The ends of eras

Sigh. I write this post with nostalgia and triumph. Sometimes, good things need to come to an end, even after many happy years. Other times, you know it’s just time to move on. And still other times, you just gotta say, “Good riddance.” Change can be good.

You’re a Pepper, I’m a Barq’s
I don’t think Coke has ever been it for me. Dr Pepper had been my favorite beverage since I was in elementary school. I even went to a college where Dr Pepper was the exclusive beverage provider. (That wasn’t why I chose to go to school there, but it was an awesome bonus!) Anyone who ever went out to eat with me knew that I’d be ordering DP with my meal. As I’ve gotten older, I guess maybe my taste buds have changed or something. I try to drink more water and less soft drinks in general. I still like DP very much, but it seems overly sweet to me sometimes. If I eat fast food, I find myself looking for places (i.e., Whataburger, Jack in the Box, Schlotzsky’s) that serve Barq’s Root Beer. I’ve always liked Barq’s (and I learned almost a decade ago that it has more caffeine than DP), but I’ve noticed lately that I’ve been choosing it over DP. Sigh. Dear Dr Pepper: I’ll always love you, but I have found another. I hope we can still be friends.

I survived Survivor
Survivor had been a Thursday night staple for me for years (see my blog entry from 5/20/09). But this season (I think it’s Heroes vs. Villains?) only has a handful of episodes left, and I just BARELY tuned in to watch the other night for the first time this spring. I think they’ve got 2 people on the jury now. And Rupert, my favorite survivor ever, is playing! Yet I really don’t care about this show anymore! It was definitely fun while it lasted, and I’ll try to make an effort to watch the season finale this time (I think it’s usually around Mother’s Day), but I’ve just got other things going on now. And that’s not just for Survivor. I’ve pretty much stopped watching regular TV, except for a few shows that I watch religiously: The Middle on Wednesday nights, Untold Stories of the ER whenever it’s on on Sunday afternoons, and V on Tuesday nights. I noticed that TV was sucking up so much of my time. Instead, I watch prerecorded TV shows or movies on my DVD player/VCR. That way, I get to control the content I watch and also the amount of time I spend watching it. I used to watch TV this way, but the past year or so, I started just letting Nick at Nite or TLC control my evenings. (Now I have more time to blog. :D) Later, I might catch some of this season’s episodes of The Office online. (A major exception to this, though, is the Olympics. Winter or summer, I’ll be glued to my TV for pretty much the entire 3 weeks. Non-football sports -- whoo-hoo!)

ThisSpace vacant
Starting a MySpace page about 5 years ago was a blessing. It was fun to connect with old friends and meet new friends that way. I’m not exactly sure what happened between then and now. Now, most everyone I know is on Facebook and/or Twitter. MySpace has become this weird, uncomfortable place where rap and indie artists I’ve never heard of want me to support their music and strangers want me to hook up with them. All I have to do is log in for a few minutes, and suddenly I have 2 or 3 new friend requests. Freaks me out! So, very soon, I’ll disappear from MySpace, which seems to be an antiquated, cheap copy of Facebook/Twitter now. It was awesome to be able to see some real friends on MySpace, who shared TheirSpace, and it was OurSpace. But now it’s IckySpace, so I’m OuttaThereSpace.

Sigh. Something new. :)