Fall Back

Sure, it sucks when it's dark at five, but I think that extra hour of sleep last night was totally worth it. Bring on the shortest day of the year so they can start getting longer.

Flying Cauldron Butterscotch Beer

Every now and again, I come across an amazing product and just have to share. Today, I am sharing with you a carbonated beverage called Flying Cauldron Butterscotch Beer. It isn't simply the taste, which is divine, nor the bottle, a visual delight, but the fact is reminded me of Harry Potter and I instantly fell in love. It's so much wizardry.

The taste? Is great. Butterscotchy and fabulous. As I sipped my bottle, I imagined I was in Hogsmeade at the Hog's Head Pub, sitting in the corner wearing a cloak of velvet, but also of shadows. It might have been snowing outside. 

If you go in search of a story, this tasty non-alcoholic beer has been in production since 1374 by the Flying Cauldron at their brew pub in Hogsbreath, England. It is concocted with creamy vanilla, natural butterscotch and enough spells to keep it magical. A lovely bit of fun for anyone who is young at heart. So, if you run across this tasty beverage, please do pick it up. Especially if you are a Potter fan. It will make you feel less like a Muggle.

Don't mind the Sidekick sneaking into the picture.

To Nano Or Not To Nano

That is the question, isn't it? After all, it's November 1st, which means I should certainly leave this important question to the very last minute, right? I mean, why would I try and figure out whether I am going to write fifty thousand words this month or not.

There may have been a smidgen of sarcasm in the first paragraph.

Really, though, I struggle with whether I am going to participate. I want to, I really do. But this year isn't really a writing one. It's been a huge hiccup of creativity. Nothing is running smoothly. In fact, every single word I turn out feels forced and contrived. I look at them and think, "Well, aren't you the ugliest of sentences ever."

There are pros to NANO.

But I'm having troubles coming up with them.

Today I signed into my account, you know - on the off chance I decide to participate - and I had 104 messages. We will put that in the CON column.

What do you think? Are you NANOing this year? Should I NANO with you?

In other news, it's my birthday month!

Happy Halloween!

It's my most favourite day of the year. I wait 364 days this singular most precious day. No other event or holiday holds a candle to Halloween.

Those who get it. Get it. Those who don't. I feel sorry for them.

Here are 20 reasons why I live for Halloween and it is hands down the best holiday ever:

1. Horror movies
2. Dressing up
3. Fall leaves
4. Pumpkin carving
5. Witches, ghouls, ghosties, vampires, werewolves
6. Skulls
7. Spooky music
8. Trick or Treating
9. Decorations are skulls, bats, spiders and rats - inexpensive and amazing
10. Talking to strangers is not only okay, it's encouraged.
11. There is no gift giving on Halloween
12. Fun for everyone, old and young ... well, except those weirdos who think it's Satan's work
13. Candy
14. People embrace the scary stuff
15. Halloween specials for your favourite shows rule
16. It isn't an emotional occasion
17. You can go a whole day without anyone knowing who you are
18. Orange and yellow are finally a favourite colour
19. Dressing pets up in costumes
20. You don't have to spend time with friends and family, but you want to

Today, I am a happy girl.

Why I Don't 'Like' You

When I say I don't 'like' you, I'm not taking about your face or clothes, the morals you have or your outlook on life. I'm talking about Facebook. A little while ago, I stopped 'liking' things on the old Face-Place. There were a couple of reasons as to why, but the main one is how lazy it seemed to be getting. I realized no one was really taking the time to interact with others anymore and, when I looked at my feed, there were hundreds of posts with a couple of  likes and no comments on them.

This brought me to the question - where is the social part of all this networking?

People were posting, but no one was responding. A little put off, I started thinking about how everyone was living in the moment, but no one was paying attention. Here we are with instant access to one another, hundreds of posts from our nearest and dearest being created every single day, but no one is actually interested in what's being said. Or, if they are, they certainly aren't vocalizing it. Instead of commenting, people were pressing the like button and walking away - myself included.

This is when I got to thinking - did everyone actually like what they were liking?

The answer is, in my humblest opinion, no. I certainly didn't. In fact, I didn't like or hate a vast amount of the stuff I was hitting the thumbs-up for. For the most part, I straddled the line of indifference. Sure, there were one or two posts I enjoyed and connected with, but when I sat back and started taking notice of what people were posting the majority of it appeared to be nothing more than a distraction. Fluff. Unimportant noise. Nonsense.

Please don't take this as me looking down on your posts. Everyone loves a good bit of fluff now and again, but too much of it can seriously get in the way of your focus, drive and production. I mean, I'd click on a link and find myself in a YouTube vortex of music and prank videos, or on the never-ending chain of quirky blogs or reading up on what the cast of Bring It On looks like today. Things no one needs to know.

So, why was I liking all this crap? For some, I wanted to stay connected to the person posting. Like it was a way of saying 'Hey, I'm still here. I'm paying attention'. In other instances, I accidentally hit it and felt rude to remove my like. And then there were those times when I 'liked' something just for the sake of liking it. Oh, you made that lasagna from scratch, let me like it so your hard work doesn't go to waste. Strange, right?

Well, I stopped 'liking' things. Actually, I started boycotting the 'like' function altogether. There were a good couple of months where I didn't 'like' a single thing. To be honest, it was liberating. I didn't feel as if I HAD to like things anymore. I figured if I didn't have the desire to write a few words (any words) then it wasn't worth a like. And so I started commenting. Some of those comments actually started conversations. They were my opinions and, while they might not all have been profound or noteworthy, they came from me. I was taking the time to actually interact with the people Facebook considered my friends. It didn't matter that sometimes I only wrote one word like 'cute' or 'awesome' because it meant more than an arbitrary like. At least my brain it did.

Social media is a confounding place. I want people to know I am paying attention, listening, and caring. I'm not 'liking' something simply because someone I knew posted it or because I thought the picture on the article was funny. If you're on my friends list and I 'like' something you wrote or posted, then you deserve a couple words from me. At least, that's how I see it. There are all these people running around with hundreds of friends and not interacting with any of them. And that's the kicker, isn't it? We can't possibly keep up with all these people and yet we keep accepting more 'friend requests'. Baffling, right?

It's why the internet can feel so lonely at times.

In the end, what does this all mean? What does it mean if I like you? What does it mean if I don't?

Nothing. Not really. I mean, it might have been my cat walking across my keyboard. Or maybe I think you're super special and we should hold hands and skip.

Just wait for my comment.