So, what is this strange thing you call facebook?

I put it off as long as I could.

I knew the potential dangers of having a page on Facebook. I knew there would be countless hours wasted, kind of like those spent playing the solitaire game on my phone. Hours I can never get back.

My husband actually set it up for me, finding a dorky picture to post and there you go I already had ten friends. But I really had no idea I was entering a new world. I expected to share warm fuzzy messages with my “friends.”

But I have actually reconnected with people I have not seen for decades. I get to glimpse into their lives, seeing pictures of their most recent vacations, the children I never knew were born. I’m horrible at mailing letters or packages (you know the ones that actually take stamps) and suddenly I can instantly connect with people I probably never would have seen again in my life.

Ok I sound a bit dramatic about this whole facebook phenomenon, but I can’t help it. I get to know at any given moment what my friends are doing from shoveling snow to reading a book. Almost too much for my mind to handle.

And just when I thought I could handle the facebook experience I saw my first boyfriend. There he was, a random comment on a musician’s page. Could that be him? I must look. There he was with his wife and three kids looking happy and successful. (of course people don’t post unhappy pictures) He really did look good. And I was happy to see that. It was a bittersweet moment, he was my first love after all.

Well I must learn to control this new addiction called facebook and get back to writing. And I’m not the only one… career advice, don’t choose facebook over your job.

What could you do on facebook for four hours a day? Hey do they have solitare?

Hey, I’m big in Japan…I think?

Economic Tsunami

I was excited to see that people were reading and discussing my first published book, “The Economic Tsunami: How and Why the U.S. Sub-Prime Mortgage Storm Formed.”

Last summer, I co-wrote this book with my friend and former associate editor of TIME Magazine, Bruce E. Henderson. Since the book was published I have wondered how it was being received. Wondering if in fact anyone was even reading it. Unfortunately, the websites I recently found featuring reviews and comments about the book were in Japanese. I guess this makes sense since the only place the book has been published is Japan.

Here is an excerpt of a blog about the book that was translated from Japanese. “However, only part of this mortgage, this book is worth reading. 「住宅ローン」と一口に言うが、借り手から見て日本のそれとはだいぶ異なるのだ。 “Mortgage” and have a say in the mouth, not in Japan is different from the borrower a lot better. ただし読み飛ばしてはそういったところを見落とすので、本書を読む際には数字が出てくるところでは「徐行」して読んでいただきたい。 Skip But I miss them so, when you read this book at some numbers, “slow down” would like to read.”

So in other words, I have no idea what they are saying. And in a way my fragile ego may be glad.