I Don't Get It

I'm back from vacation!  Blogging vacation that is.  In real life, I haven't gone anywhere fun except the fancy grocery store by our house which causes me to spend too  much money.  So that's kind of like vacation, right?  Of note, Husband and I are roadtripping to Illinois this weekend for a wedding.  22 hours round trip.  Should be great.  I'm open to suggestions for audio books.  But they can't be too scary, because scary books make me a nervous driver.

But let's jump right into today's topic, shall we?  Here are a few things that I just don't understand.  Shed some light on the topics if you can.  Kathy would appreciate it.

My (Too) Smart Phone

My phone is officially too smart.  I discovered not that long ago that every time I take a  picture, my phone is storing it to my Google + account.  I don't even really know what my Google + account is, but apparently, that's where all my pictures are.  I don't have any incriminating pictures on my phone, but I'm uneasy with the fact that if I want to take a picture of a crazy person doing a crazy thing, it is instantly stored in my cloud.  I can't figure out how to unlink my pictures to the internet.  Because apparently, I'm an old person and I don't understand these confangled things.

But what really made me question all things in the world, was when my phone sent me an alert that my "story" was ready  for review.  Story?  What story?  My God, has someone written an unauthorized biography of me?  I hope they made my character skinny.   I click on the link to the "story" titled A Weekend in Tornado Alley.  I thought maybe someone had sent me something to edit...but no.  A Weekend in Tornado Alley was a compilation of pictures I had taken over the weekend.  And my smart alecky Google + account came up with the clever title.  My phone is captioning my pictures, people.  THE MACHINES ARE TAKING OVER!  The end is nigh.

#ibelievethatpeoplebehatin

So, unless you live under a rock or hate America, you should be fully aware that the World Cup is going on. The Yanks are two games in: one win, one draw.  Sunday's game had that ol' familiar feeling to it.  Stress, stress, stress...excitement...total elation...heart break.  For a second I thought I was watching Oklahoma State compete in something.  Alas, 'twas not.  It was just Cristiano Ronaldo with a pretty pass, just like his pretty face.

I did, however, notice some hatin' going on via the ol' social network (I don't know what is wrong with me and why I keep ending words with apostrophes.  Must be trippin').  I saw several people comment about all the "bandwagon soccer fans."  And I don't get it.  Why the hate?  Aren't we as Americans prone to being bandwagon national team fans in every sport?  I mean, we do this every time the Olympics roll around.  I'm far from a swimming fan, but I will gladly gather around the TV and cheer on Ryan "Smarty Pants" Lochte.  I understand approximately 4% of Winter Olympic sports, but I still watch. And I want the US to win every competition.  Every four years, I'm the biggest luge fan you'll find.  Go America!  Slide down that icy tube better than everyone else!

This is what we were meant to do.  To get behind our national team.  To cheer them on.  To gather with strangers in bars or parks and high five when we score.  When you are cheering for US Soccer, you are cheering for America.  This is what our forefathers envisioned for us.  I know that's true, because I saw Teddy Roosevelt in the crowd yesterday.  Okay, okay, Teddy Roosevelt wasn't a forefather...but you are missing the point.

So what if people who don't understand soccer or who have never watched it before are overusing hashtags? And so what if those same people won't watch soccer again for another four years?  They are watching it now.  We are all cheering for the same thing.

Maybe, just maybe, you can pack away your mopey pants for a little bit and slap on some stars and bars and just join the fun.  USA! USA! USA!