Do Something Nice This Week: It's N.R.A.K.W.!

A friendly email from the Volunteer Center of Southern Nevada today reminded me that February 9 through 15 is National Random Acts of Kindness Week. Whether you are a local or live elsewhere, there is opportunity for you to spread kindness and generosity in your communities in your own way.

Here are some nice recommendations to do your part, courtesy of VCSN:

1. Write a thank you note to someone who as impacted your life positively

2. Feed someone in need: give your sack lunch to a homeless person

3. Donate blood to a local blood bank

4. Help your neighbor with household chores or yard work

5. Hold a food or supplies drive at work or school and donate the goods to a charity in need

6. Say something nice to everyone you encounter for one day

7. Give of your time: read to a child

8. Donate your gently used coats or clothes to a shelter

9. Plant a tree in your community

10. Volunteer your time to any cause that interests you.

P.S. Local Tweeple and bloggers: This Thursday, February 12th, Las Vegas Twestival 2009 will take place at The Beatles Revolution Lounge at the Mirage Resort. All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to charity: water projects. It's a chance to network locally while helping out globally!

Facebook Turns 5

Back in June 2008 is when I joined Facebook, and didn't really get into it until the past few months. My FB logins far surpass my MySpace visits now simply because it seems to require less maintenance on my part, allows me to maintain a desired level of privacy, and lends itself to users' individuality without the obnoxiousness you see on MySpace. Facebook has arguably become known as the MySpace for the more mature generation. In any case, it serves us well in keeping people connected and even bridges us with people from our past.

I had no idea that Facebook has been around for 5 years now. MySpace had been dominating the social networking sector for the everyday American since 2006, until it was surpassed by FB in 2008 as the most popular social networking site internationally. Not a bad accomplishment for a networking tool that originally linked Ivy League students exclusively.

Happy Birthday, Facebook! If it were possible, I'd SuperPoke you right now and throw some birthday cake your way. At least in the virtual world of Facebook, that is possible.

My First Time at LVBnB

Last night was my first trip to Las Vegas Beer & Blog at the illustrious Freakin' Frog. Since I consider myself somewhat of a newcomer to the social media community, I felt like a high school freshman hanging out among the cool senior crew. Not only were we all bloggers, but many of us were already connected in one way or another, whether it was through Twitter or by association with another attendee. It turned out to be an overall fun networking event with a great crowd at a fairly good venue. The purpose of LVBnB is simple: local bloggers help eachother with their blogs with the added benefit of consuming brewskies in the process. There are several other chapters of BnB around the country, all who meet weekly with the same mission.

Attendance to Las Vegas BnB has grown every week since the chapter's initial meeting on January 15th. Ultimately, LVBnB aims to have guest speakers come in when possible to share their blogging wisdom with the group. I can only imagine that attendance may grow significantly as word of the BnB spreads, and also as prolific figures show up as guest speakers.

Here are some key points from my first BnB experience:

• I had never been to the Freakin Frog prior to last night. It's a cute little bar, but its ability to satisfy my beer thirst was a little iffy at the beginning. It touts hundreds of beers, but rotates the taps so I had to opt for what was available. They didn't have my favorite brews on tap, so I had to settle for Stella. I just needed to get halfway through that first pint in order for me to get over what I was drinking and finally embrace the simple fact that I was sipping on beer. Beer=satisfaction.

• Las Vegas Twestival will take place on February 12 at The Beatles Revolution Lounge at the Mirage. Tickets are now on sale, and all proceeds go to charity:water.

• JustJulie shared her Xshot Pro, which we took some awesome pics with. I've hinted to my pals there that I want one for my birthday. John even said that he immediately thought of me when he saw the Xshot for the first time. That's because aside from himself, I'm the biggest ham he knows.

• I missed seeing BnB Creepy Guy while I was there. Fortunately, the videos captured by Rally666, the Twitter play-by-plays, and photos on Flickr all made me glad that I didn't have a moment with Creepy Guy.

• Hurricane Mikey is an entertaining blogger, and is even more of a crack-up in person. He impressed me with his willingness to share his experience entering the blogworld about 6 years ago and how he has successfully built a broad readership in that time. Meeting him and listening to his stories, you get a sense of why people follow him. I didn't have much to offer him in exchange for his humor and wisdom, but I think I may have impressed him with my chugging skills.

I am looking forward to another Beer & Blog! I would encourage local bloggers, visiting bloggers, aspiring bloggers, and even non-bloggers simply interested in social media to check it out sometime. Don't forget, there's also beer to look forward to.

Thanks...But No Thanks

Yesterday I received the following message on Facebook:

"I know that this is a pretty random email, but here it goes. I used to work at [former workplace omitted] with you and had somewhat of a "crush" on you. The problem was that I was too shy to even intoduce myself. I was a manager in Customer Care at the time and was mostly all business at work.

I'm curious to see if you remember who I am or not? I know that we passed in the hallways more then a few times.

So anyway, I was surfing around on FB and came upon your page. I figured I'd let you know and if at this point you do not think I'm crazy or wierd maybe we could meet up sometime?"

I haven't responded to this message, and doubt that I will. A few things crossed my mind while reading this. First off, what does "somewhat of a "crush"" mean? How many guys have I missed opportunities with because they were too shy? What number of people scope out social networking sites like Facebook to search for (or stalk!) crushes? Will Facebook ever institute a spell check tool in its messaging system?

As nice as this guy may seem, I wonder what compelled him to connect with me. It's been 3 years since I left that last job, so I find it hard to believe that any interest could endure or be reignited after such a long period of time. Also, I am apprehensive about being asked out via a social networking site or even online for that matter. It's not my style and quite honestly, a turn-off. Had this guy made an attempt to talk to me in person or pursue me at the old job, I may have considered it at the time.

Fortunately, my luck with guys has been quite nice lately, so I feel I can afford to be selective. I'm not the type to pounce on every male that shows the slightest hint of attraction towards me (of course the handsome and/or bold ones do get my attention, but I digress). Not that there's anything bad about this guy, but I'm simply not intrigued. Sadly, his chances are slim to none. Boys and girls: a word to the wise - don't squander any opportunity to go after something in the present, otherwise you might miss your chance forever.