Will You Accept This Rose?

Tonight I watched "The Bachelorette." It was intense.

The premise of the show is that this girl goes on dates and flirts with a bunch of guys -- sometimes a bunch at once, sometimes one at a time. Then at the end of the show she has to tell one guy from her pool of prospects who are all in love with her and want to spend the rest of their lives with her to go home. How does she tell him? She gives all of the other guys a rose, but him! It's super sad because she really feels for this guy and they really connected, but he just wasn't the right guy. She wants the other guys more, but gosh darn it life just isn't fair and she is not allowed to have them all! The poor girl.

The next week the Bachelorette has to deny another dude a rose. There are tears of course.

Within the next week, she realizes that she doesn't love one of her keepers after all and denies him a rose. (Not again! This must be killing her!)

The next week, she falls out of love with another guy, the next week another, and so on. Fortunately she only falls out of love with one guy per week. Then by the last episode she has run out of men, but the last one ends up being the one for her anyway. Her soulmate!

I can't wait to see the wedding.

Before Organizing a Tweet Chat...

Some of my Twitter Followers may have noticed I posted several Tweets over the past couple of days promoting #beyondcomments, a Tweet Chat I created for bloggers to discuss issues with blog commenting based on my post on the subject. I wanted to read experiences bloggers have had commenting on others' blogs and responding to comments on their own blogs. I personally have gotten more traffic from doing this, networking with likeminded bloggers, than any of my other Twitter activities.

But the chat failed. See for yourself. Type #beyondcomments into the search field on Twitter to see me talking to myself.

I think it failed for a number of reasons:

1. I didn't make sure that people were interested in chatting about the topic.

2. I only gave two days' notice of the chat because I decided to have on one impulse and didn't research how much time I should take to promote it. I'm passionate about the importance of blog commenting and I want to know about other bloggers' experiences with it.

3. The Twitter bug that delayed my chat to today rendered the Retweets for last night's chat useless.

4. I didn't research appropriate times to have such a chat. A great #blogchat on a similar topic coincidentally took place last night and there were at least two other popular chats that took place tonight during the #beyondcomments chat I scheduled.

5. I didn't promote the chat as a one time thing, which is what I intended. Today I learned that one time Tweet Chats are actually called Twitter parties. I knew that Tweet chats usually occur once a week with the same hashtag and have participated in many different ones multiple times, but it didn't occur to me to make the distinction. I should have, though. The "one time" or "limited time only" thing works great for Disney home entertainment releases and it could have worked for #beyondcomments

Lessons learned! Impulsivity doesn't bode well in social media. I am humbled....

Twitter Up

Hi All,

My Twitter is back up, but there are lots of delays and glitches. Apparently I have zero followers and zero Following! My Tweets sometimes are delayed or don't show.

So I'm going to reschedule tonight's #beyondcomments chat for tomorrow at 9 pm. I hope you all can make it!

Tweet Chat Delay

Tonight's Tweet Chat #beyond comments (scheduled for July 18 at 9 pm EST) may be delayed due to a Twitter service disruption. I am frequently checking Twitter to see if it is back up yet. As soon as it is, I will start the chat and let you know. I may have to reschedule it for another day.

Stay tuned. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Comments on News Stories: Should the Outlets Have Responsibilities?

If you read the comments section of a news story, chances are you you will come across heated exchanges between commenters or abusive remarks about the subject of the story. Some of these people are passionately political, some appear to merely comment to antagonize.

I read a lot of comments sections from a lot of news articles and no representatives from the company seem to respond. Is this a problem? Should news companies moderate their stories to reduce abuse of other commenters and spam? Should news stories contribute to the conversation and respond to commenters' claims of biased research?

News outlets seem to publish the stories and then leave them alone and, perhaps this is a good thing. If they moderate (respond to, delete or edit) comments, commenters affected could interpret this as censorship. An attempt to keep allegations of unethical journalism quiet. Changing comments essentially means tailoring the discourse. Not only will that hurt the outlet's relationship with the affected commenters, but it will diminish the wonderful qualities of social medias: a loud voice for citizens and interaction between the people and "the man." -- Do people use that phrase anymore?

I don't know if broad social or journalistic change has ever come about because of a comment or comments on a news story, but the conversation about the news story has certainly influenced how I read the news. So many commenters pose questions about the reporter's research methodology, about the unanswered questions. Questions I hadn't asked when I first read the article, but looked back and realized what was missing. Comments have power. But only if people read them. 

Do you read comments on news stories or blogs? Do you see the value of reading these comments? Have you commented and what was your experience afterward? Do you think news outlets or bloggers have any responsibilities regarding comments submitted to their stories? To bloggers: do you moderate your comments?

Stop by my Twitter chat on Monday night from 9 pm to 10 pm EST to discuss these questions and how they should impact our moderating decisions as bloggers. The hashtag will be #beyond comments Everyone is welcome! Again, my Twitter name is @cartooninperson If you can't make the chat, but have something to say, please feel free to drop a comment here on my blog or on the Beyond Passing Time Facebook Page.

For those new on Twitter or new to Twitter chats, simply type #beyondcomments in your Tweets and anyone who types #beyondcomments in the search field will see them. If you search #beyond comments, you will see the discussion. All Tweets will show up live, so you don't need to refresh your page. Please feel free to comment here or email me at aj.ashbee@gmail.com if you don't understand or would like more information.

I will see you there! Please spread the word!

Now on Facebook!

You can now Like Beyond Passing Time on Facebook! Join for conversation on blogging and social media, more links to great music and nostalgia, revisits to the Beyond Passing Time archives and the opportunity to meet ME! Yes, ME!

Feel free to share links to your own blogs on the Beyond Passing Time Facebook Page, specific entries preferably, so we can talk about them. It's great exposure for your blog. We can discuss methods for increasing traffic: what works and what doesn't. I hope to see you there!

And if you haven't yet heard, I'm on Twitter!

Disneyland through Goofy's Eyes

Garsh! Look out for that crocodile!

Who knew such a phrase would entice me to visit Disneyland. It makes sense, though. Visit hot attractions and sites in part 1 of this 1991 video tour of Disneyland. Your guides? Mickey and the gang of course. It's not cheesy and uncool like you may think. I laughed and smiled a lot when I first watched this.



But it's more then entertainment. The purpose of the video is of course to get the audience to come to Disneyland. The tour of the jungle cruise attraction with Goofy is my favourite. I think it works because Goofy isn't really a tour guide. He takes the tour as a regular visitor, so we see everything new and exciting from his perspective. Well, not quite. He reacts to everything as if it's real! Hilarious, but it also aligns with the Disney theme of fantasy: everything is real if you use your imagination. The cruise would be so much more fun if you took it with Goofy, right?

They should have a segment of Goofy on a roller coaster. Can you imagine? "Yaaaaahahahoooooey! Garsh!"

Part Two Part Three

25 Years of an Amazing Shunt

Tonight I am having a little internal celebration. I have reached a remarkable anniversary in my life. For 25 years now, a tube in my body called a shunt, implanted in my body to treat a neurological condition, has worked perfectly. It's never become infected, never broken, never became dislodged and I didn't outgrow it.

Before I was born, I was diagnosed with a cerebellum defect called Dandy Walker Variant. Basically, my cerebellum didn't fully form; there is a cyst in the space where the rest of my cerebellum should be; the fourth ventricle of my brain was a little dilated and a brain membrane called the septum pellucidum never formed at all.

The defect itself is medically inconsequential for me, but it caused the cerebrospinal fluid in my brain to accumulate. A condition called hydrocephalus. To drain this excess fluid, a tube called a shunt was implanted in my body when I was ten days old: from the fourth ventricle of my brain to the peritoneal cavity, a space in the upper abdomen.

But even this shunt has been relatively inconsequential for me! Most kids who have shunts require at least one shunt repair or replacement before they reach adulthood. I'm 25 now and I have not required any. The pressure in my brain is great, as is the fluid level. Actually, I don't technically even have hydrocephalus anymore because the shunt works so well.

My shunt has worked so well it has prevented likely complications of hydrocephalus such as intellectual disability, serious mobility problems and life threatening illness. I am very lucky.

I've always seen my shunt as more of an organ than a medical treatment. In grade five science class, my class was asked to each choose an organ to do a project on. My teacher asked each child and wrote their responses on the blackboard. A few chose the heart, a few the lungs, kidneys, etc. I chose my shunt.

My teacher, who was made aware of my condition, asked me to explain my shunt to the class. In explaining it, I showed an understanding that the shunt was unusual and unique to me, but I also normalized the shunt by explaining how it kept me healthy and active -- just like any other organ would.

Even though the shunt is just below my skin (except for the part that goes into my brain of course) and I had a bunch of provisions growing up to protect it, I've never been afraid of damaging it, or of getting sick with hydrocephalus. Especially when my neurosurgeon told me that scar tissue had surrounded the shunt. This was my body's way of protecting the shunt, just like it protects any other organ. My body did not think my shunt was a foreign body, something to be destroyed. And I didn't either.

But I don't feel totally invincible. Medically, my Dandy Walker Variant and hydrocephalus have not been a problem at all with the shunt, except for some nerve damage that eliminated some peripheral vision from my right eye, but that doesn't mean I'll never have more problems. And I learned last year that an MRI or CT scan may not detect hydrocephalus if it is mild or intermittent. And it won't necessarily detect a shunt infection either. I've been having weird symptoms off and on for two years now since a weird illness following my wisdom teeth extraction in the hospital and I'm not convinced my shunt is not involved even though my scans are clear. The balance problems, stamina and leg fatigue issues I'd always had became worse.


And there's other unpleasantness.


And I do have a learning disability called the auditory processing disorder that makes following auditory directions difficult. My shunt hurts me sometimes, probably because of the scar tissue chafing it.

And I have a bunch of other relatively harmless, but difficult health problems and a long history of freak illness. Don't know if there's a connection between those and my brain, but anyway...

The Sunshine Foundation, that grants wishes to children will illnesses and disabilities, appreciated the struggles I faced -- my family faced -- and sent me off to Disney World in 1992. My dream was to meet Scrooge McDuck!

Isn't he handsome?
I didn't understand why I got this amazing trip. I still don't. I tend to feel guilty when I get sad or frustrated about my problems. A big part of me feels I have no right to complain because of the great health and mobility I have had in my life and how unusual these things are for someone with a shunt.

But I know I struggle and I've been through a lot Having had much better health and mobility than many with my problems does not invalidate my experiences.

Thanks for celebrating with me. And thanks to Scrooge, wherever you are. One day I will come see you again.

A Hairy Statement

I recently guest posted about the scandal of a woman's body hair at the blog the Tsaritsa sez. Check it out!

And just if you're curious, I shaved today -- not that it matters.