Disconnected
The most frustrating message in the world.
I’m at a Starbucks right now, using their internet connection. My wireless at home? Kaput.
That’s not always bad. I love the weekends where my family and I get away, and leave the computers behind. And for the past several weeks, I’ve deliberately turned off the internet so that I can work work work. I know lots of writers who do this — who have to do this, so that the internet doesn’t become a distraction. Blogs, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook…and of course all of the comments on those blogs, which are often better than the blog post. But even then, I still have the option of checking e-mail, Amazon rankings (one day, I will stop this madness), and looking up a word at Dictionary.com or doing some quick fact-checking, or reading the news headlines. Even when I deliberately turn off the internet, it’s still there when I need it.
And I often need it more than I realize — but not just for research. I love working from home and being alone all day. I’m one of those people who enjoys being by herself ; I’m shy and pretty awkward in social situations. But I still like knowing what other people think and have to say. I still love exchanging e-mails with friends, hearing their news. I love being alone; I don’t love being disconnected.
A couple of weeks ago, Roger Ebert wrote a blog post about how he’s been affected by his oral surgery — he can’t speak or eat. (This post is wonderful; I really recommend it.) He writes about how it’s not the food he misses, but the dinner conversation — and although my situation is nothing like his, I understand that feeling all too well. Every day at my desk, I get to lunch with friends. Today, I had to go to Starbucks to do it.
…and I lost my cell phone again, too. *headdesk*
I loved Roger Ebert’s post too. It’s wonderful that the Internet provides him a medium to still have a voice, even when he can’ts speak.
I do think it’s good (for me, at least) that the Internet provides me a way to be social, even when I’m working all day. I know all kinds of people who bemoan the end of interpersonal interactions, but I’m meeting people I never would have met if my only social media were what was available in my town or at work.
Happy Friday everyone!
I have come to the conclusion that the scary screenshot has scared everyone away…
Wow, I’ve been feeling like crap lately, and then you see what Robert Ebert has gone through and it really changes your way of thinking about life and the things that are thrown your way.
When I had my store I loved talking to customers and interacting with my employees but I guess I would come home and I didn’t talk much to my husband or my 2 kids. Now that the store closed and I am selling the items on ebay, I retreat upstairs to what use to be my art studio and now is Sweet P Ebay store, I don’t talk to anyone all day. But now I am all over my family when they come home from work and school,they can’t shut me up. My son told my husband, “I am so glad to have my mom back”, I guess it worked out for the best.
A lover of solitude, socially awkward. Yes, that’s me to a T.
The internet connects me to other people, and I can interact on my own terms.
It’s a tool that allows me to discover more about the world I live in, that fills my head with (useful and otherwise) information, that allows me to make all sorts of weird correlations that lead more quickly and efficiently to even more information.
Also:
verbal information = one ear in and out the other
textual information = better retention.
You k now I am the same way, and oddly the internet also lets me get in touch with so many other people that i normally wouldn’t talk to.
With your spectacular sense of humor and zany wit, that was an unexpected revelation.
But to me, that’s the best thing about the internet. With a click of a button, I can find people that share the same taste in reading & humor.. people that I ordinarily wouldn’t have any contact with normally.
Smart people, funny, all with different backgrounds and experience.. that’s the beauty of the net!
And of course, being able to interact at your choosing (which, honestly can’t be beat).
I am pretty much the same, and would love to work at home. Of course I would get sucked in by the internet
And then when I finally meet a person it be so much more fun cos yes I do get sick of being alone too long too. What a dilemma
I understand using the internet for social interaction. And ditto @Readsalot about being able to interact at your choosing (or not). So my prediction for the day – Meljean lost her phone in the snow and will find it in May when the snow melts in Alaska.
Or Oregon, which isn’t likely to have snow along the coast, so NEVERMIND! Guess everyone knows now that I’m not psychic. Why did I think Meljean was living in Alaska? I could have sworn I read that.