Text vs. Voice

I was just thinking about this. Nowadays people talk all the time. We’re talking much more often and usually in contact with people for the majority of the day. For example: My best friend and I have recently started texting everyday. I’ll usually shoot him over something a few hours after I wake up (which he doesn’t respond to for a few hours because he’s lazy). We then text back and forth for most of the day and it usually ends in me saying goodnight (because I’m lazy and go to bed a few hours earlier than him). Lately we’ve been talking on the phone one night a week. This is always fun and cool. We’ll talk for an hour or two and then be done with phone calls for the week. As I was thinking about this, I contemplated how much more I value our talks on the phone. There aren’t as many gray areas where I’m left thinking, “Did he spell that wrong on purpose?” or, “Is he joking or not?”  Of course, you can’t spell wrong when you talk out loud (unless you’re spelling out loud…). But that’s beside the point. So much more emotion can be conveyed through your voice than the 160 characters of text messaging allow. I can quickly tell if someone is joking or not and I don’t have to decipher “LOL JSTN BBR ROX! WNT 2 GO 2 HIZ SHW?!”

In all of this madness I simply wonder if we are substituting the value of one long, meaningful conversation for the convenience of one-hundred shorter ones. I’m not saying there can’t be value in a short text that says something sweet. But I’m thinking that our relationships may be suffering because we want things to develop so fast.

I sometimes feel like because I keep him filled in on so much throughout my day, my best friend and I might not have as much to talk about. There may be more details I want to disclose but usually don’t because, hay, who wants to beat a dead horse? (no pun intended.)

Here’s a ridiculous comparison I put together. It’s simply an observation. There are so many facets to this debate that this can in no way sum up what’s really happening.

1,000 Text Messages = A Little Kid’s Sticky Ice-Cream-Hands

73 Facebook Comments = A Trip to a Skating Rink

14 Voice Calls = A Mythical Creature Speaking Your Name

Meeting and Talking In Person = Living on a Rainbow, Loving Life, Eating Candy, (Insert Whatever You Love here)

Just talk in person. If you can. Voice talkin’ comes in as the #2 option, obviously. Mythical creatures only come in second to rainbows today. It’s not like that always, trust me.

Cassi

Happy Birthday Hoorah

Last night was my friend Hailee's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

We went to a restaurant on the 40th floor of a building in downtown Fort Worth. Out the big windows you could see all of downtown below. This weekend is the Main St. Fort Worth Arts Festival and there are a ton of tents set up all over. From the restaurant we could see all the little tents lit up in the dark. It looked so quaint.

In the restaurant they had a dance floor and a cool house band. Old couples danced around and looked so regal and happy. The place is old and expensive and you can tell there are people who have gone there to have dinner for years. The food was delicious and I had so much fun with all the girls. The only issue I had was with my shoes. I borrowed a pair of heels from my friend, Miles, to wear. They were a bit big, so I was clomping around everywhere and they kept slipping off my heel. I felt like a fool. But I had on a super cute dress I bought for eight dollars, so who's the fool? :)

February 17, 2010

Courtney just got home and is fixing to cut Bryce's hair. He's is talking with me about Richard Gere and how he is the mothman from the Mothman Prophecy movie. Then Bryce hits me on the knee with a hammer and walks off.
Now I hear Courtney and Bryce in the bathroom, her cutting his hair. I love their conversations.

Today has been an unexpectedly good day.

I got up this morning at six, having gotten less sleep than normal. Surprisingly I wasn't groggy. Made coffee. Sat down at the table and read about Jacob meeting Rachel in the Bible. I'm finding myself not liking Jacob as much as I remember liking him other times I had read the story. And it's hard for me to not like someone. I think it is because he kind of yanked both Esau's birthright and blessing out from underneath him. I'm finding myself thinking, "Just get over it... that's how the story happened. Don't worry about it." I never expected to invest myself into the stories in Genesis. I don't know why. But I've been surprised, and joyously so.
I've been contemplating more and more lately the concept of being godly. I'm so thankful for my pastor, Matt Chandler. His words help me understand grace more clearly. It's finally dawning on me that "... it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast." Thank you, God.

After I eat breakfast I prep for work and talk with Courtney before we head out. We meet back up at work. We usually carpool, but after work she went out to buy my birthday present (score!). After work I went to my sister's for a few minutes and then came home.
Cut to now. Stephanie is sitting in front of the TV eating cereal and watching The Real World. Courtney and Bryce are still cuttin' some hair. Steph keeps saying stuff like, "Come on!" and, "Don't you think The Real World: Hawaii was better?" She's just precious.

I better go hang out with my awesome roommates. Cause they rule and make me feel so happy to be who I am. :)

Talk soon, CB

Random

My life is hilarious.

I work in a nice area in a middle-upper-class suburb. But today the men who work in the office right beside mine brought in a deer head to hang in their office. Honestly? They will be ushering all the new hires into an office with a DEER HEAD hanging on the wall. I can’t help but laugh.

I am lucky enough to work with my best friend, whose office is close to mine. We generally have too much fun at work and probably laugh just a bit too much. Lately, Courtney has gotten into the habit of threatening to shoot me with a rubber band. Which is terrifying. I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t actually do it, but every time I walk into her office, I am overcome by fear. She, of course, finds great delight in seeing me run out of her office shrieking. My goodness, we ARE still children…

Thanksgiving was this past week and it was a wonderful time. My twin sister and a few friends came into town. We had dinner at my older sister Lauren’s house. There were at least twenty people crowded into the house, which looked gorgeous. Lauren and Debbie had decorated every thing for Christmas (a little early, I know). There were nice tablecloths on each table, candles lit, pretty china and sweet little napkin rings. It was a really great time.

I don’t have much else to say. I know this blog was pretty random. Oh well.

Til we meet again.

My windows...

:D

Life is good. I'm so thankful for my family and friends.

Today, Lauren and I met for lunch and had a good talk. Tonight, I got home and Courtney made me laugh. I have yet to hear Kayla's story about Tom Joles' black eye. Or about Cory's website adventures. But I'm sure they are great.

It's starting to cool down here. I love it. I drove around with my windows down today and it wasn't even hot. Fall, here we come! I even bought a pumpkin scented fragrance for the apartment today. I'm so excited!

If you haven't yet, check this out... Emails From Crazy People. Here's an example of some things you will find there. This is an ad on Craig's List from someone CRAZY.

Clown for Kicks (Mendota Heights)
Date: 2009-08-28, 11:12AM CDT
Reply to: sale-hqu43-1346837248@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
I am looking for someone to dress up like a Clown and hang out with me. I would cook you diner – or we could BBQ something. I’m interested in making my neighbor lady wonder. I have already had a man in a panda costume last month – and also had a heard of sheep come in for the day to cut the grass. (sheep do a good job by the way). A clown would be something.
Maybe you could bring some balloons – or make balloon animals to hang in my tree. I’d like to have this done some evening between 6pm and dark. The longer you can stay the better (like if you could stay for the whole 3 hours). Do you have any tricks you could do?
Like I said – I could cook diner and get you drunk – I’d even be willing to pay your cab fare to and from. I don’t have much to offer – and my neighbor lady is driving me nuts – so I want to drive her nuts. If you had a Mime friend – it would be cool to see you two chase each other around the yard or do relay races while I time you.
Let me know your thoughts – open to Men and Women Clowns.

 Hahaha! Enjoy!

Sugar that ain't so sweet.

Listening to a Portugal. The Man song. I haven't heard them before this moment. They are alright, I suppose.
I don't know what it is, but the past few days I've been so aggravated with someone I'll call Sugar. I like the term Sugar cause it makes me think of things in a bit more humorous light. Any-who... Sugar has been bugging the crap out of me lately. I think that I should really be more sympathetic toward them. They are dealing with some not-so-fun stuff right now. But I am having a really tough time relating to Sugar. They will try to talk to me and I have nothing to say in return. I mean, Sugar will straight up lay their heart out before me and all I have to say is, "Yeah, uh huh." Then tonight I was talking to them and they said something about doing something they had been meaning to do. It annoyed the crap out of me. "Then do it. I'm not helping though. I don't want to. Sorry," I said. Sugar said, "I didn't ask you to. Whatever." I think I'm being sassy because Sugar has plenty of things to criticize me about. They are always warning me about one thing or another. Like I don't realize the so-called danger that is staring me in the face everyday. And my goodness, maybe sometimes I want to make mistakes. Or maybe I just want to see what it will be like to fail big time. I mean, I don't really want to fail. But I want something different out of life for a change.
Lately I've been thinking outside of my box. I feel like I've been rather narrow-minded about some things. And whether or not I change how I think about things, I'm appreciating this time. Because I'm not right about everything. Like, I might think I know the best way to make pancakes, but just because I think that doesn't make it true. I'm testing myself right now. And I think it's rather good.
Back to Sugar... I want Sugar to stop being so damn judgmental all the time. Sugar thinks they have the right to judge people's motives. People's standing in life. Well, guess what??? YOU DON'T. So shut up.
THE END.

(PS. I know all of the "they" and "them" is sort of confusing. But I didn't want to give away who the person is...)