Sean / Kenneth: February 2012

This post is dedicated to my son, Devin Troy (Photo above)

I’ve thought many times through out my life about writing my memoirs. I actually attempted it many years ago and would proof read my manuscripts with my proud mother. Unfortunately my desk top crashed and I never again had the incentive until more recently my brother Charlie begged me basically to write, write, write.

My problem is always where to begin and WHY? I mean, come on what am I writing about. What is the signifigance of my story when I haven’t even found it for my own life? Yet, I do feel that I have met awkward, challenging, rewarding and even sad times worth sharing my insight and experiences.

What first comes to mind is a night several years ago when my son Devin had to be around 10 years old. He was spending the night with me and woke me up in the middle of the night to have one of the most deep conversations we had had up to this time from his inquisitive, growing little mind. “Daddy, Daddy”, he woke me. Then he proceeded once he got my complete attention, “Do you think I was born for a reason? I’ve always felt since as early as I can remember that I am special and have a purpose”.

When I think about his little eyes, wide awake, it had to be 3 or 4 am. He was so serious and heartfelt. We talked about this for quite an hour or two. And I fueled his belief that he was a gift to this world and could be any thing he wanted to be, do any thing he wanted to do if he excercised the power he most definitely possesses. The truth is, I believe whole heartedly, we all possess this ability. My Aunt June told me the same thing once when I was probably about the same age one starry night.

When my son spoke to me in this way, it choked me up. It chokes me up to this day, the thought of my little boy having this awakening. I felt life came full circle once again. He was growing mentally and coming in to his own as we all do. I pried him for serious influences. I wasn’t shocked to hear him say things like Mommy, Granny and me, but I dug deeper and was amazed that my 10 year old child had a fascination with Ronald Reagan. A President of the United States years before his time. “What do you know about President Reagan?”, I explored expecting him to answer without much to give, yet he amazed me with a deep history lesson on Reagan-omics.

“But Devin, are family are Democrats and Reagan was a Republican”, I educated him. Yet, he debated that he was different, “I’m ‘Special’ though, remember Daddy”.

As life goes on, the older I have gotten, I find that we are all individually unique. Never one in the same just one of our friends, family members or other living influences. We are naturally sponges of experience and environment.

I had to do! Always wanted to, but didn’t know how to put it all in to examples with out pointing fingers or risking hurting peoples feelings. But, come on people… and I mean them as in “over all”, keep your trash and drama off Facebook. Not every body wants to see your garbage. There are private ways to communicate amongst those interested in times of venting. When I see this crap, I am embarrassed for the so called adults acting like high school students. Even more concerning is the high school students who are merely following their poor lead. Do you really want every single person in your contact list to know the kinds of messes you are dealing with or how immaturely you handle your business? Or do you just not care what any one thinks? Well, that’s a nigger way of thinking! I’m not saying we all don’t have issues, but most responsible, reasonable minded persons refrain from making them selves look like complete idiots or asses stooping to such irrational levels. That’s just one of my many pet peeves with Facebook etiquete. Therefore, I wanted to share these other pointers, to make Facebook a better place for fellow ladies, gentlemen, decent young adults.

Facebook Etiquette: 10 Rules for Better Socializing

There's no shortage of ways to irritate friends on Facebook. We'll help you avoid the biggest etiquette pitfalls with these expert tips.

By Christopher Null, PCWorld Jul 28, 2009 9:00 pm

Digital Manners: New Etiquette for Web-Speed Life
Follow these tips to communicate politely and effectively using Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, IM, texting, and voicemail.

What's okay on Facebook? On sites like MySpace, anything goes (or seems to), but the rules of etiquette on Facebook seem to be a little more refined--not a lot, mind you, but a little. Keep these tips in mind, whether you're making your first friend or your 1000th.
Who should you friend? Some people adopt an everyone-welcome policy on Facebook and accept all friend requests; some only want real-world contacts in their friends list. In deciding on the right approach for you, bear in mind that the bigger your friend network is, the more application, event, chat session, and cause invitations you'll receive--and that can lead to some uncomfortable moments and the occasional friend purge.
Easy on the updates. As on Twitter, oversharing on Facebook can be a problem. Every meal eaten, every TV show experienced, and every weather condition observed need not be the subject of a status update. Ask yourself whether anyone is likely to care about your comment before you start typing.
"Now, choose 12 friends..." It's fine if you want to take a "Which serial killer are you?" quiz. When you complete all of the multiple-choice questions, however, you'll almost certainly be asked to invite a dozen or so people to take the quiz, too; there's no need for this unless you think they'll really enjoy it. Look for a 'Skip this step' or 'Continue to result' button (in tiny type) somewhere on the page, click it, and you won't have to send invitations to anyone as a precondition to getting your quiz results. Clicking the 'Skip' button on the following screen will prevent the quiz from showing up on your wall or being shared on your friends' walls.
Limit Facebook chat. Just because someone has a Facebook window open doesn't mean they're automatically available for a chat session. Facebook Chat is like any other instant messaging platform--use it appropriately, and recognize that your friends may be too busy to respond immediately, especially during business hours.
No pokes. If you are over the age of 16, don't "poke" people--seriously.
It's not considered friendly to invite your friends to a Facebook group that exists only to hype your business. Avoid "Group think.” One disconcerting trend among many Facebook users involves creating a Group for a business concern, and then inviting everyone under the sun to join the group. This is a misuse of the feature--and bad manners--since Groups are designed to serve as gathering places to discuss genuine leisure, cultural, social, or other common interests, not as ad hoc copy shops. Common courtesy should impel you not to create a Group for your business--but if you insist on doing so anyway, please invite only employees to join the Group. If your business needs a Facebook presence, create an official Page for it; then, if you must, invite friends to becomes fans of that Page.
Beware of embarrassing photos. Resist the temptation to post every last photo from your birthday party on Facebook, particularly images that may cast your guests in an unflattering light. If you have any doubt, ask the subjects of any iffy pics in advance whether they'd mind your posting the shots; then abide by their wishes.
Tag lightly. The same thing goes for tagging: The people in a picture might not object to its being online as long as their names are not associated with it.

Untag at will; click for full-size image.

"I am not an animal!!" Time to untag a Facebook image that identifies me as a dog. Or... untag thyself. It is no breach of etiquette to untag yourself from any photograph. Remember, though, that untagging is permanent: You can't be retagged to a photo once the tag is removed.
Ignore away. You are under no obligation to acknowledge a Facebook friend request, whether it comes from a stranger or from someone you know but don't want as part of your digital life. After all, you wouldn't be obliged to seat visitors at your dinner table if they showed up without warning at your house at 7 o'clock. (One alternative way of dealing with this situation is to add iffy contacts to a severely restricted limited profile list.) On the flipside, if you want to friend a stranger (for whatever reason), add a note of explanation to your friend request, explaining who you are and the reason for your request.