A Spinster who hates Facebook

Am I doomed to the life of a spinster? Am I the picture of the modern day, educated, intelligent, independent spinster? I have the cat. It's as if almost all the puzzle pieces fit. I'm a curmudgeon, self proclaimed. A grump, a homebody, an old soul. I don't concern myself with the passing trends. My style is eclectic. I own a record player, a recent purchase - a proud find at a local's well to do garage sale - the best kind to go to by the way. I like going to the farmer's market and pretending I live in Italy, a long time ago. I prefer old fashioned letters - the kind you write, put a stamp on, and mail to your friend. In fact, when someone recently asked me whether I still engage in the act of snail mail - I didn't know what they were referring to.

See that's the thing - everything has to be so fast today, the faster the better. But I disagree. I can't stand facebook. Don't know or want to know what Twitter is. Why the obsession with letting everyone know your latest status? This is one of the most annoying things to me. Why must I be made aware that you just used the bathroom? Why must I know that you are now headed to Manhattan Beach? People, I don't care. Good for you, I mean. But I just don't see the point. Why do you have write on your status update that you can't wait to go home, or that you're at your desk and someone's typing in the cubicle next to you and is getting on your last nerves. Newsflash - your status updates are getting on my last nerves. I don't know you like that. My sister doesn't even tell me the tidbits of her daily life. Keep it to yourself. Some people think they're cool because they have something to write about. Or because they have hundreds of friends. That's just silly. It's a popularity contest. Will you be my friend on facebook? No I won't. We went to the same school - will you be my friend on facebook? We haven't spoken to each other in 15 years - will you be my friend on facebook? Oh but there are the ardent supporters and fans of facebook! They are not joking either. It's a way to keep in touch with so many people. It's not a popularity contest - these are friends from undergrad, from graduate school, from high school, from grade school, these are my work friends, my family - oh god - even family members are on facebook. It's a way to keep in touch with all those people I don't get the chance to talk to or see. Blah, blah, blah. Save it for your mama. You're not convincing me.

Yes, writing a letter is slower than shooting someone an email. But I tell you, it is so much more enjoyable. There's nothing like putting your pen down on the paper and marking characters of the alphabet and communicating something. The power of words. I'm a sucker for them. Nothing like personally writing a letter to someone. But I don't get many letters in the mail. I wish I did. They're so much fun. You can hold them, smell the paper, read it over and over again. The art and joy of letter writing. I hope it never dies.

Yeah, and what's with this notion of faster equals better? What about slowing down? Where are we in such a hurry to get to? Where? Please tell me. I implore you.

I prefer good old fashioned newspapers, the kind that get your fingers gray from the carbon. I'll take a newspaper any day over reading news online. But it's free - it's accessible wherever you are. I don't want something accessible wherever I am. I enjoy sitting down holding the newspaper and flipping through it to read the articles. I don't want to sit at a computer screen, ruin my eyes even more, and scroll down the screen using the cursor. I don't want everything I do to be with a machine. With technology. I don't need to read cnn.com, msn.com, nytimes.com, latimes.com. Give me one newspaper and I'm good to go. I don't need to read several versions. Again, another problem with society, with modern day society and our culture -- too many options. Let's keep it simple.