someone. It's sorta like the "random act of kindness" thingy. Any way, I'm so grateful to her for letting me know that my writing touched someone in a meaningful way.

And this reminds me of Roger Ebert, one of my idols. I've loved him since the 60's. This last year has not been the best for me. Fibromyalgia is a nasty thing. Not, however, as bad a trial as Roger has been through. The thing is, I think we both approached our change in life style in a somewhat similar manner: Look at what has happen. Find how limitations can be turned around. Refuse to be miserable. Mandate life be enjoyed. And laugh your heart out.

No, I don't go outside much. No, I haven't gone to things I use to. My life changed. But, one day I thought about blogging. And if you look at my first few blogs, you'll see I didn't have a clue what I was doing. As it is now, it seems to have turned into a conversation with myself and anyone who wants to listen.

And, what brought me to this blog was a retweet from Roger Ebert:

TheSocialBrain Compelling evidence that smiling leads to physiological changes in the brain that cool blood+trigger happy feelings. http://alturl.com/25bdn Retweeted by ebertchicago and 100+ others:

Smiling Makes You Happy
Bob Sutton's Blog "Work Matters" 

Gretchen over at The Happiness Project had a lovely and thoughtful post yesterday called smile, smile, smile.  She ended the post by saying: "And apart from its effect on my dealings with other people, smiling makes me feelhappier. Actions trigger feelings, so by going through the motions of feeling happier, I change my mood. Thich Nhat Hanh wrote, “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.”'

And here is a Video with Laughing John Cleese

And another from the Yogi himself

 

And, finally...Never take yourself too seriously...

 

 

*OTC means medicines that are Over The Counter  - no prescription needed