It is almost exactly a year to the day that I started my family history writing group. I’ve found this a fascinating group – it has been so inspirational to me in my own writing! Looking back to my blog a year ago, this is what I wrote about that first meeting:

I started my family history writing group yesterday… and handed out a sheet with some ideas to consider; reading it through now I think I may polish this up a bit… but here is what I gave them – first draft!

HOW ARE YOU GOING TO TELL YOUR FAMILY HISTORY– What is the end ‘product’ going to be – a folder of printed pages to show to the family, or maybe an actual printed book which could have a wider audience  – there are plenty of ‘publishing on demand’ options these days (such as Lulu or Amazon)

There is an author I greatly admire.

She is a novelist and essayist, a columnist and, well, I guess although the word is out of fashion, you could also call her an orator.

She is profound and brilliant.

She is also on Twitter.

And so I am following her on Twitter.

I am a fan.

But something confounds me. I think something has changed with the terrific writer. Or perhaps, it has just taken me a while to notice. Perhaps my admiration got in the way of my perception. (which, in today’s world, is probably often true)

Her tweets are not exactly profound.

As a matter of fact, they consist mainly of the same thing:

Complaints.

Oh dear, how she complains. Nothing makes her happy. Everything displeases her. And there seems to be no tiny incident not worth her scorn. There is no sense of proportion. She is as upset…

Okay, folks … I want you to be sure that you are sitting down for this one.  Sitting?  Good.  Now, take your left hand and firmly cup your jaw so that it cannot fall to the floor.  Ready?

Facebook had plans to take health records – such as a patient’s age, prescriptions and number of hospital visits – and link it to their Facebook data. Facebook had already approached hospitals and health organizations with the idea, touting that it could (somehow?) help improve patient care.  “For example, the Facebook data might reveal that a patient did not have many friends or did not receive many messages, so might need a nurse to visit them at home. It might also reveal that a patient did not speak English as their first language, which would help the hospital plan the person’s care.”  Pardon, but wouldn’t the hospital already be aware that…