But I Still Love Technology...

I have a real love / hate relationship with technology.  There are so many things I love about it, like the invention of social media.  It really is a bridge across the miles for me.  Especially Video Conferencing things like Skype & FaceTime. Love love love that.  

As much as I love the things we can now see and do with Technology, like, not having to be chained to a desk eight hours a day to get work done, there are things I seriously dislike.  Among those....texting.  Well, I guess that's a love / hate thing too...I do like to send a quick text, when, back in the day, I would have had to pick up the phone, make a call and possibly lose 15 -30 minutes, when all I really need is a Yes or No answer to a question.  And I also enjoy texting over phone convo most times, depending on the person or timing.  But then, by using Text, we are missing out on HUMAN contact. I adore human contact. It's definitely on the decline.  I miss it.  

One thing that's more than a bit annoying (and yes, I have done this too, but have, in the last year or so, tried hard to not do this) is when people are actively texting with someone else, just type-type-typing away, and simultaneously attempting to have a conversation with you, like, right there in front of you. I'm not talking about a quick "Yes" or "No" text reply to someone. Or even responding to an urgent text...but at least say something like "Hang on, I need to reply to this really quick..."  I don't mind waiting. I really don't. (And if you catch me doing this, please say something, cause I don't want to be that person, ya know?)

A glaring downside of Technology is this: we are approaching a state of accepting "just good enough" over excellence in certain areas.  An example: video production....video footage and video projects just (apparently) don't have to look good anymore.  Increasingly, so many people just simply can't tell the difference between a professional final product - one shot and edited by a passionate, talented producer, over amateur work. So "good enough" is winning out, and it's probably more to do with financial issues than desire for talent. And this is all I'm going to say on this topic.  That is a much bigger rant for another time.

I must admit though, Technology has  been especially helpful to me since I was diagnosed with breast cancer. While I do appreciate having lived and very well remember a time before the internet and mobile phones, I am crazy-thankful to have had access to Technology and Social Media outlets during that devastating time in 2009.  Because of Technology and Social Media, I was able to reach out to others who have gone through breast cancer, ask questions, get advice, bounce ideas, and cry on their cyber shoulders.  I have "met" so many amazing people online, some I now consider to be among my closest and dearest friends. And not just breast cancer people. I believe we come across people and connect with some in the online world for a reason.  Pretty sure I may never meet these dear ones in person, but I am so thankful for every single one of them.  

And Technology in medicine. While there is still so far we have yet to go to find a cure for breast cancer and ALL cancer, I'm alive today because of one medication, Herceptin, that wasn't yet FDA approved as recently as even 20 years ago. I also benefited from newish techniques in locating the tumor, and in administering radiation, I'm told. And probably so many more areas that I'm not aware of. Oh, and more cancer vaccines are beginning to appear on the horizon, and better treatments through immunotherapy too. So YAY Technology! 

This blog.  Another positive I owe to Technology.  This blog started out as a way for me to market things I was selling online.  And it fell off after diagnosis.  Then I started a CarePage. And then moved all that content over to here.  I needed a way to keep family and friends apprised of my status as I went through surgeries, chemo, radiation, Herceptin, hair loss, hair growth, and just stuff. And now, it's a place for me to rant, vent, muse, and ramble...

Yeah, I'm rambling now....Anyway, love it or hate it, Technology keeps on moving, changing, evolving. 

I love it.  And I hate it. 

It's In The Way That You Use It....

Social Media...Technology....Internet....Blogs...

They can all be really awesome, wonderful things.  They can also be terrible, shitty things.  It's in the way that you use it.  

I've experienced both. I like to use them for good, positive & information stuff. Like this....to let y'all know that I survived the mammo.  All clear.  This knowledge should make me a little less stressy when I go see Dr's W & V at the end of this week. We'll see.  Or I can totally disregard this knowlege since the 2009 mammo missed the stage 3 bc, & be a typical, total freak. Right now I'm feeling pretty calm & confident. It comes & it goes.

And the Fall Candy is in the house, so, just in time for the Autumnal Equinox, the fabulous fall season is officially in full swing.  Yay!

 

Thanks for checking in on us.  Will let ya know how the last two appointments of the Autumn Oncology Tour go.

xx

If You're Happy & You Know It....

Photo Credit: Grumpy Cat

Hahahaaa! I just love this kitty! And memes with this grumpy little face are just sweepin the interwebs!  She even has her own website, Facebook & Twitter! Such a cute kitty! But she sure does look pissed off! LOL!  Anyway....this & some posts on Facebook & Twitter got me thinkin.  You see stuff all the time online about how you should be happy no matter what.  That it's totally up to you to feel happy... Things like "You have the power to create your own happiness!!"... "If you don't like something about your life, CHANGE IT!"..."True happiness is to enjoy the present"...."Why be mad or sad when we can be happy instead?"..."I am in charge of how I feel & today I choose to be happy"..."YOU make sure you have a good day!". You know....that stuff.  And I'm sure y'all all know that I have a good answer for each one of those quotes as to why I may NOT feel happy, even if that was my choice....my druthers, my desire for every day for the rest of my life.  Right?

I do get why people post this stuff.  They mean no harm at all.  They are usually super happy, smiley, ever cheerful people themselves, who are just lovin life SO much that they only want that for you as well.  Because they love you.  They love life.  They want you to love life right there with them.

But really it's not always possible to CHOOSE to be happy, is it?  I guess it is for some.  I'm sure somewhere, at some time there was SOMEONE who got a terrible, life threatening diagnosis & it totally didn't piss on their parade.  Right? I've yet to MEET that person.  Or maybe I have. I dunno.

O & I were talkin about this sort of stuff the other day, and we came to the conclusion that, the majority of people who appear to be all Happy Happy Joy Joy, like ALL the time, have never had to face their own mortality or be concerned about where they & their family will sleep that night, or any stuff equally as terrifying. OR, the exact opposite is true.  They are miserable, unhappy & just trying to find their way back to happy with these lovely affirmations.

I don't have issues anymore with seeing these quotes & stuff everywhere, really, so please don't think that's what this post is tryin to say...at all.  I'm just sayin...folks, try to keep in mind that for some, Happy may just have to be put on hold for a bit.  Could be a few hours, days, weeks....maybe even months or years.  Some will never be happy again.  I, thankfully, am not one of those people.  I have found my way back to happy.  For the most part.  I could be way happier, too.  But I can tell you this.  There was a good long stretch of time that seein that stuff posted in my news feeds had the exact opposite effect for me. 

Not sayin anybody should change anything about what they say or do, or post online, or feel or whatever.  Just another random musing....thoughts...

I'm not sayin, I'm just sayin.

It's The Final Countdown...

Election 2012 is in the final hours.  We're gonna know who will be the next POTUS this week.  And either way it goes, I have a feeling it won't be the end of the utter & complete bullshit I'm seeing all over the intergoogles. And we're seeing our freinds, family, other people we know, or thought we knew, in a whole different light. Thanks to social media like Facebook & Twitter, we are learning so much more about each other. Especially in the last few months of this Election Year.  I'm hearing of people unfriending people on Facebook cause they post political views & opinions that differ from theirs.  Blockin people on Twitter.  Gettin into all out Facebook fights.  There was even a story on CNN about it.

Really?
 
And is somebody else's Facebook Profile Page really the place to have your Political Rant/Tantrum? Most of the time I will refrain from posting anything on my Facebook or Twitter that indicates which way I lean politically.  I also don't get into religious discussions on social media.  Occasionally I will share a humorous post or picture that has to do with politics.  But it's because I think it's funny.  Like this humorous riff on Dr Seuss' Green Eggs & Ham.  Or these others that I'm sure both candidates would find pretty damn funny.

So let's stop with all the asshattery.  Let's use a little social media etiquette, shall we?  I will not delete anyone from my Facebook over political posts (on my page or their own)...or religious posts...or foul language...(I mean, why the fuck would I fuckin do that?) That's just not my way. I'll just come over here & bitch blog about it.  Cool?

 

*steps down off soapbox*





Witch-ay woman

Ok, so hope everyone had a Happy Halloween! We went to have some fajitas & then came home & handed out candy.  I did not dress up, but did wear a hat.  

And here we are in November.  Time for the annual "turkey anxiety". =)

Not That There's Anything Wrong With That....

So, yeah.  I'm comin outta the closet! #NotLikeThat! LOL! Comin outta the "cancer closet" on my Facebook.  Yeah, I had posted a Note on there where I directed folks to the CarePage (& now this blog) for all the cancer convo.  Keep Facebook a "happy place".  Well, now that I'm almost 2 years out from the cancer road through Hell, I figured, why NOT share with my Facebook friends? And Twitter friends.  If I'm willing to blog all this out to the world & have total strangers read about it (*waves at faithful readers in the UK*), then why would I not be open about it with people I actually KNOW?  Ya know?  So I went ahead & shared my mohawk pics on there, & made public some photos from my 1st chemo.

I mean, why NOT be one of those "loud & proud" survivors?! Having had cancer is a PART of who I am now.   The new & improved LunaTechChick. =)

So yeah, I'm officially out of the closet.  Not that there's anything wrong with that. ;)

Posted May 5, 2010 Not Much Doin...

Not Much Doin...

Posted May 5, 2010 11:55pm

Well, medical-wise, there ain't much to report. Thus the lack of updates recently. Two weeks ago I had Herceptin. I showed up, they gave it, and I left. While I was there, I witnessed what happens when a person's mediport doesn't cooperate. Made me very thankful that MY "Little Alien Buddy" works perfectly. But those visits are pretty uneventful, so I didn't post afterwards. I mean, if I posed after every Herceptin at this point, they would all read like: "Had Herceptin. It was the same as last time." I'll take it again next Thursday...the 13th(?) I think. And I'm not scheduled for any additional tests or scans for awhile. I bet I have to get a MUGA done in June.

So yeah, seems like nuthin much goin on, but work-wise...craziness! And just gets crazier the closer we get to the end of school. All the banquets and our move to the new school. We've just been crazy busy, so it's a good thing that the medical stuff has chilled out a bit.

One thing I have been doin for fun is following Craig Ferguson on Twitter. Yes, finally did the stupid Twitter thing. You can see where to follow me at the top of this homepage, or just search me in Twitter. Anyway, been trying to get Craig Ferguson to read a tweet from me on his "check ze tweets" part of his show. But no luck yet. And so now I'm apparently addicted to Twitter, Craig Ferguson, and this has worsened my already sick BlackBerry addiction. So yeah, if you see me and I'm not workin, I'm probably head down, tappin madly away at my BlackBerry, typin stupid questions to @CraigyFerg on Twitter. I know. I'm sick with it.

Soooo, yeah, new pics in the gallery. The Hubs just got a nice new haircut. While we were gettin ready for work yesterday, it occurred to me, we have the same hairdo. Pretty much. LOL!

The Twins

 Also, famous actor, Burton Gilliam visited our theater students, and we got to visit with him a bit and get a picture with him. Maybe you remember him from Blazing Saddles, Back to the Future III, Honeymoon in Vegas, Fletch, or maybe you remember his Pace Picante commercials. Anyway, he is a really nice guy. He complimented my toes. (Apparently he likes a French pedicure! LOL)

Ok, guess that's it for now. If anything earth shattering happens, I'll post about it.
Thanks for checkin in!