Challenging, Frustrating, Fun?

As I worked my way through 23 things, I found it challenging and at times very frustrating. Many of the websites we were sent to assumed a certain level of computer expertise and if you didn't have it, well, you were just left hanging or you had to read pages and pages of help, follow mulitiple links and perhaps, even after all that, seek help from a real person in your system. And if you were real lucky you could find a smart cookie (God Bless you, Ashley!) who could point you in the right direction. The things I found to be the most fun were things I was already familiar with such as flickr and youtube. But the problem with them is, who has enough time to really enjoy these sites?

I simply cannot understand where so many people seem to find the time to spend in the virtual world. I fear they are abandoning the real world to live vicariously in a fantasyland. For example, yesterday was Independence Day, July 4th, a day when I would assume most people would be out enjoying parks, picnicking with family or friends and just generally enjoying the great outdoors since it is summer. Well, you know what they say about assuming...ass u me...silly me!

My mom informed me that she had tried to logon to her favorite gaming site (yes, she's one of those 'gaming seniors' you've heard about) and there were 57,000 people playing the game she wanted to play. 57,000! She said the most she had ever encountered previously was 12,000. She said the total number of people playing games on the site exceeded a half million. On the afternoon of July 4th! It just boggles my mind that there are that many people on ONE gaming site on a holiday afternoon. What happened to parades, ball games and other real world interaction? I find this a sad commentary on current society. Do I think 23 things has value? Of course. Am I glad I did it? Yes, again. Would I like to be more computer savvy than I am now? Absolutely, but I am busy living life in the real world and for me, that comes first.