Lent and Red Velvet

The last few weeks have brought about a lot of school stress. Remember how I told you about my “new plan”? Well, it didn’t work out so well when I realized we had back-to-back tests and I hadn’t cracked a book since we started. So, I had a little catching up to do (to put it lightly).

Nothing was “normal” for me this past week. I didn’t work out, ate complete crap, averaged 4 hours of sleep a night and just generally had a feeling of impending doom all week. I’m really glad it’s over.

However, it’s made me realize that I do have to put more school effort in during the week so that weeks like this won’t happen again (or very often). Which means that my social life just got axed again. Sorry friends. I’ll miss youJ

Since Lent is just around the corner…..

I’ve decided to give up Facebook for Lent. My friend, Rachel, did it last year and I really thought it was a swell idea and now this year, I’m going to give it a go. 6 weeks shouldn’t be so bad, right?!

I sat down with my calendar and realized that these next 6-8 weeks are going to be really busy… not only with school but with my sister’s upcoming wedding! From here on out I’ll be gone most weekends due to family/wedding activity and I just don’t need any extra distractions or time-wasters.

My thoughts about getting off Facebook have been growing for months now but I do love social media networks (as if you couldn’t tell). Because I am so busy during the day, it does allow me to keep up with people I care about and to still feel “plugged in” so to speak.

However, what I don’t like about it outweighs what I do like about it. And no, I’m not someone who can just ‘not check it as often’. I am an all or nothing person. I’m working on balance but my brain just doesn’t work that way. I’m either all in, or all out. About everything—not just my facebook dilemma.

Here is what I don’t like about facebook:

I don’t like the way people make up their own reality. People can paint whatever picture or image of themselves and this rarely mimics the truth. I have friends (and family) that do this and it makes me cringe  everytime I read a status such as, “I love life so much! I have the most perfect boyfriend/husband/child and my life could not get any better.” The thing is, it’s not the status that makes me cringe, it’s the fact that I know it’s a blatant lie. I know this because these people are actually a part of my real life. I know what’s going on with them and that ain’t it.

 If you are having a bad day or going through a hard time, why would you paint an image that suggests the exact opposite? OH! Maybe because you want everyone to think you have it together and that everything really is all good. I don’t know why but I just know I don’t like it. However, the flip side of that is that they could be acting “as if” which is something I’ve been taught to do. Who knows. Personally, I think transparency is the way to go.

I don’t like the way it plays into the fact that we are beyond self-absorbed. We are all driven to promote ourselves and in a way, we become obsessed with the image we create. We only put up flattering images of ourselves or possibly ones from years ago when we “looked better”. We obsess about what people will think if we post about certain subjects. We get into debates over personal issues and we don’t even really know who we’re arguing with or why.

We learn useless things about people we really don’t even know. Like what you ate for breakfast and how you can’t wait for the weekend and what color poop your child made this morning.

It’s a substitution for a real social life. I don’t go out and have conversations with nearly half the people I do on facebook. I don’t really meet up with friends for coffee or dinner as often because I can learn all I need to know about them via the internet. And vice versa.

It takes time away from things I once not only enjoyed but were also more beneficial for both my brain and my life—such as reading, being creative, getting out in nature, helping others, etc, etc…..

I get hit on by countless creepy men that I don’t really know. If I’ve met you once, that doesn’t invite an automatic “in” to my life. Also, if we have mutual friends in common it does NOT mean that we need to be “friends”.

It keeps me from living more in the present moment.

And now here is what I do like about facebook:

I love that I get to see pictures of my ‘real-life’ friends and their children and of course, my nephew.

I love the informative posts and articles certain friends post.

I love learning who died, who’s getting divorced, who’s getting married, and who’s pregnant almost exactly 10 seconds after said person dies, gets divorced, gets married, or gets knocked up.

I love documenting special occasions. Believe it or not, people actually love that I document their party, shower, special event, etc….

And please don’t get me wrong, I am including myself in ALL the above info. I have done all of the things I hate about facebook on facebook over the years and I’m just as disgusted at myself as I am with the whole site in general. 

I thought about just re-creating another page or starting over with a new page and only adding or accepting friends that are actually my real-life friends.

Who knows. All I know is that if I’ve put this much time and thought into it, it certainly is something I need to do something about.

I don’t think I’ll get off forever, I like it far too much to do thatJ

However, I think I need the next 6 weeks to be as distraction-free as possible. I’ve realized that I feel obligated and burdened by being on facebook. I mean that I learn too much and feel responsible to do more. I would love to attend every concert, art show, birthday party that I get invited to via facebook, but for every one I say yes to, there are at least 5 I’m saying no to. And it makes me feel like I have to do it all. I know that I don’t but it is the way I feel.

I need a break.

From my online social network.

From being concerned with things that don’t really matter.

From the pointless drama and ridiculous information.

So, until further adieu, good bye facebook!

If you are really my friend, then you already have my number and/or email address. You also probably follow me on this blog. So, if you really want to keep up with me then there are plenty of other ways to do so.

Also, if you have any pictures on your page that I’ve taken…they will instantly disappear when I deactivate my account. If you would like to keep them, please save them onto your computer and you can re-upload them.

If not, then have a blessed Lent season and Easter!

(I will deactivate my account on Wednesday of next week, February 22)

On to another topic I’ve been thinking about…

Red. Velvet. Cake.

To be honest with you, I’ve never understood red velvet cake.

 I’ve never been overly fond of the taste and never understood the deal with them. I’ve heard over and over, “it’s so hard to make a GOOD red velvet cake” and I always wondered why.

 Why do you add red food coloring to basically a chocolate cake and then call it red velvet. Why not add blue and call it blue velvet? Or green, yellow, and so on and so forth. Why red?

Well, I did a little research and this is what I found….(straight from Wikipedia by the way)

James Beard's 1972 reference American Cookery  describes three red velvet cakes varying in the amounts of shortening and butter. All use red food coloring, but the reaction of acidic vinegar and buttermilk tends to better reveal the red anthocyanin in the cocoa.

 Before more alkaline "Dutch Processed" cocoa was widely available, the red color would have been more pronounced. This natural tinting may have been the source for the name "Red Velvet" as well as "Devil's Food" and similar names for chocolate cakes. While foods were rationed during World War II, bakers used boiled beets to enhance the color of their cakes. Boiled grated beets or beet baby food are found in some red velvet cake recipes, where they also serve to retain moisture.

In Canada the cake was a well-known dessert in the restaurants and bakeries of the Eaton's department store chain in the 1940s and 1950s. Promoted as an exclusive Eaton's recipe, with employees who knew the recipe sworn to silence, many mistakenly believed the cake to be the invention of the department store matriarch, Lady Eaton.

A resurgence in the popularity of this cake is partly attributed to the 1989 film Steel Magnolias in which the groom's cake (a southern tradition) is a red velvet cake made in the shape of an armadillo. In recent years, red velvet cake has become increasingly popular and can usually be found in most cupcake bakeries.

And there you have it.

Made so much more sense to me and now I can say I’m on my way to being a red velvet fan.

My dear friend, Tammy, LOVES red velvet cake—it’s her favorite.

We celebrated her birthday last night and I had my best friend (and pastry chef) make her a red velvet from scratch.

Let me just tell you that it was the most amazing cake of my life.

Thank you, Lydia, for changing my mind about red velvet!