[Everyone’s got a vice, a bad habit, something they know they need to change. Unfortunately, everyone also has a million excuses why they just can’t do it. Not anymore. Every month

So I have now gone four mostly Facebook-free weeks. Which is saying something considering my little incident last weekend. I swear the universe was playing games with me for my final week of this challenge.

I’m officially back on campus, which makes living without Facebook damn near impossible. How am I supposed to figure out my plans for the night without FB lining up my social calendar in a neat column organized by RSVPs of definitely yes, maybe (if nothing else is going on) and no you will not catch me there if suddenly you were the only house throwing down in Frat Land?

And if that’s not bad enough, during some Thirsty Thursday festivities, my Crackberry (and myself) experienced a little blackout. Yeah, my only connection to the world was gone. Without Facebook or a cell phone, there would be nearly no way to communicate with anyone. I took a moment to cry/freak out. How would I contact my friends to let them know I was going to be late for our Friday night pre-game?

It was almost scary how disconnected I felt.

Finally, thinking outside the box a bit, I logged onto Gchat, email and Twitter, using every last mode of communication I could think of to get in touch. I breathed a sigh of relief.

But then I realized another major issue: my Blackberry phone book was gone. No numbers. No BBM pins. And no way to tell everyone I know to “Give me your numbers, please, I’ll love you forever” without the help of a trusty Facebook group. It was at that moment, as I held my dead Blackberry in my hand, that I realized how central Facebook has become to my life. Thank god for Will, the  lovely man from the North Atherton Verizon store. He somehow managed to recover my numbers and totally saved my social life.

It was a trying and emotional week, but I made it work. I survived the busiest week of August so far and the three weeks before it. All without Facebook.

So what can I say about this challenge? Well, I’ve learned to live life without my Newsfeed. I’ve learned that someone texting you with a party invite is so much better than a mass Facebook event. (Really… when was the last time you called someone INDIVIDUALLY to invite them to be your partner for Fifth and a Friend?) I learned the difference between the people who genuinely want to talk to me (and are willing to pick up the phone to do so) and the people who only talk to me because they are bored or procrastinating.

I’ve learned that there are so many other great things to fill my time with than sitting in front of a computer and stalking some random girl’s photos (full of people I don’t know).

In the end, I’m proud of myself for taking on this challenge and serving a giant, steaming bowl of  “I told you so” to everyone who said I wouldn’t be able to do it. I did. So there.

And I can’t wait to brag all about my success in multiple status updates come Wednesday morning.

It is so easy for us single ladies to look at people in relationships and be a little jealous, or miss the stability and security that sometimes comes from being in a relationship. It is so easy to get trapped in the pattern of being in a relationship simply for the comfort that comes from having a boyfriend, any boyfriend. I know this from both personal experience and from watching so many of my friends get trapped in relationships where they are not satisfied but can’t bear to leave the security of their boyfriend behind.

Change is difficult, change is scary, and hell, I understand that better than anyone (I don’t even like changing the brand of mascara I use, let alone my relationship status!). But sometimes, as hard as it can seem at first, change is necessary.

Take my little sister, for example. I’ve been watching her fight with her boy almost constantly for the past two months. She has really come to like the safety blanket feeling that comes with being secure in having a boyfriend, which is understandable, especially in high school where so many social events are just easier if you are in a relationship. (She was horrified at the idea of going to prom with someone else because then her group would be all messed up…). Being the older sister that I am, I can see how amazing my baby sis is. She is the star soccer player of her school, has one of the top GPAs, is gorgeous, hilarious, and super easy to get along with (not that I’m biased). But she doesn’t see it. If she did, she’d realize what she’s sacrificing to be with this guy who makes her cry and she’d find someone else who would treat her the way she deserves to be treated.

Reflecting on all of this has reminded me how happy I am being single, and why it is alright to keep just as high of standards for my boys as I do everything else in my life. I don’t hold onto friends who piss me off, I don’t buy clothes that don’t fit and I don’t use makeup that makes me break out. Why, then, would I ever settle for guy who doesn’t make me feel as fantastic as I know I am?

There’s an app for that.

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For the first couple of months after my college acceptance, it was all about celebration. Buying up sweatshirts and car decals on the bookstore website, networking with my future classmates on Facebook, making pro/con lists for next year’s housing choices. But recently, my future hit me as being much more real when my school’s course catalog for the 2009-2010 school year was put online for current students (as well as curious prefrosh) to use in selecting their courses. And, being the geek that I am, I perused nearly every humanities department’s section and salivated at the descriptions of the classes I’d love to take.

But my passion for intellectual pursuits poses a problem for me. While my school does not have any core requirements, there is no possible way I could take every course that interests me in four years. I plan to be an English major, but there are courses in the history, government, philosophy, religion, and film departments that sound like incredible classes. I love to learn anything and everything and I will take every opportunity to do so; yet time constraints and forces beyond my control will make it impossible for me to take certain courses.

I’ve considered a possible double-major if I fall in love with another department, but that still leaves many, many courses out in the cold. Courses that may not be vital to my major or to my future career, but courses that would undoubtedly be intellectually stimulating and enriching. After all, when else during my lifetime will I have so many learning opportunities at my fingertips?

I know I’ve got time to think about my freshman year courses and map out the next four years, but I can’t help feeling excited about planning my future. I suppose I’ve got some thinking (and pro/con list-making) to do. What suggestions do you college students and grads have for choosing courses from a large menu of possibilities?

Back in December, after receiving my wonderfully thick acceptance package; dashing around my house while screaming bloody murder; hugging my mom/dad/dog/the mortified mailman; and texting everyone on my contacts list with blazing speed, I slowed down for a moment and composed myself at my computer. Still hyperventilating yet functioning relatively well, I logged into Facebook and did a quick search for my university’s class of 2013 group, which I had been secretly stalking for the past few days as admitted students began trickling into the members list. Without a moment’s hesitation, I clicked to join the group and sat back in my chair, relishing the second my admission became official – in cyberspace.

After all, if there’s anything the technology age has taught me, it’s that nothing is true until it’s posted to the Internet for the rest of the world to see.

For the first few days, I joined my fellow ‘13ers in the “Get To Know You” type thread and the obligatory message board games (which are excellent procrastination tools, if nothing else). I found myself growing more and more excited for the fall as each new name and face joined the group and posted an emoticon demonstrating their enthusiasm. But soon, the newness began to wear off and the extreme jubilation with it. Once the overall college craze at my school quieted down, I quickly forgot the group even existed. That is, until the friending frenzy began.

Some members of the group went on friend request rampages as soon as they joined, randomly requesting ‘13ers they hadn’t even interacted with in the group and racking up the mutual friend count on their profiles. At first, I figured they were being friendly and trying to get to know some of their future classmates, but only a couple of the friending crusaders made any attempt to communicate with those of us they requested. What was up their sleeves?

Nothing, it seemed, except for a desire to break 1,000 on their friend lists. I found it bizarre that these kids would make their first impression on their future classmates in such an obnoxious fashion. I shied away from them and instead began messaging ‘13ers with whom I had things in common, building the groundwork for new friendships.

While the Facebook friending frenzy was unnecessary and rather immature, I’ve met some ‘13ers through the group that I’m really looking forward to meeting in April at admitted students’ day. The next step is to step out of cyberspace and meet these new acquaintances face-to-face at our home for the next four years.

I just wonder sometimes if meeting these people online first is a good thing, or a terrible idea. What do you think?

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Margaret Cho won’t vote for Palin, but would totally eff her.

But babies and Facebook? Not so much.

I don’t care how much Facebook is “expanding” its users. Facebook is really for college students and it should stay that way. Which is why I’m not too offended to find out that it has been removing pictures of females breastfeeding their kids.

The blog posted on USAToday said, “Karen Speed, a 33-year-old Canadian mother who describes herself as a “lactivist,” tells The (Toronto) Star that such photos led Facebook to delete her account and a support group she had established for breastfeeding mothers.”

First of all, what is Karen Speed, a 33-year-old Canadian mother/lactivist doing on Facebook in the first place? What is she possibly getting out of this? Finding out at which side of campus the next tailgate is gonna start? Checking up on her douchebag ex-boyfriend to see if he added any new skanks to his friend list?

Seriously, Karen. Seriously.

I think it’s great that mothers are reaching out to each other for support, but is it really necessary to post, what I think, are such personal and intimate photos on this particular site that is regularly monitored? Here is one of the pics that was removed from the site, and nipple or not – it may not be “obscene” as Facebook would say, but it’s still pretty needless on a college-based networking site.

I guess what I’m trying to say is…send your friends a personal e-mail if you want to show yourself breastfeeding without mysteriously finding your account deleted. Facebook is run by an outside company and by things called “terms” and “conditions.” Of course this would fuel controversy.

In related content, one of the pro-breastfeeding Facebook Groups is called “Booby Babies and Their Mommies.” If the name alone isn’t convincing enough that Facebook should remain a site for college students, check out their alma mater, which is supposed to be sung to the tune of (lame) Beauty and the Beast’s “Be Our Guest”:

See our breasts, see our breasts

Everywhere, half-naked chests.

While we nurse, the prudish curse

And wish we’d button up our vests.

Sorry folks, look away,

If we’re too décolleté

But this IS what boobs are made for

Not those Wonderbras you paid for.

We refuse to go feed

Hunched in bathroom stalls, indeed

We’re appalled that you would make such rude requests!

Would you agree to eat

Upon a toilet seat?

See our breasts, see our breasts, free our breasts!

No one on Facebook should regularly wear a vest, which is why, when it comes to Facebook, this is the only way moms should ever fit in.