The Obsession Shift

I will now bid a temporary farewell to my second girlfriend - Facebook. This happens after 3 months of being banned by my partner of using the site. It was a roller coaster ride, and I consider it a big loss being tagged as "the social network addict" of my publication way back college.

It's been years since I used Facebook (teary-eyed this time), that it has caused me to enjoy the best in life - making friends, meeting-up my partner(s), expressing myself the unique way, being able to tell the world my thoughts in a more vast coverage, being able to greet my friends in a greeting that though channeled through the intranet, it is but still addressed as though personally said.

This and more will make me miss typing "facebook.com" in mozilla firefox address bar. I could even remember my status before: "There are friends I could have forgotten if I did not log in to Facebook".

Now, I will accept the horrid fact that I will soon forget the hundreds of friends and acquaintances whose faces appear on my friend list. So here, below is my friendly "despedida" card that if I could only send to Mark Zuckerburg now, he would wildly appreciate. Here it is:

Sincerely and in tears,
Joel =)

For now, I say sorry for the declined friend request on that website, for the messages that were left abandoned. To you, I say "I shall return!"

Now, just like in relationships, we have to bring ourselves back to normalcy state. We have to bring ourselves back from pieces, and well, search for a new one. And luckily, I have indeed found her:


Yes, he is the founder of twitter, Evan Williams, and I could not explain how thankful I am to this man who made me find my second life (Ehem, sorry for the exaggeration). Now, I am building my site like never before, and realized there are too many narcissistic things I can do in Twitter.com than Facebook - putting your photo as the exact background to the profile (as seen above).


No worries if I get bored. I have twitter friends I can tweet when I miss my Facebook. =)

If Only it's Like Call Center

When I was 17, I can almost remember how ecstatic I was thinking of becoming old. 25, 27, 30 were my ideal numbers. At that age, If I could only use a time traveler, I might have jumped way older and I should be happier.

But not today. At this time, while I'm 21, I now constantly wish to go back my 20th year - active, alert, and mind you, better looking. LOL. That wish came to me like a rocket so fast when I looked in the mirror and saw myself getting old.

I have never had a close friend younger than I except Michelle. I loved hanging around with my male friends aged 25 or in their 30s. And wow, they were smart, experienced, and were advisers. The best adviser I have was a nurse/teacher. He was, if i'm not mistaken, 34 years old. During those days of grief in love, he was my constant breather. He'd tell me of the best solution to problems like a mature man - a man who never let's anyone turn him down.

The best mature advice that dawned on me? He had made me realize that pretty face does not matter, thus, I should recover from all those failed relationships I have from the 'pretty faces.' What matters is partnership and commitment.. and it's just hard to get faithfulness from partners whose physique fits your "ideal". =)

Pretty nice realization.

During my broken heart days, I wished to be like him - one who could easily recover. Resistant. Fights hurt feelings like a wrestler. I wished to be mature - to be in 20s or 30s!

But things suddenly turned different. After a day's work, I faced the mirror and realized I am indeed getting old. I looked at the difference between my teenage and the present. I thought that along with the maturity I have wished for, is a depreciation of your physical body - a change that could not be undone.

Now that I'm 21, and having found the longest-running partner I have in life, I wish not to be mature anymore. I wish the other extreme - to become even younger. I am now surrounded with mature people - people who talk about families, kids, sex, money, stress, and serious work. I missed the college talks - the acquaintances, the campings, the events, and friendships.

I want to step back and return time, and be able to fully enjoy the thrill of teenage and college. If it's only like our call center - we could 'backdate' and 'activate without payment', undo the damage and reactivate something that has gone dead.

In the call center, we can make changes to errors and end up with a happy resolution - EVERYTIME. But becoming mature does not guarantee that. You become old and need to face it. Your face will soon alter the glimmer, and you will think differently.