Yesterday I was sitting on my couch reading a fantastic book called The Rules of Civility by Amor Towles on my Kindle Fire (lest you think it was just a plain ol’ Kindle, which looks somehow archaic and behind the times already) when my three year old sidled up to me to watch. Yep, the little dude was sorely disappointed to find out that my screen just held words. Words! Wasn’t I playing a game? Didn’t I want to watch something? Couldn’t he help me get some golden eggs on Angry Birds?
I am sighing heavily and clucking my tongue as I think about it. Technology has crept into almost every minute of my day. Case in point, I worked in an office all day today; spent 80% of that time on a computer and here I am tapping away on my laptop while my husband snores next to me. That’s right, honey, you snore. It’s ok; I still love you, but you do snore.
Don’t get me wrong I dig squishing those green pigs as much as the next guy. What? The next guy has already moved on? Angry Birds is so last week? Yeah, yeah, yeah…I know, I’m late to the party. But that is kind of my thing–I often catch on once things cease to be cool. I’m guessing this whole blogging fad is on its way out now that I’ve jumped on board.
I am not as late to the party, however, as my sister who called me about a month ago to tell me about this great “new show” she is watching now and have I ever heard of it: Modern Family.
I do feel a little ahead of the curve these days since I recently started pinning and gawking on Pinterest. Some stat from South x Southwest–don’t quote me on this, I am known to sometimes make stuff up that I am sure I read somewhere–showed that most CMOs don’t know what Pinterest is yet(!) (Acronym alert: CMO = Chief Marketing Officer, but you knew that.) Where have they been while the rest of us have been pinning pictures of J Crew outfits and ideas for organizing our laundry rooms? Playing golf? Doing things in the “real world”? Huh.
OK, so I totally love Pinterest with the fire of 10,000 suns but I gotta admit even I am debating how much I really need a new virtual time suck. One second I am collecting pictures of beach houses with wrap-around porches and the next thing I know it is 3 am and the workday is looming large.
Not to mention that I am just getting the hang of Twitter; I am still a relative newbie but I am already addicted to it because I love reading smart comments from people much wittier and hipper than me. But then there was also that sad moment of realization that I’m really just virtually eavesdropping on people who are wittier and hipper–and not actually friends with them. Like sitting next to the cool table in the high school cafeteria and listening to the gossip from the party Saturday night that I wasn’t invited to. Didn’t matter anyway, I had an awesome babysitting gig where they left me money for pizza and I got to watch Saturday Night Live. Jonah Hill was on.
At last tally, I have five active email addresses. I don’t watch cable TV; I watch Hulu on a Roku box. I keep up with college roommates and summer camp friends via Facebook. I text my husband when I am running late. I take pictures on my phone and carry them with me in a virtual brag book. I email my son’s teacher about his reading homework. I get my news online and keep up with fashion and design and celebrity news thanks to blogs. Work finds me via email, text or voice mail any time of day, any day of the week.
Clearly, I have a soft spot for technology and communication tools. I love acquiring, sharing and creating content. But sometimes it is nice to imagine a world where you leave the office and work stays behind until tomorrow. Where angry birds squawk at squirrels stealing from the bird feeder, not at maddeningly elusive green pigs with black eyes. Where I don’t know what Heidi Klum had for breakfast or what horrendous crime happened half way around the world while I slept.
Some days all I want is a room of my own…with no internet access.
