As you’re reading this post (do you even read these posts?!) imagine the theme song to The Wonder Years playing gently in the background.

In honor of the recent purchase of and subsequent vitriol towards Instagram, I decided to document my summer vacation thus far in everybody’s new-old favorite fashion: with filters!

The most vocal backlash stemming from its acquisition has been sung to the tune of privacy. I’m not an Instagram user per se- I consume its content in my feed from time to time but I don’t actively contribute to its society. It would surprise me to find a large portion of users disparate from facebook and if you’re linking your Instagram to your facebook (or vice-versa, however it may operate) then, by-and-large, they already have you.

I haven’t scoured the Terms Of Service with any granularity but I would venture a guess that it already hums very similarly to that of facebook’s, even before their union. What some people fail to understand is that just because you delete something form the internet, doesn’t mean it’s gone AND because you use their services, the content is no longer exclusively yours.

It’s a relatively small price to pay for the service and its reach. You could emulate something resembling the same thing but the effort and time requisite to attain that reach is infinitely large. So, is the trade off worth it? In most cases, it’s a resounding “probably.” As I mentioned before, I’m a consumer of the thing, not a strict user in the sense of EULA. The only way this affects me directly, is the impending over saturation of super-saturated and stylized photos from this point on; more default pictures out of focus and grainy, a la 1977 but that’s only a mild abrasion, if at all grating. I’m sure it will wax and wane and we’ll be restored to the fidelity of digital sometime in the future.

If I could venture another guess (I realizing I’m toeing the extremities of my Jump to Conclusions mat), I’d say most of the acrimony actually stems from jealousy. It’s literally a billion dollar idea that everyone had but failed to execute. It’s elegant in its simplicity and usability. It lets you do what you want to do without you having to know how to do it. The only point at which it failed was monetization.

Allow me to stress the past tense.

So, back to my summer vacation: I’m not on summer vacation. I’ve forgotten what it feels like to be sunkissed but not suffering in traffic so I’m attempting to emulate it comic form. This is a true story.

Also, a true story is how I lost my glasses (this time):

Last weekend, we decided to paddle board in the far away and mystical land of Austin, TX. We opted for the SUP-style board (which I recently found was an acronym for Stand Up Paddle board) and proceeded down Town Lake. Sam fell in and I managed to stay dry despite my balance being tenuous at best. On our return, like most everything, we turned it into a competition: a race to the finish. BUT! Sam maintained that we were not to dock until I fell off my board as he had before me. The race continued and as I pulled slightly ahead, Sam thought he’d hedge the lead by pushing off of my board. What transpired is accurately depicted above. The nose of my board dipped into the water, propelling me head-first overboard. Sam got his wish and we were allowed to return to shore.

Despite his temperament Sam felt responsible for the loss of my glasses and decided to balance the ledger with food. After we ate, I explained to him that it wasn’t a big deal because they were in fact, Zenni Optical glasses, and were a mere $10 buy-in. To which he then rationalized that, in actuality, it was I that owes him.

How does the saying go? With part-time friendsThe assholes you spend time with. like these…