Tag-age

Here's my post about tags, and feel free to give me your thoughts. Every so often I see friends of mine getting "tagged"--and I enjoy this. I think it's interesting to read a little snippet about somebody, especially since it's coming from them. You see a little of how a person sees themselves. Still, I don't think I have ever responded to a tag myself, and tonight I'm wondering why? I'm going to take a walk through my excuses and try to figure it out.

I'm too busy to sit at the computer blabbing about myself for the sake of the three friends I have who'd read it (I know, as I sit here blogging). But honestly I do think time is a factor. I'm not one of those people who love the computer and really enjoy the time I spend sitting here. Maybe I need to brush up on my keyboarding skills. But I feel like it's often the last thing I'm inclined to do when I find I have a minute.

Still, I often do have a minute, and if I really wanted to, I guess I could use it to write 25 facts about me. I have before attempted to do just this when the little niggling voice at the back of my head makes me feel guilty for ignoring the tag. So I begin with what I know, and I find it isn't that much. Or it isn't that accurate. Or it is accurate, but isn't how I'd like the world to see me. And as I rummage around in the dark of my mind for these random things to throw out in to the light of the online community, I always stumble back around to the same thought; does anyone really want to know that I can't resist any dessert, or that the only concert I have ever been to was a Simon and Garfunkel concert when I was thirty? Do I even really want to know that about myself? Is anyone really out there thinking, gosh, of all the 50 people I tagged I really can't wait to read about Courtney? And is that who I really am? The sum of all these tidbits of information? Somehow this disturbs me.

Because you can't really get to know a person online. Text isn't a replacement for face to face communication--nor is voice, for that matter, though I think it's better. Sometimes attempting to respond to a tag just makes me feel lonely. Right this minute, I am not engaged with any person. Sure it is a form of engagement. You'll read this, and in a way I am talking to you. But in the moment, I am sitting alone at my computer with a stomach virus, the kids are in bed and Mike went to a movie by himself. I may be engaging in a community, but it is a faceless and impersonal one. The warm feeling I get when I read your comments is because I know who you are, and I love you in some capacity. It's almost like the comments remind me of who you were, like memory more than anything else.

Bottom line: I love reading about other people. Keep posting those thirty things I might not know about you. And know that when I don't respond your tag online, I'm really just confused by it, and unsure how to be a person on the computer. Next time I see you, if you really want to know, I'll tell you that I love books even more then dessert, and that I hate cats, even though I have one I'm mildly fond of.

Thanksgiving

Christmas is over, and guess what--I didn't do much with the old camera. Thought about it a couple of times, but decided I'd rather enjoy the moment than miss it behind the lens. But I'm glad I spent our day at the beach over Thanksgiving snapping pictures. Here's the only one of Mike and me. Mike's taking the picture, so don't mistake his expression of concentration for an expression of constipation.
Mostly I took pictures of my children. Something about the light on the water highlights the beauty of the kids. And I really like my kids. Here's what they did.

Mike and Tyler had to flex their muscles and compete. It is Muscle Beach, after all.

Raelynn and Miles also had to compete, and for the same reasons Mike and Tyler had to. Siblings, you know.

Miles lost interest, but Raelynn wouldn't quit.

This is just Paige, looking like her wild self.

From there, to the sand! To the sand!
Miles spent most of his time running toward the water....

and away from the water. Always testing his boundaries, physical and otherwise, that one.

When that got old, he dug.

Raelynn was a little more contemplative. Paige mostly stuck to the sand, which was smart since it was chilly.

I love any picture where I can see my babies twice. Lately I've just been really feeling the joy of them. That they exist as they do leaves me feeling almost stricken with the miracle of it. Dumbfounded. Awestruck. You get the idea. I gives thanks, indeed.