There has recently appeared an application on Facebook called My Year in Status. It takes all of a person’s Facebook Status Updates for 2009 and compiles a random selection of them into a pretty graphic. Apparently, I was wordy in 2009. I tried to get it to work for me multiple times…each attempt ending in a frozen computer. So, I switched computers and ended up with one really lame compilation. Okay, okay. To say that it was a lame compilation means that I had lame updates from which to pull–which is the truth. Giving up on a collage, I opted to export ALL of my updates from the beginning of my time on Facebook in August of 2008 to read through them as if they comprised my autobiography.
In fact, it was this month last year when I pondered aloud on Facebook whether or not compiling a year’s worth of Status Updates would constitute an autobiography (see December 18 below).
My friend Del commented, “No, but it would be an OCD.”
And, true…unless an application does it for you.
Heh. Yet another narrow escape from being slapped with a psychological disorder label. Catch me if you can.
What I’ve noticed as I read through the updates is that the Status Updates form the “curtain” behind which I am hiding. I read through them and I’m not always sure what I’m talking about…but sometimes it’s very clear that the real story is happening behind the scenes. That there is a public and a private dichotomy…which will always exist, no matter how transparent our lives become due to social networking sites. There are different shades of truth in life and though what is put out on the medium of a social networking site is the truth, it is rarely the whole truth.
Don’t feel like you need to read all of these…each month I had between 100 and 150 updates. I’ll do a recap at the end.
ANDY LIEN…
does not want to go to work today. But will.
December 1, 2008 at 8:47am
is unhappy with server glitches.
December 1, 2008 at 10:30am
wants to listen to the same song over and over…so enough with the guff.
December 1, 2008 at 1:02pm
will be spending quality time on a heating pad tonight with her knees up. Sounds funner than it’ll actually be.
December 1, 2008 at 5:03pm
loves her new heating pad. And Mark Ruffalo.
December 1, 2008 at 8:36pm
is still on a heating pad.
December 2, 2008 at 7:38am
is down for the count.
December 2, 2008 at 11:18am
is working via Crackberry.
December 2, 2008 at 2:07pm
is better. Thanks.
December 2, 2008 at 5:58pm
wants a new back.
December 3, 2008 at 9:27am
is ready for the day to be done.
December 3, 2008 at 9:41pm
is going to have a good day.
December 4, 2008 at 7:52am
is sitting in a more ergonomically correct chair than her usual. She misses her usual.
December 4, 2008 at 10:35am
is rocking her day.
December 4, 2008 at 1:29pm
had a wonderful day at work, a delicious dinner with Sherry, a freezing walk with Grendel…and continues the fun by taking on a pile of laundry.
December 4, 2008 at 8:09pm
doesn’t really understand while she’ll watch a movie on cable that SHE OWNS ON DVD but not pop in the commercial-less version. Again and again.
December 4, 2008 at 8:43pm
should’ve gotten decaf at Starbucks…six hours ago. Guess it makes for good MOH dress shopping time.
December 4, 2008 at 11:30pm
wishes her upstairs neighbors would keep normal sleeping hours…or, at least switch the hub of apartment activity to the living room (not above Sleeping Andy).
December 5, 2008 at 9:17am
just went through her email contacts and found way too many “Ghosts of First Dates Past.” Wow. That was eye-opening.
December 5, 2008 at 10:33am
is looking forward to an artful weekend. Too bad it won’t start for another few hours.
December 5, 2008 at 2:48pm
has been inundated with emails. Yay!
December 5, 2008 at 3:35pm
says: 4WD is the way to “Drive Minnesota” but don’t attempt parking in your underground parking spot with it on. Things tend to run amok.
December 5, 2008 at 9:52pm
had a wonderful day with her mom…getting her dolled up at MAC, going to see the Eero Saarinen exhibit, and hitting Mom’s Mecca (Hopkins Goodwill).
December 6, 2008 at 6:17pm
is bundling up to walk Grendel in the snow…he loves bounding in it like a bunny.
December 7, 2008 at 10:11am
is hanging with her new boyfriend, Cyberbass.com.
December 7, 2008 at 4:16pm
is off to the second-to-last Messiah rehearsal.
December 7, 2008 at 5:50pm
had a lovely winter evening…Handel then taking the long way home to listen to Christmas songs and enjoy the lights of South Minneapolis. Beauty.
December 7, 2008 at 10:21pm
is “Unused concept for the Rolling Stone’s ‘Voodoo Lounge,’ Virgin Records, Los Angeles, CA. Art Director, Len Peltier; designer, Chip Kidd.”
December 8, 2008 at 9:28am
hates the picture. Game on.
December 8, 2008 at 12:52pm
’s Facebook hasn’t refreshed since 11:32AM. Grr.
December 8, 2008 at 4:26pm
and Grendel are snowy, happy people.
December 8, 2008 at 6:33pm
is matching socks…the ones Grendel hasn’t hidden in his bed.
December 8, 2008 at 10:32pm
is dawdling. Again. She can’t seem to get it in her head that she can’t wake up at 7:45, walk Grendel in the snow, check Facebook, AND get to work by 9:00.
December 9, 2008 at 8:29am
says, “If you know I’m trying to concentrate on drafting an emergency marketing strategy for your ailing company, do not bug me to make you copies.”
December 9, 2008 at 10:17am
slam-dunked today and is now trying to freelance a bit before her 3-hour rehearsal tonight. Just.Keep.Going.
December 9, 2008 at 4:47pm
is “Oh, yeah. Uh-huh. That’s what I’m talking about.”
December 9, 2008 at 10:17pm
is listening to an audiobook that she stole from Carson’s iTunes a couple years ago.
December 10, 2008 at 8:11am
has been spotted.
December 10, 2008 at 9:23am
made Grendel an appointment at Shampooch–they fit him in tomorrow. So long, lovely locks. Hello, hiney.
December 10, 2008 at 9:09pm
is dangerously close to dawdling, but may not succumb.
December 11, 2008 at 8:14am
is tinkering with websites. Yes, multiple ones. Danger.
December 11, 2008 at 10:36am
feels guilty for pushing Grendel’s butt into the bowels of Shampooch as the groomer pulled him by the leash. Poor, sensitive guy…he’s gonna have a hate on.
December 11, 2008 at 3:19pm
is happy with the status quo.
December 11, 2008 at 5:58pm
has too much to do for a Friday.
December 12, 2008 at 9:08am
thinks the people behind the BK Whopper Virgins campaign should read more Pollan…and learn how the Western Diet KILLS PEOPLE. Leave them be!
December 12, 2008 at 12:20pm
and Grendel will be spending the weekend with Danny in St. Paul.
December 12, 2008 at 2:21pm
is packing up DVDs for a weekend with two dogs in a house without cable.
December 12, 2008 at 6:29pm
needs to give Grendel a middle name so she can use it when she’s mad at him. Suggestions?
December 12, 2008 at 7:44pm
is home for a moment…prepping for her first performance in too long.
December 13, 2008 at 4:16pm
thinks the harpsichord is hella sexy.
December 13, 2008 at 11:35pm
wonders what this day of weather is going to bring.
December 14, 2008 at 8:51am
is donning her Mac choir gown for today’s performance. No, she didn’t steal it. She kept it. Big difference. Caroling, anyone?
December 14, 2008 at 1:43pm
made it home safely and hopes the dear souls who slipped in and out of the back row tonight have, too. It meant so much to her to see them there.
December 14, 2008 at 7:16pm
loves her down comforter.
December 15, 2008 at 9:21am
is so very hopeful to be rid of the albatross.
December 15, 2008 at 2:07pm
is no longer corporately hopeful. Call in the big guns, please.
December 15, 2008 at 8:45pm
is thinking Chinese from Wang’s. Hardly good Sesame Chicken, but oh-so-convenient.
December 16, 2008 at 4:23pm
is not going to venture from Minnetonka to St. Paul for the Mac Young Alum Happy Hour tonight–safety first.
December 16, 2008 at 5:18pm
had a lovely morning carrying around her 44-pound dog outside. Too cold for those little paws.
December 17, 2008 at 9:16am
cannot see past the piles on her desk.
December 17, 2008 at 11:13am
just got the strangest mobile phone message from a woman in Chicago who wanted to make installment payments for some 2009 Year of the Ox thing. Queer.
December 17, 2008 at 11:40am
is sorely behind in her Christmas Shopping.
December 17, 2008 at 5:21pm
is worried; Grendel–when up to his chest–is wheezing. Do any of you dog owners have advice?
December 17, 2008 at 9:06pm
wonders if compiling a year’s worth of status updates constitutes an autobiography.
December 18, 2008 at 8:11am
just learned that nearly half of our client list had money with Madoff. All of Minnesota is going to feel this.
December 18, 2008 at 11:56am
’s office has now received 3 cheesecakes, 1 chocolate cake, a crate of peanut brittle, countless gift baskets and popcorn tins, and one edible arrangement. Wow.
December 18, 2008 at 1:57pm
is gonna do a little apartment cleaning tonight…her excitement is overwhelming.
December 18, 2008 at 5:10pm
is skipping the cleaning and will watch Iron Man instead. Tough decision.
December 18, 2008 at 7:31pm
needs to get some more Christmas Lists or people (young and old) may get coal.
December 19, 2008 at 9:13am
’s power is out at the office so it’s time for filing. Grr.
December 19, 2008 at 1:33pm
’s power is back on, but she’d better finish filing. May as well clean the desk…procrastinate the real business at hand.
December 19, 2008 at 2:02pm
just finished a bunch of uninteresting tasks. Phew.
December 19, 2008 at 4:16pm
is amused; apparently when the apartment lost power today, Grendel lost MPR…but the iPod turned on an audiobook for him. Heh.
December 19, 2008 at 6:03pm
is menu planning…going between perusing her Cooking Light collection, her library of church cookbooks, and her latest: A Finnish cookbook. Yum.
December 20, 2008 at 12:14am
had so much fun playing in the snow but is really not interested in venturing out in it…gifts from the internet for all!
December 20, 2008 at 11:00am
just found her first gray hair and isn’t necessarily even upset about it. ‘Nuff said.
December 20, 2008 at 1:01pm
lied. She’s upset about the gray hair. Now, she’s going to try to throw herself into the Christmas fray and enjoy other peoples’ kids without a hint of bitter.
December 20, 2008 at 1:31pm
, to paraphrase Our Gang when they found the mule in the clubhouse, says, “Andrea, this is no place for you.” Neither was Hwy 100. Ugh.
December 20, 2008 at 6:32pm
is watching The Wizard of Oz and admiring a time before boobjobs. Amen.
December 20, 2008 at 7:43pm
will just play with the dog in the snow until morning. Or, whatever happens first: Morning or Boredom or Windchill. Methinks: Windchill.
December 20, 2008 at 10:28pm
is going nowhere today.
December 21, 2008 at 10:26am
wishes her work week was 2.5 days shorter so she could just crawl back into bed.
December 22, 2008 at 8:20am
is trying to live through the apocalypse of the office phone system. The end is near.
December 22, 2008 at 12:59pm
is amazed how she always runs into the same client at the grocery store…but a different grocery store each of the three times.
December 22, 2008 at 6:57pm
is going to re-purpose some old wallpaper books at the office for wrapping gifts. Cheap, green, and gorgeous.
December 22, 2008 at 7:33pm
is calling it a day. One big task down…only a mountain of them left to go.
December 22, 2008 at 10:48pm
had over eight glorious hours of sleep. Neener neener.
December 23, 2008 at 7:36am
is wondering who else will be at the 4:30 Christmas Eve service at Gethsemane…the Little Liens will be, she knows that!
.
December 23, 2008 at 9:20am
gets to go shopping for five–count ‘em, five–more people tonight.
December 23, 2008 at 4:14pm
is dying a painful death at the Ridgedale Target.
December 23, 2008 at 7:34pm
is watching “White Christmas” and wrapping presents with wallpaper.
December 23, 2008 at 8:44pm
is breakfasting on leftovers that she doesn’t want left in the fridge for five days…then off to work!
December 24, 2008 at 8:14am
found MOVIES on the floppies. They’ll have to wait until after Christmas…what a trip.
December 24, 2008 at 10:36am
is stopping for 3 more gift bags, going home to pack up a shopping cart-then-Jeep with luggage, gifts, and dog…then heading out to Cokato. Merry Christmas!
December 24, 2008 at 11:52am
is all about Merry Christmas, meltdowns, and “Mamma Mia” this morning.
December 25, 2008 at 11:33am
is about to participate in the family carol sing-along around the piano in Mahtomedi. Bliss.
December 25, 2008 at 7:17pm
is going to meet the gals for breakfast at Hojie’s in Dassel.
December 26, 2008 at 9:24am
is making Finnish Tarts with Mom.
December 26, 2008 at 3:35pm
is heading to “Christmas 2008, Act Three, Rural Park Rapids” after which she will exuent the season.
December 27, 2008 at 9:12am
is back in Cokato after a wonderful day with family up north. Incidentally, she hasn’t touched a computer since Wednesday afternoon. Ahh.
December 27, 2008 at 9:28pm
is concepting the companies’ New Year’s greetings while gazing down upon a frozen Cokato Lake. She’ll have to turn the concept into a design at work tomorrow.
December 28, 2008 at 12:46pm
and Grendel, the nomads, will be staying in St. Paul tonight. Long story.
December 28, 2008 at 6:44pm
is now back online and going through scads and scads of holiday photos taken on her NEW FABULOUS CAMERA (thanks Mom, Dad, Erik, and Cris!).
December 28, 2008 at 8:22pm
is glad that her sister-in-law called at 6:37…the mobile phone alarm didn’t go off. Now, the electrician may surprise her, but not wake her up.
December 29, 2008 at 7:20am
is at work, after finding out the hard way that the borrowed lid to the borrowed travel mug didn’t fit quite tightly enough.
December 29, 2008 at 10:33am
has swapped out Christmas music for Belle & Sebastian.
December 29, 2008 at 2:15pm
just made an appointment to tour Anytime Fitness tomorrow night…while munching on sour cream and onion potato chips. 
December 29, 2008 at 5:05pm
had a lovely time with Rachel and Sherry. Way overdue.
December 29, 2008 at 10:17pm
is so happy to sleep in her own bed for the first time since last Tuesday.
December 29, 2008 at 11:09pm
loved sleeping in her own bed so much that she did it for too long. Darned down comforter.
December 30, 2008 at 8:15am
has pulled the space heater out from under her desk and is now blasting it in her face. The next person who opens the front door will be taken out.
December 30, 2008 at 1:28pm
is now a key-toting member of Anytime Fitness. Rawr. (And, she’s actually going to workout. Tonight. Not just tote the key and call it good.)
December 30, 2008 at 7:23pm
is hoping that insomnia does not accompany nighttime workouts as a general rule. Blech.
December 31, 2008 at 8:19am
thinks she’s got a concept that’ll work. Next, she’ll try to make it happen…then she’ll suffer designer’s remorse…then she’ll have lunch. It’s a process.
December 31, 2008 at 9:20am
’s office is apparently emptying out early this afternoon. She will, too. 
December 31, 2008 at 1:07pm
is curled up with Grendel on the couch. May 2009 be all that it is hoped to be.
December 31, 2008 at 7:03pm
said goodbye to someone.
December 31, 2008 at 10:37pm
I could fill in the blanks a bit with the comments left after each of the updates, but it’s a little more interesting to me to read what I first put out there as my Facebook Representative. Never mistake me–none of my updates are what could be considered “haphazard.” And, some of them have been a little too revealing, caustic, raw, or random for even my liking. But, out there they were.
Starting off at the beginning of December, I can remember my back being so injured that I couldn’t sit for long periods of time. It’s one of the many reasons I’m back to losing weight–enough with the back problems. I did notice, though, that later in the month I mentioned how I was carrying my 44-pound dog around outside because his little paw-paws were freezing. I am nothing if not stupid sometimes.
Things were starting to unravel at the office due to the economy and some iffy business decisions. Family was enjoyed and I did my usual nomadic schtick that only a singleton can do around the holidays…even ending up at my brother and sister-in-law’s house overnight due to an electrical emergency while they were out of state. I was able to enjoy all members of my extended family and celebrated my own version of “Four Christmases.” I baked. I sang. I cursed the weather that kept people away from my performances of “The Messiah.” I took things personally when I shouldn’t have.
I feel a little ill when I read the last one. I clench up. I can’t swallow. A short-lived relationship. I will never be yelled at by a man. I said goodbye.
Behind the curtain, there was joy, pain, happiness, fear, and hope. I went mall walking and to my therapy appointments. I dawdled out of denial. I enjoyed my companion, Grendel, oh so much. I tried to control the minutiae. I grappled with feelings of self-worth. I was terribly lonesome.
Comparing last December to this December, I am only pleased. I haven’t done the big Status Update export for December of 2009, yet, but I know from my perspective from behind the curtain that life has been good. My Status Updates for 2009 probably aren’t all that different from those listed above, made a year prior. From a public perspective, I still spent December trying to improve my health, working on design projects, cooking, enjoying art, seeing people, tormenting my dog, wrapping gifts, watching movies, and going to the Christmas Eve service at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Dassel, Minnesota. This year, it’s what is different behind the curtain that counts. Everything is different. Better. Sure, I may not have a job and my future may be part of the Bone Chilling Unknown, but I’m much better prepared to handle it than I was at this time last year.
Thank heavens.