Case for Christianity April 12, 2009

Today is Easter Sunday and I am typing this out and post it for the whole world to read. **May edit later for clarity and typos, keep your thoughts coming**

The title of this post is so hackneyed and at least one Christian apologist (who was ‘saved’ after his Atheism got a kick in the ass by Biblical truth) Lee Strobel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Strobel) has written a book with this title. I believe that an intellectually honest faith is a true and healthy faith. Generally there are two equally unpalatable camps regarding Christianity, one is of course of fundamentalist Christians who believe in the inerrancy of Bible and want schools to teach biblical Creationism and so on.

The other camp is full of bitter, mocking and fundamentalist atheists like Richard Dawkins. Unfortunately many literary figures have also tried their hand from time to time at Bible bashing for example Gore Vidal, Norman Mailer etc. It is easy to do so today than when writers like D.H. Lawrence did so and got banned everywhere. And in the case of what many consider father of the great American novel and great humorist Mark Twain, he considered it wise to keep his heretic and dissenting writings about Christianity in the closet. It was only recently that it was discovered how passionately Mark Twain rejected traditional Christian faith. (See this link for introduction of Twain’s views against organized religion:http://www.twainquotes.com/Religion.html )

Then there are lapsed Christians like former nun and now ‘secular’ writer Karen Armstrong(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Armstrong). Naturally she feels her years were robbed by Christianity and now by writing books that reveal the fallacies and contradictions in the Bible she is settling the scores in a way. And why shouldn’t she. She has every right to express her opinions and she is a very competent and engrossing researcher, scholar and writer. But then she also writes books on Islam, Koran and Mohammed and she gets into appeasement gear and takes sides and glosses over Muslim fundamentalism. This is hardly what can be remotely called intellectual honesty. This is deception, this is pandering. You punch holes in Christianity because Western world gives you the freedom to do so but you go soft on Islam because you fear backlash. That makes you- and others of your ilk- intellectually dishonest cowards.

Tolstoy’s Confession (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Confession) is a great resource about someone going through the crisis of faith and trying to find intellectually honest answers that agree with one’s conscience . It’s full text can be found for free on the internet from many sources including this one: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Confession. Another great Russian writer Dostoevsky dealt with issues of faith in his novels. I have not read Brothers Karamazov but love this quote ‘If there is no God, everything is permissible.’ It always rings true for me. I also love Kant’s quote ‘Two things fill the mind with ever new and increasing wonder and awe, the more often and the more seriously reflection concentrates upon them: the starry heaven above me and the moral law within me.’ Bible agrees with this kind of thought in a few places like in Luke 17:21 ‘‘Nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold the kingdom of God is within you.’’ (English Standard Version of Bible).

To cut the long story short in order to have an intellectually honest faith I find myself reading Bart D. Ehrman’s book ‘Misquoting Jesus: The story behind who changed the Bible and Why’. He is a Bible scholar who has extensively studied (and taught) Bible (especially New Testament) in original languages for years. This book’s content is not original but has been presented in a very easy to grasp format for a layman who wants to do some honest investigation into the Biblical text and history of the very early Christian church. One review of the book fired a passionate debate on Amazon.com and you can access it from this link: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3L9D4Y81NNVGY/ref=cm_cr_dp_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0060859512&nodeID=283155#wasThisHelpful

This only proves how Christian faith means different things to different people. I personally believe in being intellectually honest but at the same time agreeing with Immanuel Kant and Luke 21:17, the Ten Commandments, teachings of Christ to love all mankind and to love God. I also believe that the theology presented in the Book of Romans is a good introduction to Christian faith. I believe objective scholarly resources should be used only to have a healthy faith, for a progressive and open minded Christian.

Are bailouts any good? October 29, 2008

Weeks ago there was this multi-billion bailout scheme going on in the U.S. and that fired up a debate whether shoddy management or business decisions should get rewarded with taxpayer’s money. I for one opposed it, be it in America, Europe or Brazil. In recent years I have subscribed to Libertarian politics and philosophy of life. I want maximum freedom to the individual and least government intervention regardless of the fact that government becomes a big brother or big nanny- just stay away and we will feed you with our taxes. I admit government is very necessary to ensure our security, conduct or facilitate our human affairs, legislate civil laws and make sure people obey them. Obeying good laws is how freedom and justice can be protected in any civil society made up of free individuals.

But beyond that basic government function I do not need a nanny state. A government IS a BIG NANNY in most Western countries except USA which harbors world’s most Libertarian state and society (though it is withering away). But anyhow, this was my logic when I said, DO NOT HELP THE FAILURES. I of course meant those fat ass money grubbing manipulative schemers. I did not mean the unemployed, people going through physical and mental handicaps, single moms and dads with responsibilities much beyond their individual needs and capabilities. It is our Christian duty to make sure they’re taken care of. I emphasize Christian because this duty is not derived for any feel good human emotions it is a divine duty-  written in the Bible ( including Apocrypha!) as  well as our Conscience- that we have towards all human beings, Christian or non Christian.

Why am I lecturing you? Well, I have every right to. Most of this year I have been unemployed or semi employed because of a number of reasons one of which was minor but recurring unlucky health problems. I am fine now. But all that time that I’ve not been employed never once I took advantage of a number of government benefits that are available to me. I rather charged my credit card to pay my rent, buy groceries, fix my ailing old car, buy an odd medicine like an odd jock itch cream {kidding }. Now for the first time in my 28 something years I am in debt and have a rising interest. BUT still, I do not want government money, despite the fact I have dutifully paid my taxes for years.

I hate to toot my horn but I have been a sappy dude in the past who has contradicted his stand alone and suffer alone mentality. This was when I was actually a CHURCH GOING Christian. Now I am more like a  stay at home and enjoy the cofee on Sundays Liberal Christian or a Christian Agnostic or a Rogue Christian some might say.

Some years ago I USED TO attend services like those meant for very old and infirm. Whichever church I went to I always- shyly and blushingly- hid $10 or $20 in my fist and slid it into the donation pouch or basket (whichever one it was). I never wanted people to know how much I was giving and I was under no obligation to do so. I was poor back then too but I had no debt and small income to get by rather easily. But I did  give  secretly because I thought those churches were doing some real noble things. Years later now I know, if I was smart enough to let those secret acts of charity be on record I could at least get my tax on those dollars back. Well…..

They say what goes round comes round. Maybe it’s true. But who is the intercessor? Is it man/woman/transsexual or God? Mr. God has always been silent in my case. But I will not stop trusting Him and once in a while bitch and moan before Him and make Him very uncomfortable like some of the psalmists did. Are you listening God? It’s I!

N.B.- It was interesting to note that Mark Twain held strong objections to literal Christian faith. Some of his observations are quite witty (as they ought to be). Here’s a link from some Atheist Blogist (blogger) who has nicely aggregated Mark Twain’s Blasphemy. Fun Read.

Is Honesty always the best policy? September 13, 2008

The title of this post is the cosmic and philosophical question that has been ringing in my mind after this incident. I would mention to you events of this Saturday morning. You can decide what to make of it.

Friday night I went to bed quite late after watching Woody Allen’s Melinda and Melinda. I thought it was a very entertaining movie especially because of Will Farrel who is a wonderful comedian. Also loved his acting in another romantic comedy Stranger than Fiction. After the movie was over I listened to BBC World Service. After sentencing myself to the usual bad news of war, starvation, corruption, uncertainty, I went to uneasy and disturbed sleep at around 3:30am.

Saturday morning, I got up at 10:30am, tired and weary. A hot cup of instant black coffee assured me I was still alive. Being a nerd, I always order my little weekly grocery online. I had to pick my order before midday when the online pick up service closes. I drove to be there at 11:30am, rang the door bell that is connected to someone’s pager, a minute later the shutter opened, a tall well built man smiled at me. ‘Hey, How are you today?’’ I blinked through the haze of my insomnia but caffeine helped me respond, ‘Yeah good. I have an order to pick up for …..’’

He genially proceeded to my tray and lifted plastic bags and took them to my car. I thought of helping him and picked the last two bags. He went inside and brought out another small bag saying ‘Oh and this is also for you, it also has your invoice in it.’’ He asked me where I lived and commented that the online grocery pick up was a really good service. I agreed. He said goodbye by shaking my hand.

I drove to library and picked the audio book for John Updike’s Witches of Eastwick. I got home and took my groceries to my room. I was so glad to have the whole weekend to myself now. I just needed to kick off my shoes, get out of my jeans, pour me another coffee, lie back in chair, look at the cool cloudy gray day outside my window, and listen to the audio book.

But soon, I found that the last little grocery bag handed by the store guy had ‘oven gloves’ in it. I thought it might be some of those freebees they throw in occasionally. But then I also read the invoice. It belonged to some Jacqueline. The gloves cost about $8. I had no use for them so I thought I would throw them out. No, I thought later, I should return them, but I will do so next week. Then I thought of Jacqueline, maybe a young girl or a house wife, needing those things for her weekend cooking. Maybe she was having some guests over, I imagined things like that. My conscience convicted me. I could not sit down and relax until I had her stuff with me!

I drove back to the grocery store. They close at midday and now it was 12:15pm. I pushed the button that is connected to the pager the person on duty is wearing. No one came at the shutter but round the corner of the building that same guy- looking annoyed- spoke out, ‘Hey, I am taking some deliveries here. I can be with you only after that!’’

He turned back and started to walk off my sight. I stopped him, ‘Hang on! I just needed to return this bag, it does not belong to me,’’ I ran towards him and handed him the bag, ‘It belongs to someone called Jacqueline, not mine.’’ He inspected the invoice with a frown and grumbled in an accusing tone, ‘Well, it wasn’t in your tray, was it? Anyway thanks’’ He turned around impatiently and walked away. I thought I would tell him that it was the last bag he handed to me with a smile and a handshake. But then I thought it was all my fault that I wanted to play the good Samaritan.

I am not blaming that man at all. He was apparently a very nice guy. And by the time I got to him second time, he might have been stressed taking deliveries, maybe arguing with someone behind the building. My visit after closing time was unexpected and would have added to his annoyance. I am definitely not dealing with that man’s reaction. The purpose of this post was to deal with the question I put at the beginning. Is honesty always the best policy? Are there situations in life when we just need to shrug our shoulders and let it go? My day would have been much better and easy if I had not bothered to return that bag. But well, sometimes conscience can be a bitch.

Belief System 2- Catholicism or Roman Catholic Church August 22, 2008

Once a Catholic always a Catholic– Angus Wilson (English novelist and short story writer.

You have no idea how much nastier I would be if I was not a Catholic. Without supernatural aid I would hardly be a human being– Evelyn Waugh (English Novelist)

My God, what a daunting task it would be even to give introduction to something as sprawled and universal as Catholicism. But mind you one purpose of mentioning belief systems is that to portray my own personal experiences with them as part of my journey to explore and seek God. As always I would guide you to Wikipedia link to Roman Catholic church for introduction, history and other facts about Roman Catholicism. Also it is useful to mention some other links about Catholic faith.

1. ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic

Wikipedia Link on Roman Catholic church

2.) www.vatican.va

Yep as all of you know Catholic church has its own city state and headquarters in Vatican they also have internet domain ”va”:

3.) http://www.newadvent.org/

This is a very comprehensive website that also includes links to Catholic Encyclopedia (Yep, Catholics have their own encyclopedia, first published in 1907 according to Wikipedia link)

4.) http://www.masstimes.org/

In case you’re curious about Mass Times in your local Catholic church or anywhere else on the planet.

5.) http://www.catholic.org/index.php

A very comprehensive Catholic news and information website that also provides free email accounts! I may as well have one email here. Hmmm.

Ok, let me quickly mention my own impressions as about Catholicism. As an outsider to Christianity as a kid, to me Christianity was Catholicism: Big Cathedrals, Fathers, priests, nuns, Candles, Crucifixes, existence of demons, angels, possessions of humans by evil spirits, haunted houses, Cemetery, horror novels and movies like Exorcist. In my teens as a passionate shortwave radio listener, Catholicism (Like other Christian denominations) echoed through the speaker of my many shortwave radio sets. Two notable stations were: Radio Varitas Asia (broadcast from Philipines) and Radio Vatican.

In college, as a student of English literature Catholicism was always there be it in the works of Shakespeare or many greatest writers themselves being devout or lapsed Catholics: Alexander Pope, G.K. Chesterton, JRR Tolkien, Evelyn Wough, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde- just to name a few. And then both in ancient and modern times EVERYONE or at least every second person turns out to be a Catholic (devout, Agnostic or lapsed)- from Leonardo Da Vinci to Mel Gibson and Bono. Also is equally surprising to me to notice how many unlikely people today claim to be practicing Catholics for example star perky columnist of The New York Times Maureen Dowd (who mentioned that she is a practicing Catholic in her interview to C-Span maybe about 10 years ago) and also Michael Moore (Sensationalist documentary maker: Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, Sicko) is supposedly a practicing Catholic. And then there are always high profile conversions to Catholicism like Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister. Here Read the list of famous Catholics from a secular website:

http://www.adherents.com/largecom/fam_catholic.html

As I grew older and later when I myself freely ventured into Christian faith I got better understanding of Catholicism and protestant Christianity. And yet, Catholic church not only stood out but has always fascinated me like no other religious belief system. It also excites my imagination- so much of art and literary works being associated by it from ancient times to modern day The Exorcist novel and Da Vinci code by Dan Brown.

Protestant churches continue to blast Catholicism which maybe in part due to their sheer envy for the continuous growth of Catholicism. Catholic church always features in fiery protestant (be it Baptist or Seventh Day Adventist or even Jehovah’s Witnesses) sermons as the Mystery Babylon etc. And then there are Catholic gangster movies with The Godfather trilogy being at the top of the game. I absolutely love all the three parts for the exploration of dark themes of human nature and the corruption in this world that exists everywhere. Then there are Catholic sex abuse and pedophilia scandals that continue to rock Roman Catholic Church.

I should probably mention something very personal that should give some credibility to this post. I myself tried to learn about Catholicism up and close by visiting a local Catholic church here in Christchurch, New Zealand. I asked the Father of the church several straightforward questions about Catholic views about other Christian denominations, marriage, divorce, status or Mary or Mary worship, Catholic church’s objections to contraceptives etc. I got elaborate and honest answers, if not always satisfactory.

After discussions Father of that church invited me to join soon to be started in his church the RCIA (Roman Catholic Initiation for Adults) program run by Catholic churches all over the world to instruct adults about Catholicism. It is something like Alpha course run by Protestant churches but is of very specialized nature, peculiar to Roman Catholic church. This initiation lasts for several months and at the end of it an individual may or may not get baptized. So I signed up.

I attended a few meetings for about 1 month that also included I being part of special church service in which they presented me a Catholic Bible amidst applause from the whole church (It was a very surreal but warm feeling- my name being announced, I walking down the aisle to the pulpit, priest saying a prayer and making crucifix gestures on my forehead and the applause….). I am afraid to say, at times RCIA meetings were very boring and I quit because: my own life was tumbling out of control, I was getting bored, I was not learning anything, I always asked tough questions which upset people leading the group, I had deep reservations about rosary, focus on Mary etc. Also, Catholic church only recently encouraged laity to read the Bible. And unlike my protestant friends Catholics did not really know their way through the Bible. Neither were they very good or thorough at Bible studies.

Just when I started writing this post I tried to remember, when it was that I attended those classes: 2007? No maybe 2006? …. then I opened the drawer and fished out the Bible that I still have. I just read hand written inscription at the beginning, the date reads: 17-10-04. I am just AMAZED that it has been such a long time. Apparently from that time to the beginning of this year life has been a nasty nightmare in a sense. I have no connections with Catholicism but I still have fondness for it. I have strong support for Catholic church’s focus on social justice all over the world and also its strong moral stances. But I disagree on many things: Rigid focus on celibacy of priests, no ordinations for women, very orthodox views on homosexuality, abortion, controlling AIDS and contraception.

Sadly, you can see the devastating effects of Catholic stance on contraceptives on a country like Philippines where Catholic church is the law of the land and government forbids abortion and strongly discourages contraceptives. Philippine’s population has grown at a breakneck speed leaving the whole country impoverished, famished and desperate. In other countries of Central and Latin America, Catholic church has often got mixed up in power struggles and corruption (how much those policies are run directly from Vatican is a matter of contention)

I can probably write hundreds of articles and posts on Roman Catholicism but I must wrap it up here and welcome any comments, feedback, suggestion or criticism. Also I might edit this piece later for clarity or correction.

Prayers for today August 13, 2008

Lord, Jesus Christ through this blog post I wish to pray for the violent and strife torn regions and those regions under military and police persecution and endemic corruption that causes crime, injustice, persecution and suffering for people.

So, Lord I pray for Iraq and Afghanistan both of which have seen rise in suicide bombings and armed struggles in recent days. I also pray for people in Kashmir region which once again is paying a heavy price, being stuck in power struggles of other countries. I also pray for war torn parts of Georgia, South Ossetia, Abkhazia. Bring comfort and peace to these regions Father and defuse tensions. Give people who have lost loved ones the courage to carry on and rebuild their life. Amen.

I also pray for myself God, give me courage to face new challenges and open doors of opportunity for me, give me strength to forgive and control my pride, anger and bitterness. Protect my mind from matters of trivial nature that may waste away my precious time granted by you. Grant me your peace and your grace my God so that I could also be a source of comfort to others. Amen.

Anyone is welcome to comment and add their own prayers.

Pulp Fiction Rocks- some great movies I only recenly watched June 29, 2008

It’s just amazing how many things come to your life so late and end up being your all time favorites. I have always heard about the movie Pulp Fiction but never got around to watch it. I did so last week. And I have watched it 3 more times since then and will do so again. I totally love it and it cracks me up on various points and levels. That’s the kind of humor, dialogue and even the sound track I can just love. Pulp Fiction goes into my all time top 10 along with The Godfather 1 and 2 which also I ignored for years but watched like only 2 months ago! Also Apocalypse Now is another one that tugged at my heart with its Psychological terror and stunning Cinematography (While it depicts Vietnam and Cambodia It was mostly filmed in Philippines though) I suppose life has always more to offer than you can handle or expect. Ok then ye gods, Surprise me more!

I would be interested in knowing what you think of these movies. And let me know what are your all time favorite movies (classic or new ones) and why. Cheers.

We’re still here, World. May 24, 2008

Hello readers,

Well, in the title I thought I should bring you the short message from the many voices and personalities of my fragmented and cluttered brain. I have not blogged in ages as I have been busy with all things offline. Things are shaping up for stability and clarity in life. This is all I can say safely for now. I am on my way to become permanent resident of this peaceful, humble, placid and polite little country, New Zealand, within a couple of months. I hope this country will survive my very big ego, selfish and mean heart, erratic mind. If not, I can move on to wilder and bigger zones of this world. Any sprawling city where no one knows your name or gives a fuck and leaves you alone will do. Hopefully, next year I would take up higher studies to get an odd academic feather in some worthless field such as Literature, Creative writing, American studies. Hmm.

But well, I should be blogging again, at least once a week because this world cannot afford to miss my valuable opinions and prophetic voices. Ok, I’m just trying to annoy people. hee hee. **Phlegm, cough and spit.**

Another reason I did not post was because I only had thoughts of political nature on my mind and they are rarely worth reading. I have tracked with great thrill American Democratic nomination. I am glad that I’d endorsed Barack Obama months ago when he was considered just an underdog that Senator Hilary Clinton would beat by the sheer power of her status as Mrs. Bill Clinton, two timing former First Lady, extensive and powerful connections, huge support base and her ethnicity (if I’m allowed to say that). But Mr. Obama has not only lived up to my expectations, he has actually exceeded them! Well done. I believe in his wisdom, leadership, humility, diplomacy, charisma and good will even more now. Though I have high respect for Mr. McCain as well who is probably the first Democrat in the Republican party in a long time, I would have Mr. Obama to lead and redirect the new America and the new Americans into a new and fiercely challenging century. Sadly, America has been going down, and along with it the world economy. America stands at the crossroads and nothing will save it except reinventing itself as it has always done in the past and survived. I offer my prayers and good wishes to the land of individual freedom, liberty and innovation.

Other than this not so exciting note I should rattle my readers (most of whom just wander into my posts from anywhere) And to do so I think I should give you a typical sensational Ember goody to amuse yourself. Here is a link to the dirty love letters of James Joyce (If you might be dumb enough to own an iPOd and not know who he was, he was the great and acclaimed Irish writer whose novel Ulysses I have NOT read) to his lover and soulmate Nora. Here is the link: JAMES JOYCE’S DIRTY LETTERS read it and let me know what you think of it. That’s all for now… but wait. Here are two bonus trivia bits for you:

1.) I heard British singer Robbie Williams has been scouring Arizona for UFOs and actually attended international UFO conference. He says, he knows there are lots of hoaxes but he wants to believe in them, sincerely.

2.) I was just reading Wikipedia entry on Michael Moore (Sensationalist documentary maker: Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, Sicko) and got to learn that he is a ”Practising Catholic”. Hmmm..? I would recommend that he skip meat on Fridays.

Ember Endorsements: Go Obama and McCain. January 29, 2008

I am just writing this post for the record. Months and months ago while discussing upcoming American Presidential elections with my online friends (mostly American) I had hazarded a guess about the possible President to be. My choices were: Barack Obama from the D camp and Rudy Giuliani from the R camp. While Rudy has seriously screwed up his chances by shoddy and smug campaign, Obama has risen as the star for new politics and new things of substance.

 

Months ago, my good friends had suggested that- from D camp- Obama is immature and Hilary will win the day as she got the right connections and the money and two timer in the White House as husband. But I disagreed. She always came across as a power hungry phony to me. It was a dangerous thing to say back then because Mrs. Clinton has always been a very respected figure, but in the recent times she has definitely made her phoniness apparent in collusion with her tag team partner and husband. I think American people suspected her lack of mettle from the very beginning in Iowa and the initial polls in New Hampshire. She won New Hampshire with a slight margin only because of pity vote as she cried her way to a wafer thin victory.

 

I probably shouldn’t be saying all this because-yet- she may very well become President and nuke this part of the world where I write my missives from. But I am expressing my unabashed opinion. February 5th, the grand Tuesday, will seal the fate and I hope it will be in Barack Obama’s favor. His election will only confirm all that is good, noble and sound about America.

 

As a final word, I also support and endorse John Mccain from the R camp as he is a person of substance and great moral courage.

Season’s greetings and a Very Happy New Year :-) December 28, 2007

Hi everyone, I haven’t blogged in a long time as I am taking time off from internet and blogging. But I will start again sometime in January I think. But this is just a short post to wish you all a (belated) very Merry Christmas and a great New Year.

 

God Bless,

Ember.

.

Lost in the Cyberspace’s darkmatter and Vast Nothingness. November 2, 2007

Picture: Dazed and confused

I am sure many are the victims of Cyberspace whirlpools. Days ago, my buddy the Scorpion Queen (Kate) bemoaned the complexities of internet. Like many others the poor girl only wanted to maintain an easy to use webpage, social networking and ocassional blog post. But not that easy huh… I just thought well, sure these are the tough times for those who are not much into HTML, CSS and other technical juggernauts like that. But today, once again I found myself totally at loss and enmeshed when I tried to make simple updates to my blogs. All blog portals with different Blog stats, usernames, comments, font styles, lay out styles, colors etc………………………………………….

 

More choice certainly does not appear to be a good thing. Turn the clocks back to 1999. Simpler times. That’s when I got regular and personal internet access from my home. It was a lovely period. For email you only used Hotmail or Yahoo or your ISP’s email service like AOL. As for instant messengers ICQ was the in thing… then MSN was very nice too. If you felt like being more adventurous, you could get Yahoo Messenger as well.

 

Blogging wasn’t born yet. But people got the taste of marking their own internet territory with a Personal webpage provided by a few internet portals including Yahoo (Geocities). Simpler times: like, while watching a beautiful rainbow, splashing the the puddles of sparkling water with your bare feet. And listening to the little birds twitter, chirp and sing and watching them playfully hop across thetree branches.

 

Then things got worse. Free email services sprang up in a thousand places by a thousand companies, portals etc. Besides, if you’re working for a place or you’re a student in college or University, they give you your own official email address. The only question is, which one to choose and use? I was always very cynical about ‘’signing up” at new places. But discounting the many email accounts I have been deleting forever, today, I have email addresses at Vodaphone, Gmail, Yahoo (2 addresses), Hotmail (2 addresses) and further blogging and social networking Accounts at My Space, Blogger, WordPress, Multiply, Yahoo 360, Technorati, Beebo, Ringo, Flickr, Shelfari, Librarything, Mybloglog, His Stats, Blog Patrol, NetScape, Digg.com, MSN Spaces and certainly there are many more I can’t even remember!

 

Every now and then I keep getting emails from old friends informing me that they’ve signed up at some site, there are heaps of their pictures, new info and blogs etc. In order to view their page, I go to that particular website and it asks me to Sign UP in order to view content (As if I forgot to mention couple of more Friendster and Orkut and Facebook and Mash)

 

Can you believe that I ACTUALLY REMEMBER THESE NAMES. I swear I was not looking at some list to write all of this. I am typing straight away as it is. How many of my brain cells are being used merely to remember all this and their usernames and passwords (Ok I tend to keep them same, mostly, but still!!!)

 

There seems to be no help at all. I just realized it may not be all that simple just to quit Yahoo. They recently bought MyBloglog for about $10 million. And with their deep pockets I’m sure they’re up for something big, adventurious and jazzy when they upgrade our abandoned Yahoo 360 account. And then…? What are we gonna do with this Multiply. Of course we will keep this one too! And the plot thickens forever, ad infinitum.