It's not dumbing down, merely correcting your aim.

A response to the Twitter "Trending Topic"#myweakness that I just had to share, and then promptly mock without regard for mercy or common human decency:

a MaN Wit a PlaN---->I Dnt LiKe them "Wing it" Ni66aSz<---Cant BuilD NthN WitOut a BluePriNt

Okay. That was incredibly painful for my brain to try and interpret. I understand that Twitter only gives you limited characters to work with, and that sometimes you have to get a little creative in order to say what it is you are trying to say in those circumstances. But it seems like only the truly creative actually manage this with any level of success. Everyone else comes off as lazy and illiterate. I also understand some...*ahem*...younger people's obsession with ridiculous 733t speak, to an extent - I am, after all, a lolspeak afficianado, myself - but that abomination up there? THAT is some of the most unconscionable mangling of written language I've ever seen from someone outside of grade-school. Does it really take that much effort to use vowels? I've made some spelling errors in my day, but Jesus Tapdancing Cristobel, I'd be damned if I'd ever intentionally use the number six to substitute for the letter "g". Speaking of crimes against literacy, the mainstreaming of the number 4 as an analog for the word "for" fills me with an indescribable sorrow. I saw that shit on a billboard for a local BMW dealership the other day and just about wept. Then I was overcome with an intense desire to set fire to it, but overcame that compulsion - mainly because I have a sneaking suspicion that "grammar-rage" isn't an acceptable defense against charges of felony arson.

Of course, having just given you an example of everything that's wrong with applications and platforms like Twitter, now it is time to regale you with the high points to to explain why I kind of think that Twitter, despite all of its many failings (I got Fail Whale three times today, their servers must be freaking vintage), is the best part of what Web 2.0* has to offer...

Because, you can get updates and notifications in real time on things you may want to know about, and you can creepily but awesomely stal..I mean follow some awesome people - mostly celebrities, because, lets face it, we're culturally conditioned to be fascinated by fame and infamy alike, no matter how dubiously achieved or undeserved it may be(IrefusetotalkaboutOprah...IrefusetotalkaboutOprah...):

Hugh Jackman - @TheRealHughJackman

I think it's actually him. The posts have mostly been about press junkets and PR for the X-Men: Mangling Logan's Origin Canon and Killing a Franchise movie, but there have been a couple of candid comments about spending down time with his family, so it might be legit.

Crispin Glover - @crispinglover

He's promoting a movie he made. The posts are brief, but completely sane, so it is not clear if it's him or a staffer. I don't "follow", but the potential for the possibility for it to dissolve into the random, unhinged ramblings of a complete loon keep me coming back from time to time.

Kevin Spacey - @KevinSpacey

May be him, since the profile seems to be used for promoting projects and talking about theatre (i.e., the art of the stage you uncultured pleebs!).

Tom Felton - @TomFelton

AKA, Draco Malfoy. Tom seems to be one of the few young Harry Potter cast members who does not have a locked profile or a bunch of fake profiles - if this is actually him. Also there's...

Matthew Lewis - @mattdavelewis

AKA, Neville Longbottom. He talks about football a lot (the European variety, of course), and if you check out his photo, which gets updated from time to time, you'll see that he's really grown into his teeth quite nicely.

Oh, and as a Harry Potter bonus, I'll give you BOTH Phelps twins. Double your pleasure with James (@James_Phelps) and Oliver (@OliverPhelps).

In news that reminds me of an Alanis Morisette song, my mom managed to win tickets to see Pete Yorn and Coldplay in concert. There's just one small problem. The concert is in Pittsburgh, which is about 1,500 miles or so across the country from where we are. And the show is tomorrow!

(Haha - everyone's mom is now on Facebook)




*My husband hates the term "Web 2.0", so I use it with reckless abandon.