: Facebook Adieu
Those of you who are simultaneously recipients of these little e-mail musings and a Friend on Facebook (and should you capitalize “Friend”?) are likely aware that I have “gone dark” on Facebook. For those of you who are not on Facebook, here’s what I had to say:
“I will be taking an extended leave of absence from Facebook.
The last year has been extremely discouraging. I have never seen this level of political vitriol in my lifetime – and the posting of false rumors and other bogus news goes on and on. I have attempted to be a voice of reason in all this and to keep my sense of humor, but it is a lonely and thankless task.
But that is not why I’m leaving. As they say in my karate school – “Fall down twice, get up three times”. The reason is more personal. I’m not the sort of person who can just casually glance at the top few posts and leave – I have to analyze and parse everything I read. Facebook is just taking away too much of the remaining time (and hopefully a very nice pleasant long time) that I have on this planet – and I need that time for other more important tasks.
SO – I will not be reading or posting to Facebook, and I will not be receiving (or responding to) any Facebook e-mails, invites, etc, etc. I think most of you have my contact information, but if you do not and you need to get in touch with me, you can send me an e-mail through my web site: www.ericheilner.com
I will miss the pictures of family & kids, I will miss the musical posts, and yes I will even miss the political stuff. But… I will be back. . . one of these days. . .
http://giphy.com/gifs/terminator-gif-arnold-schwarzenegger-JDKxRN0Bvmm2c”
Over the last few years, Facebook has taken up more and more of my time. But the final straw for me was getting suckered into an extended political discussion with a cousin of mine. The actual details of this conversation are not important. Suffice it to say that my cousin is on the opposite extreme from me politically *and* over the years he has had, ummm, difficulty distinguishing fact from fiction (a phenomena I see on all sides of the political spectrum). So besides the usual problems of condensing a large amount of information into a compact reply, I also had to take extra care to insure that all my information was correct. All of this took a good chunk of my time – maybe 2 to 3 hours – right when I was heads down finishing a string quartet – and was very distracting.
Anyway, after I posted my little farewell on Facebook, I turned off all the settings that allowed folks to contact me – and then (cue the kettle drum drum fanfareI) I LOGGED OUT. And after I logged out? I immediately felt a great sense of relief.
Meta-comment: My leave of absence lasted a bit over a year
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You may not feel a sense of relief, but you will have a fun time if you come to see me play.
January 6th, Friday, 8:30 PM-11:30ish – Better Off Dead at at Maxfields on Main, 713 Main Street, Boonton, New Jersey 07005 973-588-4450
Ah, the first 2017 BoD gig. Those of you who have been to Maxfields can confirm that the food is excellent and the ambience is top notch (i.e., not merely great notch)
http://www.maxfieldsonmain.com/http://www.betteroffdead.com/home.htm/