for nostalgia, posterity, and those who weren't on Facebook in the old days

Recently I have had some friends bug me to quit some of my Facebook groups, because I am maxed out and they cannot invite me to another (new and actually useful) group.

I've finally taken a pass through and removed membership from several, but I held out because every time I looked at my list of groups, I felt it created a patchwork description of who I am: stuff I love, stuff I used to love, ways of life, habits, activities.  Back in "the day" - on Facebook's time scale - there wasn't much else to do besides join groups.  Half your news feed for the day would be informing you of the 15 new groups your friends joined.  You'd have to check them all out, join the ones that applied to you too, and then invite friends who might be interested.

For the most part, groups didn't do anything functional; the largest ones' discussion boards would fill up with stupid games like rating how hot the person who posted just before you was.  Instead they were mainly like badges of accomplishment, membership, and opinions.

That said, I have preserved a full list of my Facebook groups, copied here forevermore, dedicated to those friends who could never quite understand my attachment to them. :)  (Groups I created/admin'd are in italics.)


"...and you got into Penn?"
   
5 AP Calulus

100+
   
2010 Penngineers

:pq:
   
<3 Cat Macros <3

~*Harry Potter Has Me Under His Spell*~

Adam Sherr: the man, the myth, and the legend!
   
ADD in DMD

AIM Profile/Away Message checkers anonymous

A little piece of me died with Severus Snape

ALWAYS Sleep- Deprived
   
Ambiguous hair color/ambiguous eye color, another uncertainty in life

America's Roller Coast: Fans of Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio
   
Another Jamie waiting on her Landon...

Apparently, Michael Jackson and Billie Jean Were Not Lovers
   
Are you a Model? Oh, no wait, You're the Idiot who got dressed up for class

Atlanta Braves Fans For Life
   
A Walk to Remember

Badminton is the shit!!
   
Band Geeks for Life

Boys Are Sketchy...
   
British Accents Are Awsome

BSE DMD CSE CBE ESE MSE LSD and CRACK

C++

Catholic at Penn
   
Catholics (Global)

Cedar Drive Middle School Class of '02
   
Cedar Point=AMAZING!

Central Jersey
   
Central Jersey is Where It's At

Cereal: Not Just for Breakfast
   
channing tatum+dance=best movie EVER (aka step up)

Chapstick Addiction
   
Chips Challenge: The Legions of Melinda

Cinnamon Dolce Latte -Aholics!

Coalition of Students Against the Troubles of Laundry

Colts Neck Alumni in Philadelphia
   
Colts Neck Athlete Alumni

Colts Neck High School Band(s)
   
Colts Neck High School Class of '06

COLTS NECK PEOPLE!!!
   
Computer Programmers

Computer Science
   
Crazy Loop (Mm-ma-ma)

CSE 110 Lab 204 (Fall '06)
   
Cuddlebuddies

DDR
   
Delaware Valley West Coast Swing

Destination: Mae
   
Digital Media Designers

Dirt Cheap Blues
   
DMD 2010

Don't Ask Me Where I'm From, Because I'm From a Tiny Town You've Never Heard of
   
DRL decreases my quality of life

E = Fb : MUSICIAN"S THEORY OF RELETIVITY
   
Egyptian Ratscrew is addictive and contagious

Every morning I say to myself: "Tonight I'll go to bed Early!!"
   
Exceptional Residents of E-Section: Stouffer 2007-2008

FaceBook Chat Without A Browser!!!
   
Facebook Developers

Facebook is Better than MySpace
   
Figure Skating Fans Unite!

Firefox is far superior to Internet Explorer
   
Firefox Users

Fork You! We Like To Spoon!
   
Geek! It's Not Just for Guys -- Female Geeks at Penn

GOBAT
   
Golden Sun junkies united against alchemy

Groovy dancing in Philly at L'Etage and other venues
   
Group Work Sucks - My Teammates are Idiots

haha/lol anonymous
   
Hallmates Who Talk To Each Other Online While Sitting In the Same Room (UPenn Chapter)

Hamilton College House (or High Rise North)

Harry Potter Lovers

Hey, just because I sleep until the afternoon doesn't mean that I'm lazy!
   
HOKAY, so here's the Earth!

Hoodies Freakin' Rock
   
How did you get into swing? --my Documentary Collage

I ♥Jack Sparrow
   
I ♥ Taking Pictures

I'm a "13 Going on 30" fan and proud of it...who's your daddy?
   
I'm A Fermata...Hold Me

I'm from 732, bitch.
   
I'm from a Small Town and Proud of it!!

i'm going to have AMAZING sex...after i'm married (penn chapter)
   
I'm Not Anti-Social.... I'm Just Lazy

I'm Not Your Real Friend, But I Get a Request For You To Be My Facebook Friend?! Get Your Life Right
   
I'm Tired Of People Fucking Up My Name

I'M TOO LAZY TO GO TO SLEEP :]
   
I've Been Through The High Rise Wind Tunnel

I <3 Belmar
   
I <3 My soffe shorts!!!

I am Sexually Attracted to Talent
   
I beat Chex Quest

I Bet You Can't Pronounce My Last Name
   
I can't... I'm going dancing tonight.

I Compulsively Check my Facebook and Email just to Avoid my Homework
   
I didn't have ADHD until I came to college.

I Don't Really Laugh Out Loud When I IM You "LOL"
   
I dont have time to do Homework... Because I'm in College.

Id Rather Be Skiing!!!
   
I eat pop-tarts uncooked

I eat too much dessert
   
If cheerleading is a sport, then by golly so is marching band!

If Facebook reaches 8,146,718,692 stupid theme groups, you're all morons.
   
If it weren't for DDR, I'd get no exercise at all!

If this group reaches 4,294,967,296 it might cause an integer overflow.
   
I Fucking Hate Recursion

If you despise groups that say "if this group reaches 100,000 I'll..."
   
I Have no Life and I'm Proud of It

I know who Visser Three is, and I'm terrified of him.
   
I Like Someone but I'm Not Doing Anything About It... Except Looking at Their Facebook Profile

I like to wear my lazy/comfy clothes.... And I love it
   
I Live(d) In A Bubble Town

I Live In New Jersey And I Don't Have That Accent
   
I Love A Man In A Suit

I love Chick Flicks.
   
I Love Cold Stone Creamery

I love how we're friends on facebook, but we don't actually talk in person.
   
I love marching band!!!!!!

I Love Mark Ruffalo !
   
I love Nicholas Sparks' books

I Love To Tickle, Snuggle, And Cuddle With That One Special Person!
   
I Make A Wish at 11:11

i make wishes at 11:11
   
Im a Night Owl

Imogen Heap
   
Imogen Heap is fabulous. the end.

In central NJ it's called the beach, not "the shore"

I Need Rehab For My Snooze Button Addiction

I Play DDR/ITG/StepMania etc.
   
I Play Egyptian Ratscrew with Consecutives

I Refer To People By Nicknames They Will Never Know

I Refuse to Gain the Freshman 15
   
I remember the Animorphs and they were badass!

I spend more time on my cell texting than talking.
   
I Start My Homework at 2 In the Morning

It's 2 AM, you have class tomorrow, you don't know why the fuck you are awake
   
It's Not My Fault What You Said Can Be Misconstrued as A Sexual Innuendo

It's Rodin, not hamilton.
   
I take my CSE notes on paper!

I Trip On the Uneven Bricks
   
I Tripped On Locust Walk and Tried To Play it off

I Used to Go to Sleep, But Now I Go to College
   
I used to run home after school and watch Poke'mon!

I used to wear Footy Pajamas. Admit it. You all did.
   
I use my cell phone as a flashlight

I Use my Cell Phone to See in the Dark
   
I Use Python And So Should You

I Want to Go to Hogwarts...Which Way to Platform 9 3/4?
   
I Went To a Good Public School...bitch

I Went To A Public High School.....Bitch (Global Group)
   
I wish I had an English accent

I wish I were a figure skater ::sigh::
   
I Wish I Were Your Derivative So I Could Lie Tangent To Your Curves!

I [heart] Alexei Yagudin
   
Java

Jazz Attack!
   
Jersey Pride

Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom make the HOTTEST pirates EVER!!!
   
Join this group if you've hugged someone in it

Join this if you've played music with someone in it...
   
Library Shelvers Unite!

LIFE- Let's see how many pro-life people are on facebook.
   
Life would be much simpler if I didnt think so much.

Locust Walk Pamphlet Dodgers
   
Love Generation - Worlds best tune!

MACK
   
Marching Band Is Pretty Kickass

Marching Band Was My Favorite Part Of High School
   
Musicians Make Better Lovers

Music is my Life
   
My heart belongs to the Jersey Shore.

My last name is not cool enough to have its own group.
   
My name is Victoria and no, I will not tell you my "secret."

National Catholic Youth Conference 2005 (NCYC)
   
Newman $1 Dinner

Newman Catholic Student Center
   
NJ/NY Upenn 2010'ers

No, I haven't read that great literary classic--But I've seen the Wishbone!
   
Not Drunk at Penn

NOT Penn State......you dumb bitch
   
Obsessive Compulsive Facebook Group Joiners

Obsessive LOLers anonymous
   
Ode to Cracklin' Oat Bran

Of course I love reading....I love reading instant messages
   
One Body of Christ Experiment (all Christians on Facebook)

Ooh... You Touch My Tra La La
   
Oregon Trail Was as Much a Part of My Childhood as TGIF

Over Obsessive Stalkers of America
   
PARANOiA Lovers (and haters)!

Penn '10
   
Penn Band

Penn Band Camp 2008
   
Penn Band Clarinets

Penn Band Clarinets ('nets)
   
Penn Band Undergraduate Event Notices

Penn Career Services' DC/Baltimore Metro Area Network
   
Penn Career Services' New York Metro Area Network

Penn Career Services' Northern California/Pacific Northwest Network
   
Penn Career Services' Philadelphia Metro Area/Delaware Valley Network

Penn Career Services' Southern California/Southwest Network
   
Pennddr

Penn Engineering Alumni
   
Penn Latin and Ballroom Dance PLBD

Penn Wind Ensemble
   
People who DON'T clap between movements

People who don't sleep enough because they stay up late for no reason
   
People Who Hate Going Up c/o 1949 Bridge!!!!

People Who Know the Difference Between Your and You're (Upenn Chapter)
   
People Who Like Groups Noone Else Has Ever Heard Of

Philadelphia Salsa Connection
   
Philly Lindy Love

Pidgin - One IM to rule them all!!!
   
PLBD Summer 2010, Penn Latin Ballroom Dance

POTC 1, 2, and soon to be 3
   
procrastination is the key to life

Procrastinators Unite.Maybe Today.Probably Tomorow.Hopefully Soon Though
   
Programming with Python

Pump My Gas
   
Quotation Mark "Hunters"

Random White Kids in the Middle of a Sea of Asians
   
Reppin' Monmouth County

Rodin 12th Floor 2008-09
   
Rodin College House 2008-2009

Sam Hazo is my Hero
   
Save The Music!!

Scramble Bands of America
   
SCREW HOMEWORK!!! I HAVE A LIFE TO LIVE

SEAS webmail is.....umm.....technologically superior
   
Shamelessly Sober

Six Flags Great Adventure
   
Sleep... it's the new sex

Spooning Club
   
St. Mary's Young Adults

Students Against Drunken Frat Debauchery
   
Students for the Relocation of DRL to outside my bedroom window

Students for the Resurrection of the Ancient Art of Dating
   
Styx

Swashbucklers! Raise Your Swords!!
   
Sweatpants are awesome!

Texting Addicts Anonymous (TAA)
   
The Anthony Campisi Fan Club

The band is the reason for Saturday.
   
The Clarinet Group

The Curse of the Black Pearl is better than Dead Man's Chest
   
The Father Charlie Fan Club

The Hedvats are Taking over Penn
   
The Jersey Shore: Where Magic is Made

The Largest Facebook Group Ever
   
The Lost art of Foosball

The New facebook is stalkerish (what's so bad about that)
   
The Official Animorphs Nostalgia Group

The Official Class of 2010
   
The Official Mr. Gatti I'll Bet You A Penny Fan Club

The Sexy Ho-Ditties of Hamilton 1... and Frennie
   
The Surrogate Profile Of Luke Auld-Thomas

The Vag, and Friends of the Vag Who Love the Vag
   
The William Ian Eastman Fan Club

The word "gay" is not a synonym for "stupid".
   
They Can Have My PC… After They Pry it Out of My Cold Dead Fingers

Thriller Dance, anyone?
   
Top 10 reasons to date a band member - my most successful group.  Worth a link.

Tutti i Gobat nel mondo
   
UPenn Class of 2010 - Living in Philadelphia After Graduation

Verizon free texting!!
   
wait, theres life outside of band?!

We're not Crazy, We're just Catholic
   
Westie Wednesday with Rob and Sheila

What is that Mysterious Ticking Noise?...
   
Whats Wrong With T-shirts?

When I was your age, there were only 150 pokemon.
   
Who Wears Short Shorts?...I WEAR SHORT SHORTS!

Why Does Every Group End In Bitch?.....bitch.
   
Why yes, I am music obsessive... Thanks for noticing :)

Yeah, I went to BAND CAMP. And I liked it.
   
yeah i work/worked at a library

Yeah that's right I don't drink COFFEE
   
Yes, I want to fix the High Rise Elevators

Yes For Life
   
You know you're a band dork when...

you know you're a kid from the 90s when...
   
You know you're from the Jersey Shore when...

The Bible has a Facebook page

("f. yeah" - really?)  It's a wonderful message though.  And by the way, Jesus is an organization.

characteristic #1

I have this staunch belief that I can formulate in the minds of others an all-around ad-hoc idea of who I am if I simply give out little pieces of information.  I am also interested in listing these pieces as they come to mind, over some length of time, and then seeing if put together they feel like me.

So here's the first one.

1. When people type the smiley 'XD', I pronounce it every time in my head as the two letters, one after the other: "x - d".  I've been reading it this way forever and kind of can't help it now.  Nonetheless, I find it cute.

"In Defense and Explanation of Twitter"

I wrote the following for a new-grad program application, and thought I would post these thoughts...


Oh, Twitter. It is definitely one of the tech buzzwords of today. Visit a few blogs and company sites and you are bound to run across various designs of “follow me on Twitter!” buttons. Though I have zero formal training in marketing, it would make sense that many view Twitter as one of the latest-and-greatest web application bandwagons through which to expand one's audience. On the other hand, well-known personalities, especially celebrities, are likely to collect thousands upon thousands of followers—and could easily utilize the service to communicate with them directly and personally. (Such, I might add, is very exciting from the fan's end. I know this from personal experience!) Many also tout Twitter as a source for disseminating and reading breaking news before it can be posted or shared via other avenues.

To me, the experience of Twitter is a bit different. I began with what I would suppose is a typical non-Twitter-user's view: the question, “what is the point of it?”, followed by dismissively waving it off. I specifically remember once observing on a friend's laptop screen that he and several others were writing messages on Twitter back and forth to each other. My thought at the time was that I could not believe they were involved in such a silly waste of time. Somehow, though, my Digital-Media-Design-major's curiosity got the best of me. I found myself walking around with thoughts of approximately one hundred forty characters in length popping into my mind. After a couple of days this started driving me a little crazy, so I logged on and (with some disappointment) settled on the username I really wanted but preceded by an underscore. Oh well.

In the beginning of my Twitter days, of course, I did not really know what I was doing. I eagerly searched for and followed people I knew in “real life” and hoped that they followed me back. I fell prey to tweeting (with some repetitiveness) about what I was doing at the moment, if I was particularly loving it. As I think we tend to do—particularly these days via social networking applications—I put my thoughts out there in the hopes that others would find my online persona of at least mild interest or amusement and be thus inspired to follow me.

Along the timeline of my first few months getting really into Twitter, I began to change my approach. I sought out users who posted links to content I found relevant to my potential career path. I began to actually take up others on their Follow Friday recommendations instead of skipping over tweets filled with usernames. I followed people who were just plain fun, quirky, or made me smile. Perhaps most importantly, though, I realized that Twitter is most enjoyable after you transition from passively taking in others' information and thoughts as they stream in front of your eyes (and occasionally outputting your own) to interacting with others. It is probably easy to forget that behind the tweets is a real person typing them from their laptop or mobile phone. I discovered that if I started replying to what others were saying, many were often inclined to reply back and converse. For a long time I had been skeptical about talking with strangers in an online venue, but at least in the context of Twitter, my opinion has changed. Thanks to Twitter, I am able to connect with friendly people from anywhere in the world whom I doubt I would ever meet otherwise.

Let me end with probably my most personally exciting Twitter story. Thanks to a particular Twitter user whose posts and conversation I greatly enjoy, I connected with another Twitter user. She and I exchanged several messages and discovered common interests. I learned that she helps teach a course at Penn, occasionally flying to Philadelphia to be on campus. One of the times she was here, we happened to have a mutual free moment and met up. I found her thoroughly enjoyable and positive. If not for Twitter, we most likely would never have met. In the future, hopefully, we will be able to go rock climbing together!

A final note: yes, I agree, there is a lot of noise on Twitter. I see this whenever I search the trending topics. Therefore, the key is to find and follow the people who post valuable content, who are friendly and interesting and willing to interact. Is this not what we wish to do in “real life”, as well?

Summer To-Do {1-10}

1) Make an anklet...if I can find the embroidery thread bracelet pattern book.

2) Get a membership to the rock gym and go climbing so I might start to be good at it.

3) Actually read the things I subscribe to via Google Reader.

4) Watch some movies on the list my friends compiled for me.

5) Fix my sleep schedule.

6) Get better at foosball...haha

7) Get my photography website designed, populated, and running.

8) Clean my laptop's fan out. This probably requires removal of the keyboard, but I don't care, because it's dying.

9) Write something.

10) Email companies I would like to work for next year; ask them what I have to do between now and then to be good enough.

FIREFOX 3!!

Yeah yeah I FINALLY updated to FF3. I was holding off for awhile cuz it kept telling me "these 5 add-ons of yours aren't going to work in FF3" and I am pretty attached to most of my add-ons, didn't want to lose them... But hey now it's winter break, I'm just realizing I don't have to worry about work anymore and I have time to do stuff I want to do, and I thought you know, I'll go through my add-ons and individually check out their compatibility. Turns out nearly all of them are good to go with FF3 and the ones that aren't I can do without. So at last I upgraded!! Immediately I loved it, cuz it even RELOADED ALL MY TABS!!! I'm so impressed it preserved that across version installation haha. It also upgraded my add-ons :D (except for two, which I did "manually", and it was fine). It also saved my settings as well as (I think) my add-ons' settings. Oh and I'm kind of excited for the add-ons manager thing, since now supposedly I can search for and find add-ons right within it... The new interface (icons, mostly) are pretty, though I think I might look into themes, which I've never done before, but as a DMD major, I don't think I should be blamed for being curious, haha. The only con I've felt so far is that I am a little overwhelmed by the new features....honestly I probably won't make use of all of them, considering how far I scrolled to read the whole feature description page. The tagging thing and the uncategorized bookmarks are both dangerous for me, since I already hyper-over-organize my bookmarks. This dual tag/folder organization reminds me of my considerations on Thunderbird vs. Gmail, since Thunderbird is folders-based (and I have... SO ... many) and Gmail is all about the tags (makes me nervous, but intrigued); I'm afraid that having both systems might make me crazy, and I'm already feeling a tendency to avoid the tags completely. Plus what will I do about all my existing bookmarks; I really don't think I want to go back and tag them ... that would take forever, seriously... :P