Monday, April 4, 2011

Back to the Web

You know what's a good ego check? Deciding to go internet-less for an entire week. You know why? Because no one knew I was gone. I logged into Facebook and my gmail with an expectation of missed invitations, personal messages from friends, and at least one status update mentioning my name. Nada. No self-pity, though, just more proof that it really wasn't hard to go without the web for a week. It was my own experiment in unplugging. And it was a breeze - seriously. But it was also somewhat of an excercise in futility. I found that rather than tackling long gestating projects I had, I simply put off all the things I needed to get done that required the internet (which is pretty much everything) and cheated the one time I couldn't put it off (paying bills, a completely online thing for me now). That was my only cheat though - I really did go without facebook, twitter, email (except for work-related necessities), news websites, entertainment blogs, etc. I think it just made me less informed about the world, my friends and celebrities. So maybe the internet wasn't making me a slothful, procrastinator - I did that all on my own and for years before I had the internet! Regardless, it still feels good to slow down, unplug and talk to the people you're in the same room with every once in a while. Pretty sure my dog appreciated it.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Look out Peter Parker - I'm going web-less

I have not posted a blog in more than 6 months. I've barely posted a Facebook status update and have gone days without saying anything on Twitter.
But I'm on the web now as much as ever. I've just become more of a voyeur on the internet. I log on to see what others are doing, experiencing, learning - and what kind of animal blood is currently pulsing through Charlie Sheen's body (sidebar - I find something very ironic about this statement from his website about his upcoming tour - "Charlie will be donating One Dollar from each ticket to "My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat is Not an Option Show LIVE" to the Red Cross Japanese Earthquake Relief Fund." Is there a fund we can donate to to save Sheen?)
Part of the reason I haven't contributed online is because I haven't been doing much. And I don't even have the attention span most of the time to come up with a worthwhile status update. Most of the time I'm on the web, I'm also either watching TV, listening to music or doing work at my desk. This article I recently read in EW really hit home.
So I'm taking a break. Consider this the return of my personal 7-day challenges. I challenge myself to go without the internet for a full week. The way I see it, in the time I would normally be online, I can actually be living my life (or, more realistically, simply tackling that book I've been meaning to start).
Of course, every mandate must make some exceptions in this day and age. I'm giving myself a pass if it's absolutely necessary for work (like ordering theater tickets online) or in an emergency (like to find the nearest tow-truck service, emergency room or liquor store).
So I'll check back in a week to see how it went. Hopefully by then, I'll have experienced something worth posting.