Category: Musings

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Where are the giraffe profile pics on Facebook?

I remember a riddle like this a while back, but someone cleverly “fixed” it. Except not. So if you want to take down that potentially embarrassing picture of yourself on Facebook, give me a couple minutes. Let’s begin with the riddle:

I failed in guessing the riddle. So now I’ve promised to post this picture of myself, chosen by the person who failed the riddle before me.

Your turn: Read the riddle. If the answer is incorrect, I can choose any of your photos and you have to post it along with the riddle. If you answer correctly, I write your name in the comments (with a trophy emoji, duh).

Riddle: It’s 7:00 am. You are asleep and there is a sudden knock on the door. Behind the door are your parents, who came to have breakfast. In your fridge: bread, milk (pasteurized!), juice, and a jar of jam. To answer, what will you open first? Only answer directly to me thru messenger. Thanks!

There you go! Time to guess the wrong answer, suckers!

In the previous version of the riddle, the answer was supposed to be “open your eyes first.” This time, it’s “open Messenger first.” Because it says you have send the answer to me thru Messenger, get it? And that explanation has led to a lot of pictures getting posted on people’s Facebook feeds that really shouldn’t have been on Facebook in the first place.

It’s a pretty simple question when you think about it. “To answer, what will you open first?” But that raises another question: What are you answering?

Sure, you might be reading this on Facebook and immediately answering the riddle, setting yourself up for a miserable trip down Memory Lane when the person picks your worst photo possible. But in the scenario introduced by the riddle, what are you answering? Hopefully, you wouldn’t leave your parents standing outside forever. They should have taught you some manners, answer the door and let them in! Unless they’re vampires, in which case you have bigger things to worry about than riddles.

If you’re answering the riddle, you’d open Messenger first (unless you’re terrible at following instructions). If you’re thinking about the riddle’s scenario—if you’re answering the door—then the first thing you’d open is your eyes.

So pick your favorite option, then remove your non-favorite picture from your feed, delete it from Facebook, burn it, BURN IT!!! … Or just take it down gently and save that aggressive energy for the next time you have vampires knocking on your door.

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Epilepsy Awareness Month, Day 3: One in 26

For my first post for Epilepsy Awareness Month last year, I wrote about onein26.org. It was an ad campaign developed by the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota to create awareness about epilepsy and how common it actually is. The header for the website is a video that I got to be a part of and I’m pretty proud of that fact. They also posted the video on YouTube, which means I can post it here on the blog. Not to say that you shouldn’t visit the website, but if you only have a minute of spare time…

What I discovered later is that the company that created this video made another one using additional footage from some of the same people and entered it into a kind of advertising campaign competition. I’m not sure what the name of the competition is, how the video got entered, what the rules were… I just know it won a bronze award in the “Integrated Media Public Service Campaign” category. I’m pretty proud of that fact, too. Unfortunately, it’s not on YouTube, so I can’t embed the video on this page, but I can add a link to the site where it’s posted. So without further ado…

We are ONEin26

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Gratitudes 2018, Day 6

  1. Rainbows. A few weeks ago, I was outside in a sun shower. The combined sun and moisture created a bright, vivid rainbow that had all the colors in it. And you could also see the other end of the rainbow, though it was much dimmer. Which made me wonder… does the brightness of the rainbow indicate something about the pot of gold at the end of it? Is it bigger? Fuller? Does the leprechaun at the dimmer end suffer from “pot of gold envy”?

  2. Steak. It’s what’s for tonight’s dinner.

  3. Naps. When you’re tired, they’re a great way to recuperate. I enjoyed one this weekend; I could have used one today.

  4. Podcasts. I need to find more good ones because they’re really good at helping the time pass during the day. I like audiobooks, but I can’t follow the plot and do my work effectively at the same time.

  5. Audiobooks. Much better for listening while doing chores or taking long roads trips.

  6. 1.5x speed. Sure, it makes people’s voices higher-pitched, but I like being able to finish an hour-long podcast or audiobook in just 40 minutes.

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Arguments on the Web, D&D style

“So if you look at this entire well-structured suit of armor, you’ll see that it’s a solid set of plate mail +2, +3 vs. goblins.”

“There’s a missing rivet in the torso. Armor Class 9!”

“That’s trivial and doesn’t affect the rest of the armor. I can even cover it with my shield. Totally impenetrable!”

“ARMOR CLASS 9!!!”

“Look, I get it, you found a tiny flaw that I missed, but it doesn’t matter–”

“A BABY GOBLIN STABS YOU IN THE STOMACH WITH A STICK! YOU’RE DEAD, I’M BLOCKING YOU!”

<Level 1 Knave has logged off>

“. . . I hate this game so much right now . . .”

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I’m a TERRIBLE rebel

I made that rebellious Facebook post last week about the Scout Stores being closed on Memorial Day, thinking, “If that’s really a fireable offense instead of writing me up or something, that’s just sad.” Then I looked at the email more carefully.

cease all activity on your social media channels immediately and for the next 24 hours

What didn’t occur to me until after I came back from Memorial Day weekend is that the email was sent on Wednesday morning at about 10:30. I saw it when I got to work at 2:00 on Thursday afternoon, meaning the window for being a rebel had already closed a couple hours ago. (If it’s any consolation to myself, I’m pretty sure trying and failing to be a rebel isn’t a fireable offense, so my employment status should be safe.)

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Anti-gay policy is “unsustainable”

Robert M. Gates, the President of the Boy Scouts of America said it at the National Annual Meeting on Thursday: the ban on gay adult Scout leaders is “unsustainable”. (If you want to watch the membership policy part of his speech, skip ahead to 8:41.)

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In the last post on here, I explained that I’ve been managing the Facebook page for Twin Cities Scout Shops. I’ve been responsible for almost all of the content there, so after reading about this yesterday, I was planning to go in to work and ask Sally, the store manager, if I should post a link to a website on the page. Make it objective and informative, don’t try to put any spin on it, just “Here’s what happened.” Then I checked my email.

One of the first messages had the subject heading, Note to cease social media activities immediately. “Hmmm, this might be relevant to what I was going to ask Sally…”

BSA social media channel managers,

As a result of today’s announcement from Dr. Gates, please cease all activity on your social media channels immediately and for the next 24 hours (instruct any of your other page admins to cease activity, as well). Do not post additional content during this time. Please reschedule or delete any content that you have pre-scheduled for delivery over your channels during this time.

Given my rebellious nature, I posted something on Facebook anyway. Sure, it may have just been “We’re closed on Monday because of Memorial Day, have a great weekend”, but it was still rebellious, dammit!

But the fact that I wasn’t allowed to write about it at all on my work Facebook page means I feel free to address it as much as I’d like on my blog. I don’t plan on being overly abusive or stomping on anyone’s toes too hard, so please don’t fire me, Boy Scouts! I still love you!

And that’s been part of my issue the last few years. I was happy when the BSA decided to lift their ban on gay Scouts. I think it’s a good organization that can have a strong, positive impact on kids for their entire lives. It was disappointing that they didn’t include gay leaders in their decision, but I was happy with any kind of progress.

Meanwhile, some people were returning their Eagle certificates, swearing they’d never wear their Scout shirts again, decrying the organization for making such a poor decision. No one ever said anything to my face, but I still felt it personally. I’ve been a part of Scouting for most of my life: I started as a Wolf Scout when I was 8, went all the way through Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts, then became an Assistant Scoutmaster when I turned 18. I’ve maintained that position for the last twenty years, so it’s been an important part of my life for decades now.

No, I wasn’t happy about the ban against gay leaders—I know plenty of gay men and women who would be good leaders and excellent role models for kids—but that didn’t mean I was going to cast all those years of Scouting off to the side.

Suppose someone is a staunch Republican, holds that title with pride, votes a straight-party ticket every election, etc. But that person’s beliefs might not align completely with the party’s. Maybe he thinks that there should be limits to gun rights or women should have more rights over their bodies or whatever. Does that single issue make the person not a Republican? No. Similarly, I don’t agree with the ban against gay leaders, but that doesn’t change the fact that I think the BSA is a positive organization that does a lot of good and I’m not going to abandon it. Now there’s a possibility that it might not be an issue for very long.

The biggest concern right now might not be the members; it might be religious institutions. Scout troops and Cub packs have chartering partners, many of which are churches in various areas. Those churches may object to gay leaders. If they decide to decry the Boy Scouts, those troops and packs could fold. To them, I would ask to apply the same analogy as above. You may not like a policy change, but liking it and accepting it can be two different things. Ban gay leaders in your own troops? Fair enough, but that doesn’t mean it should be an organizational standard.

So I’ll be following this issue carefully. I’m hoping for the best, preparing for the worst, which is… who knows? I’m hoping that the Boy Scouts will step up, choose their own fate and make it a good choice. Make it the right choice. If they don’t… I still love you, don’t fire me!