30 Day Social Media Fast

試著一個月不上Facebook, Instagram, 和Plurk.

９/17/16 Day 30:上星期弟弟的學校和姊姊的安親班休息一星期, 牛牛早上在家顧弟弟, 中午他們來接我一起吃午餐。下午接姐姐回家. 星期五從Union Station坐火車去Santa Barbara, 過夜。星期六回家.

8/25/16 Day 7: 帶著小幫浦的愛心杯子蛋糕去picnic, 都被大家吃光光. 好幾年的staff picnic我都是拿了食物就躲回辦公室, 這次硬著頭皮當學院的負責人, 全程參與. 第一次負責這樣的活動， 很累但很充實, 尤其很多同事待到最後幫忙收拾, 感動. 以前就覺得團結力量大, 大家都出一點心力, 事情就可以做得又快又有趣. 還碰到一些以前部門的同事, 開心.

這兩個星期都在密切注意感恩節前後的機票 (google flight真是省事不少)，每個不同的組合都有不同的考量:價錢好的不是要轉機就是有誤點的顧慮. 今天居然被我找到一個又便宜, 沒有太多轉機, 而且是可靠的航空公司. 咬著牙就訂了. 開心。

8/24/16 Day 6: 小幫浦三年級的第一天，全家一起走路去上學. 下午去after school接她的時候她很開心。一直惦記著要幫我明天學校的staff picnic做點心。so sweet.🙂

8/23/16 Day 5: 我請假一天, 本來想跟牛牛帶著小幫浦享受暑假的最後一天, 結果她想去day care, 要我們中午再來接她. 早上變成我和牛牛突來的約會, 去Fashion Island喝咖啡, 到Nordy和anthropologie退東西. 中午和小幫浦去吃沸點, 吃完後逛大創和Mitsuwa. 回家後又去Albertson買菜, 時間一下就過去了.

8/22 Day 4: 一邊上班一邊看Girls. 看完第二季了。 幸好Amazon Prime上面只有兩季, 不然靠追劇抑止自己上social media也挺犯規的.😄

中午和牛牛與小幫浦吃The Habit.

8/21 Day 3: 九月要到期的Pacific of Aquarium到目前為止只去了兩次, 今天去第三次. 九點開,  我們九點半到, 看了餵食秀, 海獺介紹, 大水族館, 以及很多可愛美麗的海洋生物. 中午離開前人潮一直湧進來, 當early bird真不錯。

8/20 Day 2: 想到某某名人不知道在做甚麼, 想到不能上Instagram所以無法得知. 又想到某某朋友這周末不知道又去哪些好玩的地方, 想到不能上FB所以無法得知.

弟弟的朋友S因為爸爸在日本出差, 媽媽今天(星期六)要值班, 所以從早上八點半到下午六點半都在我們家。兩個小男生玩得很好, 但一天下來還是好累，幸好牛牛有耐性. 又再次體驗老師一個人要帶那麼多小孩的偉大和辛勞。

8/19 Day 1: 早上上班, 因為沒有social media可以上, 跑來網誌整理過去的文章. 發現自己二月的時候開頭了一篇文章要記錄小幫浦第一次到朋友家的sleepover. 文章只寫了兩句, 寫到朋友邀請她去家裡sleepover, 我們買了睡袋, 然後就沒有了. 想完成那篇文章已經記不得甚麼了. 總之, 那是個成功的sleepover, 朋友的媽媽說一群女孩兒當晚很晚睡, 又很早起.🙂

晚上本來要去Pacific of Aquarium的會員event, 結果塞在405上, 受不了在Fountain Valley下高速公路, 跑去吃新撰組燒烤. 以前都是吃拉麵， 第一次去她隔壁的燒烤店吃, 感想:好吵😄

下午用哀鳳開著Amazon看Girls一邊工作

8/18 Day 0: 下午把辦公室的電腦log out of Facebook, Instagram, 和Plurk. 工作中間時還是會無意地輸入網址, 跑出首頁要我登入時才意識到. 晚上本來家裡的電腦也要登出, 但email收到UNICEF捐款幫助敘利亞內戰中受傷的孩子, 捐錢後*上了FB分享了UNICEF捐款的連結, 之後登出. (今天收到新的信用卡, 第一筆的支出就是捐款, 期許自己能盡微薄之力幫助別人.)

 

 

30 Social Media Fast 感想

9/18/16 Day 31: 今天算了一下發現已經到第31天了. plurk 104未讀訊息. FB 19個未讀update. 除了一個十一月的family reunion的消息外， 其他的似乎都還好.

這三十天雖然沒有像我想像得, 變得多有效率或完成甚麼大project, 但我是感覺到比較少被分心(雖然偶爾會漫無目標地上網 XD), 情緒不會被一些時事或朋友轉貼的文章給牽動和影響, 也聽了許多牛牛分享和我自己喜歡的podcast. 另外，看了HBO Girls的前兩季, 以及和牛牛一起看完夏季日劇 “房仲女王."

我不認為自己是個追熱潮的人, 但上社群網站看到朋友玩過去過吃過的地方或做過有趣的事情，多少會有FOMO (fear of missing out)的心態, 想跟著湊熱鬧。這三十天沒有fb/ plurk/ instangram, 這樣的感覺明顯變少了, 想去哪裡或想做甚麼, 多是發於自己或是小孩要求的, 然後做的時候照相純粹是為了留給自己紀念與將來的回憶， 而不是貼文.

我還在尋找如何有效利用social media和make a positive impact in the world. 但在找到之前, 我會試著維持一個月上一次社交網站(fb/ instangram/ plurk)而不是總是plug in.🙂

Hollywood Bowl with Kids

John Williams: Maestro of the Movies at Hollywood Bowl

the experience:

1. I thought this is John Williams’s show, but it turned out the first half was conducted by David Newman. Still great, just different than I thought. As I chatted with a girl who has been to this concert the 3rd time, it turned out that this has been always the case- someone open the show for John Williams.
2. I thought he would play all his master pieces, but almost the scores John Williams played were from Star Wars. The whole event was like a Star Wars fan fair, so many people wearing Star Wars t-shirts or dress like Star Wars characters, and the audience uses light sabers like glowing sticks. It’s very cute; just different than I thought. I was happy that he was able to pay his other master piece during encore, which are Harry Potter, Superman, and E.T.
3. kids behave way better than I thought, especially N. They didn’t complain. N said couple of times that he wanted to go home, but settled. And when necessary (fewer times than I anticipated), he was watching cartoon on ipad with headphones on. When I asked him to take a break after watching for one episode, he put ipad away without any fuss, and was enjoying Force Awaken was performed.
4. I used to think that going to a concert or game, the experience is to gather with people and sharing the excitement. but this time I went, I wanted to get closer to be able to see the performers on the stage.
5. We went to Getty Center early that day because our b-day boy wanted to take the tram and eat at Getty Center. We got to Hollywood Bowl around 4 to park at front. It was lots of waiting, but time flies while people watching.🙂

note to ourselves for future Hollywood Bowl visits:

1. bring table cloth. lots of picnic tables and areas.
2. bring ice box (on wheels) to keep the picnic food
3. if parking at the Hollywood Bowl (it’s better with small children), come early so we can park near front of the stacked parking. The parking lot open 4 hours before the show, we parked near the exit.
4. with #3, leave early so we can avoid the crowd exiting. also, don’t have to worry about cars with their engines on while making our way to the car.
5. when the kids are older, maybe we can consider the shuttle service like people on yelp, many of them recommend parking the car by the mall on Highland or LA zoo and taking the shuttle.
6. there are escalator and stairs, if bringing wheelchairs or strollers, fold it up. Also a reason to leave early, to have ample of time  to maneuver
7. 

pokemon go

中午在校園等朋友要一起走路的時候, 我正在玩Gif Taoster, 把iphone burst的照片轉成gif檔. 一個高爾夫球車從我旁邊開過, 上面的一個女孩問我, “did you find them? did you catch them?" 我笑著看著她沒會意過來. 等她們開走了我才想到, 她以為我在玩Pokemon Go

小幫浦只要在路上看到邊走路邊盯著手機看的人, 就會猜人家在玩Pokemon Go. 晚點告訴她我也被誤認成Pokemon Goer, 她一定覺得很好玩.🙂

上班的小樂趣

我和牛牛喜歡在上班的時間寄給對方在自己google photos上找到小孩子的舊照片.🙂

睡覺

小孩們和我們同房一直是on and off. 小幫浦基本上都能自己睡房間, 她的retual就是把獨角獸夜燈打開(三十分鐘後會自動關上), 不關門, 讓自己自然睡著. 底迪則是喜歡有人陪他睡. 明明半年前這樣的情況是相反的(姊姊要人陪, 弟弟能自己睡過夜.)

上星期睡覺前, 姊弟在我們房間hang out,  我問小幫浦要不要在我們房間睡覺. 她說, “no. I can’t wake up in your room. (我在妳房間睡覺會起不來.)"

並沒有特別留意, 周末的兩天, 她跟弟弟都在我房間睡覺. 直到昨晚我發現小幫浦又跑回她房間睡覺時, 才想起她說的.

真是不想遲到的三年級生阿.🙂

a little about our 3rd grader

開學的第二天, 老師寄出一封電子郵件, 要大家填問卷, 其中一項是要我們描述自己的小孩, 這樣可以幫 她認識大家. 所以我寫了以下:

S is a responsible and caring girl. She likes to play with friends and helps them when they are in need. She follows the rules. She likes to bake and is always enthusiastic when there’s a chance to bake, such as guest coming or papering for a party. She is a neat girl and strives for a clean and sleek style. She cares for her brother, who is 5 years younger than her, but gets annoyed when he doesn’t listen or being rough with her. She used to shy away from things that she doesn’t quite know. However, during the summer she learned how to bike and completed a 14-mile bike ride on a filed trip, which her parents are very proud of.