I sit at the computer to do something. I notice something else to do. I do that. I see something else I could do. I do that. And then another thing. And yet something else. And pretty soon it's an hour or three later and I'm no closer to doing whatever I was meaning to do than I was before I thought of it. I'm lost in the computer. Which is not a place. The internet is not a place. A web site is not a place. A blog, whether it's my blog or someone else's blog, is not a place either. And Snood is definitely not a place.
There was a time that I remember when I would go places. Places with names. Streets. Numbers. Highways. Roads. Walks. Mountains. Rivers. Hills. States. Countries. Museums. Zoos. Parks. Tours. And everything was different. Even from one state to the next, things were different--brands and styles and what you call a carbonated beverage and what you call a sandwich on a long roll. And Canada was foreign and Mexico was very foreign and London and Paris and Prague and Budapest were all really really foreign.
Once upon a time it was brave and challenging and adventurous to go places. Now it's all the same. Malls and standardization of signage and currency and everyone speaks English everywhere and somehow a Mercedes looks like a Toyota and it's all the same. Somebody must have realized that people like comfort and familiarity and promptly took all the adventure out of life. I even know how many calories something has before I eat it. And all the ingredients. In case of an allergy, I have to read all the labels. And take medicine to prevent the allergy. And take another medicine to lower blood pressure. And another to reduce anxiety. And there's something to stabilize your mood and something else to lift your mood. And something to help you sleep and something to help you wake up.
What happened? I don't want to leave my computer where I can safely wander from screen to screen and site to site and never hear music I don't choose for myself and never see a picture of anything unfamiliar or uncomfortable and never click on the link if I'm not sure I want to know what's happening.
The U.S. Open is going on, which is one of my favorite things . . . tennis . . . I love to watch tennis . . . I live about as close as is possible to the tournament without moving to Queens and I have been watching the Open all my life. But I've only been there once. In prior years I watched all the coverage I could on television. ESPN2 or whatever. This year, I'm watching coverage on a web site from my desk at work or my desk at home. I'm watching scores mount by looking at a screen every now and again. What is going on? Perhaps I'm exercising my imagination . . . I read the score; I picture the point; I see the players; I know the strategies. Maybe this is a higher level of tennis involvement.
This weekend I'm going to see a live college football game. I can't remember the last time I did that. I may have actually been in college at the time (Hint: Reagan was in his first term when I graduated). I will let you know if it's in a place.
No comments:
Post a Comment