Why I'm Quitting Facebook

Ladies and gentlemen, I have come to a conclusion. Things were better in my life before the introduction of things such as Facebook, Myspace and Google Plus. For those of you telling me to get off my high horse, hear me out. Do you remember when you were a kid (by that I mean junior high through high school) and you called your friends or a person you had a crush on? Remember how exciting that was? I remember calling my friends and feeling like it was an olympic event, usually it was to plan who was coming over whose house and what we wanted to do while we were there. Or calling a girl I had a crush on, when I had to muster up some courage to finally dial her number and wait for someone to answer (this was before we all had cell phones, so occasionally her mother, or worse, her father, answered the phone). I now realize that came with a rush of adrenaline, which is something I don't receive anymore because I don't make phone calls. Facebook has sucked all of the excitement out of communicating with people. All it allows you to do now is rack up people in your friends list, play mafia wars and farmville, and stalk people in a non creepy way (by the way, it's still creepy, but I must admit, even I did it). I forgot to mention how Facebook uses all your information to sell ads on their website also, same with Google Plus I'm sure.

I have been planning to leave Facebook for a while now. I waste so much time everyday just checking the dang thing (and getting no new notifications in return), that I could use that time towards doing something new like going outside and exercising, or calling a few people, or god forbid, studying. For those of you who may not understand, here's a little research for you. According to Nielsen, an international advertising and marketing company, US internet users spent an astounding 53.5 BILLION MINUTES on Facebook, and that was just for May of 2011! That's 891,666,666 HOURS! There are about 95 million US Facebook users, so that would equal out to about 9.5 hours per person per month on the Facebook site, and I know that the number is even higher for some people. Don't believe me, here's the link: http://www.zdnet.com/blog/facebook/americans-spent-535-billion-minutes-on-facebook-in-may-2011/3566.

At first I kept defending my actions by stay saying lines such as "How will I keep in touch with people?" or "Facebook keeps me in the know." I now believe that those who care about you will stay with you or find their way back to you, and the ones that lose touch either don't care or simply don't want to talk with you anymore. I have had it, and one of my friends named Rich put it so eloquently in his message to all his friends regarding why he was leaving Facebook:

"Hi Friends,

I am tired of Facebook. I am tired of the way our society is turning and how Facebook contributes to it. I hope to stay in contact with all of you, but I would rather get an email or a phone call from you, instead of impersonal, yet all too personal sometimes, Facebook posts about your life. Please take down my phone number and email address, or even write a letter to me the old fashioned way, so we can stay in contact. In a week I'm leaving Facebook and probably never coming back. If you want, please reply with your contact info so I can stay in touch with you.

Hope to hear from you soon. I'm going to enjoy life in a little bit more good old fashioned, traditional American way."

I couldn't have said it any better myself. Somewhere along the way, Facebook has stopped being a tool to communicate for me and become a way to make people become antisocial by being OVERLY social. Some of you are outgoing and social enough where you can make Facebook, Twitter and meeting people out in public all work smoothly, but that doesn't work for me. If I put more energy into one thing, the other suffers. For example, I put so much energy into Facebook, eventually my social skills are going to suffer, and I've noticed this happening to me already. I'm so used to talking with someone behind a computer screen that I forget how to properly interact with people.

I'm not against technology one bit. In fact, I think it's crucial to embrace technology. I currently have an email account, Skype, this blog of course, and even a twitter account (which I do not post on, I use it to receive news and information quickly from people/groups/organizations/media outlets that I follow). In fact, I encourage everyone to communicate with me, whether it's by phone, by email, Skype, Facetime, or heck, I may even start up an AOL Instant Messenger account! As long as it's personal, I'm more than happy to chat. Speaking of chat, that was the only feature I really used on Facebook.

So my message to everyone is, enjoy your Facebook. Enjoy your timeline, your ticker, your private profile not being private. Enjoy summarizing your thoughts in 480 characters or less. I'm going to do something a little more worthy of my time.

For those of you wondering what I've been up to...

So it has been over four months since I chose to make the decision to leave California for Kansas, and I must say, what a great decision it has been! While California seems to be declining, Kansas is thriving. It is great here: the people are kind and helpful, the faculty treat you like family, and I feel like an actual person and not just a tuition check. That's not to say that California doesn't have those things, but it seems to be a guideline for how people behave here. These are down to earth people, who don't feel entitled or self-important. When people ask me what is the main difference between California and Kansas, I always tell them the same thing: back in California, it feels like people are always rushing to do nothing, they make no time to relax or make time for you because they are always too busy with themselves and things they do. Not a bashing of citizens of California, just a personal observation.

So what've I been up to in the past four months? Let me give you a quick rundown.

I flew over here on May 15th, but my dorm was not available until the next day, so my father and I stayed in a hotel. All I brought with me were a suitcase and two duffle bags, and of course my computer. It was odd that I had to pack up my entire life into 3 bags.

The next day I checked into Moore Hall, where I had my own room, which was pretty nice. The best part of the place though was the store on the first floor. If you were hungry or thirsty all you had to do was hop on the elevator, go down to the lobby, and buy some food. Thank goodness I left that dorm because it could easily make you gain weight if you aren't careful. It doesn't help that the cafeteria could by accessed by taking the elevator down to the basement and walking down a tunnel to the dining center.

I then moved to Goodnow Hall at the end of June, and stayed there until the end of the summer semester, when I found a small studio apartment a few blocks from campus that I now currently live in. I also had a roommate for a couple weeks, which was unexpected, but a good experience.

This thing has saved my metabolism. Without it, I would probably be fifty pounds heavier. With the dining center's unlimited amounts of food and the close proximity to the dorm rooms, weight gain is plausible. One of the nice things about my bike, which I call "The Juggernaut" (because the colors resemble the suit from the X-Men villain so aptly named), is it allowed me to explore the campus very easily, and I found a few nice things on campus.

One nice thing about Kansas State are the veteran memorials. For those of you who don't know, Manhattan, Kansas is near Fort Riley, which is the largest military compound in the midwest. Home to the Big Red One, it is needless to say Kansas State is extremely supportive of their men & women of the armed forces. There are memorials for every foreign war, which include these two. I attended the unveiling of the World War 2 memorial, which was amazing. I met Gov. Sam Brownback, and he personally welcomed me to the state of Kansas and Kansas State. It was a great experience.

Another cool thing about K-State's campus is the abundance of animals, particularly squirrels and rabbits.

Of course, no summer would be complete here without lightning storms. Quite the spectacle to behold. You have no idea how difficult it is to take a picture of lightning with a phone camera!

Now that fall semester has begun, I have been busy with classes, homework and clubs. I took classes during the summer, but all I had to focus on were the classes themselves, but now I have other things on the horizon to think about. I enjoy my classes, all of them in fact, which is interesting because I usually have one boring class that I can't stand. I also recently got accepted to the CAT program here at K-State. CAT stands for College of Agriculture Training Program, and is a semester long weekly class to train upcoming agriculture ambassadors.

I plan to keep you updated on future events. So in case I don't see you, good afternoon, good evening and good night.

10 Movies Every Film Lover Should Watch

Films for me were (and still are) my escape from the day-to-day reality of life. When I go to a movie theatre, I like to immerse myself in the film. When thinking of topics for my blog, one that immediately sprang to mind: movies that every film-loving person should watch. Now, these are not necessarily the 20 greatest films of all time, although some people would put a few of these on that list. So here we go:

1. Citizen Kane

On the top of the many "best movie of all time" lists, and with good reason. While it may seem boring to people in my generation, it shows how movies used to be original and ambitious, without a 500 million dollar budget. Only a great actor/director could make a word such as "rosebud" a staple in cinematic vocabulary. It should be watched just to say that you watched it.

2. The Godfather

Also one of those films that top the "best of" lists. Considered the greatest mobster movie of all time, and how could you argue with that, with a group of actors such as Brando, Pacino, Duvall, and Caan at the helm. It's an all-star cast, like The Expendables without all the corny middle-aged action.

3. The Shawshank Redemption

Just a really good film. A great story, and great acting by the leads. Not to mention a wonderful score, and the fact that Stephen King wrote it makes it even more compelling. Another Stephen King novel turned film up for consideration: The Green Mile.

4. Rocky

The ultimate underdog film. Can you believe Sylvester Stallone actually wrote this story? He didn't just write it, he won an oscar for it!

5. The Empire Strikes Back

The movie Clerks said it best: "Empire had the better ending. I mean, Luke gets his hand cut off, finds out Vader's his father, Han gets frozen and taken away by Boba Fett. It ends on such a down note. I mean, that's what life is, a series of down endings. All "Jedi" had was a bunch of Muppets." Although my personal favorite was Return of the Jedi, most fans of Star Wars would say that Empire was the better film.

6. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

This film made over one billion dollars worldwide, and with good reason. Peter Jackson truly created a detailed universe that rivaled the likes of the Star Wars and Harry Potter.

7. Airplane!

Most modern comedies have taken a page from this very movie. This is the one comedy on the list. I considered Dumb & Dumber for the sheer hilarity, but Airplane! is a classic, and Dumb & Dumber probably considers Airplane! their inspiration.

8. The Dark Knight

My superhero movie on the list, however I do not really consider it a superhero movie. It's more of a movie about the human psyche, and the power of choice and consequences of those choices. Up for consideration would be Christopher Nolan's other films: Memento and Inception.

9. Indiana Jones & The Raiders of the Lost Ark

Indiana Jones was a staple in my childhood growing up. He was everything I wanted to be, the ultimate adventurer. I even wanted to pursue a career in archeology until I found out archeology is the last thing Indy did. In fact, he was a horrible professor, but if I was a college student, that would be the class I'd want to take because I would never have to worry about showing up.

10. Big Fish

This one is my dark horse in this list. In my personal opinion, it's Tim Burton's best film, and I think the reason I believe that is because it's the one movie that Tim does that is bright and colorful as opposed to dark and gothic. The story is great as well, with an amazing ending.

I want to hear from you. Obviously I didn't list off independent films. Let me know what you think.

All are welcome and welcome all!

Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog "Mark My Words". I have some very exciting things planned out for this blog. Whether it is agriculture news and topics, film news/reviews, music discussion, or just normal opinion pieces, there should be something of interest to everyone! Stay tuned...