My Facebook Endeavors

I, like 500+ Million others, am a Facebooker.

I have many, varied and evolving interests, that I like to share with the world, and I do so through Facebook. I have yet to see the movie, The Social Network, but it looks pretty interesting. I know who the "Zuck" is, but have never really had much of an interest in researching him or the history of this wonderful concept we know as Facebook.

I started using Facebook to reconnect with friends from the past, and family who I have not seen and live far away...I have used it to share my Likes and to pass time with fun applications like Farmville and Social City...but they grew tiring and mundane for me. Instead, I have recently started a few pages on Facebook to devote more time to my interests, and to share them with friends, family, and to broaden my online social network.

I first started getting involved with Facebook communities through a Facebook friend, Anna, who is from the U.K. She started a postcard swapping page, I Love Postcards :) where I have been sharing postcards and pen pal'n with new friends from all over the world. I also joined her Friendship Room on Facebook, where she promotes the culture of online social networking via Facebook, by providing a page to make new friends and share your lives and interests with others on Facebook.

So I created my own page of Facebook: Fan Fiction on Facebook w/ G.J. Lentz, to share my fan "fix" with others. I have an open invitation to all who like to write fan fiction of any genre, or for those who just like to read them. I have long had a passion for writing; I have joined many different writing groups all over the internet, from PBeM (play by email, a sort of role-playing fan fiction concept), to various fan fiction genre groups on places like Yahoo! Groups. I do love fan fiction; it is a culture of expanding upon the concepts of fan's favorite movies, books, or comics. I personally like science fiction and fantasy genres like Battlestar Galactica or George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones.

 I do have an interest in becoming a real writer; I would love to be published one day, but I would also be happy to make a living selling my ideas as a ghostwriter. I have an autobiography in the works, through WeBook, a resource/group I discovered on Facebook. I hope to catch the interest of an agent through the WeBook site once my manuscript is complete. I also have been working on a compilation of fantasy short stories based in a  realm of my own creation called Theara (pronounced Terra). My baby though "write-now", is a complex time-travel piece based on an element of String Theory, with inspirations from the novel/movie Timeline, and the t.v show Fringe.

I decided to create a "professional" writing page on Facebook to share my journey and the processes of writing and becoming published. Titling it after myself, G.J Lentz, I share my ideas and research/inspirational elements of creating characters, plots, and story themes, my aspirations and frustrations, and the process of trying to get published.

Another project of mine involves my love of photography, my interest of being a writer, and the desire to travel the world. I thought one day, in the frustrations of daily life, how great it would be were it I could just pack a bag and just go...anywhere...but to report back via Facebook, posting pictures, video, and blog notes about my travels and experiences. I have an interest in world cultures, histories, and current worldly issues, so I thought to combine all of this and with Facebook as a center piece, I created The Vicarious Vagabond Project on Facebook to try and realize this endeavor.

The "Project" is first and foremost a means to connect Facebook members in the spirit of cultural tolerance and education. One day, I hope to travel the world, and share the world with those who cannot through my Facebook Page. I hope to gain a million members who will share the idea, and through social networking via Facbook, garner the interest and support required to take that first worldly journey.

As a Vicarious Vagabond it is my goal to be able to fund an initial year long journey around the world, through support from the page, having forged an invested community on Facebook who would vicariously experience all the world has to offer as I post pictures, video, and articles of all things cultural. I want to have people involved in all ways, to educate and promote some goodwill. It is my hope that through this project I could earn a living reporting on all things cultural, volunteering where I may, to be an ambassador for peace and tolerance among our varied world cultures. Perhaps one day the Vicarious Vagabond Project could become an organization to help fund other Vagabonds to travel and continue to spread the education and understanding we need in this world to make it a better place...