Functional and Dysfunctional Families

Functionality is all perspective. Outside looking in, I am sure there are many families that look functional, but in reality are the most dysfunctional of them all. I firmly believe that no one has a family that is completely functional. Maybe someone has a crazy mom, a dad who's never home, or an uncle that sleeps on their couch, whatever it may be. I have none of these things (most of the time) but its safe to say that we are not 100% "functional".

Every family has secrets, and something someone does always bothers someone else, but i think communication and love is what makes a family the most functional it can possibly be. In my family, we have a lot of love, but its not always apparent. My fathers side of the family has always had a hard time expressing emotion, and that has carried over to my father. I know he loves me, and there's little things that he does to show it, but its never by simply saying "I love you."  My mother however is the type to say "i love you" even if its the one-hundred and first time that day. I believe it's because she regrets not saying it to her mother as much as she would have liked, although she has never admitted it to me.

I am also a large reason for our dysfunctionality. I like to think that I'm perfect and I'm not moody like every other teenager on the planet, but the truth is I am. I get angry at my mom or dad for ridiculous things, just because i feel upset, and i realize this isn't the way to handle it. This is something i really try to work on, but sometimes my emotions outweigh how i wish i would handle things.

Every family will go through it's ups and downs, but as long as we communicate and love each other, whether we appear functional or dysfunctional, everything works out in the end. I've learned that we all just have to stick together to get through the tough parts.

   

Reading

I am the type of reader that needs to have a book suggested to them before i'll take the time to read it. It's either that or i have to read the last chapter, so i know it will be worth my while. However, i HATE when people ruin surprises, and that is exactly what reading the last chapter of a book does. So i had the urge to read a book and i hadn't gotten any suggestions so i decided just to pick one up, and give it a try. It just so turns out that this book is now my favorite book.

John Greens' "Looking for Alaska" was a book i heard people talk about, but no one had ever told me that I was going to love it, so i didn't give it the time of day. Until it was the only book that i could think to read. From the second i picked it up, i just couldn't bring myself to set it down. It really wasn't story itself that kept me hooked, it was the way he wrote it. I love poetry, and i love poetry like writers (people who write a story not for the story, but for the meaning beneath it all) This is exactly how Green writes, and he could make me cry which isn't that easy. I don't think I've ever cried so much because of a book in my life. (Besides maybe Twilight. :0 What can I say. I'm a sucker for love stories:) )

After reading "Looking for Alaska" i was compelled to read another story, so i picked up "Paper Towns". Unlike "Looking for Alaska" I bought, started, and completed the book in less than 24 hours. There's just something about the way he writes that makes reading irresistible. He is definitely a person that i look up to and admire for his writing talents.

Social Media Sites

I think it's safe to say that the Internet has COMPLETELY changed how people around the globe communicate. The biggest communication changing aspect of the Internet is definitely the many social media sites that have come and gone.

When i was younger, the big site to have an account on was Bebo. Yes, Bebo. If you've never heard of it, I'm totally not surprised. It was basically like Myspace but 10,000 times more lame. You chose a layout, the color of your background, and then added people you know, which is really almost no one when you're 10, but having an account online seemed like thee coolest thing at the time, so i suppose i enjoyed it while it lasted.

The next big thing was Myspace. Heck yes Myspace, those were the good days. Myspace made it easy to share photos and keep in contact with friends, without being a total creeper. The best thing about Myspace though, was being able to customize your own page. I would spend hours upon hours editing my profile, until i got it to be the exact way i wanted it, and it seems strange but i actually learned something from Myspace. HTML coding. Which is just a whole bunch of fun ;)

So famous Myspace Tom sees that this new Facebook thing is getting more and more press, and is having way better ideas than he ever thought of, so he decides to change his site. Which was a horrible move on his part. Tom, the mastermind behind Myspace, decided to leave Myspace and make a new profile on, you guessed it, Facebook.

Facebook started out as a site strictly for college students so they could get to know others around campus, but then us high school kids decided we wanted in on all of this Facebook business. Over the last four years, Facebook has went from a simple way to keep in touch with friends, to a total creep fest. I'm not kidding you,  I have the ability to know what absolutely every one of my friends is doing at any time i want to know. You can even tag yourself at the place where you are, and on Iphones, i can GET DIRECTIONS to that place. Its crazy, and its also really creepy. Facebook is now deciding for me which posts I will like the best, and makes me dig to see all of the others, it's getting to be a little to much for me.

While Facebook was exploding on teenagers computer screens all over the country (and now world) some little thing called Twitter arose. Twitter is completely different than any other site that was around. Like Facebook you post status like messages, but that's it. You don't get a profile, and you don't get friends, you get followers, and these people are literally following you. Unlike Facebook, it is completely acceptable to post ten tweets (status's) in a row, cause that's all you do. Getting a hot dog out of the bottom drawer of the fridge? you tweet that. Going to get your eyebrows waxed, you tweet that too. Going to the bathroom? maybe a little two far, but I'm sure there has been much bigger TMI moments on twitter. Anything and everything goes, and it's a whole bunch of tweeting fun.

All of these sites have greatly changed how people communicate with each other, and the truth is, like in, "The Fakebook Generation" you can hide behind your computer screen, but for me, it makes me a lot more open, and people can learn a lot (maybe a little too much, *cough* creepers *cough*) about me, and i learn a lot about others. I think social sites like these will definitely keep coming and going, but i don't think the social networking sites will go out of style completely  for a long time from now.