Columbia, California

     So I was off roaming around the country this last week and visited some family in Central California. It was great; there was a wedding, we went to see Magic Mike and Brave (two great movies for two completely different audiences), and we did the touristy thing and visited Columbia.

     Columbia is this great old-time mining town that has been preserved as a California State Historical Park. There are all sorts of things to do, including mining for gold, riding the stagecoach, making your own candles, watching the blacksmith at his craft, and watching the Nelson's Columbia Candy Kitchen make their homemade candies. We've been going as a family for years and still love to walk around and see the sights. My favorites are the Candle Courtyard and the candy shop. 

     At the Courtyard you can buy candles that have a basic shape, and dip them in hot wax to add color and your own unique spin on the candle. They have the traditional taper-shape and other shapes, like roses. It's great fun for kids, though you'll want to be careful with the wax . 

     Nelson's has a great selection of old-time candies: chocolate dipped honeycomb, fudge, divinity, hard candies in all sorts of flavors, jellies, lollipops, gummy candies, and even sugar free selections. Most candies are made in the shop, but there are a few that come from elsewhere. 

     There are other saloons and shops as well as street vendors. This last trip there was a cart selling old-fashioned root beer floats and lemonade and another with popcorn and other goodies. There's Brown's Coffee House & Sweets Saloon, the City Hotel, Kate's Teahouse, Columbia Booksellers & Stationers, and many other shops and eateries. 

     My favorite part of the town is that it started out as an actual mining town and has been restored. There are mini-museums throughout the town as well as a bowling alley from the 1800s and citizens dressed in era clothing. All the while, the town has grown up around its historical center and incorporated the park into the life of the town. 

     Columbia is a great place to visit for a touch of the California Gold Rush, but by no means the only attraction to the area. Nearby are Sonora, Jamestown, Angels Camp, and Murphy, California. Each have their own touch of history including Jamestown's Railtown 1897 State Historical Park. Stop by and enjoy what Tuolumne County has to offer. 

Just a thought...

Stephie

Social Media

     So I gave in this week and got a twitter. I have no idea how it's supposed to work, but I'm following nearly anything and everything that looks somewhat interesting. I was thinking that maybe I want a clever tag - you know, that name that other people reference you with. I asked my sister and she suggested an inside joke that we have. It was a clever name, but I wasn't sure people would get why it was attached to me. Another friend suggested that I use "theincrediblesteph", which would be alright, except for it just doesn't feel like me. In the end I just used my school-assigned e-mail username. It's not very clever, but I can always change it later if I want.

     But it got me thinking; there are so many different social media sites that we use to talk to each other and they've become a hassle. One of my friends got a position managing the social media for a non-profit and when she and I were talking about what all goes into it, I didn't realize how many different medias we use. Within the same conversation, another friend commented on how many applications he has on his phone dealing with things like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and other social media. Why do we need so many? And why are the different platforms' interfaces so different? I would almost rather use something to keep track of them all for me. 

     We all act like we're so connected with each other because we know when Joe-Schmo finished his book (because of GoodReads) or when Suzy-Sunshine got a promotion (LinkedIn) or even when Molly and Mike got engaged (Facebook) but we don't know what's going on in their everyday lives. What does it matter if  Suzy got a promotion? The observer doesn't know how she feels about it: maybe she was going to quit, but now she feels an obligation to the company and can't follow her dream of backpacking through Timbuktu. 

     It feels like we've traded the deep and meaningful relationships with other people for the superficial knowledge of the overarching themes of their lives. I talk to my grandmother sometimes about why she's always writing letters. She receives at least one each day and they're all filled with day-to-day reactions and thoughts on what has happened. There's no question that Aunt Jean is frustrated at the neighbor kids because she writes out that they ran into her fence, learning to drive, rather than just posting a Facebook status that her back gate is broken. When did this shift from wanting to truly know another person to wanting to know about another person happen? 

     I've tried the whole writing letters to friends, but my generation just doesn't have time, or the energy, to write out a letter. It seems like we don't know how to make the connections anymore, simply because we share such little bits and pieces through our various social media. The bits and pieces are like a piece of a puzzle with letters and in-person conversations making up the picture from the box to put them into place. Social media will never make up for what it has taken away from us, but it is making strides to put the pieces in a recognizable pattern we can then read from. I still miss getting the whole picture. 

Just a thought....

Stephie

Imagination

     It's amazing to see how pop culture can take literary references and make them popular once more. I was watching Doctor Who this afternoon and Charles Dickens featured. Some of the greatest minds of all time re-imagined by our standards--Dickens starts out as a close-minded fool but learns to accept that the world is not as it has always seemed. The implication is that it wasn't until after he opened his mind to the possibility of angels and aliens and more that his writing took off.
     What does that mean for us? Sheldon, or probably Leonard, makes a comment about how science is focused on facts. We live in such a science focused world that we don't take into account the mysteries of the supernatural or just the unknown. And the people who do are considered crazy. Why can't we understand science and still allow our imaginations to explore the unknown? We've started to allow our minds to explore with shows like "Life After People," "Mega-Disasters," shows like "The Tudors," "Merlin," and even "Doctor Who," but they're mainly based in what we already know, or in myths from centuries ago.
     What happened to humanity's imagination? Will we ever be able to let our imaginations run lose, or will we be trapped between our nightmares and science forever? Shakespeare wrote: There are more things of heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy. I hope we learn to accept that there will forever be things people don't understand, and things we don't need to understand.

Just a thought...
Stephie