My Social Experiment: Day 0 (Nervous)

Before I begin what I set off to do, I feel like I should type down my thoughts as to how I feel. First off, I'm nervous. I have approximately 230 friends listed on Facebook: 50% that were added randomly these past few months, about 30% that I know by association, 15% that I don't even communicate with anymore, and the remaining 5% are people that I do communicate with. Only the 5% will be excluded (since there is no point in reconnecting with them when I already do communicate with them). SO...yeah, many will be complete and total strangers. Second, I'm pretty there are a several that are either married, or at least in a very serious relationship, so I can anticipate a lack of response (but hopefully a polite decline?) from these people. 

So yes, I can say that I'm nervous: who will respond? Who will actually want to participate? Can I maintain communication with approximately 150 people (that's the amount of people I'm hoping to interact with)? Can I even initiate some sort of dialogue to begin with (after I post the initial question)? 

I hope to seek some answers soon.

My Great Social Experiment

I don't have many quality friends on Facebook. Most of the people that I have on my friend's list are mostly mutual friends or (much more honestly) acquaintances. For a good while, this didn't bother me at all, since I was just randomly adding people relentlessly over the course of several months. However, now I have this lengthy list of strangers who are, apparently, deemed "friends" of mine. Only...they're not. Rather than to eliminate them from my friends list, I decided I would try to befriend them, to know a thing or two about who they are. While that's a daunting task to do, I'm feeling confident that not everybody will respond to the message I will send them (which I'll mention in a moment). Instead of having, say, 100 ongoing conversations, I might only have to deal with 70. 70 is still a high number, but at least it's not 100. As for the message, I plan on sending, I'm thinking something along the lines of this (keep in mind that this is only a draft question, and may be changed sometime in the future):

Hello. It's embarrassing for me to admit this to you, but the truth is, I don't know you at all, other than your name. I don't know who you are, where you come from, and where you belong in this mad, blue world (and if I do know who you are, and you got this...sorry that I forgot?). However, I do want to know you: what makes you happy, your favorite art and its myriad forms, your regrets, your dreams, the last time you cried, something you hope you'll never be, what keeps you awake at night. At the very least, describe yourself in one word. I'm not asking you to reveal your authentic, personal self all at once, but I am asking that you'll slowly (even if you're hesitant - and that's ok: I'd be hesitant myself!) reveal yourself to me. For the sake of equivalent exchange, I'll share something about myself also, giving you something in return for what you have given me. The hope is that someday, in the distant future, we can become friends (even if this is just upon this digital landscape), rather than remain a subconscious, subtle blip in our lives. I trust that you'll read this lengthy message and take the chance to meet somebody new, or at least, somebody who subtly lingered about your news feed and friends list for some time.

I hope that at least one person bravely responds back to me...

New Haircut!...Kinda...

This is me, with a size 2 head shave. Now, 3 and a half weeks later, my hair feels like a size 4 head shave. It's grown quite a bit, but I don't feel like taking time aside to head off to refresh my head with another buzz cut.

Incidentally, when I got this new 'do, I had just finished watching the final episodes of Breaking Bad and I may have been inspired to do so, after Pinkman went on a multi-day partying spree. Anyhow, I'll never tell, but many a friend and family do indeed suspect Breaking Bad to be my ulterior motive for the drastic change in hairstyle. 

Honestly, I was bored and I wanted a small change that would have a big (positive) influence on how I perceive myself. It worked, sort of, since I still feel gawky and awkward whenever wear short-sleeved clothing and the twigs I call arms protrude so generously. When I got the haircut, my barber Sergio said that he wouldn't be held responsible for any crocodile tears for my decision. No offense, but as if. This is my decision, and I have no qualms about the choice to shave off my mop. 

What remains to be seen is what hair style (if any at all) will be used once the hair of my head grows long again. 

"Nothing Can Stop Me Now..."

Recently, I have become a supporter for a Kickstarter project aptly titled "Nothing Can Stop Me Now", which is a cryptic motif in the music of Nine Inch Nails over the years (clicking the link will take you to the Kickstarter page). I'm proud (and excited) to say that I'm one of the backers of the project, excited to see the results of the project.

Personally, I am a big fan of the music of Nine Inch Nails and take pleasure in not only exploring the architecture of Reznor's music, but also discovering the motifs and themes that are conjured  up in the music, also. Thus, I'm excited to see people's interpretations in a graphic novel format of both classic and modern songs that are taken from the discography of NIN. 

The photo seen here is of The Fragile, the last album that I have bought that completes my NIN collation, excluding EP's, remixes, and other outstanding works, of course. This album was, initially, a difficult album to listen to, considering the fact that I had jumped around from LP to LP inconsistently. In time, I have learned to appreciate that level of detail and production value that went into creating this album, as well as the songs being more easily recognizable than ever before. I can't wait to see the direction that NIN takes in the near future.