A Slightly Sick Weekend Day
January 18, 2014
I've dropped off of the Facebook world for as long as possible. I do need to interact with it from time to time and I do miss reading my family's posts but all in all I consider it a net win. I do, however, miss posting my own status. There is something oddly comforting about having other people "like" my status or comment on some event, and reciprocating in kind. I suppose because we are social animals this fulfills some kind of instinctive need, but I find the remote and monitored version of what were once a closer circle of intimacies and supports to be a little overly taxing in terms of both time and energy, and a distraction from spending time with my immediate family. How many times had I tried to get my son to get out of my arms or personal space so I could catch up on gossip? The answer was simply too often.
So, back to the more intimate, thoughtful online diary, the blog. Does anyone read it? Doesn't matter. What is important is the writing of it, the time to put my thoughts into words, to vomit out the inner concerns, thoughts, observations, force the subconscious to emerge as Helvetica or Courier, or even as Times New Roman (which appears to be the current setting; note to self- is this better for typing and Helvetica for reading? It might be!)
Looking back on 2013 there are two things that changed my home life more than any other (at least as far as objects are concerned and their impacts on lifestyle- people are quite a different matter). First, the garden shed. With the porch open and bike stowed, we got proper patio furniture, lighting, and a ceiling fan and a gas grill. Oh how we lounged, and I can hardly wait to get back out there. The second thing was the record player. We've had music, but there is something about the limitations of vinyl, the album-centric as opposed to song-centric nature of the format, the need to attend to it, that makes it so much more engaging than more convenient digital formats. If something is too easy to use and access that cheapens the experience of it, and so music in a completely digestible format, one when you can jump from track to track across composers and albums at the slide of a finger, the experience becomes meaningless, an exercise in vanity rather than an experience. Going to a concert you are going to be played for, and the option to select is not present. So you sit back and let the sound wash over you- you have nothing to attend to as it is beyond the scope of your control, and so letting an LP spin on a turntable sets in motion a space of time in which you need not interact, nor even consider the need for it. And 22 minutes later you repeat.
This message written by a real human being. If you prefer an automated message, please upgrade your toaster with a voice synthesizer.
I've dropped off of the Facebook world for as long as possible. I do need to interact with it from time to time and I do miss reading my family's posts but all in all I consider it a net win. I do, however, miss posting my own status. There is something oddly comforting about having other people "like" my status or comment on some event, and reciprocating in kind. I suppose because we are social animals this fulfills some kind of instinctive need, but I find the remote and monitored version of what were once a closer circle of intimacies and supports to be a little overly taxing in terms of both time and energy, and a distraction from spending time with my immediate family. How many times had I tried to get my son to get out of my arms or personal space so I could catch up on gossip? The answer was simply too often.
So, back to the more intimate, thoughtful online diary, the blog. Does anyone read it? Doesn't matter. What is important is the writing of it, the time to put my thoughts into words, to vomit out the inner concerns, thoughts, observations, force the subconscious to emerge as Helvetica or Courier, or even as Times New Roman (which appears to be the current setting; note to self- is this better for typing and Helvetica for reading? It might be!)
Looking back on 2013 there are two things that changed my home life more than any other (at least as far as objects are concerned and their impacts on lifestyle- people are quite a different matter). First, the garden shed. With the porch open and bike stowed, we got proper patio furniture, lighting, and a ceiling fan and a gas grill. Oh how we lounged, and I can hardly wait to get back out there. The second thing was the record player. We've had music, but there is something about the limitations of vinyl, the album-centric as opposed to song-centric nature of the format, the need to attend to it, that makes it so much more engaging than more convenient digital formats. If something is too easy to use and access that cheapens the experience of it, and so music in a completely digestible format, one when you can jump from track to track across composers and albums at the slide of a finger, the experience becomes meaningless, an exercise in vanity rather than an experience. Going to a concert you are going to be played for, and the option to select is not present. So you sit back and let the sound wash over you- you have nothing to attend to as it is beyond the scope of your control, and so letting an LP spin on a turntable sets in motion a space of time in which you need not interact, nor even consider the need for it. And 22 minutes later you repeat.
This message written by a real human being. If you prefer an automated message, please upgrade your toaster with a voice synthesizer.
posted by Unknown | 8:03 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home