Jan 18, 2013 Posted by Joelle

Why I Left Facebook

On January 16, 2013, I deactivated my Facebook account. I’m not the first one to do so, and I’m sure I won’t be the last. Before I deactivated my account, my home page looked like the photo above. In a lot of ways, my decision has been a long time coming because Facebook was bringing me down, one update at a time, one feature at a time. Over the past months, most of the stories and links... read more

Mar 27, 2011 Posted by Joelle

Soundtrack To My Life – Volume 2

For the past few months, I’ve been seriously contemplating freezing my eMusic account because I’ve been too busy to sample and download music. A few days ago, before I set out to take this break, I decided to give it one last listen. The result was this addictive compilation that became the soundtrack to my life at the moment. The playlist includes four tracks (“Shooting Star”,... read more

Dec 12, 2010 Posted by Joelle

Soundtrack To My Life – Volume 1

One of the reasons I started this blog was because I wanted to be able to share the music that plays in the background of my racing thoughts with other people. In the first edition of the “Soundtrack To My Life” series, I’m posting some of my favorite independent and alternative songs of the moment, most of which I discovered on the subscription-based digital music website eMusic. Even... read more

Nov 24, 2010 Posted by Joelle

Smoking And Alienation

My Dear Smoker Friends, I’m alienated by you. Beyond the nicotine addiction, you need to smoke for whichever reason you do. I need to not feel like I’m suffocating with every breath I take when I’m with you. I need to not feel and smell like an ashtray when I go home. I’m sad and lonely and at a loss because our survival and self-preservation instincts are likely to drive us further... read more

Oct 14, 2010 Posted by Joelle

Chess Board – A Matter Of Life and Death

She was stuck in traffic, amid lines and lines of stationary vehicles. It’s going to be a while, she thought with a sigh. Her iPod had failed her with its dead battery and she didn’t want to be left alone with her thoughts. So she switched the radio to Tuner and started flicking through the stations she had saved until she fell upon what seemed like an interview with an author about his latest... read more

Oct 11, 2010 Posted by Joelle

How Social Media Changed My Life

For quite some time now, I’ve been meaning to reflect on the impact of social media on my life. I guess now is the right time to do so, if only to heed @funkyozzi‘s call for a related post. So how has social media changed my life? The easiest and simplest way to answer that question would be to say that it made me social. You may or may not have figured this out by now, but I’m not... read more

Sep 28, 2010 Posted by Joelle

A Little Gem From The “Afterlives”

I don’t think I’ll ever stop singing the praises of David Eagleman’s superb collection of short-stories, “Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives.” I remember when I bought it, I was wandering the aisles and stacks of books at Virgin and it stood out with its smart cover and catchy reviews. When I started reading the jacket and flipping through the pages, there was no way... read more

Sep 12, 2010 Posted by Joelle

If God Existed, Why Doesn’t He Show Himself To His Creation?

A few weeks ago, I was having a Twitter conversation with my friend @Seleucid about god and the creation of the universe. The discussion grew from British physicist Stephen Hawking’s claim in his new book, “The Grand Design”, that god didn’t create the universe and that the Big Bang was inevitable due to the law of gravity. @Seleucid asked: Why does a God who runs the world so... read more