Week 1: Some comments on friends blogs

 I am using an older Macbook and am not able to comment directly on your blogs. But I have read some of your blogs and am pleased to share some thoughts here.

Dear Austin!

I liked how you never really enjoyed abstract art but somehow connected quite deeply with the one you chose. Reading through your blog I am amazed at your generations ideas utilzing social media to connect and make a living.

I wish you the best in this class, on your channel and other endeavors you may chose.

Dear Vanessa!

I enjoyed reading yout thoughts on Bamboos symbolizing strength, flexibility, growth etc. You clearly have a knack for writing and should be doing it more often. (If you're not doing it already, that is.) I also liked the readability of your blog, Green text on the white background. It made me reconsider mine.

Best wishes.

I'd like to finish by thanking those of you who read my blogs, especially those of you who took the time and commeneted.

 Week 1B: Some Thoughts on Social Media

Let me share my journey with social media in a more personal way.

Man, I've been on this wild social media ride since the beginning! It's wild to think back to Myspace days when I was just connecting with my high school buddies - you know, the same people I'd see in the hallways every day anyway. Then life happened, and we all scattered to different colleges. Briefly, everyone got on this platform called Orkut (remember that?) before Facebook swooped in and changed the game completely. That's when things got really interesting - suddenly people realized they could monetize.

I had this real eye-opening moment a few years back when I watched "The Social Dilemma." I turned off all my notifications. I told myself "I'm gonna check my phone when I want to, not when my phone tells me to." I know I'm lucky though - I didn't get my first cell phone until I was 19, so I've got a different relationship with tech than kids these days. It's way harder for them to set those boundaries when they've never known a world without smartphones.

These days, I keep it pretty simple. I hop on X when I want to figure out what's going on with the economy (most of the time that just leaves me more confused!), and I check Instagram occasionally to catch up with friends and respond to their messages. It works for me - I'm not letting social media run my life, but I'm still getting the best out of it.

But here's what I can't ignore - if you're running a business today, you can't just opt out of social media. It's like trying to run a shop without electricity!. And the "algorithms" - they're like the new gods, they can take someone from total obscurity to viral sensation overnight, or completely tank a thriving business if they change the wrong settings.

Week 1A: My blog theme

 I really enjoy this theme for my blog as one of my favorite activities is traveling. Getting on the plane has this tingling sensation, that moment of anticipation when the familiar transitions into the unknown.

From this vantage point, the world appears both immense and intimately detailed.

Each flight represents not just a physical journey, but an emotional and psychological transition, where the mundane transforms into the extraordinary with the simple act of crossing boundaries and embracing the unknown.