Well, there goes your social life.

If you didn’t get that Clueless reference I am sad. Remember when socializing was more personal? I do. Life before we had texting and gchat. Life before we had Facebook and Twitter. We had to call each other!

OMGEEEE Remember 3-way calling?! Ah, the days of having a friend call a boy you liked (with you on the line of course) and asking if he “like likes” you. Or watching TRL while you try to figure out how to click back over to complete the call. All whilst wondering why Carson Daly only paints 2 of his nails. Now we have social networking. The most impersonal way of being “friends” and staying in touch. Don’t get me wrong, I love it. Minimal effort and you get credit for it! You “like” a photo or status update and you’re set for another 6 months. You wish someone happy birthday and you are off the hook. Talk about a way to keep up on your correspondence! I do miss the Facebook of yesteryear. Remember when it was just college students and we didn’t have to worry about keeping it kosher for our business relationships or potential employers?

Facebook has changed though. I don’t want to be the person who posts a status about their dinner, or about how wonderful their life is. Those people are freaking liars. I know what they are thinking: "I will post about the sunshine and my delicious summer salad even though I have cramps and a huge pimple. People will think my life is perfect!" Well guess what, life isn’t perfect. Let’s admit that we all wait for the ideal profile picture before switching it up. Yes, by chance I look really good here. This is clearly how I look all the time. I never look bad! I don’t think we are tricking anybody. They can click through and see that unflattering photo that hasn’t been untagged. The jig is up.

My main uses for Facebook are these:

1. Post pictures of and for my friends. Also for my mom, she likes to see what we are doing.
2. To creep. Yes, I said it. Who doesn’t love to see that so and so broke up with so and so? I sure do. It’s awesome!
3. To creep some more. I love looking at other peoples pictures. My mind starts saying things like, “cute shirt,” “that looks like fun,” “I want to go camping” OR “dang. She is pregnant?!” OR “gurlfren gained weight.” Yes, facebook is the place of judgment. It is absolutely horrible, yet true. You can’t deny it. It especially comes in handy when your friend’s exes (or your own) have new girlfriends. We can say things like this: “you are WAY cuter than her.” Etc.

Twitter:

I love twitter, mostly because it is less saturated with randoms. And because I can get news, gossip, current events and status updates from people I actually want to know about/ celebs.

One thing I am both thankful for and struggle with is the limit on characters. Twitter only gives you 140 characters. It is hard to be clever in 140 characters or less. At least I think so! I try to at least make my tweets worth reading. My favorite tweeter: Damian Fahey. Ask Nicole from My Little Blue Bag. She will tell you all about his hilarity. He has such a dry sense of humor I llol every time! Well, almost every time.

Due to this socially saturated technological world and the invention of smart phones. My people are constantly consumed by their mobile devices. Phones sit at the table during happy hours, dinners and random TV watching hangouts. Hey, I’m guilty too. It is just pretty ridiculous if you take a minute to think about it.

Now spend the weekend remembering the simpler times and make a 3-way call with some of your people. You won't regret it!

What is up with this blog name?

Why back-handsprings? Well, I like to do back-handsprings. I was a gymnast for many years. Then I retired. Then I was a cheerleader for 3 years. Then I retired. Now I am a cheerleading coach. My main thing to offer as a coach is tumbling. AND a ridiculously upbeat attitude that evokes a lot of eyerolls from the teenage girls.  Also, back-handsprings are fun to do! You are weightless in the air for a moment before a (hopefully) graceful landing.

I live in Portland. The city of bridges! Bridgetown if you will. As a city we are divided by the Willamette River. I am a westsider. I like to pretend that I could be a funky trendy eastsider, but alas, I think I am stuck in my Westside ways. The bridges that count are the 9 that span the Willamette in the immediate city area. I did a report on the bridges in 3^rd grade. I know you are jealous. Portland Public Schools failed me in many ways, but I have to say that Mr. Novitsky drilled that Portland history and I am grateful. I don’t know how to do long division, but hey, I know the bridges! Maybe one day I will stop traffic and do a back-handspring on one. A girl can dream!

My favorite bridge to drive over is the Fremont. It has my favorite view of the city. Do it sometime, its killer. My favorite bridge to look at is the Steel Bridge. It is just the bridgiest of all the bridges! You know, bridgy looking. All metal and tough like. I mean obviously the Steel Bridge would kick the Broadway Bridges arse. The Broadway Bridge is pink for heaven’s sake!

So bridgy.

When you need a break at work.

Blogging:

Why did I start blogging? Good question. I don’t really know. Peer pressure? Because I usually have a lot to say, even though most of the time I am talking out of my you know what. During work when I need a break I check my google reader. This is my chance to take 5 minutes, catch up on my fav blogs and be distracted by the glittery nail polish and clothes I can't afford.

I especially seem to have a lot to say about things I know nothing about. Really this is for me. My people are young and we love to explore the city. We are having fun and stressing out about being in phase 4 (4^th phase in life. Think about it). Also, my mind is a strange place… I guess I just wanted it documented. An online record chronicling the shenanigans of former Linfield wildcats in their habitat of Portland, OR. 

Fact: I use a lot of exclamation points. It is because I am always exclaiming things! I should probably include a glossary. Over the years some words have been made up that may throw you off. Most are pretty self-explanatory, others were created thanks to auto-correct. Ah auto-correct… but that is a post for another day.