…is sweet!

From someone I went to high school with, who just sent me a THIRD Facebook friend request (I’ve ignored the first two):

Do you not want to be my friend?

Here’s the problem with Facebook: just because I’m on it and you’re on it and we went to high school together 20 years ago doesn’t mean that we have to be “friends” on the Internets. If we’re not friends in person and haven’t seen or spoken to each other in 20 years, there’s probably a good reason for that, and I don’t really want you privy to my online activities. That’s why I don’t attach my name to this blog, my Twitter updates are protected, and I utilize just about all of the privacy settings on my Facebook profile.

I don’t understand why people think that just because we knew each other once or just met in passing a few years back, we have to be “friends” on Facebook. Hell, right now, I’m Facebook “friends” with people I don’t even LIKE! (However, if you’re reading this blog and we are friends on Facebook, rest assured I’m not referring to you here.) And I don’t understand why people who won’t even say hello to me in the halls at school send me multiple friend requests on Facebook. Sometimes this social networking thing baffles me.

Maybe I’m being uncharitable or curmudgeonly. Maybe the person from high school who is sending me all these friend requests truly wants to be my friend both online and in real life. Maybe they’re a collector, like a lot of people on Facebook. Why do I feel like such a troll because I don’t want to accept this person’s request?

How do you approach Facebook friend requests? Do you accept them all, regardless of your actual relationship with the person, or do you have criteria for accepting them?

Well, now this is just annoying. (Specifically, the “flavors” portion of the forecast.) Masala is going to be a flavor trend in 2009? You’re saying, lady, that “a mixture of spices” is on the rise amid foodies in ’09? Wow, that’s … insightful. Oh, and “masala” is the “kissing cousin” to curry?

Fuck me, people. Maybe it’s just because much of my dissertation research deals with the politics of curry and masala (ask me why I hate curry powder!), but this just gets right up my nose. Christ, even wiki-fucking-pedia knows the difference between masala and curry, not to mention the various genres of “curries” based on region.

Masala = an aggregate of spices, usually associated with Indian cooking.

Curry = a sauce-based dish. The British took to calling any sauce-based dish a curry, which belies the individual spice and flavor profiles of any given dish.

NPR, I expect better from you.