Does anyone here use Facebook?

Maybe I'm getting too old. I had no trouble understanding the concept of and uses for email. I didn't start chatting right away but had no difficulty with it. Blogs make sense--both the evolved form as part newsletter, part personal soapbox, and the original form as a web log. When I came to Multiply, it took something like 24 hours to see the advantages of this system and transfer all my old posts.

But I don't quite "get" Facebook. I'm on it at the invitation of a friend. I know how to use it. But I'm not really sure why I would use it. Am I missing something? When I'm there, I definitely miss blog posts and being able to browse the pages of people who aren't my contacts. But, it's such a hit with all the young people in this area.

Can someone explain this for me?

Laughing

Ok, I have to confess that I use LOL too much. I use it when I'm not actually laughing--out loud, that is. The problem I have is that when chatting online I can't use facial expressions to respond to comments. =), :P, and ;) just don't express the right emotion. If I had a rolling eyes emoticon, it might help. For now, I will use the following, more honest declaration of my reaction:

(chck)

It stands for "chuckling on the inside." At least I won't be lying anymore. :P

Geek status

My sister says I'm barely below geek level. This is supposed to be a compliment. Actually, geek status was the desirable level, and she was consoling me that I'm almost there (in her mind, at least).

I guess I can't succeed in everything.

The Whole Shebang

I know this is long. Often only the first and last verse is given, but I tend to like "unabridged" versions.

When I Read the Bible Through

By Amos R. Wells

I supposed I knew my Bible
Reading piecemeal, hit and miss,

Now a bit of John or Matthew,
Now a snatch of Genesis,

Certain chapters of Isaiah
Certain Psalms (the twenty-third);

Twelfth of Romans, First of Proverbs
Yes, I thought I knew the Word;

But I found that thorough reading
Was a different thing to do,

And the way was unfamiliar
When I read the Bible through

Oh the massive, mighty volume!
Oh, the treasures manifold!

Oh, the beauty of the wisdom
And the grace it proved to hold!

As the story of the Hebrews
Swept in majesty along,

As it leaped in waves prophetic,
As it burst to sacred song,

As it gleamed with Christly omens,
The Old Testament was new,

Strong with cumulative power,
When I read the Bible through.

Ah! Imperial Jeremiah,
With his keen coruscant mind;

And the blunt old Nehemiah,
And Ezekiel refined!

Newly came the minor prophets,
Each with his distinctive robe

Newly came the song idyllic,
And the tragedy of Job;

Deuteronomy, the regal,
To a towering mountain grew,

With its comrade peaks around it
When I read the Bible through.

What a radiant procession
As the pages rise and fall,

James the sturdy, John the tender
Oh the myriad-minded Paul!

Vast apocalyptic glories
Wheel and thunder, flash and flame,

While the church triumphant raises
One incomparable name.

Ah, the story of the Saviour
Never glows supremely true

Till you read it whole and swiftly,
Till you read the Bible through.

You who like to play at Bible,
Dib and dabble, here and there,

Just before you kneel, aweary,
And yawn thro’ a hurried prayer;

You who treat the Crown of Writings
As you treat no other book

Just a paragraph disjointed,
Just a crude, impatient look

Try a worthier procedure,
Try a broad and steady view;

You will kneel in very rapture
When you read the Bible through.