I love my phone so much.

Today I used my phone to listen to music while I walked to a museum, to keep me busy while I waited for my friend, to contact and stay in touch with friends near and far, to keep track of how active I was throughout the day, and to look up information on pieces at the Met. These are magical devices.

Melanie looking up info on this Stradivarius Violin.

A lot of people have strong negative emotions about phones these days. I can understand that. There are negative aspects to everything I guess.

I really love my phone. I’ve been using a Nexus 5 for the past 16 months, but love it so much I don’t see upgrading in the near future. When I do, I’ll probably go for the Nexus 6, or Google Play editions of the HTC or Samsung.

I can see how and why people get upset about phone usage, so I’ve established some rules for myself. I am not perfect in following these and many of them are not important if you are in a group instead of with one other person, but I think it has helped. This list is ever changing and growing.

Lizzie’s Phone Rules

• Never check the phone at dinner until it’s over and you need to check the time, split the bill with Splitwise, or repay each other via Venmo or PayPal.
• Don’t answer the phone when you are with someone unless you ask them if it’s ok or apologize to them telling them who it is and why. Then keep the conversation as short as possible.
• Only get involved in a text conversation when you are with someone if the friend who is with you knows the other party and you are reading the conversation out loud.
• If tweeting or updating a status while with a friend, involve them in the composition and hashtagging.
• Don’t be negative on Social Media.
• Allow friends to have final say in photos you post of them on Social Media.
• Take as many pictures and videos as you can.

What’s Tomorrow?

April 26th

• National Audubon Day
• National Richter Scale Day
• National Kids and Pets Day
• National Pretzel Day
• National Rebuilding Day
• National Help a Horse Day
• National Pet Parents Day – Last Sunday in April