So I slightly shamefully admit that I have an Iphone and, as of last weekend, a Macbook. These two pieces of plastic, glass and metal connect me 24/7 to a world where I can learn the intimate details of other people's lives without really interacting with them. As a writer, I am naturally an observer, and you might even say a voyeur. This can be dangerous online, probably not as dangerous a peeping in windows at night, but that requires too much energy. Wow, I am starting to sound creepy…all I am trying to say is that with these new gadgets I find myself spending more time online. I feel overly-connected.
Now, it's not all bad, I have reconnected with people from my past and have kept in better touch with friends and family, which is good (that was one of my new year's resolutions), but am I becoming one of those crazy people whose heart will wither up and be replaced by the facebook logo? I surely hope not, but just to be sure, I took this slightly cheesy quiz. And phew, I was happy to score a 46 out of 100. I am within "normal" range. Prior to my two new apple devices, I had a really old, free cell phone that only called and texted and a computer from the year 2000 that didn't go online. I guess I was likely so far below normal internet usage that moving into this decade technology-wise has been a little unnerving for me.
Nevertheless I plan to disconnect on a regular basis from now on. By that I mean I will use my new laptop to write and disable the wifi. Seriously. I'll put my phone in a drawer for a whole day on the weekends and read the piles of New Yorkers all over my livingroom. If you need to get a hold of me, I guess you'll have to drop by. Or just wait for Monday, because I can't think of a way to survive my strapped-to-a-desk workday without gmail, vox, facebook, blogger and my best friend the Iphone.
Everyone's an Ocean 