Driving on the Other Side of the Road

As always it has been a while since I've posted. No fear though, I've got three or four posts in the queue. Their timing just won't make sense. Today's is anecdotal.

It's no secret to most people I know that I'm an avid car enthusiast. But fewer people know how I got that way. Hell, I don't even know for sure. But here's a theory.

My genetics. My grand father is a car collector with a wide range of vehicles throughout his multiple homes and 12 or 13 garage spaces. From day 1 I was exposed to this. Must have rubbed off on me a little, right? WRONG. It rubbed off on me LOT.

Here's the more anecdotal part. Every summer we spend a lot of time at our family's home on the cape. When I was small my grandfather would always  take me out in rides in the evening in the convertible or sometimes just the regular car. It was awesome. We would drive along the coast, relaxin' or talking and just enjoying the company and the scenery. I still cherish those memories with my grandfather in his cars.

But last night that tradition evolved. After dinner I felt like driving so the two of us went to the lower garage and took out MY car. And I drove my grandfather along the beach in my favorite car in my collection (my only car :p). Strange role reversal but just as enjoyable as the cliche old days were. Times change but they remain a shadow of the past. Thank god for the stability in that.

The Other Half of Summer

So I came home tonight so that I could pick up the new car with my Mom tomorrow morning. (More on that once we pick it up.) And being home made me want to do a post on being home. I've been home a TON this summer. And it's been awesome. I've loved being at school for the summer. One important thing I've noticed about spending the summer at school is that it makes me enjoy my time at home that much more.

It's like a double vacation: summer vacation at school but then I get another vacation during the time that I'm home. It's awesome! I appreciate being home more but can come and go whenever I want to see my parents, eat real food, and see friends from HS. By spending time at school and home I get the best of both worlds.

Tonight is a prime example. Came home after class and got back around 5:30. Hung out while my Mom finished making dinner and then had an awesome chicken dish with a sweet sauce, rice, and green beans grown in our veggie garden. Delicious! And way better than I eat at school :p

After a great dinner, my parents and I had an even better dessert of homemade ice cream. See how I live at home?! SPOILED by the food ;) Then we just hung out and watched this weeks ep of True Blood.

Now I just had a icy glass of homemade lemonade and watched Entourage. Besides the fact that it was kind of a lame episode it was still nice to sit here and relax. Now I'm catching up on some work online and watching old episodes of The Sopranos. It's great to be home :)

Facebook

Now Playing Hey, Soul Sister by Train via iTunes

So a few people have been shocked (as I am) that I deleted facebook. There wasn't a real, official reason. It is extremely out of character for me to get rid of something like that.

I deleted on a whim yesterday. I hand't even thought of doing it before. As recently as a week ago (during Quit Facebook Day) I thought the idea of not having facebook was ridiculous and could never imagine it. Then in the shower... random I know... yesterday I kind of decided that I didn't need or want it anymore. Even then I acknowledged I'd be back in a while. But not now... or too soon. So yesterday I spent my only twenty minutes at the computer deactivating my facebook. WHAT?! Shocking :o But there were a few things behind it that I only realized after doing it.

First, a few times a year I filter facebook friends. I usually do it during the biggest vacations of the year when I have time: winter and summer breaks. I did it a week-or-so ago. But I barely removed anyone... I realized that anyone I want to keep in touch with I usually do via chat or phone calls or just in person. Everyone else doesn't really matter enough to bother with.

Second, it's main purpose has become wasting time. My time spent on facebook completely depends on the amount of free time I have. For this reason I'm barely on it during school but summer vacation drastically changes this. This summer has been an exception and I've been too busy to spend very much time on facebook because I've been at Babson.

Third, facebook has changed a ton since I started using it during sophomore year of HS. It was a people's social network then. A few friends, status updates and pictures. Then applications came along. And for anyone who has seen "Unforgivable" on Youtube you'll recognize this... PISSING ME OFF. I hated applications only used one or two of them ever. Then came the marketing. Companies invaded facebook and I was forced to LIKE things that I didn't really give a shit about. Just because I'm interested in something doesn't mean I LIKE it or want to BE A FAN of it on facebook. My interests are too broad and large in number to keep up with all of them via newsfeed.

These changes have rendered it annoying and much less useful. I never thought I would say this but Twitter has taken a lot of what I liked about Facebook, simplified and compressed it and put it into a more useful package. The only thing Twitter is missing is Photo Albums. If Twitter had albums I would never go back to facebook.

That said, for all of you who want to know why I left facebook... I left planning to go back. That doesn't guarantee I will but I never thought I could just quit cold turkey, even if I can do things like that.

Summer!

Now Playing Daylight by Matt and Kim via iTunes

I haven't been good about taking pictures this summer and I'm trying to get a few of fun activities that we've all been doing. Thank god for the amazing camera in my new phone!

A bunch of us spent a while at the beach yesterday and it was incredible. Great weather the water was warm (for some of us) and the sun felt amazing. We spent a little time at my house for drinks and had ice cream and snacks at a beach-side restaurant. We had fun and enjoyed time with each other that we would never have time for during the school year. One of my favorite things about the summer is spending time with people that I wouldn't normally see. Usually it's because one or both of us are too busy with school and our various activities.

Naturally the day wouldn't have been complete without blasting some great music with the windows down. It was a classic summer day with great people. My business casual summer began very slowly and pretty boring. Once the second week of June rolled around though it became just what I was looking for by staying at Babson. Of course I still miss people but it has been very entertaining and I'm sure the rest of the summer will continue that way. Here's to more beach days :)